Frank Herbert's Children of Dune: Sci-Fi TV Miniseries (Two-Disc DVD Set)

What can you say about this movie off the wall for sure I wonder if God Emperor of Dune will ever be made I'm not sure the movie going world is ready for that I would love to see it as that is the end result of all theser Dune movies and the only one with the Golden Path explained

Movie was as discribed and even though there was a delay got it within a week. Would buy from this seller again.

I did not like the TV adaptation of Frank Herbert's first Dune novel very much perhaps because the said TV adaptation fares badly when compared with the larger-than-life mystical vision of the 1984 movie adaptation. However, "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune", the TV adaptation of the second and third books of the Dune saga, suffers no such weakness. It is a major triumph - spectacular, moving, mystical, well-paced, and coherent despite being faithful to the complex source materials (Dune Messiah and Children of Dune). I was especially amazed that its first half, based on Dune Messiah, is so well put together. Susan Sarandon and Alice Krige (the Borg Queen!) both shine as the scheming Princess Wensicia and the exiled Lady Jessica respectively, while Alec Newman grows into the role of the reluctant Messiah - he makes a better Paul here than he did in the first mini-series. At the end of the first series, Muad'Dib of the Fremen, Paul Atreides (Alec Newman), has defeated the armies of the Harkonens and the Padishah Emperor on the planet Arrakis. He is enthroned as the new Emperor even as his ferocious Fremen army sweeps across the known universe in a jihad to destroy all resistance to his rule. He marries Princess Irulan to cement his power but does not consumate the marriage - Chani remains his one true love. As "Children of Dune" starts, billions have died as a result of the ongoing jihad, which has taken a life of its own well beyond the control of Paul. Paul has become a Messiah of sorts for a new religion that has arisen in his name and propagated by Alia, Paul's unstable sister, and by the powerful Fremen priesthood. Paul is haunted by the death toll of the wars waged in his name, but does not know how to stop the jihad - or rather, he knows that the price of stopping it may well be beyond his endurance. In the meantime, enemies of the new order, within and without, weave plots within plots to dethrone the new Emperor. Fremen malcontents plot to return Arrakis to the old ways while Fremen priests plan to wrest power from the Emperor. Bene Gesserit witches plot with Princess Irulan to prevent Chani from conceiving any heirs while Princess Wensicia (Susan Sarandon) of the dethroned House Corrino, the Tleilaxu and the Spacing Guild plot to present the new Emperor with a deadly gift - a Trojan Horse that he could not refuse. Meanwhile, Alia is slowly losing her grip on her sanity as voices from the past take over her mind. Paul must use all of his visionary powers and be prepared to sacrifice everything to ensure that his heirs, Leto II (James McAvoy) and Ghanima (Jessica Brooks), survive to put an end to the deadly legacy that he started. This is epic sci-fi done right, and is well worth watching. Five stars and two thumbs up. Will they ever make an adaptation of God Emperor of Dune? I sure hope so!

And here it is! "Children of Dune", a merging of both the title novel and the immediately preceding "Dune Messiah" by Frank Herbert, is LIGHT YEARS better than John Harrison's original "Dune" miniseries, and about on a par with Lynch's original for soulfulness and viewer hooks. This continuation of the original story is VERY faithful to the two books, with Muau'dib/Paul becoming blinded, turning into "The Preacher" and cursing the very "miracle" he engendered: The falls of Houses Harkonnen and Corrino, the "fremenization" and fecundization of Arrakis and the "cleansing" of the known universe. However, the cosmos-wide jihad that went along with it all has made him a pariah within his own empire. Even to himself!Through all this, you are no longer bothered by the fact that Alex Newman isn't Kyle MacLachlan, as he takes to "owning" the role at this point. Here, Paul is clearly disenchanted by the monster he's created, but, in his heart of hearts, he doesn't want it to all crumble, despite his ranting against it after he leaves the throne to his sister Alia, cursing his own mother when she arrives to see to the upbringing of her grandchildren, not recognizing him, or perhaps refusing to believe it IS him, when, in the guise of "The Preacher", he curses her and the cult of Muau'Dib.The future of the empire is eventually to be left in the hands of Paul and Chani's children, Leto III and Ghanima, who survive much intrigue and House Atreides in-fighting in this follow-up. Alice Krige's take on Jessica also makes you forget that she isn't the same actress that portrayed the character in the first one. Princess Irulan is still here, portrayed by Julie Cox, who bears a striking resemblance to Joanne Whiley-Kilmer...one of the remnants of House Corrino, house of Shaddam IV, the deposed Emperor of the Universe, but the old emperor's house is not dead, not by any means. While Irulan sees to Paul's children when they're young, as his legal wife, another Corrino relative, Princess Wensicia, played by Susan Sarandon, schemes to bring down the already shattering House Atreides to reinstate her own family to the throne of Khaitain.Alia, as portrayed by Daniela Amavia, is done beautifully, being parlayed as a haunted, just-this-side-of-insane interim ruler tenuously holding onto her wits as the "ghosts" of the decadent Vladimir Harkonnen, (her grandfather), and other Atreides and Harkonnen ancestors, fight over control of her mind until she ultimately LOSES control of her "gift", the inherited consciousnesses of her forebears, considered an abomination by the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, and succumbs.The set design is exemplary...in fact looking an AWFUL lot like I expected it to look as described in the "Messiah" and "Children" novels. Arrakeen Palace, the new cities springing up post-Corrino/Harkonnen, the costuming, etc., are all done well.As I've noted before, some franchises, when they have the budget behind them, might disappoint on the first installment, re: "Batman", "Star Trek:TMP", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", but the sequels to these limp monsters that somehow managed to catch on are often major improvements on the originals, and that's what happened here. The "Children" experience is much richer than Harrison's original miniseries, and it ought to be a major feather in the cap of the young director, (just 31 years old!) that took the reins from him.You may be disturbed by the fact that a VERY different actor plays Stilgar this time out. The sad fact is, the ORIGINAL Sci-Fi Channel Stilgar wasn't all that great a choice either, (I'm still a big fan of Everett McGill's Stilgar from the Lynch version,) along with the fact that Jessica is being portrayed by another actress. This actress, Alice Krige, however, as good as the previous actress was as Jessica, (I think they were going for her resemblance to Francesca Annis from the Lynch version,) DEFINITELY makes the role her own, exuding a quietude and wise serenity both Annis AND Harrison's Jessica lacked! Ms. Krige, who admittedly has been around for a while already, has all the makings of a future legend, if she plays her cards right.A different actor is also portraying the golem, (clone,) of Duncan Idaho, though the face and body type matching is uncanny. It takes you a while to realize it IS another actor! However, everybody else is back: Ian McNiece as Vladimir Harkonnen, perhaps the best casting holdover from the first movie; Newman as Muau'Dib/Paul; Julie Cox as Irulan. The same woman from the first film also plays Gaius Helen Mohaim and some of the late recruits to the cause from the first miniseries are back as well, so the shock of some of the new faces is softened somewhat.You MUST read the books to know exactly what happens to Leto III at the end and in the subsequent books, (which will probably also be made into mini-series.) I think it might be best if they skip or truncate the ponderous and pretentious "God Emperor of Dune", as it is repetitive and full of filler.All in all, a VAST improvement over the first! And yes, that elusive quality of "soul" is definitely here!