re: Having a hard time getting into Dune

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Sure maybe they could understand the basic plot that 2 sides are at war over a planet but a viewer misses out on SO much if all they have is the movie to lean on. They don't explain Mentats at all, they don't explain what makes the spice so valuable, they don't explain the Bene Gesseret's at all. They barely explain why Jessica birthing a boy was an issue. They don't really do a good job of explaining Yueh's betrayal and why it was unlikely. They don't explain why the Atreides were given Dune or where the Emperor fits into it. They don't explain who the Sardakaur are and why they are so feared. They don't explain why Kynes being Liet is important. Hell they don't explain the overarching politics of great houses, minor houses, the CHOAM, the Guild, The emperor or anything like that.

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I saw part 2 last night and it fixes a TON of the issues I mentioned above. They really do a GREAT job of explaining the dynamics of the situation and the different players. It’s MUCH more palatable for a non reader than Dune part 1 was. I honestly think you could skip part 1 and just watch part 2 and be able to follow the story fairly well.

They hit the main points of the book in the movie but figured out quicker ways to get to those points. My only real complaint was how they changed Chani from the supportive woman in Paul’s life to some liberal she-warrior who protested Paul the entire way. They also made Stilgar kind of a bumbling idiot compared to the stoic leader he was in the book.

Other than those 2 complaints though, I thought Dune 2 was and INCREDIBLE adaptation of the book and I can’t wait for the 3rd movie.

SPOILERS:

Edit: I watched a video of the director explaining why he changed Chani's character and it makes more sense to me now. Basically in the book Chani is very supportive of Paul and even tells him to marry the princess because its for the good of their people but it is easily missed by readers in the book that Paul changed course after drinking the water of life and now intends to use the Lisan-Al Gaib legend to his advantage to get his revenge/get power. I agree that its a little ambiguous as to what his true intentions are in the book. To combat this in the movie, they used Chani to show that someone sees through his BS and can see his true intentions. I agree that this does do a better job of conveying to the audience that Paul may not be pure of heart. My only issue with this is that it does take away some of the "magic" that maybe Paul really is a prophet thats come to save the Fremen.