Movie 3 - Dune

It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

Movie number three was  watched on a two movie day.  Number one was Dune (1984).

I read the books many, many years ago and enjoyed them, I never got around to watching the movie though.  It was strange seeing some familiar actors and also seeing how the characters were portrayed in the movie, along with how the descriptions of Caladan and Arakis translated into film in the 80's.  

I thought overall that the film has survived the test of time really well.  There and no huge computer scenes thanks to the fact that computers themselves don't really exist in the setting which I think makes a big difference to how well a sci fi movie dates. 

The special effects look really great even now, other than some slightly  more obvious blue screen work (thank what you would notice now with CGI / green screen), it looks good and the fact that it was 80's style doesn't effect the telling of the story overall it still works for me.

I really enjoyed the character portrayals, Baron Harkonnan, although not exactly as I pictured him I think the movie made a good representation, the same goes with the Mentats and how they looked.  The scenes on Arakis and in the desert looked good with the worms looking amazing.

Working on the new rating system:
Overall Rating - 
How did the movie date:  ***** 5 stars.  This movie is still just as watchable now as it was when made; the effects do the film justice and with the lack of actual computers I think it has dated less than it might have were included.

Story line: **** 4 stars.  Dune is a classic Sci Fi novel and the movie does a good job of capturing the essence.  No movie can portray all the subtleties of a book though.