I must confess I did enjoy David Lynch’s Dune, because it was about Dune! A book that I enjoyed as a teenager in the 80s. To be able to see the stories as written by Frank Herbert was just icing on the cake. Yes, there are certain particularities in that movie and even some darkness from the evil Harkonnens but I think it’s par for the course as per the book. When Denis Villeneuve was mentioned to direct a new version, I was naturally excited as he has a ability to make a visual spectacle. It was the first movie I went back to watch in the theatres during covid and was I glad I did – the visuals promised didn’t disappoint. What I found lacking was the pace of the movie and the almost exact story structure of Lynch’s movie which made the watch almost samey but much grander with fantastic effects (it’s almost 40 years from Lynch’s movie – so it had better be!)

So the learning from the movie or the book is how humanity is constantly being held hostage by a critical resource – the spice melange (crude oil) and how outsiders (geo-political allegorists) are constantly looking to exploit and hunt for it. Political backstabbing and betrayal (topics we don’t teach enough on) follows naturally when the hero’s family (house Atreides) was destroyed by the Harkonnens and the Galactic King. There’s also a religious undertone for this sci-fi story where the ideas of fate and destiny play a part by the Bene Gesserit who are trying to create a messiah. Very forward thinking for a book written in the 60s. For those in the know, George Lucas has mentioned many times that Star Wars was heavy influenced by Dune. What are your thoughts on the movie?