Dune 2018 (19,20,21...)
- Thread starter wayoung
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As @Reverend said, it would be interesting to cast actors of Arab or wider Middle-Eastern heritage as The Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV and his family. Apparently, Padishah is Persian for "supreme Shah", and the Arab name Shaddam (or Saddam) means "he who confronts" - so I have read. I wonder if Alexander Siddig is available... He might be a bit fed up of being the goto person when a director needs an actor of the appropriate ethnicity but this is a prestige project. I'm sure there are lots of possible alternative casting choices.
Just as long as they don't waste him like 24 and Game of Thrones did. He's excellent when utilized well like A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, Kingdom of Heaven and Syriana (Agatha Christie's Poirot, too, but that was a small but critical role).
Sid's talent was also wasted in episode 1 of Apple TV's Foundation.
I saw this yesterday in IMAX.
I was quite taken with it. Rarely are movies this entrancing. I was completely immersed in it.
Dune has many fascinating characters, and they're portrayed fantastically by this cast, but the movie simply doesn't have enough time to dig into all of them to the degree that I would like. I guess even half the first book is too much for one film, and that's my main criticism of it.
The story probably would have worked better as a mini series, but as a TV show it wouldn't capture the scope and spectacle of it all.
I really felt the power of cinema while watching this. I'm glad I took 3 hours out of my day to experience this. Thank you Denis Villeneuve.
I was quite taken with it. Rarely are movies this entrancing. I was completely immersed in it.
Dune has many fascinating characters, and they're portrayed fantastically by this cast, but the movie simply doesn't have enough time to dig into all of them to the degree that I would like. I guess even half the first book is too much for one film, and that's my main criticism of it.
The story probably would have worked better as a mini series, but as a TV show it wouldn't capture the scope and spectacle of it all.
I really felt the power of cinema while watching this. I'm glad I took 3 hours out of my day to experience this. Thank you Denis Villeneuve.
So, my only knowledge of Dune was very vague memories of seeing (and quite enjoying) the Lynch film when it came out. Haven’t read the books, seen the miniseries or re-watched the 1984 one. So I was going in blind. Enjoyed this, anyway. Visually it was amazing - I mean, obviously we’re all used to great looking films, given the standard of modern SFX, but it wasn’t just great SFX, the vistas, props, sets, costumes etc all looked wonderful, with clearly a lot of thought put into this universe.
The pacing was a little slow and I thought that they could’ve cut a few scenes, hastened a few sweeping panoramas, edited a few of Paul’s dreams etc. But it didn’t drag by any means - I’ve sat through shorter films which felt longer.
The prestige cast was of course great. Nice to see Oscar Isaac getting to do something in a sci-fi epic after the disappointment of TROS. And was it just me or did Javier Bardeen look like the late Oliver Reed?
I wouldn’t quite rate it as highly as Blade Runner 2049 but it still cemented Villanueve as a real visual stylist, with substance.
I’m glad a sequel is going ahead, I’d have been disappointed if I didn’t get to see what happens next. But I may actually even go and finally read the book first…
The pacing was a little slow and I thought that they could’ve cut a few scenes, hastened a few sweeping panoramas, edited a few of Paul’s dreams etc. But it didn’t drag by any means - I’ve sat through shorter films which felt longer.
The prestige cast was of course great. Nice to see Oscar Isaac getting to do something in a sci-fi epic after the disappointment of TROS. And was it just me or did Javier Bardeen look like the late Oliver Reed?
I wouldn’t quite rate it as highly as Blade Runner 2049 but it still cemented Villanueve as a real visual stylist, with substance.
I’m glad a sequel is going ahead, I’d have been disappointed if I didn’t get to see what happens next. But I may actually even go and finally read the book first…
Dune simulated
https://phys.org/news/2021-11-dune-simulated-planet-arrakis-humans.html
Arrakis's climate is basically plausible
The books and film describe a planet with unforgiving sun and desolate wastelands of sand and rock. However, as you move closer to the polar regions towards the cities of Arrakeen and Carthag, the climate in the book begins to change into something that might be inferred as more hospitable.
Yet our model tells a different story. In our model of Arrakis, the warmest months in the tropics hit around 45°C, whereas in the coldest months they do not drop below 15°C. Similar to that of Earth. The most extreme temperatures would actually occur in the mid-latitudes and polar regions. Here summer can be as hot as 70°C on the sand (also suggested in the book). Winters are just as extreme, as low as -40°C in the mid-latitudes and down to -75°C in the poles.
This is counter intuitive as the equatorial region receives more energy from the sun. However, in the model the polar regions of Arrakis have significantly more atmospheric moisture and high cloud cover which acts to warm the climate since water vapor is a greenhouse gas.
The book says that there is no rain on Arrakis. However, our model does suggest that very small amounts of rainfall would occur, confined to just the higher latitudes in the summer and autumn, and only on mountains and plateaus.
https://phys.org/news/2021-11-dune-simulated-planet-arrakis-humans.html
Arrakis's climate is basically plausible
The books and film describe a planet with unforgiving sun and desolate wastelands of sand and rock. However, as you move closer to the polar regions towards the cities of Arrakeen and Carthag, the climate in the book begins to change into something that might be inferred as more hospitable.
Yet our model tells a different story. In our model of Arrakis, the warmest months in the tropics hit around 45°C, whereas in the coldest months they do not drop below 15°C. Similar to that of Earth. The most extreme temperatures would actually occur in the mid-latitudes and polar regions. Here summer can be as hot as 70°C on the sand (also suggested in the book). Winters are just as extreme, as low as -40°C in the mid-latitudes and down to -75°C in the poles.
This is counter intuitive as the equatorial region receives more energy from the sun. However, in the model the polar regions of Arrakis have significantly more atmospheric moisture and high cloud cover which acts to warm the climate since water vapor is a greenhouse gas.
The book says that there is no rain on Arrakis. However, our model does suggest that very small amounts of rainfall would occur, confined to just the higher latitudes in the summer and autumn, and only on mountains and plateaus.
Tatooine confirmed.
That simulation doesn't seem to take into account that the books implies that Arrakis is about the same size as Luna (which introduces a whole can of worms to do with mass and density for such a small planet having 0.9Gs at the surface.) Also, that map is wrong. Carthag, Arakeen and indeed most of the shield walls (false and otherwise) are supposed to be well above the 60°N line.
As for rainfall at the poles; the map does indicate that the worms stay clear of the high latitudes including the polar sink specifically because of the moisture, not the low temperatures. Actual rainfall or no, there was clearly supposed to be some kind of water cycle on Dune, though it was being systematically diminished by the activities of the sandtrout; the larval worms that might themselves have been a non-native invasive species.
As for rainfall at the poles; the map does indicate that the worms stay clear of the high latitudes including the polar sink specifically because of the moisture, not the low temperatures. Actual rainfall or no, there was clearly supposed to be some kind of water cycle on Dune, though it was being systematically diminished by the activities of the sandtrout; the larval worms that might themselves have been a non-native invasive species.
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A planet the size of Earth's Moon with a gravitational acceleration 90% of the Earth's at the surface would have to have a mean density about the same as uranium - about 19,000 kg/m^3. The horizon would also look about half as far away as what we see in the movies and TV show, which were obviously filmed on Earth.
Do the books ever explain how Dune has a breathable atmosphere? Is there vegetation on Arrakis?
I think they mentioned the Worms having something to do with it.
Where do you think Lucas got the inspiration from? (He's even said as much.
)
That's the joke...Where do you think Lucas got the inspiration from? (He's even said as much.
Also, annoyed me how the krayt dragon was interpreted after seeing the sandworm type skeleton in ANH.
My bad.That's the joke...
Also, annoyed me how the krayt dragon was interpreted after seeing the sandworm type skeleton in ANH.
Exactly. Also; a planet that small with two spherical moons?! Hence: "can of worms." And yet that's what you get if you take the distance from Arakeen to Carthag as depicted on the map, relative to the 60th parallel. It also seems to line up with the figures given about the coriolis storms around the equator, so for whatever reason it looks like Herbert basically just used Luna's dimensions. Strange choice when Mars would have been a much more plausible basis.
I could get behind that. I'm trying to come up with a teens/twenties Middle Eastern actress for Irulan and coming up blank. Anyone got any ideas? What about Feyd or the Fenrings?
Dune has crossed the $ 300 million mark at the worldwide box office.
More like:
" I hid the spice... Up my ass... For 10 years... your father wanted you to have it..."
I doubt either Feyd-Rautha or the Fenrings will feature. We might get Wensicia as well as Irulan though if they want to set things up for Messiah and Children.
My suggestion for casting the Corrino sisters are the actual sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid, who have Palestinian Jordanian ancestry. I don't know how well they can act though and they might be too controversial. They would have to be good enough actors to play larger roles in any sequels (if those get commissioned).
Other than that, I've got nothing.
