"Fear is the Mind Killer."

I decided to jump ahead and read Dune before Denis Villeneuve releases his two-part modern adaptation starring a who's-who of current Hollywood A-listers.  By the time I reached the final few chapters of Frank Herbert's seminal work, the December 2020 release date for Villeneuve's film was pushed out to October 2021 amid serious concerns over profitability, considering most theaters are still indefinitely shut down because of Pandemic 2020. 
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The world of 2020 is certainly not that of the year before, or the year before that.  Overall, it's been quite unlike any year I've ever experienced.  My parents and their friends, people with far more miles on their backbones, can attest to that as well.  Comprises, concessions, job losses, shutdowns, divorces, suicides, wealth transfers - you name it - have all up-ticked dramatically over the last so many months.  Like it or not, this is the year 2020, my movie theater pining notwithstanding.
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Despite the delay, there's still options!  HBO MAX recently turned-on their online platform, and for a monthly fee, one can peruse their large assortment of varying quality shows and movies.  In fact, I found the original Dune movie on there.  You know, the one directed by that weird dude David Lynch who later blessed us (or cursed us) with mind-scratching and soul-agonizing flicks like Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway. 
 
My imagination still flowering with the ideas Herbert painted in my brain-space, I watched Lynch's film to see how he interpreted the story.  Hmmm.  Maybe bad idea.  The 1984 version is utter shit.  I'd give it an F if it weren't for the surrealist imagery and gentle poetic scenes that offer a small glimpse of what the film maybe could have been if Lynch had a modern budget, modern effects, and a longer running time.  Thus, the movie had shit effects, an incomprehensible story (unless you read the book), and I felt like half the scenes were filmed on a high school theater stage.  Oh well, we can't get all the hours we waste on pointless things back, can we?  
 
With the book and the 1984 movie out of my way, we all must wait another year for Villeneuve to greenlight his version in the theaters.  And judging by the trailer, yes, yes indeed, it will be a sight to see.  Besides, Villeneuve is the best sci-fi director working right now, so I'm not too worried.  (Although I think Alfonso Cauron could take that mantle if he actually cared about making sci-fi films rather than producing and directing pet projects.  Children of Men, anyone?!).  In case you forgot, Villeneuve directed Sicario (fantastic), Arrival (original and great), and Blade Runner 2049 (an underrated masterpiece). 
 
And what of the book itself, you ask?  What can really be said, honestly?  Dune is rightfully considered a sci-fi masterpiece.  It's a long book and a somewhat deep book.  If I read it in high school, I would have surely been overwhelmed by the glossary of strange terms like Gom Jabber, Kwisatz Haderach and Missionaria Protectiva.  The jumping around between intertwining stories may have just been too much.  Now, I found it all fascinating and compelling.  Surely my ease into the story can be attributed to reading other stories before, like the quite complex Song of Ice and Fire series, and watching serial shows with a lot depth that require careful attention, like The Wire and Mad Men. On that note, there's no doubt Herbert's influence - just like Tolkien's - can be felt in modern day sci-fi and fantasy tropes.  
 
I do wonder, however, if the straightforward hero's journey of Paul Muad'dib avenging his father's death will feel a little dated in our Game of Thrones what-the-fuck-just-happened era.  Postmodernism didn't just hit academia, it hit movies and TV too.  Narratives and characters today are upended and thrown to the shock-value wolves all to keep the viewers guessing and interested.  What shows like GOT did, or better yet, The Sopranos did was tell producers that the new formula is grey, not black-and-white.  The heroes have flaws.  Actually, the heroes aren't even heroes, but we root for them anyway, (Breaking Bad).  Or, the heroes don't want to be the hero and they're bad at it, (Jon Snow).                    
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Selfishly, I wish Dune would come out this December, but from another perspective it makes sense to postpone until next year.  Surely, many young and old will scramble to see the film, especially if the quarantines persist on some level into 2021.  How people will receive Paul Atreides's somewhat straightforward hero's journey is yet to be seen, but I have no doubt people will be in awe from the spectacle.
 
Summary:  Despite its somewhat straightforward hero's journey, Dune justifies its place in the pantheon of fantasy and sci-fi epic masterpieces.  A seminal work of imagination and world building.    
 
Rating:  9.0
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-E.B.
 2020-10-21  



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