The Long Road

03/23/2003 Archived Entry: "Children of Dune"

Just watched Children of Dune, it was soooo good. It adapted the basic plot of books 2 and 3 of the Dune chronicles, but like most book-to-movie adaptations it loses a lot of the subtleties and motivations in the books. That plus some things that were dropped/changed really felt like they diminished the intelligence of the characters, especially the twins. You never get the feeling that these people are incredibly clever and competent. The twins are suppose to have everyone figured out and be several steps ahead of them, but come off as sort of stumbling along. My one true complaint though is the Freemen eyes. THE distinguishing feature about the Freemen is that they have blue on blue eyes. BLUE ON BLUE. The books mention this all the time, yet for this series and the one before it the Freemen have normal blue eyes that happen to be a bit brighter. SACRILEGE!

Most of the CG shots were well done. Some that stand out in my mind are when the ornithopter has the encounter with the three worms, the stoneburner, and all the shots of Arrakeen. They truly managed to show the absurd size of the Royal palaces.

I really enjoyed the music, costumes and the sets. The costumes aren't nearly as gawdy as the ones in the original. Freemen still suits were actually dark coloured instead of that aweful white-green pastel they used before!! The acting was pretty good overall but the actress playing Alia could have been better. Her acting was pretty bad, and considering that she was one of the main characters she was onscreen quite a bit. I think they cast her for the eye-candy factor; she had an exotic looking face, very attracive, but she had really strange hips. Susan Sarandon was also in it, she was unfortunately showing too much skin in a few scenes =( Her opposing matriarch was played by Alice Krige. I love Alice Krige, she has the most amazing voice ever. I wish I could have a really long conversation with her. Well, I just want her to talk to me. I'd be content to listen.

Haven't read Dune yet? Do it. The best science fiction series EVER. And don't give me that "I don't like sci-fi" garbage. This is a book about politics, ecology, religion and palace intrigue that just happens to be set in the future.

Replies: 2 comments

Yes... yes it was good indeed. As for Alia being cast for eye candy... well... yeah.

Posted by Romer @ 03/23/2003 03:43 PM EST

Everything should have eye candy

Posted by Rayne @ 03/23/2003 04:32 PM EST