You merely can’t carry up sci-fi in cinema with out invoking the colossal title of Star Wars, underneath whose shadow virtually each style movie for the reason that late ‘70s has needed to justify its very existence, lest or not it’s thought-about a mere ripoff. (And rightly so at occasions, e.g., Insurgent Moon.)
Within the case of Frank Herbert’s Dune, nonetheless, we’re asking the age-old query of which got here first, the rooster or the egg, even when realizing the reply. Sure, the not-so-well-received 1984 movie adaptation by David Lynch succeeded Star Wars and doubtless failed due to it, however George Lucas himself was impressed by the timeless 1965 novel by Frank Herbert, and consciously or in any other case included many components from the sand-risen plains of Arrakis into his house opera.
However to those that don’t understand it, it might as effectively have been the opposite approach round. Even Denis Villeneuve understood the problem of presenting this adaptation in a approach that separates itself from Lucas’ legacy.
“It was a really lengthy course of to search out this id in a world with the large elephant of Star Wars within the room,” he defined to Empire journal in 2021. “George Lucas was impressed by Dune when he created Star Wars. Then as we had been making a film about Dune, we needed to negotiate the affect of Star Wars. It’s full circle.”
So, what precisely did Star Wars borrow—nay, acceptable from Dune?
The next paragraphs spoil sure plot factors for Dune: Half Two, so learn forward at your discretion.
Is Star Wars primarily based on Dune?
The obvious parallel between the galaxy far, far-off and Frank Herbert’s sci-fi universe are the desert worlds of Tatooine and Arrakis. Each planets are lined in sand, each are a spot of significance for our protagonists, and each occur to be on the tail finish of nowhere. However whereas Arrakis is extremely prized for its spice mélange, which is the supply of all interstellar journey, Tatooine is fairly nugatory and unimportant. But as far as similarities are involved, we might additionally level to the Sarlaccs and Sandworms, or the Sandcrawler automobiles which are present in each worlds.
Moreover, each Paul Atreides and Luke Skywalker come from the villains within the story. Luke Skywalker’s father is revealed to be none apart from the sinister Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Again, whereas Paul is the grandchild of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Talking of whom, the nice baron may additionally be the inspiration for Jabba the Hutt. When you consider it, the resemblance is fairly uncanny.
As for the Chosen One trope, Lucas opted to middle his story round Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey, however since Luke isn’t solely the final of the Jedi however the one to actually carry steadiness to the Power (whether or not you imagine Luke or Anakin to be the prophesied Chosen One is finally a matter of semantics) it might be argued that he’s as necessary to the galaxy far, far-off as Paul is to his personal galaxy due to his Kwisatz Haderach blood.
A brand new character launched in Dune: Half Two and performed by Anya Taylor-Pleasure is Alia Atreides, who’s the organic sister of Paul Atreides. Alia is presented with the powers of the Bene Gesserit, simply as Leia was attuned to the residing Power. Some would possibly even argue that Princess Leia is predicated on Princess Irulan, who finally ends up marrying Paul. All of us now cringe for the time being when Leia kisses Luke, however again in The Empire Strikes Again interval, Lucas clearly had different plans for Leia’s character earlier than establishing her as one other Skywalker.
There are virtually dozens of different similarities like this in the event you dig deep sufficient. The Empire and the Imperium are principally the identical factor, and each are dominated by an authoritarian tyrant. The Power and the Voice are two enigmatic skills that grant our protagonists energy over their enemies. Even the Weirding Manner is much like the martial arts coaching of the Jedi, and the entire order of Bene Gesserit would possibly remind folks of both the Jedi or the Sith, relying on which one among them you select to look at.
In fact, that’s to not say Star Wars’ solely affect was Dune. If something, Lucas has repeatedly defined how Japanese mythos have knowledgeable his philosophy when writing Luke’s story. Even now, the Jedi are nearer to Samurai than any order of historical fanatics manipulating occasions from behind the curtains, however the religiousness of all of it will definitely lead folks to the identical conclusions.
So right here we now have two protagonists, burdened with the destiny of a whole galaxy and trying to the horizon of their sand-covered planet. Who’s Luke Skywalker, if not an echo of Paul Atreides? And who’s Timothée Chalamet’s new Paul, if not the afterimage of a number of protagonists who’ve graced the silver display for at the least 5 many years now?