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Children Of Dune
Performances range from excellent--Julie Cox, Alice Krige, Alex Newman (much better here than in the first series) and James McAvoy--to a surprisingly wooden Susan Sarandon. The set-pieces are exceptional, with many individual images sufficiently memorable to stand comparison with the work of Ridley Scott. Production-wise this is surely the most beautiful mini-series ever made, with gorgeous lighting by cinematographer Arthur Reinhart, breathtaking set design from Ondrej Nekvasil and a ravishing score from Brian Tyler. By TV standards the CGI is first-rate and, though rarely looking real, establishes a credible science fictional universe. Even when rather baffling, the production achieves moments of dramatic grandeur and a sense of wonder not experienced in TV SF since Babylon 5. On the DVD: Children of Dune on DVD has one feature-length episode on each disc. The picture is presented at 1.77:1 anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs. Shot in high definition, its clarity and detail is superb with virtually no blemishes to the image at all. Colour has a painterly beauty that is remarkable. However, some shots look inaccurately framed, with what was presumably a 4:3 image being a little too closely cropped for widescreen presentation. It's a minor flaw and really only noticeable in some close-ups. Sound is a richly luxuriant Dolby Digital 5.1, which gives no ground to any modern blockbuster movie. Perfunctory extras are confined to the first disc and consist of an interesting but short look at the special effects (13 minutes), a storyboard comparison for one key scene and a photo gallery. --Gary S Dalkin
RRP: £39.99
Our Price: £8.50 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Children of Dune is the sequel to the Sci-Fi Channel's Frank Herbert's Dune (2000), and surpasses that earlier mini-series in every way. The screenplay is again by John Harrison, who has combined Herbert's novels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune into three 84-minute TV movies, and continues the labyrinthine space opera with little concession to the uninitiated. Indeed, this a very rare attempt to put the complexity of printed SF on screen, and if the result is sometimes rather hermetic it is perhaps inevitable when realising Herbert's Byzantine, pseudo-Shakespearean tragedy. The same tableaux-like qualities infuse the new Star Wars films and the similarities between Herbert's and Lucas' worlds have never been more obvious than here.
Much better than the first mini series
Review date: 2008-05-12 Rating: 10 out of 10
I liked this second mini series so much more than the first. I found it quite faithful to the books and enjoyable to watch. It was still marred by PH Moriarty as Gurney Halleck. Nothing against the bloke he was much better in Lock Stock, but I don't think his cockney version of Halleck was suited to the role and found myself cringing every time he opened his mouth.
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Reviews
A worthy follow on
Review date: 2007-10-08 Rating: 8 out of 10
Taking the second and third books of the Dune Trilogy and condensing them into a mini series was great. I still prefer the first mini series that does admirable justice to the epic dune. Some of the characters have new actors, which spoils a bit, but watching all six episodes gives a real feel to this amazing series.
N/A
Review date: 2007-10-08 Rating: 6 out of 10
Made by the same team behind the woeful "Frank Herbert's Dune" TV series three years previous, Children Of Dune (an amalgam of two books: Dune Messiah and Children Of Dune) is massively better. Improvements have been made on all fronts: casting, acting and special effects - not to mention someone finally managed to design a Guild Navigator correctly with Edric (no small feat). My only complaint with this adaptation is that Leto II's transformation does not occur as written in the book, but we can't have everything I guess. Special mention also needs to go to Brian Tyler for his stirring soundtrack.
An excellent TV adaptation.
Review date: 2007-02-22 Rating: 8 out of 10
Dune was a book that I could not put down. Having failed miserably at reading Herbert's Dune Messiah; I was delighted to discover that the Sci-Fi channel had followed their original TV adaptation with Children of Dune.
Again a 3-disc 4.5 Hour epic, but surprisingly fast paced. The mini-series follows the rise of House Attreides during their reign on Arrakis, immediately following the marriage of Paul Attreides with Princess Irulan at the end of Dune.
The Spiritual ascent of Muad'Dib continues, balancing well with the political intrigues of the great houses against the story of the Fremen and the desert.
The female cast make a big difference to the story, with excellent performances from Julie Cox as Irulan, and Daniela Amavia as Paul's sister Alia ("you have taken too much spice again my dear"). Sadly, Saskia Reeves does not reappear as the Reverend Mother. James McAvoy however, puts in a very creditable performance as Leto Attreides. P.H. Moriarty returns again as Gurney Halleck.
If you like either the Film or TV adaptations of Dune, then you are going to be rewarded by Children of Dune, more so if you haven't read the books.
Better than first TV episode (Dune), not totally brilliant
Review date: 2005-09-27 Rating: 8 out of 10
In a way it's all quite sad. You get a massive budget and some brilliant actors (Berkoff, McAvoy, etc). A free hand to write and produce. And guaranteed audiences who love the book. It should be brilliant - but it isn't quite. For one thing, there are lots and lots of small changes to the plot, and whilst these jar less in C-of-D than in the earlier Dune TV miniseries, they still rankle. Herbert was simply a brilliant plotter, and in every case I saw of changed plot or words, the TV plotline or script was worse than Herbert. The sets were however breathtaking and James McAvoy was just brilliant, I can see him in big movies and I hope he gets there. We already knew he was a talented British actor from the marvellous part he did in "State of Play" alongside fellow Scots Kelly Macdonald and Bill Nighy. Berkoff was typically blustering and over-the-top but watchable. The rest of the cast are mostly backdrop. The worms are less good than in the original movie and thanks to those terrible plot changes, we lose some of the fascination of Leto's Change Into Something Strange and Terrible. His desert running is something else, but why oh why didn't they show him tipping over Heighliners and demolishing buildings?! That was the whole point! Perhaps the best part was the actor whose name escapes me playing the mature Paul, but they didn't do what could have been the best scene in the whole thing, the interpretation of Prince Fard'n's dreams. Presumably the directors thought it too literary. Sadly this TV series shows the classic inability of US TV directors to get to grips with serious intellectual material, even when it's created by one of their own great US authors. If only the studios would think, think, think before making a programme!
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Julie Cox
Barbora Kodetová
Ian McNeice
Edward Atterton
Alec Newman
Director(s):
Recording label: Warner Vision International
Manufacturer: Warner Vision International
EAN: 5050466733528
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2003-09-22
Number of discs: 3
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 252 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2003-03-16
Language: English (Original Language)