by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Welcome to Cross-Platform Partners! In honor of a new movie release, I have selected a TV show to watch to pair with the movie. Think of it as a way to get hyped for the new movie, a preview of things to come, a means to tide you over if the movie won’t be released where you live for a little while, or a change of pace if you’ve run out of related movies or sequels.
For March, I picked Frank Herbert’s Dune to pair with Dune: Part Two!
For a long time, Frank Herbert’s Dune was part of that rare group of novels that was deemed unfilmable. A certain level of cinematic acumen was required to tackle such an intricate and layered story. From the visual appeal of the world to the themes of oppression and revolution, Dune is in a class all its own, but it took multiple attempts to get it to this point. 1984’s version of Dune is now considered a cult classic, but is largely a ridiculous movie. The next step to get to Denis Villeneuve is SyFy’s Dune miniseries.
This series takes place over three episodes spanning the length of Villeneuve’s Dune movies. With extra time, it explains the story a little better than the ‘84 version. The politics in Dune are already a little hard to get through, but this series slows down a little bit to explain the houses, the spice trade, and politics on the planet Arrakis. If you’re looking to learn more about the world of Dune, this series does a decent job of setting the table.
Although this miniseries does a great job of establishing a foundation, it suffers a little due to over-the-top performances that you’d typically find from the old-school SyFy Channel. There are not a lot of notable people in this version of Dune, with William Hurt being the most recognizable name of the group. Several performers overact, and it’s borderline parodic. For example, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Ian McNeice) is already an exaggerated character, but McNeice goes so far over the top that it’s distracting.
There are a few pretty good performances, though. As the lead character, Paul Atreides (Alex Newman) has a lot of growth. I was happy to see the show take Paul as far as it does. It doesn’t shy away from making him the leader he eventually becomes. At times, Newman’s line delivery is wooden and his mannerisms change to reflect his new given title. That doesn’t change the fact that Newman gives it his all, and he manages to have great chemistry with most of the cast, particularly with Barbora Kodetová, who plays Chani.
Structurally, I appreciate that each episode has a complete story without a whole lot of lingering cliffhangers. We go from the fall of House Atreides, to Paul becoming the savior of the Fremen, to the final battle for the liberation of Arrakis in about four and a half hours. Each episode is structured to tell a full story in the time of a feature film.
The fight choreography and action are not bad by SyFy standards. Although the big battle sequences don’t hold up as well, nor do the special effects, the individual fight scenes have decent sequences without being cut to death. The stunt work is also good, which helps make the fights believable.
In addition, the costumes and set designs are great. They don’t feel like cheap knockoffs of Star Wars costumes from a Spirit Halloween store. Costume designer Theodor Pistek took time to make the costumes specific to each character. In particular, the Emperor (Giancarlo Giannini) and Princess Irulan (Julie Cox) have excellent visual style. Along with costumes, the set designs for spaceships and the whole world of Arrakis is strong. Yes, there are a lot of obvious green screen effects, but the practical sets that are present are elaborate and grand in scale. The final sequence in particular with Paul and Feyd-Rautha (Matt Keeslar) is great for not only the fight choreography, but the set and lighting as well.
Frank Herbert’s Dune is a more faithful adaption to Dune than the ‘84 version, but it suffers from dated special effects, so-so acting, and a lot of dense storytelling. All the actors are doing their best, and credit goes to a lot of the technical aspects, like costumes, fight sequences, and action set pieces. Dare I say, this is a must-watch for anyone who is a fan of Dune, because it helps bridge the gap between book and screen better than expected.
You can read more from Mike Hilty, and follow him on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Serializd