you seem to Know Things about Dune so I figured I'd get your opinion. I feel like I should at least TRY Dune, as a human person who's into scifi. I attempted the books at FAR too young an age (I got about twenty pages in at at thirteen and quit), but I'm older and wiser now, and suspect starting with a movie will be easier. Should I start with the 1984 version, or wait to see this new one? (Yes I love star trek, so campy eighties scifi is frankly ideal.)
“you seem to know things about dune” GOD a devastatingly accurate callout!!! but YES i do think that watching one of the movies is a great way to ease into dune. the novels drop you into this absolutely bonkers world and doles out context sparingly, so it does help to have watched a cliffnotes version of the plot, and to have some visuals in mind as you’re reading. having now watched both movies: i think either would serve as an effective intro, it’s just a matter of taste? they’re both faithful adaptations of the source material, they’re both strange and slow paced and will probably leave you with more questions than answers, they’re both visually fascinating in their own ways and have killer soundtracks. the differences:
1984 dune: imo the more ENTERTAINING adaptation to watch - it is SO campy, colorful, baroque, and unintentionally hilarious. if you already love freaky 80s sci fi i highly recommend it. fully leans into the weirdness (and GROSSNESS) of the source material and occasionally even ups the ante. a deliciously trippy mood piece that will put you in an altered state of consciousness if you let it, but it doesn’t really get into the book’s more serious themes & cynical subtexts. (note: there’s an extended cut but i wouldn’t recommend it, as i recall it just slows things down to a glacial pace without adding much)
new dune: runs slightly closer to the plot of the books. while still being significantly weirder and artsier than your average blockbuster, it’s much more normie than lynch’s dune. solemn and brutal, and the acting is more naturalistic. i like that it’s more interested in the ecological and political themes of the book, and in getting to the real POINT of the book by showing the poisonous underside of the protagonist’s “hero’s journey.” (note: it only covers the first half of the book, but if you just want a jumping off point into the series it still works!)
tl;dr if you want to have a wild wacky memeable time i would go for ‘84 dune, if you want a serious grandiose epic i would watch the new one! i feel like they capture different aspects of the book, which sits somewhere between the two in terms of tone, so either way you get a good introduction to the worldbuilding!
