Children Of Dune [DVD]

Dune is one of my favourite book series and I have watched so far all the movies except this one. I look forward to doing this also; the DVD arrived ahead of time and in perfect condition.

I'm actually quite dismissive of a lot of scifi, but this version of Children of Dune is better even than "Dune" and I would say is my favourite film ever.Ok, it's obscurantist but blame the original writer for that. I think the tenderness between Leto and his twin sister is very moving. I admire the unique plot idea that the good guys actually have the power and love each other with a real (though misguided) intensity) but that still doesn't prevent the breakdown and the disillusionment with power. The solution, some form of personal religious quest actually resonates with me.OK, the illogicalities of people's behaviour (esp Alia) are annoying as they head towards self-destruction. In spite of their love for the Atreides house and the 'rightness' in their eyes of their 'mission' it all ends up as Greek tragedy, with death, madness, exile and self-banishment.Enough, need to have a lie-down now...

The Dune stories are a perfect example of why some things work better in print than on the screen. However, it's always fascinating to see a book realised in some visual form and - to be fair - this doesn't disappoint.The film takes the same measured approach as the books, but can't avoid the changes which filming always necessitates. Overall, it works and works well, although some will always find it a disappointing translation. If you enjoy Herbert's work, then you'll probably like these adaptations.

Dune was a book that I could not put down. Having failed miserably at reading Herbert's Dune Messiah; I was delighted to discover that the Sci-Fi channel had followed their original TV adaptation with Children of Dune.Again a 3-disc 4.5 Hour epic, but surprisingly fast paced. The mini-series follows the rise of House Attreides during their reign on Arrakis, immediately following the marriage of Paul Attreides with Princess Irulan at the end of Dune.The Spiritual ascent of Muad'Dib continues, balancing well with the political intrigues of the great houses against the story of the Fremen and the desert.The female cast make a big difference to the story, with excellent performances from Julie Cox as Irulan, and Daniela Amavia as Paul's sister Alia ("you have taken too much spice again my dear"). Sadly, Saskia Reeves does not reappear as the Reverend Mother. James McAvoy however, puts in a very creditable performance as Leto Attreides. P.H. Moriarty returns again as Gurney Halleck.If you like either the Film or TV adaptations of Dune, then you are going to be rewarded by Children of Dune, more so if you haven't read the books.

Like every Dune movie and TV production, a brave attempt, but it suffers from the same problems as all movies based on long, complex books - much is left out, detail and explanation are not there, important characters are sidelined, long scenes are compressed and the pace is far too fast. It's a bit like 'speed reading' the book, reading only about 25% properly and skimming the rest. This is not exactly a fault, to really capture the whole thing would take an impractical amount of screen time - even 'The Lord of the Rings', which seen as a whole is one of the longest movies ever made, does not include everything that's in the book.I don't see how anyone could possibly follow the plot, or understand all the references, if they had not read the book first.Some of the night scenes are so dark it's very difficult to see what's happening. Some of the C.G.I. is less than convincing - we know it's not real, but we'd like it to LOOK real. And no subtitles, when almost everything has them?Would I recommend it? If you like the 'Dune' TV mini-series then yes, just don't expect too much. Don't misunderstand - I do like it and don't regret buying it, and I think it's as good as a TV budget would allow.Possibly the way to approach it is to read the book first and then regard this as the 'action highlights'.

Hi to the reader, I quite like this DVD. I have to admit to being a long time fan of the Dune Universe. I read all the original books while still in my teens and even though I'm now well into my forties, when the new books started coming out I bought and read all of them also. So my views on this DVD may be a little slanted. The main difference between Herberts original second and third book that this DVD covers, is the age of the the two central characters, the twins Leto and Ghanima, but I don't really feel that there was any loss in making them a few years older. It could also be said that the sheer scale of the Herberts vision has been lost, the imperial palace on Dune is supposed to be the biggest building ever constructed, that scale is not there but again this isn't too bad a trade off. All in all if you have just watched the Dune DVD and are looking to follow it up this is a good buy, but don't buy it first unless you're a fan of the books as the story is complicated. If you're a long time fan of the Dune Universe, like me, buy it you'll enjoy it immensely.

The god

Interesting follow up to original Dune TV series.Strange that this set is cheap when compared to selling price of original Dune TV series, which is available on YouTube.However continues the story well, so if you enjoyed the Dune TV series, I'd recommend getting this set.