Denis Villeneuve’s latest sci-fi opus, an adaptation of the first half of Frank Herbert’s seminal novel Dune, has captivated critics and moviegoers around the world. Legendary recently announced a sequel based on the second half of the book for a 2023 release.
While Dune fans are waiting for Villeneuve to conclude Herbert’s story on the big screen, there are a handful of similar movies to check out. There’s nothing quite like Dune, but in the meantime, similar epics like Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and fellow sci-fi odysseys like Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar will make a nice substitute.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
As the first chapter of a larger story that satisfies as a standalone epic despite the burden of introducing a vast, complex fictional universe, Dune is a lot like Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Similarly adapted from a famously “unadaptable” novel, The Fellowship of the Ring kickstarted Jackson’s groundbreaking blockbuster trilogy. Like Villeneuve, Jackson and his team deftly translated bizarre, otherworldly concepts from the page to the screen.
Dune (1984)
Villeneuve’s movie isn’t the first attempt to bring Herbert’s novel to the screen. Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unproduced adaptation was the subject of a fascinating documentary. In 1984, David Lynch directed a movie version of Dune that he ultimately disowned because the studio cut down its initial three-hour runtime, according to IndieWire.
While Lynch’s vision of Herbert’s Dune-iverse has little in common with Villeneuve’s vision, it’s interesting to compare contrasting takes on the same source material.
Arrival (2016)
Villeneuve’s first contribution to the science fiction genre, Arrival, told an alien invasion story without any of the violent clichés. These aliens “come in peace” in the most literal sense. Their ships float above the Earth as they try to communicate with humankind.
Amy Adams brings real nuance to the lead role of a linguistic expert trying to figure out the aliens’ language, much like Timothée Chalamet’s brooding turn as Paul Atreides. As he did in Dune, Villeneuve subtly foreshadows Arrival’s final twist throughout the movie.
Interstellar (2014)
Villeneuve’s sharp, breathtaking, deeply cinematic take on the science fiction genre has drawn comparisons to Christopher Nolan, who similarly blew audiences away with the sci-fi spectacle and thought-provoking themes of Inception and Tenet.
2014’s Interstellar is Nolan’s take on the kind of epic-scale cosmic sci-fi that Villeneuve tackled in Dune. Both movies share a somber, grounded tone that deals with speculative concepts as if they were real.
Star Wars (1977)
When George Lucas was creating the world of Star Wars, he was heavily influenced by Herbert’s Dune novels. The desert planet of Tatooine has a lot in common with Arrakis – including a “Dune Sea” – and, much like the world of Dune, a galaxy far, far away is governed by “The Emperor.”
Since Star Wars is now just as influential on science fiction as Dune (if not even more), Villeneuve’s film adaptation of Dune had to contend with the influence of Lucas’ space opera.
Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind (1984)
Often described as an anime version of Dune, Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind tells the tale of a young princess who clashes with a rival kingdom attempting to use an ancient weapon to wipe out a jungle full of mutant insects.
A lot of reviews for the movie noted that Dune was a big influence on Nausicaä’s depiction of a post-apocalyptic world. Isaac Asimov’s Nightfall, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and the books of William Golding were also major inspirations.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Often hailed as one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is a cold but engaging journey through the cosmos, like Dune.
Kubrick’s movie, like Villeneuve’s, has a cerebral tone and patient pacing to allow plenty of time to bask in the intriguing worldbuilding. 2001 similarly follows a “chosen one” protagonist who unravels his own fate through various mind-bending premonitions.
Alien (1979)
Ridley Scott could’ve pumped out a factory-line sci-fi horror movie when he was hired to direct Alien. All he was required to do was turn in a haunted house film set in space. But, Scott being Scott, he went above and beyond with Hitchcockian tension and mesmerizing production design, courtesy of the great H.R. Giger.
Like Dune, Alien was filmed on huge practical sets. In its slower-paced opening acts, Alien takes plenty of time to submerge the audience in the futuristic milieu before diving into the action.
Stalker (1979)
Directed by the great Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979’s Stalker is a sci-fi epic that mixes in elements of philosophy and psychodrama. The titular “Stalker” agrees to take two men into the mysterious, restricted “Zone” with the promise that he can show them a room that presents their innermost desires.
Like Dune, Stalker is set in the distant future and follows a treacherous trek across hostile territory laden with symbolism. It’s one of the most celebrated sci-fi movies of all time.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Ultimately, the movie that has the most in common with Dune is Villeneuve’s last hypnotic sci-fi epic, Blade Runner 2049. Following on from the classic original’s story of a human who begins to suspect he’s an android, Blade Runner 2049 concerns an android who begins to suspect he’s a human.
Just as Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation immerses audiences in the intergalactic worlds conjured up by Herbert on the page, his Blade Runner sequel re-immersed audiences in the dystopian, neon-drenched future that Ridley Scott imagined back in 1982.