I haven't often admitted my youthful fascination with science fiction, but neither am I ashamed of it. I read SF for many years, eventually amassing some 800 volumes, virtually all in paperback. Eventually I donated this collection to a university that maintains a special collection of SF.
The release of the second half of the new two part Dune film has been the occasion of several comparisons of the various treatments of Frank Herbert's weighty novel. Interestingly, most of these tend to omit a discussion of the TV miniseries treatments of Dune and of Children of Dune.
I own these on DVD and recently began a rewatching of the TV versions. Filmed with British and European actors, these six 90 minute episodes go a long way to exploring the richness of the Herbert universe, the world of the Bene Gesserit, CHOAM, the Guild Navigators, the Great Houses of the Landsraad, and the Face Dancers.
These two miniseries have the best interpretation of the Baron Harkonnen I've seen and some of the strongest women characters. In some ways, the two TV miniseries taken together constitute the most thorough film treatment of the Herbert "universe."
The spice must flow....
