The 526th film I have seen in theaters…

In the year 10,191 (20,000 or so years in our future), the Galactic Emperor has given the planet Arrakis to Duke Leto Atreides. It is the most valuable planet known to man and it is also a trap. We follow the Atreides as they settle on “Dune”, fight off threats, form alliances, and try to survive the desert planet.

Timothee Chalamet did some awesome work here as Paul. He brought the horror of Paul’s visions to life wonderfully. I anxiously await his transformation into Muad’dib.

Rebecca Ferguson is Lady Jessica. There hasn’t been a miss in this casting in any of the versions. Ferguson did a fine job, possibly the best of them all thus far.

My favorite Duke Leto, hands down. Isaac is a fantastic actor. I wish there was more of him. I am a tad concerned that actors of my generation are being cast in these roles, but such is the way of things.

Josh Brolin steps into the role of the Atreides weapon master- Gurney Halleck. While better looking than the literary version, and not Patrick Stewart, Brolin was excellent.

Holy shitballs, this was a terrifying take on The Baron. Stellan Skarsgard was the right man for the job. The sound mixing on his vocals was a tad overdone though. Some dialogue was difficult to make out.

Speaking of perfect casting, This is my definitive Beast Rabban. Dave Bautista has been steadily growing as an actor for the last decade and was born for this role.

This was semi controversial, but I am 100% ok with Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr Liet Kynes. Now, can she top the majesty of Max Von Sydow? Hell no, but I got more from her character in this version than the 84 performance. You get a better sense of the character’s place in things.

I wish the lips were more stained with the Mentat juice, but I can live with it. Stephen McKinley Henderson is Thufir, the Atreides mentat. A decent performance. Again, he needed more time to breathe.

Zendaya is Chani, the future Fremen wife of Muad’dib. She wasn’t in the film very much, but I know she’s got what it takes to play this to the nines in part two. Excellent actress.

Chang Chen is Dr Yueh. I thought they did the character dirty in this version. In fact, this is my primary, although minor, quibble with this film. Yueh was not developed enough for the betrayal to matter. Maybe there’s more on the cutting room floor that we will see someday. It is a missed opportunity and the movie suffers for it.

You need an actor of gravitas to carry the role of Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam and Charlotte Rampling is more than up to the task, the actress from the 2000’s miniseries- not so much).

I heard the most shit about Jason Momoa being cast as Duncan Idaho, the Atreides sword master. They were wrong. 100% wrong. This might be the first time they got Duncan right. This version of him at least. More on that when Dune Messiah gets made…

As much as I enjoy the 80’s Stilgar, Javier Bardem was so much better. Just a few scenes and he expressed so much character. Excellent casting.

Again with perfect actor. I recall reading that David Dastmalchian was being cast in Dune. I immediately knew: “Piter De Vries”. Excellent choice. I only wish he had more scenes.

I appreciated this performance so much better on the 2nd viewing. Babs Olusanmokun is known to me from his work as Dr M’Benga on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Here he plays Jamis. A small role, but pivotal.

The second viewing was better than the first in 2021. I regretted not being able to see this in IMAX on the original release. When I saw that there would be a one week release this month (February 2024) I knew it was going to happen. This is actually turning into the month of Dune. This weekend I am seeing David Lynch’s Dune in the cinema and I’ve secured my IMAX tickets for Dune Part 2 on opening weekend in 2 weeks.

Denis Villeneuve is one my favorite working directors. He’s yet to miss with me. When I heard his dream project was Dune & Dune Messiah, I was over the moon with excitement. The finished product did not disappoint. This worked on every level for me. Direction, acting, sound, music, cinematography, editing, all of it. This one is a clear contender for best film of the decade in 2029 (when I crown the winner lol). I only hope that it’s spot is taken by part two.

The spice must flow!!