‘Dune’ is a sci-fi epic that should be seen in theaters

Posted on October 29, 2021

By MARK VIOLA

When it comes to fantasy, people tend to divide the genre into two segments: high fantasy and low fantasy.

High fantasy refers to stories set on worlds other than Earth, and likely one of the first to come to mind, whether you’re thinking film or literature, is “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkein. On the other hand, low fantasy includes stories set on Earth. Again, an easy example transcending both film and books would be J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series.

In science fiction we have “hard” and “soft” varieties, which divide the genre much differently. As far as I’m aware, there is not an equivalent term for “high fantasy” when it comes to science fiction.

However, for the sake of argument, I would define “high sci-fi” as stories set in universes where there is no Earth, or so far into the future that Earth has no bearing on the plot and its characters.

In film, we get very little in the way of high fantasy, the aforementioned “Lord of the Rings” being a prime exception. We get more on television, with “Game of Thrones” and “The Wheel of Time.”

Even if we include both film and television, we have even less in the way of high science fiction, with the Vin Diesel-starring “Pitch Black” franchise being one of the few examples I could come up with.

You’re probably asking where I’m going with this, but all of these thoughts were passing through my head on my way home from Tallahassee last weekend after watching director Denis Villeneuve’s extremely well-made adaptation of Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” a wonderful example of high science fiction.

The original novel, published in 1965, is widely considered one of the best science-fiction novels ever written, and it has influenced many creators that followed, including George Lucas as he was first developing “Star Wars.”

In 1984, director David Lynch developed his own “Dune” movie, and the result — one that he has largely disowned because the studio refused to give him control over the final cut — was a glorious mess of a film that still holds a special place in my heart decades later. There was also a television mini-series produced for the SyFy network back in 2000 which I never saw.

However, there is no question that the new film, which runs two and a half hours and adapts roughly half of the novel, will go down as the definitive film version. Fortunately, just hours before I sat down to write this review, Warner Bros. and its production partner Legendary Pictures, announced that they are moving forward with the second film to be released in October 2023.

Subscribe to our e-Edition and read the rest of the story. Already a subscriber? Click here to sign in.