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Not sure that The Guardian can decide if the whole Dune ethos was fascist or anti-fascist!
Usul of Arabia.
Not sure that The Guardian can decide if the whole Dune ethos was fascist or anti-fascist!
I think the Guardian's possible luke-warm reception of it comes from ambiguity.
The don't want to be seen promoting a 'fascist' movie (whatever that is) yet don't think the viewing public understand subtle things like satire or clever criticism (such as in Troopers). I don't read news papers, so have any reviews dipped their toes into the world of Dune being - on the surface - a story about a nomadic desert people rising up against alien occupiers who want to exploit the natural resources? I'd think this is more obvious than any 'fascist' interpretation.
Please note: this is not to open up debate about current affairs - this core implication (?) was in the original novel that the films are based on. You could use exactly the same premis on *boke* Battlefield Earth.
Sorry Ramon!Dune: Part Two: Sand, Sand, and more effing Sand! There is a certain Monty Phytonesque touch to Dune: Part Two. Paul insists he;s not the Messiah yet we get a scene straight out of Life of Brian with a gaggle of Fremen giggling as they proclaim him as the Messiah. This is a serious issue though; Chani (Zendaya) and other young Fremen reject the idea of a Messiah as something that holds them back and oppose the more conservative people. Chani still admire Paul though and their relationship flourishes as the narrative unfolds. Lady Jessica (Rebecca Fergusson) becomes Reverend Mother of the Fremen, surviving a grueling, deadly ritual. she heads south to win over the Fundamentalist Fremen to Paul's cause as the Messiah. The Emperor Christopher Walken) also casts a beady eye on Arrakis, his daughter, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) however is very much a creature of the Bene Gesserit. The Harkonnens continue to oppress the Fremen but the failure of Glisssu Harkonnen (Dave Bautista) to inflict a telling defeat lead to his replacement by Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler), Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's (Stellan Skarsgård) youngest nephew and heir ("na-Baron") to House Harkonnen. All of these threads eventually entwine as the film heads towards it's conclusion.
Great battle scenes which at times reminded me of Lawrence of Arabia as armies on foot clash in great numbers and engage in sword fights. The one to one duels are also captivatingly cruel. The desert is very much a supporting actor as Paul earns his spurs as a Fremen fighter with the help of Chani. The guerrilla tactics of the Fremen are convincingly displayed as they destroy ornithopters and spice gathering machines, The war of the Flea at work. Villenue appears to be drawing analogies as he shows the ornithopters targeting people on the ground and the destruction of a Fremen habitat as collective punishment but make yiur own mind up about that. Butler plays Feyd-Rautha as a murderous sociopath who will do anything to achieve results to please Baron Harkonnen. He kills at will to provide human food for his three cannibal concubines. Too many in the ensemble cast to name them all but some great performances. All in all a triumph, Villenue may not be minded to make any sequels but I hope his directorial baton will be lifted by a suitable successor. Directed by Denis Villeneuve who co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Spaihts. 9/10.
In cinemas.
Yes! One scene where a bunch of guts were declaring Paul was the messiah was straight out of Life of Brian.
Did you get access to Jodorwosky's version or were you on pharmaceuticals watching it?
That is a 'thing' all the way from the original material.There is also the whole "white Messiah" thing which, naturally, would give any self-respecting Guardianista an attack of the vapours.
There are those who would describe Paul Atreides as a thinly disguised Lawrence of Arabia.
The concept of guerilla action and pressure hadn't occurred to them?
TIL that after being rejected by 20 publishers, Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi classic Dune was finally picked up by Chilton Books. The publisher was previously known only for those big car repair manuals sold in auto parts stores.
It’s all a bit fanciful for a car repair manual isn’t it?
I could never properly enjoy Starship Troopers, since the powered armour was such a massive part of the book, to strip it out of the film made no sense.I agree and I'm a great fan of Paul Verhoeven - Flesh and Blood, Robocop and Starship Troopers were absolute masterpieces!
Verhoeven did though pile on the satire pretty thick with Troopers that resulted in me rooting for the bugs by the end!
The novel, which I read back in my student days, just like Dune, was rather more straightforward gung-ho fare and, IIRC, lacked the caustic cynicism of the movie.
I think the powered armour made an appearance in Starship Troopers 3.I could never properly enjoy Starship Troopers, since the powered armour was such a massive part of the book, to strip it out of the film made no sense.
Edit: In fact it would be like making a Dune film but deciding not to have any sandworms or spice.
There's a Starship Troopers 3? Wait, there's a Starship Troopers 2?I think the powered armour made an appearance in Starship Troopers 3.
That's what gets me. The books say the Fremen are such good fighters even an 'untrained' Fremen housewife can take out a platoon of the best soldiers in the entire empire, the Sardukar. How are they losing versus the Harkonens, it made no sense in the books.They were already engaged in a guerrilla war,
That's what gets me. The books say the Fremen are such good fighters even a Fremen housewife can take out a platoon of the best soldiers in the entire empire, the Sardukar. How are they losing versus the Harkonens, it made no sense in the books.
That's what gets me. The books say the Fremen are such good fighters even a Fremen housewife can take out a platoon of the best soldiers in the entire empire, the Sardukar. How are they losing versus the Harkonens, it made no sense in the books.
Indeedy.There's a Starship Troopers 3? Wait, there's a Starship Troopers 2?
Yes thats it.The Fremen are keeping a low profile under the Harkonens, content to be neglected by an incurious regime that has vastly underestimated their numbers and has no conception of their clandestine ecological project.
While they don't have much weaponry during Paul's time, they do have some. And the Harkonen's don't know where the Seitches are (it's a plot point), so their wouldn't be too much fear of reprisal against the Seitches. We do know there can't be tons of Fremen though, the environment simply won't allow it. And they can't all go offworld to Jihad, while they control the Spacing Guild, there simply isn't enough ships (and some portion of the Fremen must stay on Arrakis to keep the spice flowing). And we also know the Jihad is ultimately successful, killing 60 billion people.The Fremen are keeping a low profile under the Harkonens, content to be neglected by an incurious regime that has vastly underestimated their numbers and has no conception of their clandestine ecological project.
While they don't have much weaponry during Paul's time, they do have some. And the Harkonen's don't know where the Seitches are (it's a plot point), so their wouldn't be too much fear of reprisal against the Seitches. We do know there can't be tons of Fremen though, the environment simply won't allow it. And they can't all go offworld to Jihad, while they control the Spacing Guild, there simply isn't enough ships (and some portion of the Fremen must stay on Arrakis to keep the spice flowing). And we also know the Jihad is ultimately successful, killing 60 billion people.
Based on that the Fremen's kill/loss ratio must be absolutely extraordinary. Thus a few Fremen, maybe extra angry and grabbing some of the weaponry they do have, should seemingly be able to take out an entire Harkonen settlement. The guerrilla war which the Fremen were already engaged in, should just be a slaughter.
Ah.
But anyone who is familiar with the series will understand that.