TV: Dune: Prophecy

beowulf

Not a nice guy.
Jan 29, 2005
59,685
9,204
Ottawa
There is a lot of thoughts in the other thread on the subject


Some discussion of whether a Dune series not related to Akkaris would work etc.
 

hotcabbagesoup

"I'm going to get what I deserve" -RutgerMcgroarty
Feb 18, 2009
11,004
15,332
Reno, Nevada
I liked Episode 1. Liked the setting, the detail, the world-building looks so much more interesting than just the Harkonen home world and Arrakis of the Villaneueve movies.

The story beat feels a little weak, young Valya was intriguing/menacing but old Valya is a bit boring. A lot of the acting does feels like a CW-young adult-romance though. The fawning over the half-prince guy, "oh that's exactly what I'm looking for....a rich man with idle hands lol." The bar/makeout scene seemed generic. I liked it though. "Pull that stunt again and I'll kill you myself you little ****" in front of everyone at the party was intriguing, and even more so now that that little **** is dead.
 

eXile3

Registered User
Dec 12, 2020
4,707
4,584
I liked Episode 1. Liked the setting, the detail, the world-building looks so much more interesting than just the Harkonen home world and Arrakis of the Villaneueve movies.

The story beat feels a little weak, young Valya was intriguing/menacing but old Valya is a bit boring. A lot of the acting does feels like a CW-young adult-romance though. The fawning over the half-prince guy, "oh that's exactly what I'm looking for....a rich man with idle hands lol." The bar/makeout scene seemed generic. I liked it though. "Pull that stunt again and I'll kill you myself you little ****" in front of everyone at the party was intriguing, and even more so now that that little **** is dead.
I’m so glad someone else thought that. I said that to my girlfriend while we were watching. There are some strong actors but the younger ones in particular came across very CW.

That and the bad CGI battle with the “thinking machines” are the biggest negatives for me.

Some character and ideas are definitely intriguing so I’m going to keep watching.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HanSolo

HanSolo

DJ Crazy Times
Apr 7, 2008
99,365
35,721
Las Vegas
Couldn't get through the first episode. Its so laden with new names, concepts, plot threads with such minimal explanation delivered as though the viewer should be as familiar with them as the characters on screen...I know this one will likely all be clarified as the first season progresses but by next week I'll forget all the info I digested. I mean hell I watched like 38 minutes last night and I already forgot damn well everything beyond there's a Harkonnen Bene Gesserit, some noble married a kid, and this is the early days of the Corinno empire.

That's just a fraction of the information given to the viewer and the only way I'm going to keep up is if I binge this show.

World design is impressive. Some performances are solid, some are noticeably and markedly bad. Expository lore dump to start things off is a f***ing mess.
 

Osprey

Registered User
Feb 18, 2005
27,966
10,879
I expected to dislike it. I've never really cared for the Bene Gesserit and I wasn't eager for another series about space witches and acolytes. The lackluster reviews were pretty discouraging, as well. I ended up not hating the first episode, though, and I genuinely enjoyed the second. I daresay that I'm actually liking the series so far.

I think that it helps that the sisters are more human and less creepy here and also that they're only half of the story. The other half is about the Emperor's court and political games, and I'm enjoying that aspect of the show the most. It does feel a bit like Game of Thrones, which I think is fine because I read that G.R.R. Martin was influenced by Dune.

I haven't really had any trouble following along so far. My understanding isn't 100%, but I'm not confused about what's going on. There are a lot of names, but they're not as challenging to keep straight as they were with Shogun, and that ended up becoming my favorite series of the year. Characters are often just referred to by title or description (ex. Emperor, princess, Mother Superior) and, even when not, it's usually not hard to put a face to them by the context of the conversation.

Some of the younger actors do feel a little weaker than the rest and a bit too "pretty" (like Cristin Cole in House of the Dragon). I understand the "CW" complaints. When it's just those characters in scenes together, especially when they're at the nightclub, it doesn't feel like Dune or even a serious sci-fi any more. That said, those characters and scenes have the least amount of screen time in the series, so it hasn't bothered me too much so far.

The production quality is fantastic and at the level of other top HBO shows. The visuals, especially, are impressive. As a sci-fi fan, I'm loving how it looks.

If you get through the introductions and laying of the groundwork in the first episode, the series gets rolling at the end and then the second episode is better, IMO.
 
Last edited:

hotcabbagesoup

"I'm going to get what I deserve" -RutgerMcgroarty
Feb 18, 2009
11,004
15,332
Reno, Nevada
I expected to dislike it. I've never really cared for the Bene Gesserit and I wasn't eager for another series about space witches and acolytes. The lackluster reviews were pretty discouraging, as well. I ended up not hating the first episode, though, and I genuinely enjoyed the second. I daresay that I'm actually liking the series so far.

I think that it helps that the sisters are more human and less creepy here and also that they're only half of the story. The other half is about the Emperor's court and political games, and I'm enjoying that aspect of the show the most. It does feel a bit like Game of Thrones, which I think is fine because I read that G.R.R. Martin was influenced by Dune.

I haven't really had any trouble following along so far. My understanding isn't 100%, but I'm not confused about what's going on. There are a lot of names, but they're not as challenging to keep straight as they were with Shogun, and that ended up becoming my favorite series of the year. Characters are often just referred to by title or description (ex. Emperor, princess, swordmaster) and, even when not, it's usually not hard to put a face to them by the context of the conversation.

Some of the younger actors do feel a little weaker than the rest and a bit too "pretty" (like Cristin Cole in House of the Dragon). I understand the "CW" complaints. When it's just those characters in scenes together, especially when they're at the nightclub, it doesn't feel like Dune or even a serious sci-fi any more. That said, those characters and scenes have the least amount of screen time in the series, so it hasn't bothered me too much so far.

The production quality is fantastic and at the level of other top HBO shows. The visuals, especially, are impressive. As a sci-fi fan, I'm loving how it looks.

If you get through the introductions and laying of the groundwork in the first episode, the series gets rolling at the end and then the second episode is better, IMO.

Haha Cristin Cole is not pretty, come on. But swordmaster Atreides is very pretty though, he looks kinda like Michael Fassbender. Unfortunately you're prophetic in that I don't remember Mr. swordmaster's first name lol. I remember Constantine though, and he too is very pretty.
 

Osprey

Registered User
Feb 18, 2005
27,966
10,879
Episode 3 was a good character building episode, IMO. It seems like the 3rd episode of every show these days is a flashback that gives backstory on one or more main characters, and this is no different. It's a slower episode, but it didn't feel like it to me because I found the backstories interesting and there was no filler.

I'm enjoying the series. If you expect it to be like the novels or movies, you may be disappointed because the relationship to them is mostly limited to familiar names (Atreides, Harkonnen), references (to Arrakis, spice and worms) and technology. If you expect action, you'll be even more disappointed because there's very little. It feels similar to House of the Dragon (a little more so than GoT) in that it's a mostly dialogue-driven drama, but punctuated by brief moments of violence. I enjoyed HoD, so a lightly Dune-flavored version suits me, even if it's not entirely original. It may not be for everyone, though.
 
Last edited:

BillDineen

Former Flyer / Extinct Dinosaur Advisor
Aug 9, 2009
9,619
8,479
Sad. Series could have been about ai and machines, but instead it is boring witchcraft. If it was about monks, it wouldn't be made these days, but any message of girl power gets the green light. Still could be better with better writing, but I is what it is
 
Last edited:

TCTC

Registered User
Mar 25, 2013
13,389
9,820
If there's one aspect I didn't like about the movies it's the whole Bene Gesserit storyline. So it's a bit unfortunate that's what they turned into a TV show.
 

Bounces R Way

Registered User
Nov 18, 2013
37,361
60,203
Weegartown
I am enjoying the show quite a bit. Classic Sci FI Fantasy drama is a bold project to take on but already prefer this to Foundation and that Tolkien one Apple made. Seems really well cast, Mark Strong and Charlie Hunnam have me at fully invested. I know Hunnam gets a little hate online and is kind of B list tough guy typecast but when he's in the right role he can bring a lot to a project.

Do agree the Bene Gesserit sister stuff has been the weakest so far. But I think now after watching the 4th episode there's a lot of potential payoff from the secondary Harkonnen woman's twice born plot. The effects have been really cool, up to the feature film standard.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad