There are three film adaptations of Frank Herbert’s Dune and while none of them come close to the brilliance of the novel, they all have at least something to recommend them. Perhaps Alejandro Jodorowsky’s never-to-be-filmed Dune would have come closer but we’ll never know that. If one had to pick which one came the closest, I would have to go with John Harrison’s miniseries made for the Sci Fi Channel in 2000. There were plenty of changes and omissions but it was overall the most faithful to the novel and is still enjoyable today even with the now very dated visual effects. David Lynch’s 1984 film was the only one made while Herbert still lived and that had his direct input but I personally don’t like it. I also don’t think that my opinion would much change if it were given a director’s cut though I would allow that this would improve on the theatrical release’s very truncated third act. Most recently was Denis Villeneuve’s two-film adaptation which had the advantage of an enormous budget and the almost limitless potential found with modern visual effects. Villeneuve’s started very well but was let down in the second part by the unnecessary changes made to novel’s narrative and most egregiously with the characterisation of Paul’s beloved concubine Chani.
Having seen all of these films fairly recently, I got to thinking what these films did well and considering the actors chosen to play the source material’s varied and fascinating characters. One could forgive both the 1984 version and the 2000 miniseries for being limited with regard to visual effects but the characters can still be done justice if nothing else. All three films made very good, acceptable and sometimes bad choices and this post will be devoted to considering the best for each major role.
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, Bantam Spectra, August 6th, 1996