Posted on 02/27/2024 5:21:16 PM PST by Rummyfan
Conservatives who complain about liberal Hollywood may have a new film to champion: Dune: Part Two. The new science fiction epic is directed by Denis Villeneuve and adapted from the famous book by author Frank Herbert.
Herbert was a brilliant thinker who could juggle several complex ideas at one time. Dune has themes of environmentalism, empire, religion, war, prophesy, and political conflict.
At its heart, however, Dune, and especially its book sequels, form a massive argument against big government, high taxes, and superhero leaders and political messiahs who promise to save the world.
The world and politics of Dune have been expertly analyzed by Daniel Immerwahr, a bestselling author and professor at Northwestern University. Immerwahr charts the two sides of Herbert, the conservative Republican and the environmentalist who grew up in Washington state, hung out with hippies and did drugs in the 1970s, and whose mentor was an American Indian.
Although raised by socialist parents, Herbert’s experience with commune living and Native Americans filled him with a hostility toward the federal government. Herbert rejected “any kind of public charity system” because he “learned early on that our society’s institutions often weaken people’s self-reliance.” Herbert worked for four Republican candidates, including very conservative Guy Cordon, a U.S. senator from Oregon. Cordon was pro-logging, pro-business, pro-military, anti-labor, anti-regulation, and a supporter of Joseph McCarthy. A book Herbert wrote before Dune calls Soviet agents “the sinister embodiment of everything evil.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Looking forward to it fer sure..
I just read Dune Messiah. I personally enjoyed that theme throughout the book. Cult of personality is a powerful thing and people will do amazingly horrible things for that cult leader.
Planning to see it. SF sometimes is tough to move to the screen.
I didn’t care for the guy they cast as Paul Atriedes in the first one. He seemed too soy-boyish to me.
Perhaps it was just the hair cut. I expect if it were cut differently, shorter, he might not have come across to me the way he did.
I didn’t much like his love interest, either, but I know they were trying to make the character more ethnic or indigenous, so I won’t come down that hard there.
been a sci fi fan my whole life.
except for dune. yes i read it, didnt care for it.
smacks of islam.
also been a sci fi fan forever, although to be honest i liked dune in a way that i found to be “grittier” then the star wars/star trek space opera stuff.
Herbert was really good friends with Jack Vance and Poul Anderson, who were definitely not leftists. He really struck gold with Dune, and rightly so. The best writer of the three was Vance.
FReegards
I know, there are many, many more that could be mentioned, but those are the first few that come to mind.
Story becomes book which becomes movie which becomes franchise which becomes crap that the best Rick can do is fifty bucks.
I’ve always wondered why ‘The Mote in God’s Eye’ has not been brought to the big screen.
I read all those authors and more.
I used to look for anything by Daw books
in fact I got lucky a few days ago and found a trove of old books at my local second had store.
authors in no order:
Bruner
Bradley
Manning
Dick
EFord
Busby
Silverberg
Bergammini
Dickson
Anderson
Lee
c.s. lewis, asimov, stanley clarke, heinlein
and saddly ron hubbard
were some of my favorites.
.
It would make a good movie, depending on the treatment. So would Legacy of Heorot.
Freegards
DAW was great for sure, Ace is another that had some gems.
Freegards
I haven’t yet read Foundation, but I have read Dune and Ringworld.
I’m glad the first movie came out so well. I’m eagerly awaiting the second movie.
I’m also waiting for someone to put Ringworld to the screen. If and when they do, I hope they do a good job of it.
1) I am a big Sci-Fi fan
2) I read the DUNE books in their 80’s reprint.
3) DUNE in no way can be cast “Covservative”
4) In fact, you would call it more leftist, nationalist, and socialist than anything.
5) It purports a “religion” bearing MUCH similarity to Islam to be the the “way”
6) The Bene Gessert (sisterhood) are essentially Catholism
7) The “Planet” or “House” Atreides that adopts “Islam like religion” becomes the true government.
Also, in DUNE, you can view it as a re-telling of the Laurence of Arabia epic.
Or a modern tale about oil (spice) which one uses to make travel (space) possible.
Horribly cast movie. No gravitas. The female lead is an overbearing know-it-all girl boss. I read Dune twice. It’s a 1960s love song to mind-altering drugs (the spice).
Whatever the merits of the “film” used (digital or actual 35mm film)...for sure it will cost more than it needs to...with “on location” shots, constructed sets, union workers, police protection, costumes, post production costs, licensing, city permits, irascible “stars”, catering, cgi rendering farms....then who knows what types of subtle “wokeness” will be worked into the production. Read a book and let your mind imagine the scenes based on the authors words...just as immersive if done correctly...
IMHO...
All excellent choices. IMHO, Orson Scott Card is also worthy of being in that list.
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