Not sure about that, but I do remember when I first started hearing the term “jihad” around the time of the Iranian revolution I thought that they had adopted the term from Dune. 
Saw it last week and thought it was pretty good if not great. Definitely an improvement over the SyFy and Lynch versions, although of course it tells only half the story.
Things I liked: the desert scenes, the ornithopters (those scenes were some of the best in the entire movie - very exciting and realistic), the actors playing the Duke and Lady Jessica, Stilgar, and Chani; the sandworms and the costumes.
Things I wasn’t crazy about: the actor playing Paul (still not quite sure he was up to the role, although he’s growing on me the more I think about the film), the Atreides bagpipes, too small a part for the Shadout Mapes; and no Emperor, Princess Irulan or Feyd-Rautha (yet).
Just might watch it again… and I’m looking forward very much to Part 2!
Overall I liked it. I though TC was fine as Paul. One scene from the book I missed but understand why it didn’t make it:the dinner scene, where they mention the Harkonen would wash their hands and wring their towels and the poor would collect the water. Leto thinks that was demeaning, but he does dump a pitcher of water. Speaking of, they also didn’t mention the capitol was at a pole because there is more moisture there – again understandable. (in the books, did anything happen at the other pole?)
Does Stilgar spit (to show respect) because Leto allows him to keep his knife?
We know the real reason Dune was transferred, but does anyone remember the cover reason? (what the Emperor said publicly)
Brian
ETA: Guillermo del Toro was thanked in the credits – I found that interesting
I really like the SyFy version, and I really liked this version. But the SyFy version seemed more comprehensive, in terms of story, and it occurred to me I am not sure how or if I would have liked this latest version without having the SyFy version to draw on for some of the wider context.
I do think the Alec Newman(Paul) and later James McAvoy(Leto II) versions of the books are really excellent and underrated.
I still listen to the score for Children of Dune by Brian Tyler.
Was it? They would have mentioned if the city were on top of the ice cap.
Presumably both the Harkonnen’s and the Atreides’s capitals were in the “northern temperate zone”, though.
At least the southern polar region was full of Fremen (and their various civilization/agriculture/terraforming projects) who bribed the Guild with shitloads of Spice to keep surveillance satellites out of the way.
Sadly it doesn’t look like the SyFy series is streamable anywhere. Only available on DVD, and wouldn’t you know it I just finally cancelled my Netflix DVD service last month. Ah well. I would have enjoyed rewatching it.
Yeah, I bought it on DVD what seems like a lifetime ago.
Wow, I see on Amazon they now sell a Blu-ray. Had no idea it had a full HD release like that. I’m surprised Syfy doesn’t find a way to get it streaming since interest would be high.
According to the map in the book, Arakeen is a bit north of the 60th parallel, Carthag a little farther north than that. The map does show a small ice cap and no habitation near the pole.
The main inhabited area is within the area enclosed by the Shield Wall, a geographic feature that keeps the worms and the worst of the storms out - not a man-made wall as implied in the movie. The existence of the Shield Wall really determined where the cities were located.
The Cartographic notes has “Wormline: indicating the farthest north points where worms have been spotted (moisture, not cold, is determining factor”. – for some reason I thought the capital was that far north (hey, its been 30 years)
I have the Miniseries on DVD, I think I did see Children of Dune.
Brian
Do you have a cite for this? I did some searching to no avail.
rejoice fans being NO 1 for 2 weeks led to this
in the beginning of the first dune movie and the book, Paul is on the spaceship reading a history lesson on a tablet type of thing where it’s talking about how many people Hitler killed “without atomics” without any type of historical context, and paul is debating if one should admire or be disgusted at the body count and he decides he doesn’t have enough of the whole story
This Dune movie or the David Lynch one? (this one could be seen as the first of a pair).
I definitely don’t remember seeing that in this movie.
I saw the movie yesterday on the place’s biggest screen and boomiest sound system. I am also someone who has never read Dune or watched the previous adaptations. Everything I know I picked up from popular culture references. Overall, I liked it and found it easy enough to understand, though again knowing some of the basics helped.
If I were to finally break down and read the books, where should I stop? I think everyone would say nothing not by Frank Herbert, but does it make sense to quit after like the second book?
I’d go with the first six. That’s all I read as a teen, and if I were going to read them again I’d read all six again. For less commitment, the first three I think tells a complete story. So I’d go with just the first book, just the first three, or the first six.
Corrections welcome; it’s been decades.
I asked this question and got some great advice here:
+1 to this. I was also disappointed that they didn’t depict what a beast Rabban was.
What’s going to be interesting is how the second child “the witch” going to be characterized
especially as I remember correctly she basically raises the twins … … but that’s pretty much in the 2nd book