The new sci-fi action-adventure film titled “Dune” has recently hit theaters and been released on HBO Max. “Dune” is based on the original book of the same title written by Frank Herbert. The film’s director, Denis Villenueve, showcases the enormous scale of the fictional universe on screen.
The story of “Dune” is a complex power struggle among great powers that rule over planets in a universe set in the year 10191. The protagonist, Paul, is the son of the Duke of House Atreides, a powerful house in the world of “Dune” challenged only by the brutal and cruel House Harkonnen.
Paul is special, not only because he is the Prince of Atreides, but he also has the gift of “The Voice,” a power to command the will of those around the user if practiced and performed correctly.
“An easy way to put it is that ‘Dune’ is a mix of ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Game of Thrones.’ The film is also an extremely accurate adaptation of a staple of the sci-fi genre,” said Alex Choti.
“Dune” features a cast of many notable names in Hollywood such as Timothee Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Josh Brolin.
The film has a run time of 155 minutes and is accompanied by a score performed by Hans Zimmer, who has provided the score for many other films such as “Inception,” “Dunkirk,” “Gladiator” and “Blade Runner 2049.”
Many directors, including Alejandro Dolorowski and David Lynch, have previously attempted to adapt the novel to the big screen before Villenueve.
Fans of the book series are in great numbers, as the six-book series has cultivated a strong fan base similar to the popular “Star Wars” series since its original publication in 1965.
In an interview with Wired Magazine, son of the novel’s author Brian Herbert said, “We want to get things right. It’s a very complicated universe. So we did receive drafts of the script, and we would send comments back to Denis and his team. Then they would make various adaptations.”
According to the Guardian, “All manner of borrowings from ‘Dune’ litter the ‘Star Wars’ universe, from the Bene Gesserit-like mental powers of the Jedi to the mining and ‘moisture farming’ on Tatooine.”
Much like “Star Wars,” “Dune” is set to become a series of films that encapsulate the events of the six books in a saga. The next film, titled “Dune: Part Two,” is already in pre-production under the same director and is set to be released in 2023.
“I watched Dune recently on HBO Max with my housemates, and I had no knowledge about the books or the film beforehand. My biggest takeaway is probably the fact that I wish I had watched it in theaters; the soundtrack, as well as the visuals, were spectacular and something I wish I experienced in IMAX,” said junior Eric Fuga.
