History YMMV / Dune2021

* BrokenBase: Unsurprisingly, regarding which is the better ''Dune'' adaptation between this one and the [[Film/Dune1984 1984 movie]] from Creator/DavidLynch, though with very few exceptions, even those who prefer Lynch's ''Dune'' think that Villeneuve's ''Dune'' is a superb adaptation. The 2021 ''Dune'' was better received by critics, was a commercial success and is more faithful to the books, though the 2024 film deviates significantly more.. Nonetheless, there's some people who still prefer the 1984 ''Dune'' because of its aesthetics, its cast, even its large amount of {{Camp}}/ChewingTheScenery, arguing that it adds to the movie's appeal rather than hurting it. It's up to debate how much NostalgiaFilter plays a role.

** That the Fenrings are not even mentioned in the film has also been a bit of a dissappointment for some, considering they are both interesting characters (especially the Count, for spolieriffic reasons) who get often left completely out by adaptations.

* EpilepticTrees: The Harkonnens have a weird dog-sized insect creature with human-like hands wandering around which Piter de Vries calls a pet. It's original to the film and never has any effect on the story, so it's anyone's guess what the purpose is. Many assume that it is just a small ShoutOut to the [[WatchItStoned random weirdness for the sake of being weird]] that tend to be part and parcel of ''Dune'' adaptations, but were purposely understated in this one. It's become a WildMassGuessing theory that [[spoiler: the spider pet is what's become of ''Wanna'', Dr. Yueh's wife]] (although other possible explanation is Villeneuve wanting to foreshadow the Bene Tleilax in case the films do well enough to warrant a ''Literature/DuneMessiah'' adaptation).

* [[Memes/Dune2021 Memetic Mutation]]

** After Dr. Yueh [[spoiler: finishes examining Paul for possible adverse effects from exposure to spice after Paul's participation in the mining survey turned on-the-fly rescue mission]] and before leaving him with Jessica, he and Paul having a brief conversation in [[spoiler: Mandarin Chinese where the former warns the latter that the Bene Gesserit's grand project of "the greater good" should be taken with a sceptical view.]] Yueh presumably does this because even though Jessica in a previous scene confidently warns a female Freman that she knows many things, [[spoiler: Mandarin Chinese]] probably is not one of them.

* FashionVictimVillain: The Baron's robe fits nicely his grandiose image, but when he turns on his suspenders and floats over to make a point, the cloth turns out to be so long that its lower edge is still touching the ground when its wearer is around six feet high. This odd attire choice, aside from being an amusingly impractical attire, gives the impression the Baron is doing a street performer trick rather than using real anti-gravity.

** With [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Marvel's]] ''Film/{{Eternals}}''. Both movies are sci-fi fantasy {{Epic Movie}}s with complex worlds and long runtimes and released at similar times. Villeneuve also criticized superhero movies for "turning people into zombies" and former MCU actor Creator/JoshBrolin commented that he preferred the practical sets of ''Dune'' over the MCU's CGI. This combined with "Marvel fatigue" led to a FlameWar between ''Dune'' and ''Eternals'' fans. On the other hand, Creator/ChloeZhao praised ''Dune'' as she was shown the movie before the release personally by Villeneuve and even stated that the imagery of Villeneuve's work had been it was an inspiration for ''Eternals''. In return, Villeneuve also commended Zhao and her filmmaking style, expressing hope that it would bring something new to the MCU.

** Despite [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter his lack of screen time]], the Baron has quite a few fans thanks to his genuinely unsettling appearance, as well as Creator/StellanSkarsgard's performance perfectly portraying the ruthless and cunning schemer that he was in the novel. Skarsgård also achieved the not small feat of making fans accept a stark AdaptationPersonalityChange, as his portrayal of the Baron gives the character a gravitas and dignity than his novel version lacked.

* IncestYayShipping: There's been more than one such thought born from the scene where Paul takes his shirt off to put on the stillsuit with his mother Jessica watching maybe a second too long and looking a little disturbed after turning to look away. It doesn't help either that the age gap between Creator/TimotheeChalamet and Creator/RebeccaFerguson isn't that big (12 years).

* BrokenBase: Unsurprisingly, regarding which is the better ''Dune'' adaptation between this one and the [[Film/Dune1984 1984 movie]] from Creator/DavidLynch, though with very few exceptions, even those who prefer Lynch's ''Dune'' think that Villeneuve's ''Dune'' is a superb adaptation. The 2021 ''Dune'' was better received by critics, was a commercial success and is much more faithful to the books (in no small part thanks to the larger running time and being DividedForAdaptation). Nonetheless, there's some people who still prefer the 1984 ''Dune'' because of its aesthetics, its cast, even its large amount of {{Camp}}/ChewingTheScenery, arguing that it adds to the movie's appeal rather than hurting it. It's up to debate how much NostalgiaFilter plays a role.

* MisaimedFandom: While hardly a rare phenom in pop culture, nor an unforgivable case due to the ''Dune'' franchise's definitely ''not'' BlackAndWhiteMorality, it's amusing that both fans and casual viewers have found the evil, brutal Sardaukar as the [[EvilIsCool coolest thing in the film]], while the Fremen, which Frank Herbert held in comparison as a race representing pragmatism, tough virtue and closeness to nature (even if just as fanatic and manipulable at the end), have gone relatively unnoticed, despite having the starpower of multiple actors on their side. A lot of it comes from Villeneuve's captivating portrayal of the Sardaukar, which is universally described as a highlight of the film; also from the Sardaukar' distinctly western culture compared with the more Arabic Fremen, which helps many viewers to relate with them at a personal level; and of course, from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' having taken enough inspiration from ''Dune'' for the latter to be able to recall easily the former's memories.

* HypeBacklash: After the film's great success, many many wound up saying that though it was impressive on a technical level, the story and characters don't feel as fresh and exciting now as they were when the novel released decades ago.

** In one of the subtlest occurrences of this, this film '''finally''' gets the Eyes of Ibad right, after the David Lynch version had to use a post-production effect that made the eyes appear to glow blue, the first installment of the miniseries embraced the glowing blue (so the glow was drowned out in direct light), and the second installment of the miniseries just use blue iris contact lenses. Here, the eyes do look just fully and entirely blue.

*** Ehh...the eyes are described in the book as being so dark blue that they appear black under a lot of lighting conditions. One can understand why this was nof followed faithfully, as all-black eyes have become a kind of visual shorthand for evil, but it would be nice to see the Eyes of Ibad depicted in the creepy form described in the books.

** There's also zero mention or hint of Doctor Kynes being [[spoiler:Chani's parent, as in the book, even though the casting of both seemed like this was purposely being emphasized]], making it unclear whether this was AdaptedOut or will be resolved in the sequel, since [[spoiler:the legacy of Kynes' authority among the Fremen as "Liet" goes a long way to help Paul establish his own hold upon them, not least through shacking up with Liet's daughter.]]

* UnintentionalUncannyValley: We never get a good look of the creature in the Baron's throne room, but its spider-like appearance does not make it particularly creepy. The fact that each limb looks far too human however, does. The servants in the Harkonnen court, who all have glossy, hairless and stark white skin and solid black eyes, also look like mannequins come to life.