March 7, 2024 – Just like he did with BR 2049, Denis Villeneuve has made another visually stunning movie, but one that feels too long. As Manohla Dargis of The New York Times put it: “At times … Villeneuve lingers too long over his creations, as if he wanted you to check out his cool new line of dragonfly-style choppers and bleeding corpses.”1
As stated by paulclaassen in an IMDb review: “If the film was about 30 minutes shorter, it would have been much better paced, with all the unnecessary scenes on the cutting room floor. It was just too long to keep me entertained for the entire 155 minutes, no matter how astonishing the production values.”2
There's nothing wrong with a long movie if it feels lean, with nothing feeling forced. Though a box-office success (over $400 million in worldwide box office), this movie doesn't pass that test.
The main culprit is the movie’s first half. Most of my edits were done there, which gets you to the stronger scenes quicker. For example, in the original film, Paul doesn't get to planet Dune until about 34 minutes in. In my edit, it's around 20 minutes in.
Also, people unfamiliar with the Dune story can be confused from the start. So I did a new, explanatory intro. See part of it below.
List of chief edits:
In general I believe in a less-is-more, subtle approach to movie editing. An example is the relationship between Paul and Duncan Idaho. The original film tries really hard to make you know they have a deep friendship. But it felt overdone. Removing the this-seems-too-forced scenes between them actually makes their relationship feel stronger.
Another example of less-is-more editing… Gurney Halleck tells Paul that the Harkonnens are "brutal!" But then the film lingers a bit before going to the Harkonnen planet. In this fan edit, we go there immediately after "brutal!" Gurney's words are stronger using this approach. See comparison video below.
Original Running Time: 2:35
Fan Edit Running Time: 2:04
Link to fan edit: here.