Dune (2000 Miniseries)

Nitcentral's Bulletin Brash Reflections: Movies: Misc. TV Movies & Miniseries: Dune (2000 Miniseries)

By Brian Webber on Tuesday, January 18, 2000 - 10:46 am:

Don't know much about it, but I know this;

William Hurt will play Duke Leto.
It will air on the Sci-Fi Channel.


By Douglas Nicol on Thursday, January 20, 2000 - 3:32 pm:

Hopefully it will be a bit clearer than the film.


By cableface on Saturday, May 27, 2000 - 4:05 pm:

I think the main problem with the film was that they just didn't have anywhere near enough time to translate the book.The last section of the film attempts to cover a huge section of the book, and just ends up rushing it.


By Jtodhunter (Jtodhunter) on Sunday, October 15, 2000 - 3:59 pm:

According to TV Guide this three part miniseries will aire December 3rd through the 5th.


By Gordon Lawyer on Monday, October 16, 2000 - 8:35 am:

Of the actors in this one, the only ones I've even heard of are Alec Newman (Paul) and Ian MacNeice (Baron Harkonnen). The former I saw on Mystery! last May in Murder Rooms (he played one of Conan Doyle's med school buddies), and the latter I saw in the video of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (he played Potifar). Anyone have a clue about the others?


By Gordon Lawyer on Sunday, December 03, 2000 - 7:33 am:

Set your VCRs, folks. It starts tonight at 9:00 PM.


By ScottN on Tuesday, December 05, 2000 - 9:31 am:

Ok. Missed the first part. Comments on the second part.

Where did that scene between Irulan and the Emperor come from? "I know you're involved...", "That poor boy..."

According to the novel, Irulan is irrelevant until the final climactic scene after the breaking of the Shield Wall.

Also, Irulan is supposed to be blonde.

Do you think the animation of the "kangaroo rat" (the muad'dib) could have been cheesier? Couldn't they have gotten a *REAL* rat for the part?

Sietch Tabr is shown as an outdoor place. It should be completely inside.

After the sandfall, Paul and Jessica run from the sandworm. Paul is supposed to set up a thumper to distract the worm.

Neither the Fremen nor Paul walk in an irregular manner to hide from the sandworms. Everyone walks normally. Even rhythms such as those attract sandworms.


By AI Fix on Tuesday, December 05, 2000 - 10:40 am:

Doesn't Jessica look and sound strikingly like Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi)?


By ScottN on Tuesday, December 05, 2000 - 12:22 pm:

According to the books, Jessica is extremely beautiful and has a "heart-shaped face".

Her face is not heart shaped, and she is not particulary pretty, and her nose is bigger than most of the TNG casts' (and they had huge ones -- cf. Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden)!


By ScottN on Tuesday, December 05, 2000 - 12:23 pm:

Oh, and to answer AI Fix's question:

She sounds Scottish (Scotch? Scots?) to me.
She doesn't remind me at all of Marina Sirtis (check out the nose!).


By AI Fix on Tuesday, December 05, 2000 - 1:43 pm:

Hmmmm, the eye of this beholder found her to be quite attractive, in a rugged sort of way.

Nits(?) Just how many moons are there anyway? One pan shot in the desert showed two. And do they ever get higher than a few degrees above the horizon?

Going into part three, I have to say I really like it so far!


By ScottN on Tuesday, December 05, 2000 - 4:03 pm:

I believe the novels said that there were at least two moons. IIRC, the pattern on the lesser moon is called "muad'dib" (the way we call ours "the Man in the Moon").


By mei on Wednesday, December 06, 2000 - 4:15 pm:

What else has Ian McNiece been in? I recognize him, from something fairly recent I think, but I can't remember where I've seen him. Please, can someone help??!!

On a similar not, but not Dune-related, what has Justin Whalen been in? He's in the new D&D movie, and I recognize him, but, again, I can't remember from where. I would appreciate anyone's help on this, before it drives me nuts!


By TomM on Wednesday, December 06, 2000 - 5:09 pm:

I'm not sure, I believe that Justin Whalen was one of the Jimmy Olesons (the part was re-cast in the second season) on Lois and Clark


By Gordon Lawyer on Thursday, December 07, 2000 - 2:43 pm:

Mei, just in case you missed it, I commented above that McNeice was in the video of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, in which he played Potifar. Was that what you were thinking of?
Come on, I thought Jessica was attractive.


By ScottN on Thursday, December 07, 2000 - 3:22 pm:

I guess she's just not my cup of tea.


By mei on Friday, December 08, 2000 - 2:04 pm:

TomM: Thanks. You're right, I think he was the second one.

Gordon: I haven't seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, but I have seen the actor, which is why I asked.


By Spornan on Tuesday, December 12, 2000 - 3:53 pm:

Well I happened to like the miniseries, but that may be cause I've never read the book (I'm a heathen!). Though I can tell you I plan to now.

I understand though that like every Book-to-movie, there are obviously going to be large omissions, and changed plotlines, so I can see if some people don't like it that much.

But as just a movie, seperate from the book, it was pretty good.

As for nits:

They seem to use backdrops for a lot of the backgrounds. Painted walls instead of actual places. Most of the shots of them in the dessert have that, as well as those of them in Seitch Tabr (I think that's the name of the place where Jessica drinks the water, as does Paul later on).

They also reused a lot of footage. Most notably are one of an explosion in a warehouse, causing a red-uniformed Harkonnen soldier to be blown over a railing. And three shots: One of a bloodied fremen man falling to the ground, one of a bloodied fremen woman, and one of a Saudakar(sp?).


By AI Fix on Wednesday, December 13, 2000 - 8:45 am:

A big nit is in one of the final scenes, if that's one of the moons and the sun in the same frame. The sun shows as full, of course. But the moon, on the left side of the sun, shows as a crescent "C", with the bright side facing away from the sun.


By Gordon Lawyer on Friday, December 15, 2000 - 7:51 am:

Mei, am I correct in recalling that you're from Great Britain? If so, then maybe you saw him in the Adam Dalgliesh mystery A Certain Justice, which aired last night on Mystery! here in the US.
Spornan, however much reused footage was in the miniseries, I'll bet it doesn't compare to the amount in the Lynch film.


By Spornan on Friday, December 15, 2000 - 9:36 am:

You may be right Gordon, but it's been a long time since I saw the Film, and it pretty much just confused the heck out of me, especially considering more than half of it was cut for commercial release. I enjoyed the mini-series much more.


By mei on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 10:08 am:

Gordon, I'm not from England, I'm just an Anglophile. Altho I have a wicked English accent. And I haven't seen that movie, either, so I still don't know where I've seen that man. And he's not in my book (circa 1994) so I can't look him up that way. Oh, well, someday it'll come to me.


By TomM on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 11:50 am:

Mei-

I just looked Ian McNeice up in The Internet Movie DataBase (IMDB) The most likely places you might have seen him are two 1999 Charles Dickens movies: David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol. The next most likely is the Fran Drescher movie The Beautician and the Beast. I hope this helps.


By TomM on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 11:52 am:

I'm assuming that even if it was the Ace Ventura sequel, you wouldn't want to admit it.


By Len on Friday, December 29, 2000 - 8:02 am:

Here's what's perhaps a silly question, or it's a nit. It's been a while since I read the book, but my recollection was that Paul's Fremen name was something like Usal ("Tell me of the waters of your homeworld Usal"), and "Muad'dib" was the name he was called as he took on his messianic role.

In THIS version, it seems that the Fremen name for messiah is Muad'di and the name Paul chooses is Muad'dib? And Usal was dispensed with?

Or were they chanting Muad'dib all along (and I just thought it was Muad'di? But if that's the case, then why weren't the Fremen shocked when Paul in chossing his Gremen name and picking the name of the desert creature just happened to choose the word that ALSO mean Messiah to them?

And even if they WERE chanting Muad'di, wouldn't there still be a stir that he chose a name ALMOST exactly the same as the word for Messiah??

Am I missing something here, or what?


By ScottN on Friday, December 29, 2000 - 12:18 pm:

Technically, according to the book,


By Len on Tuesday, January 02, 2001 - 11:36 am:

Scott-

So what does "mahdi" mean? Is THAT savior? And if so, does Muad'dib have no connotations with respect to the concept of savior?


By ScottN on Tuesday, January 02, 2001 - 2:12 pm:

I believe that it's Arabic for savior. Any arabic speakers out there? AFAIK, Muad'dib has no connotations with the word. In the novel, Muad'dib is the kangaroo rat.


By Gordon Lawyer on Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 7:48 am:

For all those interested, tonight's episode of Mystery! on PBS has Alec Newman in it (he played Paul, in case you forgot). The title is Murder Rooms and he plays one of Conan Doyle's med school buddies (this episode is based on a real case that was worked on by the man Conan Doyle based Sherlock Holmes on).


By Gordon Lawyer on Friday, January 12, 2001 - 7:50 am:

Folks, the SF Channel's web page is having a poll on which Dune is truer to the book. Choices are Lynch, Harrison, don't think Dune can be filmed, and still waiting for the Jordorowsky version (whom if I recall correctly envisioned Feyd as a transvestite). Get out and vote, because Lynch has a ridiculously huge lead. The weirding modules alone make it less true to the novel IMNSHO. go to http://www.scifi.com/dune and click on the vote link.


By Scott McClenny on Friday, January 12, 2001 - 6:14 pm:

I rather enjoyd it on the whole,don't know if
I'd have enjoyed the Lynch film version as much
though.Interestingly enough Sci-Fi DID show the
Lynch version a few weeks after showing the
mini-series.

Interesting in the sequels Duncan Idaho seems
to have a lot larger role,but can't remember how
they explain his return to life.

Did Paul have a son before the twins were born?
All I remember is that Leto II had a twin sister.


By SLUGBUG on Saturday, January 13, 2001 - 12:37 am:

Duncan Idaho returns(many times) as a Ghola, a Clone grown from a cadaver's cells. Only the Bene Tleilax have the technology to create a Ghola.(well , at least until ChapterHouse Dune) :~} Paulo & Chani's first son was killed by the Harkonnens. The Twins were born later.


By Douglas Nicol on Friday, January 26, 2001 - 2:54 pm:

Well I finally got the Dune movie on DVD, but it was the three hour version, and I must admit that made quite a bit more sense than the original version of Lynch's film.
I haven't seen the series, but criticisms I've heard are as follow.

The final attack on Arrakeen is done with air units. In the book and Lynch film a storm prevents this also disabling the Emperors/Harkonnen air power.
Irulan's part is bigger, but totally different to the film.
The wierding modules just don't seem right.


By ScottN on Friday, January 26, 2001 - 3:23 pm:

The wierding modules just don't seem right.

Because Lynch hacked them in. They aren't ANYWHERE in the original novel.


By mei on Friday, January 26, 2001 - 4:27 pm:

TomM: Thank you very much. I saw him in Beautician & the Beast.
I also bookmarked that webpage. I looked up someone else on it; it's great!


By Josh G. on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 10:17 pm:

The weirding modules didn't seem right in the Lynch version either; the Fremen look ridiculous using them.


By cableface on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 3:52 pm:

I gotta say, apart from the very shoddy painted backdrops, odd headgear, and silly pronunciation of Fedaykin, I was mighty impressed with the Dune Miniseries.It had much less of the "What-The-F**k-Is-Going-On-There-Then" that Lynch's version did. Paul doesn't have the same arrogance here that Kyle MacLachlan did, and he does a pretty good job, methinks. Hurt, although sounding pretty bored, makes a good Leto, Jessica is good, and the Baron, despite his odd habit of rhyming couplets to end his dastardly speeches, is an improvement on Lynch's, and Stilgar here is way cooler than Everett McGill, IMHO. But, it has flaws, even beyond those mentioned above. Thufir Hawat, Idaho, and DeVries are wasted. I could be wrong but wasn't Thufir taken prisoner, and later sent to kill Paul? And something about Gurney just doesn't seem right. The cockney accent that worked so well in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels just seems way wrong here. It did however manage to much better explain the roles of the Bene Gesserit and the Guild. But of course, that's all just my opinion.........


By Gordon Lawyer on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 5:21 am:

Cockney? It sounded Scottish to me.


By Merat on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 9:29 pm:

The SciFi Channel miniseries "Children of Dune" premiers in March 2003. It is a combination of the novels "Dune Messiah" and "Children of Dune." Interestingly, Alice Krige, the Borg Queen from Star "Trek: First Contact" plays Lady Jessica.


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