The end of 2021 is packed with some of the major releases and these releases will continue to the next year. One of the biggest releases of the year has to be Dune and it indeed is proving to be everything fans of Frank Herbert’s book had wanted. The move has already been given a pass for the sequel which was the initial plan. This movie introduced us to the world of Dune and the politics around it and left us at a very high point. There are various details that were left out in Dune as we had just been introduced to the world in this movie. Let’s take a look at a few key details from the Dune novel that were left out in Dennis Villeneuve’s latest film.
Atomics
The movie mainly focused on setting up the essential details in the world of Dune and leaving the rest out for future movies. But it could have paid a little amount of attention to the nuclear weapons considering it shows us the major attack on House Arrakis. The revolt against Thinking Machines had made sure that most technological advances had been removed but the nuclear weapons aren’t counted in these weapons. They are referred to as Atomics in the books. Many great houses hold stocks of these weapons with restrictions in their usage.
Sardaukar Training
We are introduced to the imperial Sardaukar in a rather rushed manner even though there are repeated mentions of how glorious they are in battle. The film does not show some rather important details that are involved in the Sardaukar training. This could be acceptable considering most of those details could turn out to be rather wild for showing in the movie. One particular scene shows the anointment being done using blood and there is a chance that this is the blood of the hopeless who failed during the training of the Sardaukars. Sardaukars are conditioned around war right from their birth and only a few of them end up surviving.
More About The Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit played an essential role in the movie with hints at the way they were portrayed and how they were involved in every single move made in the narrative. We get to see them use the Voice, which compels others to perform actions that are mentioned. Another essential thing that was not shown was the prowess they have in combat skills. Their way of fighting is called the Weirding Way and they go through heavy martial arts training. A slight hint was made to this technique when we saw Lady Jessia fight the Fremen as they had decided to make a move on them.
The Landsraad
We get to witness the Landsraad as a central governing authority that passes the authority for Arrakis to the House Atreides. It is basically an assembly of the great houses of the universe that is overlooked by the Padishah Emperor of House Corrino. It works as a means of communication between the Great Houses and they also balance the power of the imperial house. While the movie depicts them as very civilized but in the books, it is one of the places filled with dirty political plans and their primary function is to afford strength in numbers to the Great Houses.
The Kanly Ritual
The Kanly ritual is a ritualized, formal style of warfare that is carried out between the Great Houses in the Dune universe. Houses tend to conduct Kanly between them in order to settle some of their most violent disputes and further this prevents any chance of a larger galactic war. According to traditions, the Kanly is continued till a side has been annihilated or a certain agreement has been achieved between the houses. This could have been depicted between Houses Atreides and Harkonnen and the books actually depict this taking place. The movie skipped on this detail from the book.
Projectile Weapons
The weapons have yet to be properly established in the world of Dune considering they end up playing a major role and are depicted multiple times. Fans are left wondering why we often got to see projectile weapons and swords compared to handguns. This was clearly because the person shields are capable of reflecting some of these high-velocity weapons but the same cannot be said for slower weapons. This is the primary reason why poisoned darts became favored over their archaic predecessors.
Lasguns And Their Impacts On Shields
We got to see one of the most essential weapons used on the battlefield, the lasgun. This weapon is a dangerous ray of blue light that is capable of slicing through almost anything man-made. Some of these guns are even compact enough to be carried by individual soldiers thus making it the most common weapon to be used in warfare. There is a reason why the lasgun isn’t used by the soldier more often. This reason is that if the ray of the gun comes in contact with the shield then it might cause an explosion of the nuclear magnitude.
Effects Of The Spice
Spice is a rather important item in the world of Dune and this is very well established in the movie as it is explained to be essential to ensure safe faster-than-light travel. But the effects that lead to doing this or how there can be other effects of the melange is something not explored in the movie. The spice works as a drug and often ends up enhancing life while at the same time causing severe deformities. There was no mention of the fact that the spice can in numerous cases extend life.
Mentats
Following the ban of computers in Dune, Mentats play an essential role in making sure that humans can use them to diffuse the purpose that the technological advancements served. Mentats are subjected to intense psychological conditions that allowed them to have preternatural abilities of cognition and memory. While they were present in the movie but it was hardly mentioned how they work and they weren’t even referred to as Mentats. We saw two such characters including Thufir Hawat as they rolled their eyes when asked to work out major numerical points from time to time.
The Butlerian Legacy
The history of Dune involves the major part where “thinking machines” were outlawed and this included everything from a simple pocket calculator to a highly advanced AI. While this was a major part that was dealt with in the book but it wasn’t on the scale of Skynet considering the battle was done mostly in a religious and spiritual manner. The primary focus was not the technology taking over making but the fact that these advancements are actually having an impact on the people. This issue was raised by the Butlerians.
So these were all the key details from the Dune Novel that did not show up in the movie.
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