Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (Sci-Fi TV Miniseries) (Two-Disc DVD Set)
by Greg Yaitanes
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alec Newman, Barbora Kodetov?, Edward Atterton, Ian McNeice, Julie CoxDirector: Greg Yaitanes
Brand: Lions Gate
Cinematographer: Artur Reinhart
Producer: David R. Kappes
Producer: John Harrison
Writer: John Harrison
Producer: Michael D. Messina
Producer: Richard P. Rubinstein
Writer: Frank Herbert
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 266 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-20
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Artisan Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (Sci-Fi TV Miniseries) (Two-Disc DVD Set)
Movie Review: Wonder what the 5-star reviewers were watching...
Summary: 3 Stars
...but this series wasn't much better than the first. There are a lot of 5-star reviews which surprises me. But then again, perhaps I'm being too critical...oh well...here goes...
As other reviewers have noted, if you have not seen the first Dune miniseries or the move or read the book, this might be difficult for you.
Call this Dune part II, it's a combination of Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, actually a noteworthy idea, since a standalone version of Dune Messiah would have been painful. The story picks up about 12 years after the events of Dune. Paul Atreidis / Maud'Dib is now emperor and messiah, quite literally. In what can only be described as a vision of extremity, when religion and politics collide on a universal level, all hell literally does break loose.
The "religion" of Maud'Dib has become as hated as it's implementation is extreme. In essence, "you're with Maud'Dib or you die" is the message that is conveyed on planet after planet and the law is ruthlessly enforced.
Some of the former cast is back from the original miniseries. Alec Newman reprises his Dune role and plays it just as badly, until he becomes an anti-establishment prophet / doomsayer at which time he seems to have learned how to act. Sorry, but he was mis-cast in the first series and remains so in this.
Watching the second installment on the heels of the first may not have been the best of ideas since the cast change somewhat threw me. Steven Berkoff is now playing Stilgar and is a night-and-day difference from his predecessor and still mis-cast. He's too tall and not "exotic" enough looking for the role. Ian McNeice reprises his Shakespearean-rhyming role of Baron Harkonnen and plays is well. PH Moriarty is back as Gurney Halleck, the only really well-cast actor of either series. James McAvoy and Jessica Brooks star as the next generation of Atreides. Their intimacy is a little disconcerting...at times being almost too much for what one would expect from brother and sister, regardless of how close.
Alice Krige steps in to play Jessica Atreides and I didn't think it was possible to do a worse job than Saskia Reeves in the original, but she does. Perhaps it's her complete lack of emotion, something she seems to have in all her films, but I have seen more emotion from a Borg (Star Trek). She is truly awful, as is Susan Sarandon as the plotting Princess Corrino, desperate to get back at the Atreides after the fall of the emperor. She may have been having a bad day, because she's quite a good actress in my opinion. Perhaps it was the accent or something..
Various other roles are reprised or played by new talent. Irulan (Julie Cox) and Chani (Barbara Kodetova) do a pretty good job too. The one person who carries the show and makes it watchable is Daniela Amavia as the ego maniacal, obsessed and paranoid sister of Paul, Alia. She was cast brilliantly and plays the role perfectly.
The special effects are better in this follow-up. The aerial shots are very much in the "Star Wars Prequel" style and faultless, but switching between locations makes the film feel a little choppy. I also have a problem with the mixing of accents. When people come from the same place, one expects some similarity in accent, but that is lost here.
This is a tough story to tell on the screen and overall, it's not bad, if you can watch it without being too worried about quality of performance (took me a long time to get to that, eh?). It's certainly better than Dune was.
More Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (Sci-Fi TV Miniseries) (Two-Disc DVD Set) reviews:
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Summary of Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (Sci-Fi TV Miniseries) (Two-Disc DVD Set)
The spectacular epic that began in the Emmy Award-winning Frank Herbert's Dune mini-series continues in this dazzling new journey into sweeping interstellar intrigue and visionary sci-fi adventure! On the desert planet of Dune, the ancient prophecy has been fulfilled: the rule of the legendary Muad'dib has triggered a miraculous transformation of the arid wastelands. But as always, the Great Houses of the Empire are alive with rumors of conspiracy, plotting and betrayal. And when Muad'dib no longer wields absolute power as the Emperor, his young son Leto Atreides and daughter Ghanima face the prospect of a disastrous civil war on Arrakis - and chaos on a galactic scale. Now, with the future of the vital Spice trade in the balance, the destiny of humanity itself will depend on the courage, strength and otherworldly wisdom of The Children of Dune!Conspiracies abound in Children of Dune, Sci-Fi Channel's praiseworthy miniseries sequel to Frank Herbert's Dune, loyally adapted from the Herbert novels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune by John Harrison, who passed directorial duties (due to a scheduling conflict) to Greg Yaitanes, a 31-year-old TV director and Dune neophyte tackling his biggest assignment to date. Uninitiated viewers face a disadvantage; it's best to read Herbert's books and/or see the first miniseries before plunging into this remarkably coherent tangle of political intrigue, unfolding 12 years after the events of Dune.
To his horror, Maud'Dib--Arrakis emperor Paul Atreides (Alec Newman, reprising his Dune role)--has become the unintended figurehead of a violent dictatorship, and his enemies are multiplying. Vanishing into the desert, he waits as destiny shapes his twin heirs Leto II (James McAvoy) and Ghanima (Jessica Brooks), who must contend with their scheming aunt Alia (Daniela Amavia) while Princess Wensicia (Susan Sarandon), of the enemy House Corrino, plots her own attack on Maud'Dib's familial empire. Exiled Atreides matriarch Lady Jessica (Alice Krige, giving the film's finest performance) returns to Arrakis, where the enormous, desert-dwelling sandworms face an uncertain future. As always, the spice must flow, and the universe's most coveted commodity remains at the center of this richly detailed and physically impressive production. Special effects range from awesome (fly-over shots of the capital city, Arakeen) to awful (the saber-tooth tigers look like Jumanji rejects), and Dune devotees will endlessly debate the miniseries' strengths and weaknesses. Some may desire more action to punctuate the film's inherent verbosity, but consensus will surely conclude that this is Dune done right, with monumental effort and obvious devotion from everyone involved. --Jeff Shannon
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