Dune 10 Biggest Changes Between The 2021 Movie And The Book

Dune: 10 Biggest Changes Between The 2021 Movie And The Book

While the 2021 adaptation of Dune closely follows the narrative of Frank Herbert’s novel, there are still several significant changes.

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Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune offered a much more faithful adaptation of the text than David Lynch’s 1984 film of the same name. This has been helped by splitting the lengthy novel into two parts, and as a result, the film has seen much more success with audiences and critics alike.

Nevertheless, there are still several changes that Villeneuve implemented that are necessary for making an entertaining film adaptation, with some scenes, minor characters, and world-building details removed. As Dune: Part 2 is still in development, this list won’t mention scenes or characters who are likely to appear in the sequel, but instead changes that solely affect the first half of the story.

The Gom Jabbar Scene

While this scene in Villeneuve’s adaptation sticks very closely to Herbert’s book, including identical lines of dialogue, the main difference here is its placing in the narrative. While the 2021 Dune gradually builds to this scene over the first half-hour of the film, the book opens with the arrival of the Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit on Caladan.

It’s clear to see why this scene was moved to later in the narrative, as the world of Dune has so many concepts to introduce to beginners who are new to the Dune franchise. Overall it’s a minor change but still a significant departure from the book’s structure.

The CHOAM Company

The CHOAM Company, short for the Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles, is one of the driving forces behind the spice economy in Dune. The company is run by the Padishah Emperor and the Greater Houses of the Empire, although the Bene Gesserit are also silent partners in the arrangement.

The absence of the company is one of the less noticeable changes to the story since their role in the early narrative of Dune is not quite clear. Like the Emperor himself, CHOAM’s influence takes place behind the scenes. While the company is absent from Villeneuve’s Part One, there is still potential for the company to have more of a presence in Dune: Part 2.

Leto Smells A Trap

Quite a minor change from the book is one change to the character of Leto that makes him much savvier than he seems in the book. Even before leaving Caladan, Leto sees Arrakis as a trap for House Atreides but hopes to be able to outmaneuver his enemies by recruiting the Fremen to his cause.

Even though Leto meets the same fate as in the film, this adds an extra element of tragedy to his demise, with his recognition that things could have gone differently had he not been so reckless. There is a hint of this characterization in the film when Leto utters the line ‘I thought we’d have more time’ to Jessica, but ultimately it’s clear that this was amended to simplify the already complex character.

The Sardaukar Backstory

While the audience is given glimpses of Sardaukar’s origin and their home planet, Salusa Secundus, the film omits several details that characterize the fighters. In particular, a discussion early on in the book between Paul and Leto Atreides discusses how the Sardaukar are the most formidable fighting force in the universe because of the brutal environmental conditions they had to overcome on their home planet. This leads Leto to conclude that the Fremen must be the only match for the Sardaukar as Arrakis is ‘every bit as terrible a place as Salusa Secundus’.

While confrontations between the Fremen and the Sardaukar are likely to become more frequent in the second cinematic installment, this detail is a crucial one that is strangely omitted from the film.

Dr. Liet Kynes

Another change in the 2021 adaptation of Dune is with the character of planetologist Dr. Liet Kynes. Along with changing Kynes’ gender in the casting of Sharon Duncan Brewster, the character’s death is significantly different as it appears in the film. Herbert’s rendition of the scene is much less cinematic, depicting a gradual and agonizing death in the spice fields, where the Harkonnen abandon him without a stillsuit to die of heat exhaustion. The version in the film is much more immediate, as Kynes sacrifices herself in order for Paul and Jessica to survive. Kynes sets off a thumper to attract a sandworm, in turn killing her and the surrounding Sardaukar troops in a much more spectacular fashion.

Princess Irulan

While it’s likely that she will appear in the second part of Villeneuve’s Dune, a significant element in the book are excerpts from Irulan’s writing telling the history of Arrakis and Paul’s rise to power. These excerpts come from in-universe titles such as “The Manual of the Muad’Dib” or “A Child’s History of Muad’Dib” that introduce Paul as someone who will become influential across the universe before the reader meets him.

This device is something that’s more suited to prose than film, however, and it would evidently be difficult to include in any visual adaptation of Dune. That being said, these excerpts are crucial to the story’s themes of tragedy and destiny, with events like the death of Duke Leto being revealed in advance.

Jessica And Dr. Yueh

One notable deleted scene from the book takes place between Jessica and Dr. Yueh while Jessica tries to determine who the Harkonnen spy in Leto Atreides’ close circle might be. It’s a difficult scene to adapt mainly since so much of the drama takes place through internal voiceover, and while Lady Jessica is a skilled and intelligent character, she is still deceived by Yueh.

Ironically, it’s Yueh’s admission that his family has been harmed by the Harkonnen that leads her to trust him. Instead, it’s this same motivation that leads Yueh to betray House Atreides, allowing him to get closer to Baron Harkonnen and take revenge.

Paul’s Visions

While Paul still experiences frequent premonitions in the book, the audience gets to see many more of them in the 2021 adaptation. This may partly be to heighten interest for the upcoming Dune: Part 2, with characters like Zendaya’s Chani getting more screen time through Paul’s visions. However, the increased frequency of these visions may also be to show how Paul can see not one determined future, but several possible futures. It’s a concept that is introduced in the book but is visualized in a very unique way.

This is quite clear from Paul’s visions of Jamis before meeting him. Paul envisions Jamis to be a great friend and future mentor who guides him through the desert, but instead when they eventually meet, they duel, and Paul becomes his killer.

The Influence Of Islam

For sure one of the most criticized changes from the Dune book, while the film retains Arabic words and phrases, the influence of Islam on the culture of Dune is almost entirely absent in the latest adaptation. The world of Dune set nearly ten thousand years in our future, so humanity’s religions are still significantly different from how they appear today, yet even so the 2021 film shies away from the book’s Islamic themes and terminology. While in the book Paul describes his unshakeable destiny as a “jihad” that will sweep across the universe, Villeneuve’s film instead describes it as a “holy war.”

The Banquet Scene

One of the most famous scenes from Herbert’s novel is one that is removed in both Villeneuve and Lynch versions. This chapter is one of the book’s longest, and is one of the most detailed in exploring the political tensions of Arrakis.

The chapter begins with an argument over an Arakeen custom that Duke Leto calls for an end, where the Harkonnen’s guests would wash their hands and throw their wet towels on the floor, leaving household serfs to sell the water to beggars. The scene later focuses on an argument between the Atriedes’ and a Guild banker who is thought to be a Harkonnen spy, and his character was cut from the book completely. While these details add to the complex world of the book, it’s evident why the scene was removed due to the already complex narrative in the film.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/dune-biggest-changes-2021-movie-book/

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