In the far future the universe is ruled by powerful houses overseen by an emperor. When the emperor believes that Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) of House Atreides is becoming too powerful and well liked he decides to hand him the stewardship of planet Arrakis. Arrakis, also known as Dune is the only planet in the Imperium that contains Spice, a drug without which intergalactic travel would not be possible. But this offer is a trap that will give House Harkonnen, the Atreides sworn enemies, the opportunity to crush them. 

Dune is a huge novel in the science fiction pantheon. Written by Frank Herbert and released in 1965 it has gone on to sell over twelve million copies and been hailed as one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time. Frank Herbert would go on to write a further five books in the saga and later his son Brian Herbert would go on to release a further two books alongside Kevin J. Anderson in an attempt to complete the saga based on his late father’s notes. In 1975 Alejandro Jodorowsky planned to adapt the novel to film with Salvador Dali and Orson Welles in key roles before it famously fell apart. Ridley Scott also dropped out of making it in 1979 before David Lynch finally delivered it to cinema screens in 1984 in a much maligned film. (My thoughts are here – Dune (1984)) 

Dune is huge. Dune was unfilmable. But by golly Denis Villeneuve has gone and done it. Or at least he has done half of it. Because the real title of this film is Dune: Part One. And that means two things. It allows the film makers to take this huge scope and let it breathe, giving us a 155 minute film that only takes us to halfway through the original novel. But it also means that people have to go and see this film at the cinema because it would be a travesty to not get to see Villeneuve and his cast and crew complete their vision. 

Dune is an incredibly detailed story with a large cast of characters, plots within plots, Machiavellian religious cults, messiah figures and giant sand worms. So the biggest key to success in this brilliantly assured movie is the screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth. They have successfully been able to give enough information on each key theme without delving too deep down the rabbit hole of lore that the book saga contains.  So we are given enough information to understand the political machinations, the friendships between characters as well as the betrayals and the frankly insane Bene Gesserit religion without delving into some of the more peculiar non mainstream ideas. Successfully navigating this line to please fans and newcomers is the bedrock of their success here. 

The next key component of the film’s success is the scale and grandeur that it exudes. Villeneuve understands that this story is huge and requires a grand scale and he gives it one. Hans Zimmer’s score is bombastic and sometimes overbearing. Greig Fraser’s cinematography is all about showing the vast landscape of the three different planets we visit during the film. And then we have the sandworms which is probably the main thing anyone with any knowledge of Dune will be aware of. They are huge and suitably awe inspiring. The CGI in fact, which is obviously prevalent in a sci-fi film of this scale is incredibly good and not completely in your face at all times. 

The final piece in this exceptional puzzle is the cast and as with everything else in the film it is massive. The key players are of course the Atreides family. Oscar Isaac exudes class and honour as the duke. Rebecca Ferguson expertly covers the conflicting interests of Lady Jessica. But the real revelation for me was Timothee Chalamet who was able to perfectly portray their young and naive son Paul whose destiny is entwined with Arrakis and its native people. His character starts off fragile but the kernel of what he will grow into is present. Elsewhere though there are some towering performances by big names who are prepared to be bit players in this huge canvas. The likes of Jason Momoa and Josh Brolin impress as key Atreides men whilst Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgard and David Dastmalchian inspire fear as the evil Harkonnens. And then there are the likes of Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Babs Olusanmokun who appear as the native Fremen who inhabit Arrakis. 

It is so unbelievably fantastic to be able to talk about the film as a complete triumph. The epic scope is jaw dropping. Fans of the source material, science fiction or epic, grandiose stories will have the time of their lives watching this. I urge you all to watch so that we can get to see the story completed with Part Two.