Dune 2000 I

A happy Mother's Day to all the moms in Stroock's Books readership. 

The New York Post tells us that Trump held a massive rally at Wildwood, here in New Jersey. Honestly, we weren't even aware of the rally till a friend from Mississippi asked us if we were attending. Wildwood is a couple of hours down the shore from us. That's south Jersey, the dreaded 609 area code. Eagles' territory. We had other plans. 

Yesterday we dads of Chindia went go cart racing and axe throwing. A hundred and fifty-six bucks later we returned home without cracking our head open on the racetrack and all our fingers still attached. We had a couple of beers. 

Despite being in the zone, we were unable to view the aurora borealis due to cloud cover. We blame the Rothschild's weather machine, as DC Councilmen Trayon White would.  You know what the imams say. Actually, a Jewish friend said we should stop joking about stuff like that. One day Trayon White will be mayor of Washington. 

Today begins our weeklong review of Frank Herbert's Dune, the mid-budget television miniseries produced by the Sci Fi Channel and aired in December of 2000. 

FHD is very much a product of its time. As a result it feels like an extended episode of Star Trek the Next Generation and its spinoffs, which dominated TV sci-fi in the 90s. If one is looking for epic vistas, sweeping views, and a chilling score, look elsewhere. FHD was obviously shot on a sound stage and its CGI is quite meh, even by 2000 standards. 

However, FHD plays to its strengths. The series isn't about special effects or great battles, but personalities and family dynamics.  It's a melodrama, a costume drama even. We'll write more about those costumes later in the week.  FHD was filmed in the Czech Republic, and uses a lot of Czech actors, with several Brits thrown in. There are some very fine performances in FHD, and also a few duds. But overall, the actors in FHD made us care about the characters very much, and that's why we judge FHD a success. 

We've always thought it odd that FHD was broadcast and then quickly faded. Now FHD is all but forgotten, sandwiched between David Lynch's epic failure, and Denis Villeneuve's glorious triumph. It will be impossible to write about FHD without thinking of the other versions, but we're going to keep comparisons to a minimum and let FHD stand on its own.