George Lucas began the development of the film Star Wars, six years after Frank Herbert released 1965's novel Dune. The book was one of the biggest pieces of media to impact the legendary sci-fi franchise - although it was far from the only one that did, of course.
A lot of viewers claim Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Dune as the new Star Wars. But many who dislike the new adaptation won't fail to speak up about what they think Star Wars did better, whether it's the music, character development, or time use.
The Music
Star Wars is well-known for its music score composed and conducted by John Williams. From "The Imperial March" to "Duel of the Fates," every song in Star Wars is well associated and correlates perfectly with the movie. The "Main Title" is well-known across the world as the Star Wars theme song.
When it comes to Dune, many fans are disappointed in the soundtrack. Numerous viewers feel underwhelmed by the Hans Zimmer score for being hard to remember and not having any melodies. Redditor strothatynhe says, "Besides the issues with the Dune score itself, I strongly felt there was also way too much of it. The movie and the soundtrack would have benefited greatly from a lot more silence/subtle ambiance overall." They say that the music brought down an otherwise excellent movie experience, and many others agree.
Better Stand-Alone Film
The first installment of Star Wars features a complete beginning, middle, and end. It starts with the Rebel alliance stealing the death star plans and the hero Luke Skywalker's introduction, followed by his embarking on a journey. There's a typical upsetting downfall for the heroes. Then, the climax occurs when the rebels blow up the death star, and the movie ends with a victorious ceremony. It can be a great movie on its own with no cliffhanger to keep you wanting more. It didn't necessarily need a sequel if it flopped at the box office. The film wraps itself up for the most part.
Meanwhile, Dune (Part One) establishes right off the bat that it won't be a stand-alone film based on the title screen. The movie is more so an extended introduction to what's to come. There's a clear beginning, which is the entire movie as Chani says, "This is just the beginning." There's no climax or resolution to make viewers feel satisfied. B****IsShadyAf emphasizes this, saying, "The second half of the film was very anticlimactic, with the ending being soul crushingly "eh". Yes, it's a two parter clearly, but as a movie it should still tell a satisfying story by itself..., it felt like we were just watching the set up for a more climatic movie. "
Character Development
Star Wars characters receive quicker development than Dune characters. Luke goes from a farmer on Tatooine to a fighter pilot with the rebellion and a war hero by the end. He doesn't reach his full potential as a Jedi, but he moves so far from where he began in a single film.
"To me it was a slog to get through in one sitting, there were too many characters given too little time for me to care about them..." s-k-r-a says about Dune. Throughout the film, the characters are barely referred to by name, leaving those who have no prior knowledge to refer to them as things, such as the boy, the mean old lady, or the evil bald guy. Many of the characters are one-dimensional, and as far as the film shows, they all die before they're able to have actual character arcs. Paul is the one person with minor development, but he only starts his real journey at the movie's end.
Stronger Protagonist
Luke Skywalker is one of the best characters from Star Wars' original trilogy. He's a classic protagonist, who goes on a wonderfully executed hero's journey. What makes him a great protagonist is his ability to see the good in others, even villains like Darth Vader. And that doesn't hider his ability to use the Force at all. If anything, it makes him stronger.
On the other hand, Paul Atreides is barely setting forth on his journey and lacking his full potential in Dune (20121). Seeing as it's only half of the full story, Paul could eventually grow stronger than Luke by the end. But as of the current film, with Paul's lack of development "Luke would win," in a deathmatch, according to omegaman101.
Character Personality
The world of Star Wars encapsulates many characters with distinct personalities. Han Solo is charismatic and reckless, Leia stubborn and feisty, and Luke is loyal and caring. The characters are easily distinguishable based on the way they're presented.
Dune didn't manage to meet the same level of characterization. The new epic's characters are not as memorable as the Star Wars characters. IsaiahTrenton states, "So many people in this film speak in a very flat unaffected way that doesn't really endear them to me. " Many of the characters are pretty flat or one-note, aside from Duncan and some of the villains.
Clear Establishment of Politics
In the opening crawl text, Star Wars clearly define the two sides to this story: the Empire and the Rebellion. And it's immediately easy to tell the bad versus the good. Even when the Force comes into play, the Jedi and the Sith are distinctly differentiated.
As for Dune, many viewers might be confused about the political structure if they haven't read the books first. Redditor Joe-elKrypton questioned, "One thing I'm not clear on is why Atreides took over Arrakis from the Harkonnens, just for the Harkonnens to take it back over anyway, all with the approval(?) of the Emperor." If not paying close enough attention, this question is highly valid; the movie makes it seem so. The convoluted political gameplay here is not clear to identify.
Use of Time
Star Wars has the benefit of not being compared to a book. And the original trilogy uses its time pretty well. Redditor Visco0825 agrees, saying, "The original movies had a nice balance between fast-paced moments and moments that just had you sit back and appreciate it." For instance, moments with Luke on Tatooine, Han and Leia's romantic development, and Yoda training Luke (which takes up nearly an entire film).
Many viewers have noted that Dune would be adapted better as a television series with the amount of detail included in the Dune novel. A movie is too compact of a medium with not enough time, and the time it isn't used as well as it could have. Book reader BlazingTomato claims, "There simply isn't enough time available to advance the plot and build the needed tension. At the conclusion of the 2.5 hour film I was left thinking so what?" The tension isn't quite as impactful because of the large story they need to squeeze into a small timeframe.
Wider Audience
Star Wars was created for a wide audience. It's a family-friendly film that invites kids with robots, fun banter, alien creatures, and, of course, Chewbacca. The film is obviously aware of this, as they have aliens talking in different languages without subtitles. It's not so serious about everything.
In contrast, Dune was designed with more complexity and for more mature audiences. It's a film made for lovers of the books, lovers of the genre, and general film lovers. It covers a number of serious topics, political and more, that aren't presented in the casual, goofy sort of way Star Wars does. As NZafe says, "Regardless if the kids can understand the more complex plot or not, I don’t think parents would be as willing to bring their kids to movies with some of the mature themes that the dune series covers." And it's true. Kids would either be lost or disinterested in Dune, seeing as it doesn't incorporate many of the fun character types like Dune does.