Frank Herbert's Dune / YMMV

Broken Base:
- Just as Dune (1984) is one of the most polarizing movies around, it's no surprise that another adaptation of the same novel is similarly divisive and subject to comparisons. On one hand, everyone agrees that this miniseries successfully stays truer to the novel, and the plot becomes much more understandable to those who are unfamiliar with the books. On the other hand, consensus about everything else is far from unanimous: many fans believe that, casting aside the fidelity to the book, the series is otherwise inferior to the movie. The cast is nowhere as endearing as the one boasted by David Lynch: at best is acceptable, at worst is donwright bland. The low budget leads to several Special Effects Failure and WTH, Costuming Department? moments (special mention to the "funny hats"). The pacing is noticeably slower, with certain exposition scenes taking way too much time (though this gets better as the series goes on and can be justified as an attempt not to make the plot as incomprehensible as it was in the movie). At the end of the day, some feel that the series was so concentrated on sticking to the book that it didn't polish everything else enough.
- With the advent of Dune (2021), much the same still applies. While the new big-budget movie is praised for its casting, being truer to the novel than the first attempt, being Part One of a duology, and the advances in special effects means it outstrips the previous two versions in that regard, the miniseries is a bit left out in the cold due to all the hype. But many book fans still appreciate how it manages to hew closer to more of the novel's story and characterizations than either movie did in the areas they cover, like with some iconic characters. This continues to apply after Dune: Part Two came out with more key and radical changes, so that all in all, the miniseries surprisingly ends up being the most Truer to the Text of the three live-action versions. Some also prefer the mood or feel of the miniseries (and the Lynch movie) to the new ones, as both can be described as more "vibrant" or "warmer" while the newer movies may come off as relatively "colder" with their somewhat muted colors and some of their more restrained performances.
Complete Monster: Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is the disgustingly vile ruler of House Harkonnen. Seeking to acquire access to the Spice to further his rule across the universe, Harkonnen sets up shop on the Spice planet Arrakis, using his dimwitted nephew Rabban to submit the planet's inhabitants, the Fremen, to his whim through murder and fear, even having the Fremen hunted for sport. Hoping to have Rabban murdered by his "handsome" nephew Feyd-Rautha in order to gain the Fremens' trust, Harkonnen has many young slaves forced to fight Feyd in an arena for his viewing pleasure, with over a hundred dying by Feyd's hands, with Harkonnen even forcing some to sleep with him. Helping the Emperor orchestrate the destruction of House Atreides out of spite, even giving orders to Take No Prisoners, Harkonnen forces Dr. Yeuh to help him in return for his wife's freedom, only to reveal he murdered her beforehand and killing Yeuh afterward. Taking part in the Fremen genocide to crush their rebellion, despite perishing at the hands of his granddaughter Alia, Harkonnen returns many years later to possess Alia as an act of revenge, turning her into a paranoid dictator who attempts to have her mother and nephews assassinated.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Given the above inter-fandom rivalry regarding the casts, Ian McNeice as the Baron Harkonnen is probably the best-liked of the miniseries cast, in part because his role is written to be much, much Truer to the Text. In hindsight, this still applies in comparison to the newer movie version of the Baron who went the opposite direction as the Lynch movie, arguably to the point of "overcorrection", so that many book fans prefer McNeice's the most of the three.
Fan Nickname: It's not for nothing that this version of the story is often referred to as "the funny hats version".
Fight Scene Failure: Gurney Halleck's fight with a Sardaukar during the fall of the Atreides is painfully slow and awkward.
Narm:
- In the third act, when Paul angrily questions the Fremen custom of "calling out" someone to challenge their authority, the hundreds of Fremen in attendance begin chest-beating and chanting in unison like a group of soccer hooligans. Water then begins pouring out from the statue ledge upon which Paul is standing. The low camera angle when this happens, the Fremen suddenly stopping their chant in awe, and Paul exhaling, makes it look like he lost control of his bladder and is urinating hundreds of gallons of fluid onto his Fremen supporters. That they resume chanting makes the scene even funnier, as if they are rooting for him to pee on them.
- The Spacing Guild spokesman at the end: "The Guilllld. Does not TAKE... Your. Orderssss." Said with dramatic gestures. Right after this, Alia even giggles a little. Right before and after the guy speaks, he and all the other Guildsmen are even Finger-Tenting.
The Problem with Licensed Games: The 2002 tie-in Adventure Game developed by Cryo Interactive was a failure (both critically and commercially).
Questionable Casting: Paul Atreides was 15 in the first book, while his actor Alec Newman was 26 at the time. Which is more or less the same age Kyle MacLachlan and Timothée Chalamet (25) had when they portayed Paul in their respective movies, but they had the benefit of being Older Than They Look and passing believably as at least late-teens. The same can't be said of Alec, making his moments where he acts like an insecure teenager hard to take seriously.
Special Effect Failure:
- The miniseries used painted backdrops with piles of sand in front of them for most of the desert scenes. Also, the elaborate and well-crafted backdrops were made at great expense in order to avoid using bluescreen for every exterior. The sand was carefully chosen to match... and then the wrong sand was purchased by mistake, and when it arrived, it wasn't the same color as the sand in the backdrop. Time and budget having both run out, they were forced to use what they had, with jarring results. It make the series look oftimes like a stage play, which while adding to the surreal quality Dune possesses detracts from its epic scope.
- The '84 film had to use a post-production effect to create the blue-within-blue eyes of the Fremen, which made them appear to glow blue. The miniseries leans into the glowing blue eyes, such that the blue vanishes depending on the intensity and color of light hitting the characters' faces (a consequence of using UV-reflective contact lenses and a blacklight as part of the set lighting). This somewhat detracts from the visible indicator of Paul's growing power as his eyes grow more blue, indicating his body is absorbing more and more spice to awaken his mental powers.
WTH, Costuming Department?:
- It is called "the funny hats version" for a reason, as their attempts to distinguish the different cliques by giving them their own clothing styles had very....variable success. Feyd-Rautha has an odd triangle adornment on his outfit which he wears at several different points throughout the series, never looking remotely noble or regal. Irulan's "butterfly dress" is infamous because the dress itself actually looks very nice, being a stylized white piece that wouldn't be out of place in real life high-fashion, but it has a dozen butterflies seemingly stapled to it at random, plus a bizarre headdress that echoes the Bene Gesserit hats, with even more butterflies attached. The butterflies aren't symmetrical, and they don't form any specific pattern, they're just...there.
- To drive home the gender difference between the two groups, the all-female Bene Gesserit hats include a large pair of circular butterfly "wings" which form a "V" at the front, while the all-male Spacing Guild hats are long, conical, and phallic. Not-so-subtle sexual imagery, to say the least.

YMMV / Frank Herbert's Dune

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