Hi guys, have you seen the latest Denis Villeneuve movie, Dune? What did you think of it? It’s got a rating of 8.2 on IMDB which is super high (albeit most movies tend to be overrated when they come out).
I’ll start with some comments. First off I have not read the book or seen the 1984 movie. So the plot twist was a pleasant surprise. The Dune universe and all of its intricacies (the Bene Gesserit sisters, the Sardaukar army, the various houses and factions etc.) were fascinating to learn about. The costumes were great while the dragonfly aircrafts were awesome….I did not think character development were that good. Paul’s growth in a capable leader felt rushed. None of the other characters felt that deep to be sympathized with (even Paul’s father).
Of course, the greatest thing about this movie is the soundtrack! Good old Hans Zimmer loved Dune and when Denis invited him to score the film, he agreed immediately! Zimmer said that he and his team worked around the clock and around the globe (literally) to produce a soundtrack that, in his words, must sound out of this world [sic]. So you hear a lot of whispers, natural sounds and dissonance in his music.
I am a great fan of Hans Zimmer after first discovering his score of True Romance (1993). So I covered 3 songs from this OST on the piano. Furthermore, I recognized a similarity between Zimmer’s Dune score and Ennio Morricone’s score of the Spaghetti Western ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, particularly the song ‘Man With a Harmonica’. So I mashed them up together! I hope you like it!
