[SuziQ]

I would be interested to hear your opinion of the mini, if you haven't seen it already.

I saw some of it, but I can't explain why I didn't like it as well. Some of it wasn't suitable for our son and daughter; too overtly sexual, if I remember correctly. The movie didn't stress that, and we've watched it with them. Our son was bored because it was so long, but he was only 10 when he saw it. Our daughter was 12 at the time, and she liked it better. She's now going on 15 and is the other Tolkien geek in the family!

I think I liked the older movie better because of the visual pull of the Art Deco feel, though I'm not a real big Art Deco fan. There was just a richness about the look of it. I like the actors playing the parts; Jurgen Prochnow, Francesca Annis, the guy who played Paul who's name escapes me right now, Sian Phillips as the Reverend Mother, Linda Hunt as the housekeeper, Richard Jordan as Duncan Idaho, Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck, and Max von Sydow as the Geologist (and the Fremen girl's father). Kenneth McMillan as the Harkonen guy was great, too. I thought Sting's bikini was a little over the top, but his was a good, though short, portrayal of the young Harkonen.

[Paul Atreides]

Yeah, it is definitely Rated R in some areas. I had wondered how they would approach the Baron Harkonnen. I think two of the biggest sore spots that people had with the mini were that Irulan was given a bigger role, and the design of the costumes. The painted backdrops didn't help either. I was a big critic of all of these things. Then, I saw the first installment of LOTR and realized that if they had been very faithful to the book, it would have taken the entire movie just to get them on the road! I also had to admit that I was spoiled on Star Wars special effects and fast-paced action. I would agree that, for the most part, the movie has it over the mini, visually. But, I still prefer the mini. And, I do like the actors who were in the movie. I remember not being able to take my eyes off of Francesca Annis when I first saw her as Lady Jessica!