Film Preview: Dune (2021)

Film Poster

Page Revisions:

(July 25, 2021) Original
(October 17, 2021) New Trailer (#2) — New Posters (#15-#20)

Release Date:

October 22, 2021

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Feature adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel, about the son of a noble family entrusted with the protection of the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy.”

Poster Rating: C (14) / C / C+ / C- / C- / C- / C-

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1-#14) This series of character designs are intended to stoke interest in fans of the novel. They won’t do much for general audiences, especially since they are very limited in terms of artistic quality.

(#15) Designers clearly struggled to find some easy way to put everyone together. (#16) It’s nice to have a more structured hierarchy of actors, but there’s too little variance between each of them. (#17-#20) None of these remaining four designs are terribly exciting. As difficult as it might be to make a vast, empty desert setting interesting, some effort at least would have been nice.

Trailer Rating: B- / A-

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: (#1) A drab, but exciting trailer features moments of wonder combined with witless attempts at humor. It’s going to appeal to sci-fi fans mostly, especially those who’ve read the actual novel.

(#2) Choosing not to add poorly-executed comic touches to this new trailer and instead giving the audience more background details and a sense of scope makes a far more inviting affair.

Oscar Prospects:

One of the year’s bigger Oscar contenders, Denis Villeneuve’s big screen take on Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel has plenty of potential and a starry cast that could struggle with Oscar voters while the production values alone could net it several below-the-line nominations with a Best Picture nod coming in tandem.