In 2021, director Denis Villeneuve released his almost three-hour adaptation ofFrank Herbert’s novelDune. The film was a box office success, and it left us on the edge of our seats waiting for part two. But Dune (2021) isnot the first attempt to adapt this beloved novel to the silver screen. Nearly 40 years earlier, in 1984, David Lynch had a very different take.
While the newer version has received greater critical and popular acclaim, Lynch’s version still has a cult following. After all, the director, known for his often surreal, Kafkaesque style, certainly had a stranger take than the grounded, character-driven story Villeneuve set out to tell. Here are some of the biggest differences between the two films.
9How Much Of The Book Each Movie Adapted
Dune (2021) Moves Much Slower Than Dune (1984)
The biggest difference between the two adaptations is how much of the book each of them chose to adapt. With a novel as dense as Dune, it’s difficult to get all the details right even in almost three hours. This is part of the reason why the original Dune feels so rushed: it’s condensing hundreds of pages of story down to minutes of screen time.
To give the characters time to develop, and give you time to understand the complicated world, Villeneuve decided to slow things down and only adapt the first half of the book. Because of this, the structure of the story changed, with the climax placed much earlier, the emotional beats drawn out, and the ending unresolved.
8Missing Characters
Dune (2021) Is Waiting To Introduce Several Key Characters
Adapting only half of the book means that the 2021 adaptation has not yet had the chance to introduce several characters that were crucial to the plot of the 1984 version. While these characters will come into play later, their absences in the 2021 story gives more breathing room to other characters like Dr. Kynes.
The most notable of these missing characters are Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, who is the nephew of the villainous Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, andAlia Atreides, Paul Atreides powerful younger sister.
In the original version, Feyd-Rautha was played by Sting, the frontman of The Police. This was a fun choice to communicate the ethos of how privileged and colorful Fey-Rautha was, by casting a literal rock star to play him.
7Changes To Fighting Styles
Dune (2021) Is More Grounded Than Dune (1984)
Those who have seen Lynch’s adaption will no doubt remember those bulky Holtzman Shields, which encased the characters so thoroughly it was hard to follow their movements. Between that and technology like the Weirding Module, fights in Dune (1984) have a strong sci-fi feeling, more magical than the newer adaptation.
To match the more intimate tone and feeling of the 2021 adaption, the fights are likewise more realistic. And there’s not a single pug in sight.
6Dune (2021) Looks To Add Diversity
Lady Jessica, Dr. Yueh, Chani, And Dr. Kynes Were Updated
In Lynch’s Dune, the cast mainly consisted of white men, and Lady Jessica — the new Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit and Paul’s mother — was given only a handful of scenes despite her importance in the novel. In the 2021 adaption, she takes on a bigger role as Paul’s mentor.
Dr. Yueh, Chani, and Dr. Kynes have all been updated in the 2021 adaption and are now played by actors of color. Notably, Dr. Kynes was also gender swapped. This choice of actors looks to bring diversity into the world of Dune as it reaches even bigger audiences.
5The Weirding Way
Timothée Doesn’t Wield The Weirding Module
Like the Voice,the Weirding Way is a weaponof the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. Essentially, it’s a technique that allows fighters using it to move at incredible speeds, which is explained by altering your perception of reality. Finding this difficult to capture on film, Lynch decided to turn this fighting style into a sonic weapon instead: the Weirding Module.
We’ll probably hear more about this in part two, as the leader of the Freman warriors has already called Jessica a Weirding Woman in part one. Either way, we definitely won’t be seeing the Weirding Module.
4Set And Costume Design
From ’80s Glam To 2000s Prestige Cinema
Coming off the success of Flash Gordon, and casting the main villain from it as Dr. Kynes, Dune (1984) leans into the opulence of the space opera. Frames crammed full of detail, and extravagant costume design combine to try and capture the weirdness inherent in portraying an alien society. This sense of excess can best be seen in the grotesque Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.
Dune (2021), on the other hand, traded in gold and glam for a hard-edged, almost brutalist style of architecture. Instead of impressing the alienness of the world by emphasizing the strange, Villeneuve instead emphasizes the massive scope of the locations and the power they impose upon the landscape.
3The Blue Eyes
A Difference In Special Effects
While it may not be that big of a change, the 1984 adaptation portrayed the effects of the drug at the center of the story, spice, withglowingblue eyes. These eyes, the Eyes of Ibad, are one of the iconic parts of this universe, and this movie achieved the effect by painstakingly rotoscoping the color onto the eyes frame-by-frame.
The 2021 adaption tones this down, and it has the technology to do so more subtly and easily. This difference in technology is one of the major changes between movies, and this is one of the most constantly visible ways that manifests.
2Dune (2021) Used Conlangs
Lynch Preferred An English-Forward Universe
Look, Lynch already had a lot going on in his adaptation, so you could forgive him for not wanting to introduce constructed languages (conlangs) into the mix, despite the book featuring several of them. Villeneuve, on the other hand, wanted to make the world feel bigger by adding these languages back in.
For example, the Freman speak their own language, created for the movie, and the Sardaukar soldiers of the Impeium do, too. Not to mention that other real languages were included that weren’t English, like Dr. Yuen speaking Mandarin and Lady Jessica using sign langauge.
1The Guild Navigator
Lynch Reveals A Secret Villeneuve Has Yet To Get To
In the world of Dune,spice is a drug that does many things.One of these things involves mutating humans who consume high quantities of it into Guild Navigators, beings that develop abilities that can then help guide interstellar travel, which is impossible without them. The version of them in Lynch’s adaption is probably the most important part of the film, as it is said to have influenced Herbert’s evolution of the Navigators in later books.
In the 2021 adaption, we see some representatives from the Guild, but we have yet to actually see these monstrous Guild Navigators. This is faithful to the book, as the Guild Navigators are kept secret by the Guild. Their adaptation is something to look forward to in the next movie, as they become relevant to Paul’s ability to seize power.
