William Hurt Movie:

Frank Herbert's Dune (TV Miniseries) [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Well done and entertaining
2008-09-13 - The original cinematic Dune, while filled with big name actors and blessed with a big budget, was notable only for great sandworms. The acting was substandard, Kyle McLaughlin a disaster, and the Harkonnen clan portrayed as clowns.

The Sci-Fi channel miniseries, while certainly flawed, is superior in every respect. Even the special effects, while modest, are convincing and better yet do not get in the way of the plot.

The miniseries assumes some knowledge of the plot and characters, and is not always strictly true to the book, but is ultimately satisfying in it's overall effect. It is probably not possible to portray the book within the timeline of even a miniseries anyway, but this current effort still merits a passing grade.

The treatment of the messianic theme of Herbert's novel is much more effective and less over the top than the cinema version, and I think fulfills Herbert's intention of illustrating that a Warrior Messiah, while an understandable desire, is a flawed desire that ultimately leads to a worse situation than the original condition that begged for his presence in the first place.

The acting is uneven. John Hurt somewhat underplays the role of Baron Atreides, but to good effect. Alec Newman seems initially uncomfortable as Paul Atreides, but grows into the role, and by the middle part of the film, is a real force. He is at his best when being nasty. Ian McNiece is the perfect Baron Harkonnen. Charming, intelligent, and utterly evil, unlike the Bozo the Clown offering of the theatrical version. Matt Keeslar is suitably arrogant and self-serving as Feyd Harkonnen, and Giancarlo Giannini an effectively charming but dangerous Emperor Shaddam IV.

But in fact, the current Dune is really a showcase for the talents of Julie Cox, who steals the show with one of the most masterful performances I've ever seen on film. Through her thespian skills and elegant demeanor, she quite incredibly becomes the central character of the story. I'd buy this version for her performance alone. It's that good.

More intricate than the last attempt
2006-06-24 - A little different interpretation than the movie; however with the time allotted to a mini-series there was more time for detail.

Now this is a very entertaining mini-series. The time was taken to explain more instead of just implying things and making you guess what they are talking about. Not using such spectacular sets forced then to do some fairly good acting to make up for that. The story did not come to an abrupt end. This leads me to thing it is left open on purpose as a pilot for a TV series.

Many complex plots overlap, from greed over a commodity to a peoples struggle to be free. We see all the spectrums of the good and bad of mankind. We see also a Joseph Campbell type of hero's struggle where the sleeper awakes.