Everything Wrong With Dune (1984) In 18 Minutes Or Less

Dune is one of the most beloved science fiction novels of all time. It was adapted for film in 1984 and, well, it's just not all that great. But now Denis Villeneuve has remade it, so we figured it was time to finally comb through the original for sins.

Thursday: Foxy sins!

Remember, no movie is without sin. Which movie's sins should we count next?

•Channels•

•Podcasts•

•Writers Social•

•Discord: Request on Facebook or Reddit!

[raydunakin]

I saw this in the theater when it first came out. As people entered the theater, there was an usher handing out fliers that were supposed to help explain what was going on in the movie. That's when we knew it was going to be a mess.

[dawnofapril]

Of course Patrick Stewart would save the pug while blasting enemies like they are the Borg in First Contact.

[benabramowitz]

I can't wait to watch the new Dune movie on my iPhone, as David Lynch would've intended.

[stephenparallox]

The first time i saw Patrick Stewart holding a Pug, rushing into battle, yelling "Long Live Duke Leto!" For a brief second I thought the Pug's name was Duke Leto. :)

[kendavis]

The cinematography in this film was brilliant. The screenplay sucked eggs. If you actually read the book, they got through less than half the book in the first one and three quarters hours. Then, they tried to get the second half in during the last 20-ish minutes. The second half of the book was much more interesting than the first. NOT ENOUGH SINS!

[claressalucas]

Yes! The cat milking wasn't in the book but was so randomly specific. Thank you muchly for calling it out!!

[Argnad]

Taming the sand worm sounds like it will be difficult.

Actually it will be super easy, barely an inconvenience!

Oh, really?

[Calekoflight]

My favorite bit of Dune movie trivia is Sting was going to do a full frontal nude scene but the production team panicked at the last minute and they made that weird winged underwear thing about an hour before the scene was filmed.

[geardog]

"Mood's a thing for cattle and love play."

*-Patrick Stewart, Dune 1984*

[Vacuon]

A Sci-Fi nerd would know that a "standard day" is a day as it lasts on the reference planet (probably Caladan in this case). Since they are moving planets (to Arakis), a day is not the same length, but they still measure time according to their home time for archival consistency.

[GideonNine]

I really thought you were going for a sin-count of 10, 191 there.

[GBlastMan]

Fun Fact: the inner narration of the main protagonist and essencially everybody in this movie was added because the studio thought that people could get bored if there was silent scenes of visual exposition and because they thought people could not understand what was happening on screen unless somebody explicity spell it out for them.

This also happend with Blade Runner but Harrison Ford fought against it since it could make the movie sound boring and overly "stupid" even if the movie was more like a Cyberpunk Noir, with Dune was also added in a way to make it feel like a fantastical fairytale kinda movie, and of course to add an hour extra to the movie so you could properly know what the hell is happening and what everything is and how it works, in short terms bad bad writting all across the board.

[Dularr]

Can't wait for the sins for Dune 2021.
Josh Brolin not running into battle carrying a pug.

[nickf]

*Screaming* DUNE IS A CLASSIC, YOU HAVE NO...

(Wife, from the other room) Is someone bad-mouthing the 1984 version of Dune, again?

*Still screaming* YES! AND THEY...

(Wife, again) Are they wrong?

*Awkward silence* ...No.

[porpoise]

"God, I hate this kid" may be the best sin ever.

[Drengade]

It's been a long time since i read the book, so i may be misremembering, but i believe those personal shields have made firearms irrelevant in their universe. The shields stop things that are moving fast, but let through slow moving things, so fighting is all about occupying the opponent's fast blocking sword with your own, while trying t sneak your knife through the shield at a slower speed.

[SethBeck]

"Walk without rhythm and you won't attract the worm." Cue Fat Boy Slim and Christopher Walken.

[joecope]

I have a friend who went to one of the original screenings of this movie back in 1984. He told me that the theater had to hand out a printed synopsis/glossery to guests as they entered so they wouldn't be too confused while watching the movie.

[Venemofthe]

Dune really does feel like someone watching Star Wars high as hell and trying to recall what he saw to someone who is stoned

[Tari]

I was in high school when this Dune movie was released. I'm proud to say everyone in my AP, college prep, totally genius & wonderfully nerdy group of friends. (I still wonder why or how, like Screech, I was part of their group.) We were all excited to see the movie being huge fans of the books. Naturally, we all cut class & went to see the premier. About 20 of us were sitting together in a big block, dead center. It was so quiet as everyone in the theater was watching intently.
When the father, Leto Atreides, said he'll "Miss the sea" all of us, in unison, like some La La Land, pre-rehearsed, never happen in real life moment, shouted... "After what happened in DAS Boot?!?!"
Almost everyone in the theater burst out laughing & clapping. Those few who didn't get the reference were quickly told and, well... it was the best part of the whole movie.
I'd forgotten that Dune movie experience till Cinema Sins reminded me. Thanks for the memory refresh and as always your entertaining review of this movie.