I was wondering if the Dune miniseries from 2000 or thereabouts is any good? I haven't seen any of the screen adaptions from the Dune universe yet..

It's certainly good enough to watch.
Low budget considering the size of the undertaking, good cast but direction leaves something to be desired. They did try to go by the books, to their credit.
The first one covers the first book, the 2nd mini series covers the next 2 books.

The movie from the 80's is a lot more fun to watch, although it only follows the book in the basic storyline. Watch it with an open mind and it's very enjoyable.

My basic run down,

The Dune mini-series is definitely worth watching as it does stay considerably loyal to the novel and the actors who played Paul, Baron Harkonnen and Gurney were quite good.

What bothered me is that the sets and costumes looked really cheap and the rest of the cast ranged from mediocre to horrid.


The Lynch film has a much more compelling and epic feel to it but it is not as faithful to the novel. The cast however is far superior and the soundtrack is great IMHO.

So I'd say you should watch both.

The mini was shot with a tiny budget in Prague IIRC, so other than the main cast the rest are local Czech actors. While the girl who played Chani was good (better than Sean Young actually), others like the ones who played Mentats Thufir and Pitr were not. I think things like the Harkonnen and Sarduakar uniforms were appropriated elsewhere (from historical dramas?) and used.

They did things more like it was a play, actually, so if you don't like seeing outdoor scenes that look like they're indoors, you'll be ticked at that.

Second miniseries was quite good, although the ages of the various characters was really messed with.



The Jedi Master

Its worth watching but its definitely cringe worthy. I think Panzer nails it pretty well. A few good actors and the worst special effects you've almost ever seen! This is a story that needs the 3 part movie Lord of the Rings/Hobbit/Peter Jackson treatment. Shia Lebouf (sp?) as Paul...... I'm killing myself here.......

EDIT: Bruce Willis as Gurney Halleck and Scarlet Johannsen as Jessica, alright I give up lol.....

there is a TV edited version of the Lynch's versiond that make the movioe more accurate to the book but is still far from the miniseries.

BTW if you want Scarlett Johanson as Jessica, Vin Diesel should take Gurney's role

Just for even mentioning that you should be forced to peel potatoes for 2 weeks. lol

The problem with the extended cut is that it gets rid of the excellent intro with Irulan's monologue and replaces it with a lame backstory intro complete with cheap camera zooms on paintings and pictures. Oh, and the male narrator used for that extended intro and throughout the film is lame too.

^LOL Yeah reminds me of Stan Lee narrating an Incredible Hulk/Spiderman cartoon.

Sorry can't resist Arnold for the Baron!!!!!!

Yeah, I still prefer the original movie. It would have been nice if they had put the water reclamation business in that one though, if nothing else. They didn't really stress the fanatical conservation of water part very well.