I’m a fan of the original books, much less so the ones written by Herbert’s son in the expanded universe. Drastically different writing and level of complexity.
I am not a fan of the new films for many reasons. They are not bad, to be clear. However, IMO they stripped out the most important and driving aspects of the Dune universe which is the politics, maneuvering, manipulation, and insane wealth of the Great Houses. The new films are primarily action flicks with invented parts that didn’t happen, belabored parts of the story that didn’t need it while ignoring other parts that should have had more impact. I’m also not a great fan of some of the actors. Chalamet IMO can’t seem to be anything other than a whiny, moody goth-y kid like in so many other of his films. He lacks presence in the role. Zendaya just glares and scowls the whole time. Bardem does a great job, though. Walken…looked like he didn’t “get it.” Momoa, really was written poorly and yet was given made-up scenes that weren’t in the book. They gave the guild navigator’s distorted bodies a miss. In a way I think they did a disservice to the importance of the Worms, they are incredibly important in the books, given fair accounting in 1984 Dune, and reduced to pretty much war elephants in New Dune.
Anyway…I have lots of criticism for the new films. Lynch’s 1984 Dune had plenty of weird stuff and really cringy sfx, like the baby sinking in tomato sauce for one, but one thing it nailed was helping the viewer understand the universe, the politics, they why things were they way they were. They also made stuff up like the weirding modules, which were interesting additions, but didn’t exist in the book.
Yeah, I get it, in true Hollywood fashion each director has to put their own take on a story, and unfortunately that “take” means they’re going to make change just for change’s sake. The new movies are visually amazing. The ornithopters are great, they got that right finally instead of the weird gilded boxes from 1984, the worms are far more impressive and scary….but IMO the story just isn’t there other than “action movie”.
I’ve read the series twice, seen 1984 Dune at least a dozen times and the new ones twice. JMO, fwiw.