Since we are on the subject, it should be noted that a lot of stuff in Dune was inspired by The Sabres of Paradise:
In this climate of drama, where vengeance was the first principle, weapons were personified, taking on a character, an entity of their own. I was made for Ammalet Beg, says one blade. I will help thee by day and by night (both legally and illegally), says another. I am slow to offend, quick to avenge, says a gold and ivory inlaid kindjal.May thy kindjal rust was a malediction. They were not the sickle-shaped scimitars of the romanticized East, but straight and heavy. The kindjal was a two-foot dagger, fluted and double edged; the shashka, a huge sabre, barely curved and very weighty. No Caucasian man was properly dressed without his kindjal. Women, too, wore a smaller, but scarcely less formidable dagger, thrust through their waist belt. The kindjal was used slashingly. ‘The cut’ was de rigueur. To kill with the point lacked artistry. Weapons were a cult, as dear as honour itself.
Count me as another that has never read any of the book or watched any of the movies or shows. I liked it a lot.
In fact, I think that reading this thread has made me like it less.
So, if I’m understanding things correctly, the reason that they fight with knives and swords instead of guns is because the force fields are somehow better against fast-moving projectiles than they are slow ones? So a bullet would just bounce off whereas a knife can be slowly pushed through?
The shield needs to be able to let slow-moving objects through because if it were completely impermeable the user wouldn’t be able to breathe, let alone interact with anything that wasn’t already within the shield.
The problem with that explanation is that the average velocity of an air molecule (assuming nitrogen) is about 500 m/sec. If you only allow in molecules moving say 2 m/s, you’re going to let in very few molecules, and you’ll be breathing air at 0.004 degrees Kelvin.
Maybe 2 m/s air molecules are accelerated up to 500 m/s by the shield, to make them breathable? That wouldn’t have any undesirable side effects on slow moving knife blades, would it?
Straight from “Terminology of the Imperium” in the novel:
SHIELD, DEFENSIVE: the protective field produced by a Holtzman generator. This field derives from Phase One of the suspensor-nullification effect. A shield will permit entry only to objects moving at slow speeds (depending on setting, this speed ranges from six to nine centimeters per second) and can be shorted out only by a shire-sized electric field. (See Lasgun)
So nothing about KE, and I was way low on the speed allowed. And face it, Herbert wasn’t a David-Weberesque writer spending chapters of technobabble on made up technology in an effort to make it all be self consistent. He wanted to have knives, not guns, so he invented shields. And when someone pointed out “What about lasers?”, he just made up a bit that shooting a shield with a laser triggers a “sub-atomic fusion” blast that destroys both of them.
I finally caught this on streaming last night. I am a big fan of both the novels and Lynch’s film, and I have to say I liked this new version more than I had anticipated. The visuals of course were stunning.
I find most interesting some of the characterization and casting choices. T.C. worked better as Paul than I feared. I liked the female Dr. Kynes and the direction they took with her; I wish she had gotten more screen time. I most strongly disliked Weepy Jessica; both the exquisite Francesca Annis and Alice Krige gave better performances and captured the essence of Jessica the Bene Gesserit better.
I agree with the sentiment of a large section of the internet: please stop trying to make Zendaya a thing. While I eagerly look forward to the second half, the possibility of Sarcastic Bored Chani leaves me a little wary.
But I have not seen anyone yet mention one of the best decisions made for the entire film: the extended screen time and development of Duncan Idaho! Spoilers for the books:
Just reading the first book or watching the Lynch film, you would never get the idea that Duncan Idaho was a key figure in the saga. He is barely mentioned in passing, dies a forgettable death, and then would otherwise pass out of memory. Dune Messiah surprises you by bringing him back, and his importance only grows from there. Whether or not you liked Jason Momoa in this role, you’re definitely left with the impression that hey, this guy is someone! I doubt that Villeneuve will ever bring out Messiah or Children, but regardless it was thoughtful to bring Idaho to the fore like this.
I just read that Princess Irulan and Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen are rumored to be in the sequel. Florence Pugh (who is always awesome) will be Irulan with some guy named Austin Butler playing Feyd.
I looked him up and apparently he played Manson Family member “Tex” in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. He’s no Sting, but I could see him pulling off dangerously charming/creepy Feyd.
I think Zendaya is perfectly fine as an actress. And Chani doesn’t know Paul from a sandworm dump. So I can forgive a bit of her “Here’s a knife, nerd. Try not to die like a dork when you get killed.” attitude. But too your point, I’ve already kind of seen Zendaya play that character in Spider Man and The Greatest Showman.