Jᴀᴄᴜʀᴜᴛᴜ - Tʜᴇ Cᴀsᴛ Oᴜᴛ

Okay, everyone complains about Wierding Modules, Head Chef Sardaukar and "Hats of Dune."
But what changes were made from the books to the movies or miniseries that you liked?
Here's a couple to get us started...

From the CoD Miniseries: In Dune Messiah, Otheym caught the "spLitting disease" on Tarahell. From the book, I gathered that this was some kind of cancer or leprosy, and his skin was cracking/splitting as one of the symptoms, and he generally looked all messed up while his body fell apart. In the miniseries, he caught the "spitting" disease. I really liked this change because a disease that made a Fremen vomit, spit up, drool, etc was a much more effective way of showing just how badly Paul's Jihad had messed up the universe, especially for those close to him. Imagine the hell a Fremen would go through if his body's water was wasted and corrupted by disease like that. I don't even mean the physical symptoms, but for something so precious to a Fremen as his body's water to be wasted like that was just horrible to watch. I thought this was a great, and subtle touch. (and yes, it probably saved a bunch on the makeup budget.)

Also from the CoD miniseries: I never really liked Ghanima's self-hypnosis to believe that Leto was dead. It just seemed a little too convenient. I liked the idea that she had a reason to think her brother had been killed, more than just a George Costanza-like belief: "It's not a lie, if you believe it."

Discuss....

You made me check my DM copy. I could have sword it was "spitting" in the book, but no! So you're right, that is a nice touch. It would be very humiliating!

I enjoyed the banter between Paul and Irulan at the dinner in FH's Dune miniseries. It made for some light-hearted characterisation that would've been well out of place in the book but turned into one of the most enjoyable scenes in the series. Her outfit though....

I liked the wierding modules! Sure they didn't fit in with canon at all, but i thought it was a cool idea.

I liked the miniseries "Shakespearean" Baron, but i feel like it took away from his diabolical demeanor.

I also really liked Ghanima's nightgown.

Believe it or not, I actually liked the bald RM s from the Lynch movie.
It gave the Bene Gesserit a more separated-from-humanity feel, in my opinion.

I couldn't stand the thick plaits of the miniseries which they wore - looked like ancient Heidi s to me!

I like the skinhead RMs, too ... I took away the idea that the agony made your hair fall out - an outward sign of a BG's rank, but that is out of
character for the secretive, manipulative, double-dealing bitches ...

From the Lynch movie:
I actually like the idea of the Guild visiting the Emperor and threatening him. I don't know what a pain amplifier is, but it sounds nasty. The scene gives you A. the truth of where power really lie
B. something that I think is plausible even from an Orthodoxian point of view.

True, the Guild would not directly take control of the spice but they would have seen a problem with the spice stemming from the Atreides. The Guild had no problem directly conspiring against the Emperor in DM so I don't think it's absurd to think they would act behind the scenes in this fashion.

From the miniseries:
I liked the very vulnerable Jessica.

baudib wrote:From the Lynch movie:
I actually like the idea of the Guild visiting the Emperor and threatening him. I don't know what a pain amplifier is, but it sounds nasty. The scene gives you A. the truth of where power really lie
B. something that I think is plausible even from an Orthodoxian point of view.

True, the Guild would not directly take control of the spice but they would have seen a problem with the spice stemming from the Atreides. The Guild had no problem directly conspiring against the Emperor in DM so I don't think it's absurd to think they would act behind the scenes in this fashion.

That entire scene is brilliant

"I want fifty legions of Sardaukar on Arrakis at once!"
"Fifty legions? But that's our entire reserves as well."
"This is genocide, the deliberate and systematic destruction of ALL LIFE on Arrakis!!"

Despite my overall loathing for the Lynch atrocity, I'll admit it has its bright spots. The BG would be one of those.

The BG in the movie seem threatening, dangerous, calculating, sinister, and capable of feats on a galactic scale. That's all good stuff.

In contrast, the BG in the miniseries (which I greatly prefer, overall) often seem a bit lightweight ... and even border on cartoonish at times.

Hell, I'll admit to really enjoying the entire opening scene of the movie. It's pretty effing epic, actually. My problem is that the entire production goes downhill — nearly vertically — immediately thereafter.

I'm going to have to think about this for a while...

Apologies for wordiness

Lynch:
I prefer Sting's appearance as Feyd to that of Matt Keeslar (Mostly because I could see Feyd having a full head of hair that his ladies could primp and his uncle would envy.) But Keeslar captured the character's self-indulgent confidence far better than Sting could.
Creepy baby Alia def fit the bill as "abomination."
BG were loads better in Lynch's movie.
Jurgen Prochnow played the better Duke Leto in my opinion. He carried himself like a duke and displayed a wide array of emotions (something I believe Hurt to be incapable of.)
The universal suffering of the BG upon Paul's awakening made his connection to them more believable.
All blue eyes, those halfsies in the remake and CoD really bugged me.

On the other hand, the inner monologue nonsense got really, REALLY old in Lynch's. Especially when it was the same line over and over again.

Dune 2000:
The remake stayed true to the book and what liberties it did take were carried out in such a way as to not trample on Herbert's work.
I also really liked how they developed Irulan's character. You actually get to see her make use of her BG training (like seducing information out of Feyd) and explore her relationship with Paul (which made the viewer more sympathetic to her plight.)

Downsides: relied too much on CGI, plot gets a bit rushed towards the end, why weren't Jessica's eyes blue? Did they just forget about her undergoing the Water of Life?

Children of Dune:
Only dislikes were the gratuitous sex (Scifi or Syfy has gotten really bad about that as of late), those damned black contacts on "blind Paul," the casting of adult Alia, and the clumsy handling of her possesion.
Personally thought the age change for Leto/Ghanima was for the best. Sandtrout skin was handled beautifully. That montage at the end of the Messiah portion brought me to tears.