Dune 2000 III

A happy Yom Ha'Atzamat (Israeli Independence Day) to Stroock's Books readers. That's seventy-six years now. Sometimes it's still hard to believe. This scene from Cast a Giant Shadow gives us chills, and makes us a bit emotional. Thank you, President Truman, mensch. 

Heavy fighting is taking place in Rafah, Gaza city, and northern Gaza. Good. Whittle Hamas down. Kill them. Israel seems to have made the calculation that when Joe says 'don't' one may 'do'. This is accurate. 

In Ukraine the arrows are pointing west, north, and south now. Russian troops 'walked in' to Ukraine, according to the BBC. It seems the Kharkiv front was undefended due to a mixture of Russian strategic misdirection, using up Ukrainian resources on other fronts, and oligarchic graft. 

Dune 2000 III...Frank Herbert's Dune doesn't feel like modern America. Actually, it doesn't feel like anything at all. And we like it.

Because FHD was shot on a soundstage, the producers used light and shade to portray the various locales. The emperor and his palace are bathed in cool colors giving them a regal feel- like the English Royal purple. The Harkonen are steeped in brutalist architecture and naturally bathed in red.  The Atreides' Caladan has a white/gray color pallet and they never quite fit in at the desert themed Arakis palace. The mountains around the palace are unique and foreboding. We liked how FHD shows the Arakis palace at night. It's a beacon in a cold, dark, and quiet place. We found the ambience pleasant, actually. 

In FHD, the Arakis sets are limited to and by the soundstage. A few painted tapestries show the horizon, we never noticed them till Rowan J. Coleman pointed them out in his review. Sweeping vistas these are not. The desert scenes are dependent upon on the viewer's imagination. But the lighting and score, evocative of the Middle East, give FHD's Arakis a sensual and exotic feel. During our first viewing in 2000, we appreciated the effect fifteen years after David Lynch's dystopian desert. The interior desert sets feel like Star Trek sets, which is no surprise given the time. Unlike Villeneuve's Dune, FHD does not feel lived in. 

In his generally positive review of FHD, Quinn's Ideas has a brief section about the costumes, and he pans them (4:10). Quinn's Ideas says the costumes are 'weird'. They sure are. But the things Quinn hates about the costumes are the things we like about them. The costumes are unique for the modern era. They're closer to Elizabethan Age frippery than anything people in the West wear today. There's nothing quite like them, adding to FHD's exotic sensuality. These people are of another time, and they look it. And if we may say, Chani and Irulan are striking wrapped in curve hugging silk gowns.