It took about two decades for Frank Herbert's popular book Dune to be filmed for the first time by director David Lynch (Twin Peaks, The Elephant Man) in the 1980s. Since the work was considered unfilmable up until then, there were plenty of problems in the production. There are different versions of the film from that time, with some the director himself did not want to be named in the credits. Lynch sees his own work from then as a failure, which is why he has no interest in the remake, which was released in 2021. This situation is completely different with the composer Hans Zimmer (Chappie, Madagascar 3: Escape through Europe), who seized the opportunity to contribute the music to the new epic and even left Christopher Nolan with his project Tenet. Tis remake is also a matter close to the heart for the current director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) - if not a dream come true. In a recent interview, he revealed that he actually only took over the direction of Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 to gain experience in the science fiction genre and be better prepared for Dune.
Inhalt
After a human war against artificial intelligence, which almost wiped out humanity, it was decided to do without any software forever. Problem here: In order to maintain the empire and to be able to travel safely between the worlds, either large computing power for the spaceships or navigators with superhuman abilities is required. The solution was found on Dune: Giant sandworms live on the desert planet, absorbing the last drop of water from everything they move through. The so-called spice is produced as a waste product. When ingested, the consumer develops mind-expanding states which, among other things, allow him to look into the future (Warning: highly addictive drug that almost completely disfigures the body and can be fatal after withdrawal). As long as the spice is dismantled and pushed in, the spaceships can travel long distances safely. So far, the Harkonnen family, appointed by the empire, have harvested on Dune. The Atreides house now takes over the harvest on a regular basis. This relies on cooperation and satisfaction in its policy, while the House of Arkonnen follows the principles of punishment and control. Paradoxically, despite the lack of artificial intelligence, anger is inevitable programmed (please introduce a flourish in your mind at this point).
Fazit
Those who know the classic by David Lynch will notice one thing above all: the film takes time for the story. The beginning of the story is told in just under 2.5 hours, which in Lynch's film takes about 90 minutes. On the one hand, this enables a detailed view of the film's cosmos. But sometimes this is exaggerated and it seems as if the corner of a room was correctly lit for three hours while shooting so that it can be shown in the film for 20 seconds. Even the battles are very leisurely at their pace, but overall they only take up a small part of the film. On the other hand, the narrative style enables the original film to be separated into two parts. So here you can take your time for the story (and at the same time generate income that would have been less with just one film). The film is designed as an opulent and epic work, which you notice every second.
Evaluation: a sandworm estimated to be immense in size by echo sounder, which, however, turns out to be a bit smaller than expected after surfacing.
seen dubbed in German by Tim