The Dune movies are gorgeous to look at, but they struggle narratively – and it might be Star Wars’ fault.
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune duology is unarguably one of the new millennium’s most grandiose pieces of filmmaking. Everything about these magnificent movies is technically perfect, from their unearthly visuals to sound design richer than the Harkonnens. They’re both a veritable feast for the eyes and ears. There’s just one problem. Despite all that, the Dune movies are boring.
Ok, calling Denis’ Dune films boring is a bit of an exaggeration, but I had to get your attention somehow, and it’s not a million lightyears from the truth, is it? In our Dune 2 review, our inimitable Cameron Frew criticized the emotional dearth at the heart of the movie, and he’s right. While the sheer scale of the Dune films is impressive, the story of Chani and Paul gets lost in the shadow of Denis’ sandworm-sized ambition. Consequently, it can be hard to get too invested in their adventures.
That said, if I’m being honest, I don’t think this is really Denis’ fault. To me, the blame lies at the feet of another filmmaker, one who helped science fiction break into the mainstream: George Lucas. As the creator of Star Wars, all modern-day science fiction cinema owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Lucas, and yet I’d be willing to bet any filmmaker tasked with making a sci-fi movie curses him under their breath.
This must be George Lucas’ fault!
After all, when general audiences think of science fiction, they’ll likely picture Star Wars and the galaxy Lucas helped create. As a result, the pressure filmmakers feel to be different from Star Wars must be immense.
Just look at Zack Snyder’s recent foray into the genre with Rebel Moon. His newest epic is basically Kirkland brand Star Wars (apparently, it was originally pitched as a Star Wars film) with the licensable characters sandblasted off. Unsurprisingly, critics (read our Rebel Moon review here) tore it apart with as much compassion as a clone trooper gunning down a Jedi during Order 66, with the film’s lack of originality a recurring criticism.
What makes this a little galling is that, as revolutionary as Star Wars is, it’s basically a rip-off of other pre-existing films. Now, every film fan with a passing interest in Star Wars knows the debt the franchise owes to Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai and Hidden Fortress, most obviously) and Flash Gordon. Indeed, the apocryphal story is that Lucas intended to make a Flash Gordon movie, and when he couldn’t secure the rights, he basically did what I just accused Snyder of and went and made his own unlicensed version.
But what does this have to do with Dune and how Star Wars ruined it? Well, if Star Wars is a cinematic chimera comprised of Kurosawa and Flash Gordon, the final piece of its DNA must surely be Dune (specifically Alejandro Jodorowsky’s vision for author Frank Herbert’s Dune books). The similarities are obvious to those familiar with either franchise.
Both deal with a hero from a desert world using his special powers (that he received through his genetic lineage) to take down an evil space empire. Yes, there’s perhaps an argument to be made that those comparisons are superficial, but guess what? Superficial details tend to be what general audiences notice. As a result, anyone making a new Dune film has to wrestle with the possibility they’ll be accused of “copying Star Wars”.
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The shadow of Star Wars
Don’t take our word for it, though. It’s something Denis himself has actually spoken about.
“It was a very long process to find this identity in a world with the giant elephant of Star Wars in the room,” he told Empire. “George Lucas was inspired by Dune when he created Star Wars. Then, as we were making a movie about Dune, we had to negotiate the influence of Star Wars. It’s full circle.”
Unfortunately, I think in attempting to skirt around the Star Wars elephant, Denis has done himself and Dune a disservice. You see, I’ve always thought the reason Star Wars was so brilliant was that its characters were so well-defined. The original trilogy was ruthlessly efficient in characterizing Luke, Han, Vader, and Leia, while the worldbuilding around it was incidental.
Denis’ Dune almost feels like the exact opposite. The world of Dune and the production design around it is mindblowing. The environment feels totally alien – you can almost smell the spice in the air of Arrakis, the heat of the sand under your feet, and there are buildings and ship designs that look like something H.R. Giger would reject for being ‘a bit out there’.
It’s a credit to the technical skill of Denis and his crew. Yet, unfortunately, while the world is rich and layered, the characters themselves feel less developed and stilted (with the notable exception of Austin Butler’s Feyd Rautha). Did the “giant elephant of Star Wars in the room” distract Denis from the characters? Possibly, although Denis’ other films (particularly Arrival) have been brilliant at balancing incredible production design with deft character work.
Is Dune just a bit boring?
With that in mind, here’s a take so hot it makes an afternoon on Arrakis look like winter on Hoth. Dune’s story just doesn’t work on film. It’s simply too grand and too ambitious to be properly translated to the silver screen, and while Denis does a laudable job at adapting it, the Baron Harkonen-sized weight around his neck is Herbert’s impenetrable text. As such, any adaptation of Dune will struggle to tell a story audiences can connect with.
Dune’s just not a story that’s easy to engage with – it’s why I have never finished the book (yes, I know I’ve just admitted to being a thicky thick thicko with a degree from Thicks-ford University) – and I think this is what proves Lucas’ genius. He didn’t try to adapt Dune directly. He just took the cool bits of Herbert’s work (desert planets, an evil empire, force powers, etc.), and he used them to build his own story (well, Kurosawa’s story but swapping samurai for space wizards).
In the end, perhaps the lesson to be learned here doesn’t come from pitting Dune against Star Wars in a ceremonial knife fight for the title of best sci-fi movie. Instead, it’s that reimagining ideas rather than being slavishly dedicated to them is the best way to approach adaptation and take science fiction into the future.
