Huh, i know this is a hijack, but how does THAT work? There are lots of animals where the female eats the male, but the male eating the female sounds awkward for the developing eggs. Does the male incubate the eggs after fertilization?
Sand worms are a form of seahorse.
I did not know there was a TV version of the Lynch film. Go figure. I suppose this is one of these less is more kind of things. A history lesson is probably too much, but just a handful of lines that set the chess pieces on the board could work.
It may also have the secondary benefit of showing the spellings of some of the made-up words that are used commonly like Mentat, Bene Gesserit and Landsraad. For someone like my wife who struggled to parse some of the mumbled and whispered dialogue this might have helped.
The TV edit was made without Lynch’s blessing and is credited to Alan Smithee.
I love his work.
Like someone far upthread, the only Dune ‘text’ I’d consumed before this film was the 90s video game, so I only knew the basics (Spice, big worms, Baron Creosote). I had the advantage going in of comparing this film to the latest Star Wars trilogy, which I thought were ruined by their constant call-backs, in-jokes, nudges and winks.
The Dune film succeeded well at conjuring things on a vast scale - the planets, mother ships, Spice-harvesters and worms. While it worked in carrying on the vast-versus-minuscule motif, I did think it weird that every room the actors appeared in seemed to be colossal, with little furniture or furnishings.
It was sometimes laughable when the (excellent) soundtrack was blaring away, while key dialogue was muttered.
But overall, a really good film - refreshingly dour, and successfully carving out its own style.
As seen on Twitter;
“Alright, Duke Leto, how many chairs would you like in your palace library?”
“Three should do.”
“And for your son’s bedroom?”
“I don’t think he needs any furniture.”
Not mentioned in either the movies or the books, but this was a result of the destruction of the planet Ikea during the Butlerian Jihad.
The sleeper set has awaken… for only $499!
(assembly required)
Anyone who can so adroitly combine Monty Python and Dune is worthy of elevation to God-Emperor.
The eggs are fertilized as they pass through the male’s digestive tract. They incubate within the sand. (Vaguely similar to how some plants have their seeds pass through birds’ digestive tracts.)
Also note that a crysknife is not a worm’s tooth, but made from a worm’s tooth. The teeth are there primarily for tunneling through the sand. Worms of all sizes have teeth, just not the males. The teeth are not razor sharp, but are very strong, although they have cleavage points. Crysknives can be broken, too.
“May thy knife chip and shatter.”
Was anyone else surprised when HBO yanked it without fanfare? I’d started watching it last weekend, and last night thought I was going insane.
The article makes it clear that the movie was removed from the streaming service after 31 days. I think that was a standard thing; new movies are available to stream for a set window and then pulled.
Ah yes, but not having read the article beforehand and not being aware of this standard, it was a surprise to me. Netflix, at least, generally gives you a little warning that a movie or show you’re watching is about to leave Netflix.
It is a special thing they originally set up at the height of the pandemic that a bunch of WB movies would be released in theaters and on HBO Max but would only be on HBO Max for a month. It was all laid out more than a year ago and was well publicized. Dune will come back when it comes on HBO “normally” the same way Wonder Woman 84 and all the other movies like this did.
It’ll be back in three or four months.
I happened to switch to HBO Max yesterday while looking for something short to watch and they were promoting King Richard, and in the plot description was a warning that it would only be available for streaming until, I think, December 19. So I assume there was a similar warning for Dune.
There was.
I talked to my daughter about this problem. She is a mathematical biologist, and her impression is that msot of the energy in Dune’s ecosystem comes from dead plant matter preserved from earlier ages, when Dune was a lush world full of plant-life. Basically the ecology is supported by fossil fuels most in the form of a peat-like kerogen mass. Photosynthesis on this world is minimal, and as the dead biomass reserves are used up, the planet will die.
I believe that is consistent with various statements by Liet Kynes, and also seems to suggest a parallel between Arrakis and the sandy, oil-rich lands of Saudi Arabia, which were a direct inspiration for the novel.