Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on March 21, 2013, 10:46:37 PM

Title: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 21, 2013, 10:46:37 PM

Frank Herbert's Dune (part 1 of 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueYYVRTWmjY#ws)

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 21, 2013, 10:49:14 PM

Frank Herbert's Dune (part 2 of 2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph3WlNFBIQY#ws)

These two are the entire TV miniseries, and surprisingly, have been up for over a year.  Not without its flaws, but mostly superior to the movie - at the very least, scriptwise.

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on March 21, 2013, 10:56:33 PM

Call me crazy.  I liked the movie. 

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 21, 2013, 11:17:40 PM

You are crazy, and everyone knows it.

I have a fantasy about being able to run the movie and the miniseries together - each has its strengths.  The movie did a better job of setting up the milieu and giving the sense of a far future where epic events are in play.  Both had lovely set designs and costuming - both had the guts to put funny hats on people.  Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to pick and choose which?  I would slightly tend to favor the cast from the movie, save the lead.  Both mishandled the Baron, the miniseries less so.

If the Blade Runner technology ever gets good enough, a clever amalgamation of the two versions of the story ought to be breathtaking.  It's fun to dream.

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on March 22, 2013, 01:28:56 PM

I've never watched the miniseries, just bits and pieces. 

Just watched the hand in the box scene...Movie beats it hands down IMO. 


I seem to remember the tv series having the natives bringing knives to a gun fight as well.  I don't care what space ninjitsu it is, that's just silly.  Give me the sound weapons. 

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 22, 2013, 02:41:03 PM

Read the book, man.

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on March 22, 2013, 02:56:07 PM

Tried once upon a time.  Not interested. 

(I struggle with a lot of scifi, though, so, yeah.) 

Space ninjitsu just doesn't grab me. 

At least the Jedi had MAGIC swords to go with their space kung fu.  MAGIC sound-guns make more sense to me. 

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 22, 2013, 02:57:54 PM

Uh huh.

Read the book, man.

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on March 22, 2013, 02:59:46 PM

Why?

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 22, 2013, 03:07:22 PM

Because it's THAT good.  Starts a little slow, but pays off.

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on March 22, 2013, 03:17:57 PM

Yeah, yeah, LOTR is supposed to be "THAT GOOD", too.  It sucks.  So do the movies.

LOTR:  Meh.  Give me a good Arthurian legend. 

Dune:  Meh. Give me Stargate.  More adventure, less religious environmentalism.  Something the movie version manages to minimize in favor of epic sound gun battles. 

And the space witches were largely wasted potential. 

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 22, 2013, 03:20:48 PM

Siiiigh. 

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on March 22, 2013, 04:02:25 PM

More skulls, Stargate is clearly superior. 

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M2maZIujee4/UUyAMcR_gXI/AAAAAAAARm0/M7zwPwQzRv8/s800/Stargate013111-thumb-330x219-56482.jpg)

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 22, 2013, 04:04:23 PM

Movie or series?

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on March 22, 2013, 04:40:38 PM

Pretty sure that pic is from a series considering the pine trees in the background. 

Honestly didn't watch much of the series though.  MacGyver did ok but some of the others annoyed me. 

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 22, 2013, 04:50:32 PM

There was nothing wrong with the series, as such; just, in the final analysis, it wasn't all that good. 

I never got why the movie was such a flop.  I thought it was ok.

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on March 22, 2013, 05:22:18 PM

It was one of those I'd stop if looking through the channels and saw it, but never really made a point of making sure to catch it.  Good as a monster of the week show (or god of the week as the case may be here), not so good when trying to form larger plotlines.

The spinoff sucked royally.  Space vampires.  Seriously? 

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 22, 2013, 05:25:35 PM

yeah; never got into Stargate Lite at all.

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Lord Avalon on March 22, 2013, 11:49:58 PM

You don't bring a knife to a gunfight, unless you have a shield belt which negates the guns.  8)

Stargate didn't have religious environmentalism, just religious we stole technology which makes us vastly more powerful than you puny humans, so worship us ism.
  :adore:

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on March 25, 2013, 02:50:35 PM

I will say the whole shield thing was very poorly done in the movie.  Why bother even foreshadowing it and never utilize it later?   

But the shields didn't do much at the first of the movie thanks to the drill gun thingamabobs.  Was that nonexistant in the book? 


Stargate was on over the weekend on cable.   :D


One thing that bugs me with scifi in general:

Why do humans always know how to use alien tech?  (props to District 9 there) 

And why are Aliens typically stagnate when it comes to researching even better stuff? 

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 25, 2013, 03:18:22 PM

Dunno as to the latter.  Bad writing, mostly, I think.

There were indeed no drill gun thingamabobs in the book, or sonic weapons, either.  Shields were the whole reason for all the knives -they stopped bullets and exploded like nukes when hit with lasers- and no sonic weapons.  Neither movie nor miniseries bothered to explain that; a pretty serious oversight.

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on March 25, 2013, 06:35:36 PM

I suppose the shield protects from the nuke explosiveness? 

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 25, 2013, 06:42:28 PM

Nope, it 'splodes, and it 'splodes the laser, too - that's why there should be no guns.  None of it makes any sense, otherwise.

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Lord Avalon on March 25, 2013, 08:07:19 PM

IIRC, shields even stop a fast knife thrust.  You have to be slow enough to get through the shield, yet fast enough to hit your opponent.

Quote from: Unorthodox on March 25, 2013, 02:50:35 PM

Stargate was on over the weekend on cable.   :D

One thing that bugs me with scifi in general:

Why do humans always know how to use alien tech?  (props to District 9 there) 

And why are Aliens typically stagnate when it comes to researching even better stuff? 

Uh, humans have Top Minds working on alien tech?

My impression is that the Goa'uld took over hosts that knew how to use technology, but not how to research.  And any that became powerful enough to be a System Lord were too busy fighting other System Lords to do research.  Or if one tried, other System Lords would gang up and stop it.  It was only after Anubis was overthrown and thought dead, that he did anything.  First he attempted to gain power through ascension, and when that wasn't permitted, he went into research.

If you have enough technology to enslave masses and be thought a god, maybe you're not too curious about creating more, just curious enough to try and find more powerful Ancient relics.  And you'd squash any curious underlings who might create something that could overthrow you.

More generally, being immortal or very long-lived may lead to stagnation.  One government, too.  Humans, by comparison, breed like rabbits, are short-lived, and the various nations fighting creates an environment for rapid invention.

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Geo on March 30, 2013, 12:21:28 PM

Okay, that was a re-introduction to Dune.  :D

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Zoid on April 01, 2013, 03:27:40 PM

Quote from: Unorthodox on March 22, 2013, 03:17:57 PM

Yeah, yeah, LOTR is supposed to be "THAT GOOD", too.  It sucks.  So do the movies.

You ARE crazy! :wall:

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: Unorthodox on April 01, 2013, 04:08:48 PM

The movies COULD have been good with someone who knows the meaning of the word "edit". 

Title: Re: Dune
Post by: ariete on May 12, 2013, 12:52:46 PM

I saw again the movie recently and i'm watching the miniseries in these evenings. In the miniseries is all explained much more in depth, and the special effects are a bit more made better than the movie (even if the spice harvester model is more cool in the movie). Also in miniserie you lose those mentally ill characters of the film as the cardiovascular valve and other about the figure of the Baron as BUncle said. A bit more slow but i can say frank herberts is more well done compared to movie (and this is also seen when riding the worm).

Stargate i remember is a cool movie, but i could watch it again, it's long time since I even watch because unfortunally I don't have it, the miniseries i never follow when tv broadcasted it ... maybe i did wrong