Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Nonureva Really Surprised!

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Roedy Green This is a very long movie, two DVDs worth. It started life as a TV miniseries with a very fat budget. The sets are lavish. The screen crawls with extras. The costumes are as diverse and bizarre as anything that would come down a Paris runway.The main reason to see this movie is Alice Krige who plays the grandmother, Lady Jessica Atreides. You will recognise her as the Borg Queen from Star Trek. She has a magical voice and regal manner. She is absolutely riveting. She can make the silliest lines sound profound. She starts out as a rather quiet character and builds in majesty and power. She is like a super-hero Emma Peel. Even though most of this movie is rather silly, she is spectacular.James McAvoy, as Leto, is eye candy, and conveniently rarely wears a shirt.The costumes are an eclectic mix of Egyptian, Cecil B. de Mille Ten Commandments and Star Trek original. However, when the empress Alia Atreides paraded around court in a 1950s slut bathing suit, or wrapped in aluminum foil, my credibility choked. The bizarre Japanese-inspired hair styles of Susan Sarandon's character are a hoot, very inventive.It has an international cast. The principals speak in crisp upper crust British accents, but then Susan Sarandon sometimes slips into her slurring American barfly Louise character from Thelma and Louise. It is jarring and makes no sense. Her accent becomes more regal as the movie progresses. She has not that big a part, but she makes a great villain.Two actors play Farad'n Corrino, son of Princess Wensicia Corrino (Susan Sarandon). Unfortunately, they don't look even remotely alike, and the adult version has beefy look, dull mien and accent like a Florida quarterback. It is just embarrassing.There are three generations represented, yet the actors playing them are almost the same age. The actors don't age even when 20 years supposedly pass. Some of the female actors look quite alike, and with all the costume and hairstyle changes it becomes a challenge to figure out whom you are looking at.I exaggerate, but the plot goes roughly like this. At random intervals a random character suddenly whips out a dagger and kills another randomly chosen character. Why? Often the killer offers a rationalisation, but never once did it make any sense.Not until the movie is well under way does anyone seem remotely heroic or even sympathetic, other than the child Farad'n Corrino who sick of being groomed for a warrior emperor. Everyone is power mad, greedy, and nuts.The special effects are movie quality, except for one scene when Ian McNeice (Bert Large in Doc Martin) as the ghost of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen floats around the room like a cardboard cutout from a Topper episode and another when Alia Atreides dodges flying video game saw blades.One of the most magical moments in the movie is Leto, lying on a grassy meadow. It feels surreal . That proves the movie has impressed its world on your mind.It is a silly movie; it does not make much sense, but it is visually entertaining. You won't be bored.

amesmonde Alia Atreides tries to grapple with controlling Arrakis' in the wake of her bothers departure, but under the influence of her uncle presence she puts her siblings gifted children in danger and the future of the planets Spice trade in jeopardy.To his credit John Harrison's script delivers another comprehensible version of Frank Herbert's work. Greg Yaitanes replaces Harrison as director and gives a smoother film-like feel. In the vein of Dune (2000) Miniseries Children of Dune continues the themes of murder, family rivalry and political deception akin to the Roman Empire. Restrained by TV limitations and not of the calibre, scope or execution of The Godfather saga, the effects and production values have vastly improved since the first mini adaptation. Children feels more earthly and realistic with the sets and lighting appearing more natural.There are fine performances from veteran actors Steven Berkoff who replaces Uwe Ochsenknecht as Stilgar and Alice Krige who now plays Lady Jessica Atreides. Edward Atterton now plays Duncan Idaho replacing James Watson. The rest of the cast remain the same, Julie Cox, Ian McNeice, P.H. Moriarty and Alec Newman reprise their roles. Moriarty's delivery as Guerne has improved and Newman appears more comfortable as Muad'Dib. Susan Sarandon fleets in and out and injects some Hollywood glamour. While not entirely convincing striking Daniela Amavia is adequate as Alia Atreides and James McAvoy's subtlety gives some credence to Leto Atreides II character. Notable is natural Jessica Brooks as his sister Ghanima Atreides who gives an effective performance.Although the pacing it slow and the continuation retreads much of the ground covered in Dune it's an entertaining enough sci-fi saga.

adrussell I personally liked the series more then the Lynch film, but agree both have errors some more fundamental then others but like the lord of the rings a film/series is designed to pack as much in in as short a time as possible thus something has got to give & that will always be at the cost of the original. I feel a lot of the emotions & loyalty's are overlooked in both titles that are strongly present in the books & indeed are later explained in the books.But as a Dune fan for the last 20 years i also find the new books entertaining which many are & would class as near blasphemy.All i would say is everybody has different parts & ideals they'll subscribe too within all the titles so lets just enjoy them for what they are. Remembering that millions of people haven't even heard of Dune so wouldn't have a clue about the alterations and by watching the films may be driven to read the books and decide for themselves. Who knows if the books have a resurgence maybe funds will be released for a LOTR type big budget series of films, now that would be worth seeing.

dosomeeffingscience There was a lot of good stuff in Children Of Dune, all the great characters and themes from the book, and a lot of talent went into making it. But all anyone *does* is wander around looking like they're plotting something. Who wants to watch that? It was more like Next Generation than the original Star Trek. Picard always wants to pursue a dialogue and find a diplomatic solution, occasionally raising his voice in an authoritative shakespearean manner. Yawn! Kirk would get in there and punch someone's lights out, or kiss them. Or both! Sex and violence, kiss 'em and kick 'em, that's what we want to see.So, good to look at, if you're a Dune fan and just want to see the story told in moving pictures. Otherwise, zzzzzz....