Current Events > For the people that watched Dune, did you understand it? *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

I saw it with some friends. I came in blind pretty much and not reading the books, but I think they explained it fairly well.

I also have two friends that have read the first half of the movie.. so we talked about it after. But I still for the gist of it.

Some people don't get it all. I can't blame them if they aren't sci Fi fans and they watched it on HBO Max is instead of theaters.

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The movie is very well paced and explains itself thoroughly. Those who didn't "get" it just weren't paying attention or interested in it. Same thing happened in Blade Runner 2047 with some friends of mine. The nuance of the story was lost on them because it was dry and very serious, just not their vibe.

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it also helps to read the plot on Wikipedia too. You do get a better understanding. Even an overview summary of the first book

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Yeah it was pretty easy to follow. I read the books though, but even if I didn't I don't see how I'd get lost. I don't remember them explaining the Mentats though and they didn't do a very good job showing what they actually are.
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I've not read the books and I understood it. Some people tune out if there's not explosions and quips every two minutes.

It's not like the Dune books were particularly clear either though, especially after the first one

Books that have you thumbing back to the glossary several times every page are really annoying

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I understand clearly that The Spice is the drugs. The worms are the T. The atomic are the cheats. The Fremens are the brother. And so on.

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pinky0926 posted...

It's not like the Dune books were particularly clear either though, especially after the first one

Books that have you thumbing back to the glossary several times every page are really annoying

Uuuuhhh...I think that's just a you problem.

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Watched it today after knowing nothing besides the South Park episode spoofing it. Feel like I understood everything, maybe not at a metaphorical level but the laws of the universe felt coherent. What spice is, how shields work, political structure, and how some other spoiler-ish stuff works.

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Nope.

It boring. They should put Part 1 in the title.
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DocDelicious posted...

Uuuuhhh...I think that's just a you problem.

It's an extremely common complaint and not just about Dune.

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pinky0926 posted...

It's an extremely common complaint and not just about Dune.

Do you mean about books in general?

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Alteres posted...

Do you mean about books in general?

I mean if it's a technical book or an educational one a glossary of terms will always be necessary, sure.

I have a personal dislike for the tendency in so much high fantasy to use a large amount of impenetrable terminology that requires you to look back on a glossary to understand.

I realise many people love this sort of thing but I'm also not alone in being annoyed by it.

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Shields are explained but then immediately don't work as explained once battles start. Beyond that, the info dump at the beginning took care of most everything.

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Jiek_Fafn posted...

Shields are explained but then immediately don't work as explained once battles start. Beyond that, the info dump at the beginning took care of most everything.

How do you mean? There were only one or two fights that even involved personal shields, and it's demonstrated that only a handheld blade can penetrate them.

The only bit that bothered me was the scene where the Sardaukar use a lasgun to cut open the room in Tabr and everyone immediately activates their shields, even though if the laser made contact it would explode and kill all of them.

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pinky0926 posted...

It's not like the Dune books were particularly clear either though, especially after the first one

Books that have you thumbing back to the glossary several times every page are really annoying

I felt lost with all the made-up terms when I first tried to read Dune but I came back to it later and its really not hard to pick up on them as long as you push through the first couple dozen pages. Cant speak to the books after that, I do hear they are a lot more esoteric like you said.

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Yeah but I've already read all of the books so.

Shablagoo posted...

I felt lost with all the made-up terms when I first tried to read Dune but I came back to it later and its really not hard to pick up on them as long as you push through the first couple dozen pages. Cant speak to the books after that, I do hear they are a lot more esoteric like you said.

You do get into a rhythm of it eventually.

I think the Wheel of Time books were especially bad for this. Along with having like, 3000 characters with names like Eoin Varein Sameltz and described in painful detail right down to the shape of their earrings and 90% of them being completely irrelevant to the plot.

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pinky0926 posted...

You do get into a rhythm of it eventually.

I think the Wheel of Time books were especially bad for this. Along with having like, 3000 characters with names like Eoin Varein Sameltz and described in painful detail right down to the shape of their earrings and 90% of them being completely irrelevant to the plot.

I definitely know the phenomenon youre referring to. I remember being completely lost in college with all the new (to me) names of people and places when I first read Martin Lings seminal book on the life of Muhammad.

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I'll acknowledge that the insane level of details is specifically the appeal of fantasy for many people, but I think it disrupts the pacing significantly.

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I guess it depends on how good the writing is. A Song of Ice and Fire has insane detail but manages to keep a great flow all the same. In Dune the first few pages its like every other word is something like Kwisatz Haderach.

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The books were hella confusing so Im hoping the movie sort of solidifies the mental soup I retain of it.