History Film / Dune2021

''Film/DunePartTwo'' was greenlit right after the release of ''Part One''. It covers the remainder of the book and is due to release on March 1, 2024. Villeneuve is hopeful to do a third film based on ''Literature/DuneMessiah'', and he has also been announced to direct the pilot for ''Dune: Prophecy'', a live action SpinOff series [[ExpandedUniverse set in his film's universe]] and focusing on the Bene Gesserit, for Max. Diane Ademu-John is set to serve as showrunner. The RealTimeStrategy game ''VideoGame/DuneSpiceWars'', while technically not an adaptation of this movie, takes plenty of visual cues from it.

** Gurney Halleck is a gruff, stern soldier rather than the fun-loving guy of the book, to the point he gratuitously tears Paul a new one about not underestimating the Harkonnen without it being really called for, and his liking to sing is excised (though he still spouts a couple of quotes). Both things have the effect of making Paul saying he'd rather hear Gurney sing come off as just a snarky joke, rather than something he's genuinely asking for.

** When Stilgar encounters Paul and Jessica in the desert, he refuses what would have been a rich reward for aiding them in favour of killing them for the water in their bodies, agreeing to spare Paul only because he's young enough to be retrained in their ways. Jessica's hand-to-hand combat skills convince him otherwise.

'''Paul:''' Why are you doing this?\\
'''Mohiam:''' An animal caught in a trap will gnaw off its own leg to escape. What will you do?

** In case you haven't read the books, this was actually averted with the Atreides family - a few parodies cracked jokes that Chalamet (of French descent) doesn't look like he's the son of Oscaar Isaac (of Latino descent), but that's actually how they're described in the novel: Paul is said to have his mother's pale skin tone and most of her bone structure, except for his keen eyes, which closely resemble those of his father (Gurney Halleck actually remarks on how much he thinks Paul looks like Leto's father). Otherwise, Duke Leto is described as having olive-toned skin, thus vaguely "Mediterranean" looking - fitting the Greek-mixed-with-Spanish-bullfighters aesthetic of Caladan. Thus Oscar Isaac actually looks a lot closer to how Leto is described in the books than either of the two prior actors who played the role in other adaptations.

** [[spoiler:Duke Leto bites down on a poison gas capsule in an attempt to take down the Harkonnens. He takes out everyone in the room (including Piter de Vries) save the Baron himself. Lampshaded; when Yueh tells him about it, he mentions that this breath would also be his last.]]

* ThirstyDesert: While this is nothing new to the franchise, the aspect of how arid and dry Arrakis is expounded upon in great detail. What makes Arrakis more alien in this adaptation is how the three other worlds in the movie all have abundant amounts of water: Caladan [[{{Arcadia}} has vast oceans and lush vegetation]], Salusa Secundus [[PerpetualStorm is hit with heavy rain]], Geidi Prime [[ExcessiveSteamSyndrome has constant humidity leaking everywhere]]. Arrakis has none of those things. The planet is very, ''extremely dry'', and water is valued as more precious than gold. It further drives [[DeathWorld just how inhospitable Arrakis really is]]. The scene of watering the date palms is just one of many examples illustrating the arid brutality of the planet.

* UsedFuture: But only on Arrakis where everything is worn-out by the harsh desert conditions, plus Harkonnen made sure to only leave equipment that didn't work properly.

** In the movie, there is a similar but shorter interaction before the gom jabbar test. When the Reverend Mother orders Jessica out of the room, Paul angrily calls her out for dismissing his mother in her own house, which the Reverend Mother responds to by making him kneel in front of her with the Voice. He takes offense to that too.
* EmergencyCargoDump: Duke Leto Atreides has three vehicles trying to rescue a crew of 21 spice harvesters from an approaching SandWorm, but all three vehicles only have room for six more people, so they calculate they would need to [[ColdEquation leave three behind]]. Fortunately, Leto's son Paul tells them to dump the vehicles' shield generators, which makes enough room to rescue them all.
* EnemyEatsYourLunch: The baron helps himself to the Duke's food across the table from a drugged naked Duke.

* EnergyWeapon: Lasguns present in the movie, from man-portable equivalents of real-life anti-tank weapons, to ship borne versions. Their continuous beams can cut through thick metal doors, or even [[spoiler:whole sections of Arrakeen city]]. Contrary to the book, no instance is shown where a lasgun hits a shield, where this leads to a "microfusion" followed by a kiloton-range sized explosion destroying the shield bearer, the gunner, and most of the immediate battlefield (though in the battle where Duncan fights the Harkonnens to keep them from catching Paul and Jessica, the soldier with the lasgun notably doesn't take part).

* EvilCounterpart: Salusa Secundus is presented as somewhat of an evil reflection of Caladan. Both have rainy, blue-colored landscapes, but while Caladan houses a noble family whose ancestors sacrificed bulls, Salusa harbors a creepy blood cult that sacrifices people of all beings.
* EvilIsPetty: In a single stroke Baron Harkonnen has [[spoiler:reclaimed Arrakis, destroyed House Atreides, killed its heir and his mother (or so he thinks), and captured his arch-enemy Duke Leto]]. The baron cannot resist rubbing it in by [[spoiler:forcing the Duke to watch the Baron eat his food and gloat on his house's fall, while being drugged, paralyzed and stripped of all of his clothing]].

*** He apparently promised [[spoiler:Dr. Yueh]] that [[spoiler:he'd "deliver [his] wife from her agony," that he would "set her free" and that Dr. Yueh "could join her." Queue him chopping off Dr. Yueh's head.]]

** Duncan's debriefing about his hunt for the Fremen and becoming accepted by them. Duncan starts to recount the Fremen warrior who was sent out to kill him, hesitates, and hurriedly ends by saying he's never come that close to dying. Initially, it seems that even the Ginaz Swordmaster was spooked by the martial skills and ferocity of the Fremen. [[spoiler: It's only later when Paul duels Jamis that it becomes clear ''why'' Duncan was uncomfortable: To pass the test and be accepted by Stilgar and his people, Duncan ''had'' to kill the warrior -- just as Paul now has no choice but to kill Jamis.]]
** When Mohiam visits Geidi Prime, her shuttle passes a small flotilla holding position in a stationary orbit. While it ''can'' be seen as a home guard for the Harkonnen homeworld, or an honor guard meant to greet and escort a represntative of Shaddam, [[spoiler: it's also presumably the fleet the Baron is assembling for the attack on Arakkis. That he's assembling it out in the open (which would be a security concern given Thufir's spy network), combined with Mohiam's orders, all indicate the planned strike is immiment.]]

** Paul's vision reveals he and Jessica will likewise go native. [[spoiler:This is revealed to be true after Paul kills Jamis. Stilgar considers him "one of us now". Paul accepts, despite Jessica's plea to Stilgar to smuggle them to Caladan.]]

** The Baron accepts Rabban's statement that Paul and Jessica died from flying into a sandstorm, whereas his book counterpart flew into a rage when presented with this claim, knowing that it's premature to believe they're dead if the Harkonnens NeverFoundTheBody. Additionally, in the book Piter and him develop the plan to bring the downfall of House Atreides. While the Emperor aided and supported him, it was largely The Baron's scheme. In the movie, The Baron is depicted as a junior, albeit extremely willing, partner in The Emperor's ploy.
** The Gurney from the books was a WarriorPoet that had always a famous quote or a song to recite completely by heart. In the film, he does say a couple of quotes, but one of them sounds like a day to day idiom, while the other is a Biblical line said immediately after being seen reading the Orange Catholic Bible, implying this version of him doesn't have such a good memory for those things.

** Duke Leto activates his personal shield when he goes to check on Mapes lying on the ground, whereas in the book he considers it, but decides not to because he's in a narrow corridor and a shield will inhibit his movement and senses. [[spoiler:It gives him a few scant seconds before the poison dart hits him.]]

** The book has a scene set after the Harkonnen attack [[spoiler:with Thufir Hawat fleeing along a few Atreides survivors and tagging along Fremens, then the party is wiped out by Sardaukars, who capture him. He's later handed to the Harkonnens. In the film, Hawat disappears from the story when the Harkonnens attack Arrakeen.]]

** In the book shields can only be penetrated by projectiles with low velocity, leading to the use of pistols with a muzzle velocity of a pellet gun to launch poison-tipped darts. In this movie, advanced propelled ammunition is used that can force its way through a shield. [[spoiler:They also come in the form of ordnance large enough to destroy frigates.]]

** The movie doesn't explain Mentats, despite being an important element to the world of ''Dune''. While Thufir Hawat's calculation and ProphetEyes imply he's not a regular human (the viewer might assume he is a cyborg, given he has one such implant in the neck), one would have to read the books to understand that Hawat and the Baron's underling Piter de Vries are actually human computers.

** The Baron from the original novel was very polite and personable if his buttons weren't touched, and usually carried himself as a darkly funny guy. This films opts to portray him in a completely different manner, picturing the Baron as more monster than man, with a deep, growling voice, an inscrutable visage and a solemn demeanor of fewer words. The Baron in this film is also more willing to get his hands dirty, as he kills Dr. Yueh himself rather than have Piter do the deed as he did in the novel.

** [[spoiler:The Emperor in the book is both petty and paranoid and has very limited authority, constantly caught between the competing machinations of Bene Gesserit, the Navigator Guild and the Choam Directorate. In fact, his motivation for attacking Dune in the books, aside from paranoia, is that he is all but ordered to by the Guild. In the film, not only is he firmly in charge but is TheChessmaster. He is the one who develops the scheme to crush House Atreides in a way that also exhausts House Harkonnen to the point of pliability. He also knows from the beginning that Kynes has turned and plans to have her killed indicating he knows a lot more about the Fremen than believed.]]

** In the book there's an emotional distance between Jessica and the Duke, despite how they love one another, stemming from his refusal to actually marry her for political reasons and the fact that some of Leto's retainers openly do not trust her. In fact Leto leaves Paul with a final message to Jessica should he die to tell her she always had his full trust. Here there's no sign of this or that Jessica is bothered at not being officially married to Leto. It's only the latter who expresses regrets over never tying the knot.
** She and Thufir Hawat get along fine. In the book Thufir is fairly openly distrusting of Jessica because he suspects her of trying to influence the Duke for the Bene Gesserit's benefice.

* ChallengingTheChief: [[spoiler:Jamis challenges Jessica seeing her besting Stilgar - rendering her the leader in Jamis's eyes, which, Stilgar rejects this seeing Jessica as a Sayyadina, who cannot be challenged. He then asks who will fight in her name, cue Paul stepping forward.]]

** Duke Leto activates his personal shield when he goes to check on Mapes. [[spoiler:It gives him a few scant seconds before the poison dart hits him.]]
** The Baron also activates his own shield while approaching Leto. [[spoiler:His usage of it is more effective as it helps him survive the poison gas.]]
** The omission of the warnings about TheMole gives this to House Atreides. In the novel, assorted members are warned no fewer than three times that there is a traitor in their midst, with some evidence planted to implicate Jessica might be the traitor. As a result, it becomes somewhat bothersome that no one suspects the actual traitor (though to be fair, there is very good reason for that). In the film, the Atreides miss the traitor simply because they have no reason to suspect one exists.

* AdaptationalContextChange: In the novel, the palm trees that lined the palace of a water-starved city were a sign of the Harkonnen reign, flaunting their water wealth to spite the native people. The movie describes them as sacred to the natives instead, and the trees are tragically burned during the Harkonnen attack.

* OdessaSteps: During the Sardaukar attack on Arrakeen, the soldiers walk down the steps in a shot lifted almost exactly from ''Film/BattleshipPotemkin''.

** The clash between the Atreides line and the Harkonnen ZergRush was deliberately modeled on ''"the iconic Odessa Steps sequence"'' from ''Film/TheBattleshipPotemkin''.

* ShoutOut: Two to ''Film/ApocalypseNow'': The BaldOfEvil Baron Harkonnen exits a sauna rubbing his head the same way Colonel Kurtz does, both while monologuing. Later, he rises from a pool of oil akin to Willard at the film's climax.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: In the trailer ([[NeverTrustATrailer and only the trailer]]), Reverend Mother Mohiam is completely dismissive of Duke Leto Atreides, one of the most powerful men in the universe.
-->'''Mohiam:''' You have proven you can rule yourself. Now you must learn to rule others... something none of your ancestors learned.\\

** In the movie, there is a similar but shorter interaction before the Gom Jabbar test. When the Reverend Mother orders Jessica out of the room, Paul calls her out for dismissing his mother in her own house, in response to which the Reverend Mother makes him kneel in front of her with the Voice. He takes offense to that too.

* SecretTest: Paul must pass the Gom Jabbar test to prove his abilities. Reverend Mother Mohiam puts a needle with the eponymous poison that can quickly kill him against his neck, and he must keep his hand in a box that inflicts tremendous pain on it lest he wants to get killed by the poison.

-->'''Paul:''' [[spoiler:Desert power.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Chani''':]] This is only the beginning.

** [[spoiler:Duke Leto bites down on a poison gas capsule in an attempt to take down the Harkonnens. He takes out everyone in the room (including Piter de Vries) save the Baron himself. Lampshaded; when Yueh tells him about it, he mentions that this breath would also be his last]].

* AdaptationalModesty: Inverted for the Baron Vladimir, who has no qualms about meeting people while in the nude; his novel counterpart never did that, and was more of a hedonist who wore expensive clothes and jewelry.

*** This may have been a stylistic choice to show her inner turmoil to the viewer and not a literal depiction of what she was doing. I noticed that when another character became present, the film cut to her standing calmly and nobody mentioned anything about her appearing distraught.

* BinarySuns: Dune has two moons.

* QualityVsQuantity: On Salusa Secundus, the Sardaukar Bashar questions why they are being ordered to assist Baron Harkonnen, since his soldiers outnumber those of House Atreides. Piter de Vries patiently explains that, thanks to [[BadassTeacher Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho]], ''"the Atreides legions are the finest in the Imperium"'' (present company excepted, of course).

''Film/DunePartTwo'' was greenlit right after the release of ''Part One''. It covers the remainder of the book and is due to release on March 15, 2024. Villeneuve is hopeful to do a third film based on ''Literature/DuneMessiah'', and he has also been announced to direct the pilot for ''Dune: Prophecy'', a live action SpinOff series [[ExpandedUniverse set in his film's universe]] and focusing on the Bene Gesserit, for Max. Diane Ademu-John is set to serve as showrunner. The RealTimeStrategy game ''VideoGame/DuneSpiceWars'', while technically not an adaptation of this movie, takes plenty of visual cues from it.

''Film/DunePartTwo'' was greenlit right after the release of ''Part One''. It covers the remainder of the book and is due to release on March 15, 2024. Villeneuve is hopeful to do a third film based on ''Literature/DuneMessiah'', and he has also been announced to direct the pilot for ''Dune: The Sisterhood'', a live action SpinOff series [[ExpandedUniverse set in his film's universe]] and focusing on the Bene Gesserit, for Max. Diane Ademu-John is set to serve as showrunner. The RealTimeStrategy game ''VideoGame/DuneSpiceWars'', while technically not an adaptation of this movie, takes plenty of visual cues from it.

* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: [[spoiler:Paul is around fifteen years old, if not slightly older [[note]]his age isn't specified in the film and Creator/TimotheeChalamet was in his twenties; in the book he's stated to be fifteen[[/note]]. Using his powers of foresight, Paul realizes his mother is several weeks pregnant with her second child, meaning his future sibling will be over a decade younger than him, potentially bordering on two decades younger]].

''Film/DunePartTwo'' was greenlit right after the release of ''Part One''. It covers the remainder of the book and is due to release on November 3, 2023. Villeneuve is hopeful to do a third film based on ''Literature/DuneMessiah'', and he has also been announced to direct the pilot for ''Dune: The Sisterhood'', a live action SpinOff series [[ExpandedUniverse set in his film's universe]] and focusing on the Bene Gesserit, for Max. Diane Ademu-John is set to serve as showrunner. The RealTimeStrategy game ''VideoGame/DuneSpiceWars'', while technically not an adaptation of this movie, takes plenty of visual cues from it.

** When the Herald of the Change arrives on Caladan, Thufir uses his Mentat abilities to calculate the estimated travel cost for the Emperor's delegation. It turns out to be a very expensive bit of Imperial pomp and pageantry, thus establishing that Spacing Guild travel ''ain't'' cheap. [[spoiler: This plot point comes back into play towards the end of Part One where the Baron reveals to Rabban the rough financial cost of launching a full military strike on Arakkis. Unsurprisingly, it turns out to be a ''far'' more expensive bill than the Herald's political theater and the entire operation has thus essentially left House Harkonnen completley broke.]]

** Paul's vision reveals he and Jessica will likewise go native. [[spoiler:This is revealed to be true after Paul kills Jamis. Stilgar considers him "one of us now". Paul accepts, despite Jessica's plea to Stilgar to smuggle them to Caladan]]

* BlackSpeech: The Sardaukar and the Harkonnen soldiers speak almost inhumanly harsh, snarling language among themselves, and seem to have effects added to their voices that make them sound demonically deep and resonant. They almost sound like literal [[Film/LordOfTheRings orcs]] at times.

** Sardaukar are described as looking just like anybody in the books, and as such they can pass as Harkonnen troopers with only a change of clothes. In this version, they are made to look like cultic barbarians, with wild hair and beards (officially patterned after [[TheBerserker berserkers]]), also including head tattoos, and whenever they speak, it sounds like some kind of BlackSpeech that shouldn't come from a human throat (though, ironically, this is a trait they share with the average Harkonnen soldier).

** Baron Harkonnen promises [[spoiler:Reverend Mother Mohiam]] that he won't lay a hand on [[spoiler:Jessica and Paul]], only to order Rabban to have them [[spoiler:dropped in the desert, where they'll be exposed to the harsh elements and likely die]], and assures [[spoiler:Dr. Yueh]] that he'll be able to join [[spoiler:his wife, only to cut his throat a moment later, implying that she's already been murdered.]]