The Dune franchise is perhaps the most iconic science fiction out there and it's one that has only had a very small amount of media adaptations over the years. Well now the saga has technically it's second ever TV series adaptation as HBO Max has now just premiered the first episode of the prequel to the 2021 film adaptation of Dune and so then join me as I give you my SPOILER FREE first impressions of the show that really is basically nothing more then just House of The Dragon but on a sand planet with the TV series in question being called simply just "Dune: Prophecy" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is Valya Harkonnen tries to make sure that someone that she wants to sit upon the royal throne does so that she can get all of the things that she wants. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad but at the same time this episodes plot wasn't all that good other as it's the exact same plot that we've seen play out in other and quite frankly better shows and with this show being set in the world of Dune you do expect them to deliver something better and different and as a result of that is the fact that it does come of as disappointing when you see all of the same plot points for other and better shows come into play in this episode when they should be doing something new and different which is something that they fail to do with all of this making this show feeling pointless to watch as you know where the plots going to go and you'll most likely have worked out any plot twists that this show will try to through in as well which does is something that will make show seem boring to watch and it's something that really makes this episode quite boring to watch as well with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Emily Watson as Valya Harkonnen and Olivia Williams as Sister Tula Harkonnen. Also starring in this episode is Jodhi May as Empress Natalya , Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Princess Ynez , Chris Mason as Keiran Atreides , Shalom Brune-Franklin as Mikaela , Jade Anouka as Sister Theodosia , Jessica Barden as Young Valya , Emma Canning as Young Tula , Camilla Beeput as Reverend Mother Dorotea , Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart , Laura Howard as Duchess Orla Richese , Tessa Bonham Jones as Lady Shannon Richese , Charlie Hodson-Prior as Pruwet Richese and Shazam! and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods star Mark Strong as Emperor Javicco Corrino.
Now then interms of what I personally tought /felt about rh actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With all of this episodes actors do indeed turn in some really good performances in this very episode which is something that's both to be expected and yet at the same time really shocking as well it's to be expected in the sense that this episodes actors are indeed some really good actors in there own right but it's also really shocking as alot more of this episodes actors are indeed some really unknown actors and there for it would have been foolish to expect some good performances from them and yet that's exactly what we got with all of this episodes actors turning in some really good performances that are better then what you thought that they would be and yet better then what you'd want them to be but what does does let this episodes acting down is the fact that this episode director Anna Foerster really doesn't known how to direct her cast which does make sense as she's really not a trained director as she's cinematographer with the acting that's in this very episode not really being helped by this episodes script which is just so bad as it gives none of this episodes actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there respective actors personalities are even meant to be in the first place which s something that really does effects the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the CGI for this episode is the legends and the really greats that are currently over at Millennium FX. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / flt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with it being really hard to tell what was a CGI effect from time to time as that's just how good this episodes CGI really is with this episodes effects being feature film worthy as that's just how goo they are and while yes this episode does use mainly use CGI to create all of the episodes creatures instead of doing them practically which is something they really could have done the episode also makes great use of CGI by using it to extend the episodes sets and to add buildings to locations where it might not have been possible to have them on the day which is a solid way to use CGI as all your basically doing is embracing what was already there on the day and to create something that would have been hard but not impossible to do practically and while yes practical effects will always look better as they don't age or if they do then it's takes decades for them to age with CGI they age not only really quickly but within the next few years and sadly that does really mean that even tho this episodes effects look really good by the end of 2027 the effects in this episode would have aged as well.
Incase you don't know this show is a prequel to the 2021 film Dune Part 1 with this show taking place ten thousand years before that film. Which is something that seems to be a common trend with HBO shows as we also have House Of The Dragon taking place thousands of years before Game Of Thrones and while that is a good idea as it no only means that we're going to be getting alot of backstory to things that were only mentioned in the films but it also means that should the show be a success then there can be sequel shows with those same characters but at the same time tho nobody who's watching this show is watching it because of the fact that they want to find out more about the history of this world there watching something like this because of the fact that the films had actors in it that they liked and that's really it and as a result of that is the fact that it would have been smarter to make a sequel show to the film where the franchises main characters can then make cameo appearances all of which are things that would make the franchise seem more connected as right now with this show there's nothing to connect it to the films outside of the fact that both this show and the films have the exact same font and that's really it and that doesn't really connect both the show to the films in a strong way as this font could really be used for anything and it would make just as much but if this episode delved into the backstory of something that happened in the films and even included characters that only got mentioned in the film then it would have connected the show to the film in a much more stronger way.
This episode from a visual standpoint this episode does look fantastic which is something that does make alot of sense as this episode was directed by a cinematographer. However tho at the same time tho just because the episode looks good doesn't mean that the episode itself is a good episode and sadly this is not a good episode as while this episode does take a slow burn approach to it's storytelling you still need to have something happening in the episode in order to get people to come back and watch episode two which is something that sadly this show is going to struggle to do as there's no reason to come back and watch more of this story as the episode really doesn't give you a reason to come back and watch more episodes other then the fact that it's based off of a very popular IP and that's really it and that's not enough as you still need to make a show that has good characters in it and has good storytelling and while it's far to early to tell if the story telling would be any good the episodes story telling isn't all that god as the episode really does take a while to even get to some resemblance of a plot and when it does it's bogged down in very dialog heavy scenes that make you wonder what it is that you've just watched which can be fine if you have the story to back it up but this show really doesn't have that going for it and as a result of that is the fact that us the audience will either end up being bored by the episode or just straight up being confused by what's going on in the episode either way it doesn't give us the audience a reason to want to watch the next episode of the show.
Just going off of this first episode the shows characters don't really seem to be all that interesting with alot of them not really being all that interesting. While this is something that could easily be due to the fact that this is only the first episode and as a result of that s the fact that we're of course not going to get fully formed characters right of the bat you still need to give the characters some good foundations to go off of as those foundations will help to form who the characters in the show and without them it would just seem like the characters are who they are because the plot of the episode demanded that they by that way and not because that's who they really are as characters and sadly while this episode does give some of the characters some decent foundations it doesn't give all of the characters some good foundations which is something that does make it hard to like there character with the only two characters that do come of as being really good characters in this episode are Valya Harkonnen and Emperor Javicco Corrino and that's really it and even then that's more due to who's playing them that helps to make them memorable then how there characters are being written as if there character were played by anybody else then chances are they'd be just as forgettable as the rest of this show characters are when the characters should always be well written characters that are very memorable regardless of who it is that's playing them.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and five minuets and forty two seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstandard running time for an HBO drama but at the same time it's a painfully long running tome for this episode as this episode really doesn't have all that much there interms of plot to really cover that amount of running time as at if you remove all of the very dialog heavy scenes and just focus on the parts that actually develop the plot of the episode then there's really only enough plot there to cover around thirty to forty minuets with this episodes running time really being made up by scenes that no only add anything to either the plot of the episode nor the characters either and as a result of that is the fact that all of those scenes just come across as being filler scenes when the episode itself really doesn't need padding as shows like The Penguin proved that even with a basic plot you can still make the episode be around an hour in length all really just by fully developing your plot and the characters that are actually important to the plot of the episode which is something that would make this episode be less painfully dull and boring then what it actually is and if you really remove all of the episodes filler scenes then it really would make the episode be alot less of a chore to watch as well but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a drama that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty in this episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. As this episodes drama was the best part of the episode which really isn't saying all that much as even this episodes drama apart from the last five minuets really isn't all that exciting either and without giving away anything about the last five minuets of the episode then this episode is worth watching just for the last five minuets alone as that's when we get some really good drama it's just as shame that the first one of the episode is made up of scene s that are painfully boring where the drama tries to be profound and new but instead just comes across as being tired and boring as it's all stuff that we've seen done and talked about in other and better shows and while the episode does get credit for at least trying to have some character driven drama in it where it fails is the fact that the characters themselves aren't that well developed and as a result of that is the fact that even the character driven drama can't work because of the fact that we the audience have no clue if the characters would say or do anything like that because that's just how badly drawn out this shows characters really are and the drama is something that really does suffer because of it in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall while it's of course to hard to tell if this will be a good show or not just based off of this first episode alone the series will have a very hard and uphill struggle to even be a watchable show let alone one that people will like as this episode is just that much of a chore to sit through and watch in my freaking opinions anyways /at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very post and since this is only my first impressions I won't be giving this show a rating however if this post does decently well and if you guys want me to check out another episode then I will do it and that post would then be a review of that episode and that episode only and not a review of the show as a whole.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very post well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very post from the official Dune fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great the official Dune fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what'd think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official Dune fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.
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