Dune Mini-Series Review

Dune is easily one of the greatest sci-fi epics of all time.  It’s massive is scope and also incredibly personal with its cast of fantastic characters.  Surely a series of this magnitude must have been adapted for the screen at some point.  It was, by David Lynch in 1984.  We don’t like to talk about it.  But fear not Dune lovers, for there is an adaptation of this great book that doesn’t suck and is pretty faithful to the source material.  I’m talking about the mini-series Frank Herbert’s Dune.

This mini-series came out in 2000 on the Sy-Fy channel back when it was called Sci-Fi.  The series had a great cast and won two Emmys.  It was so successful, that a sequel was made, Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune, an adaptation of the second and third books of the series.  Sadly, no more were made after that, but that mini-series is also worth checking out.

The series follows the novel pretty well, with all the characters included and they’re pretty well presented.  The plot’s the same as it was in the novel with the key moments being brought to life beautifully on the screen.   The plot still follows Paul Atreides as he is forced to confront his destiny amidst war, political scheming and young love.  That’s the plot boiled down to its most basic form.  To be honest, I’d recommend reading the book first because it’ll give you a better idea of the setting and universe.   I could go on for ages talking about it, but trust me when I say that you’ll love it as much as I do.

Back to the series, the special effects for it are pretty good considering the time and network that it was made for.  None of that cheesy Sci-Fi original movie stuff.  They hold up pretty well even today, and the film is just gorgeous to look at with sweeping desert vistas.  The costumes, sets, props, everything looks like it should from the novel.  The acting is great with a terrific cast.  You may recognize a few of the actors from other works.

All in all, the series is worth checking and definitely worth getting on DVD.  It’s long, but you need a long series to contain the epicness of the novel.  It has amazing attention to detail.  I recommend it to any fan of the books, and for anyone who enjoys a good science fiction series.

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