Review of 'Dune'

Sort of had to watch this, though I wasn't a huge fan of the books...not sure I even finished the second one, though I quite liked the first one.  Overall impression was that it was a sort of "thinking person's Star Wars", with similarly wooden acting and stilted dialogue, great sets and locations, and lots of big action and battle scenes. I'd have happily watched a twenty-minute "art director's cut" (why oh why doesn't anyone do these?) because it looked great - I loved the details on the machines, including the analog interiors of the ornithoper things they fly around in. Nearly three hours felt much, much too long. 

I note in passing that it's obvious how the 'fremen' are based on beduin, but is House Harkonnen based on Finns? The word looks Finnish, doesn't it? And they do seem to live in gloom and not talk much. 

I also note how ten thousand years into the future there seems to have been very little social evolution. Fighting men, women like nuns but with magical powers, the universe ruled by an empire and noble houses...can't anyone imagine a future with different social arrangements? 

Well, Iain Banks could (The Culture series) but I see that the planned TV adaptation of that by Amazon has been cancelled. Can't think why...

Watched in the Middle Floor at Springhill via the USB-enabled DVD player, the film having been obtained (thankfully) by informal distribution.