“Dune” is the film adaptation of the 1965 Frank Herbert science fiction novel. It’s been adapted for the screen a couple times. David Lynch has a famously flawed attempt. Sci-Fi channel did a series. Jodorowsky attempted but never completed it.
This version is directed by Denis Villeneuve, who directed other sci-fi epics “Blade Runner 2049” and “Arrival.”
For plot, “Dune” is both complicated and simple. The planet of Arrakis has Spice. It’s the universe's most powerful substance. And everybody wants it. Paul, played by Timmothy Calamet, is air to the throne of the planet’s newest colonizer. He is thought to be The One. A god figure and the center of the storie’s hero narrative. He intersects with the expectations of his birthright, the effects of colonization, and the impact of his gift.
Big themes are sci-fi world building, colonization from the perspective of the colonizer and the colonized. Capitalism, exploitation, and religion.
For this episode, I brought in Dune expert, our very own Marcus Doucette.