Children of Dune

In “Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune,” writer John Harrison and director Greg Yaitanes adapt Herbert’s 1969 novel “Dune Messiah” and 1976 novel “Children of Dune” into a three-part miniseries starring Alec Newman as Paul Muad’Dib Atreides, Julie Cox as Princess Irulan, Edward Atterton as Duncan Idaho, Ian McNeie as the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Daniela Amavia as Alia Atreides, Alice Krige as Lady Jessica, Susan Sarandon as Princess Wensicia, James McAvoy as Leto II Atreides, and Jessica Brooks as Ghanima Atreides.The first episode adapts “Dune Messiah,” with deposed Emperor Shaddam IV and his daughter planning a coup d’état to restore House Corrino to power. The Bene Tleilaxu gift Paul a ghola of his deceased friend Duncan Idaho, but they conditioned the clone to assassinate Paul. Paul loses his sight after an attack with a nuclear weapon and his sister, Alia, begins purging enemies. When a Face Dancer attempts to activate the ghola’s conditioning, Duncan resists and aids Paul. The Face Dancer next attacks Paul and Chani’s children, but they use their power to help the blind Paul rescue them. Paul walks into the desert, leaving his children in Alia’s care.The second and third episodes adapt “Children of Dune,” with Princess Irulan working to protect the children, Leto II and Ghanima, while Alia serves as regent and leads her own religion. Alia grows to fear Jessica’s connection to the Bene Gesserit, especially as Alia’s pre-born abilities lead people to suspect her of being an abomination. Meanwhile, a preacher appears in the capital and speaks out against the blind rituals surrounding Muad’Dib. Alia uses her genetic memories to consult her ancestors and her grandfather, the Baron Harkonnen, begins to seize control of her mind. Wensicia continues her plotting, attempting to assassinate the twins Leto and Ghanima. Leto fakes his death in order to develop his powers to counter Alia’s growing madness. The Preacher’s identity is revealed and Leto realizes he must lead humanity along the Golden Path in order to ensure its survival. In the end, the Preacher, Paul, denounces Alia’s religion before a rebel Fremen kills him. Leto defeats Alia while Ghanima marries Wensicia’s son Farad’n, thereby consolidating power between Houses Atreides and Corrino. Leto begins the transformation that will turn him into the God Emperor.Naturally, this adaptation of Herbert’s second and third “Dune” novels changes some elements. For one, Irulan no longer plays a role in the conspiracy against Paul. “Dune Messiah” is a relatively slow novel, focusing more on themes than the larger plot, and adapting it in a single episode makes sense as the themes carry over from “Dune Messiah” into “Children of Dune.” The two read very much like two parts of a single story, so this adaptation works well. Of the leads, Susan Sarandon has the most fun in her role with Daniela Amavia also playing her character for all she can. If the first miniseries were highly stylized, this sequel takes things a step further. Alia’s practice session with spinning blades resembles scenes occurring throughout science-fiction films and television in this time. With a stellar cast and, as the only adaptation of Herbert’s second and third “Dune” novels, this remains a work that will interest fans of the franchise. That said, this Blu-ray has very few special features.

A++

If you're a fan of the OG Dune books (Frank Herbert, 1-6), this is for you. It covers Dune Messiah (Book 2) and Children of Dune (Book 3).Note that this is a TV production from the early 2000's. So, the budget, VFX, and costumes are not great (esp. by today's standards). But, importantly, this miniseries is a pretty comprehensive adaptation of the original books. Just dial back your production standard expectations, and you'll be fine.I enjoyed the music by Brian Tyler so much that I bought the soundtrack! So, there's that.

This is a 3 part, made-for-TV miniseries with each episode about 1.4 hours long. It continues from the first book Dune and covers Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. I enjoyed it and found it well worth the 12 monetary units I spent on it.The physical product is a single Blue Ray disc enclosed in the standard blue plastic case with Artwork insert for the cover. As happens to a lot of Blu Rays, the center hub of the case that holds the disc in place had some broken spokes and the disc was loose in the case. Not a big deal because the disc was in perfect condition. In the main menu of the disc you have options to play each of the 3 parts and also some extras like storyboard with commentary and behind the scenes making of if if you're into those things.Its made for TV quality around 2010 or so. If you read reviews you will see some say Great Special Effects! and some say Horrible Special Effects! How could that be? Interior sets were pretty nicely done. I liked the costumes as well although I thought Susan Sarandon's were sorta campy like straight out of a 60's show, complete with alien antennae and all. Exterior scenes were not so well done but there also weren't many of them. Any of the special effects, by itself, was not bad but the blending of them in with real sets and actors was not seamless at all and definitely noticeable at all times. All effects seemed to have a mild halo around them. Wide panoramic shots of mountains or even buildings in the distance were exceptionally bad. Probably they did the best they could within their budget.Despite that, I found the effects to be adequate to the telling of the story and was not disappointed because I knew it was a made for TV miniseries and I just wanted to continue the story I saw in the first Dune movie. Most of the story in these two books is political intrigue and soap operatic maneuvering of various members of various factions. Very little action. Once you get a grasp of who is who you do get into the story. If you are primarily interested in the story then the special effects should not bother you to the point of regretting your purchase.If you haven't read the books then I suggest you read the Wikipedia plot synopsis for each book first and it will help you to understand what is goin on. I was a little disappointed in the ending because I guess I read all the plot synopsis for all 6 books and for some reason thought this was going to go on further. Not a cliff hanger ending or anything like that though. It would be nice if, instead of remaking already filmed books, someone would do another miniseries of the remainder of the books.Despite, what in my view, are poor special effects integration into the episodes, I still give it a 4 out of 5 stars because in these 2 books, the effects are secondary to the story. They accomplished getting more books in the story presented to the audience and I did enjoy it. I also enjoyed watching these actors play their parts as well.

I was glad to get this series on Bluray. Being a miniseries gave it the possibility to explore the store more in-depth. Excellent movie adaptation of Herbert's book "Children of Dune".

Was skeptical about this working on my PlayStation 5 after a couple reviews but it worked fine. Loaded right up as intended. Picture quality is also good.