Then it was extremely true to the books.

Dune has always been a really difficult adaptation because there is so much internal monologue. It's a great story but a very challenging film.

I can’t imagine trying to understand the movie if I hadn’t read the book. As you say, it would be absolutely incomprehensible.

One might argue that means that the movie failed to properly execute.

Can be argued either way. Perhaps it’s ok for some movies to be companions to pre-existing work, not to be experienced in isolation. In fact, this was the tradition in painting and sculpture for centuries. The viewer would know the backstory for that severed head, e.g., belonging to Goliath.

My anecdata with Dune part 1 is that people who haven't read at least the first book are far more likely to not love the movie. For me, the movie isn't so much an adaptation as it is a window into the world. As someone already familiar with that world, I think the movie is incredible.

Have read the first book multiple times, and hard disagree. See [0] for my thoughts on why.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39555931

>> Slow and incomprehensible for me.

Interesting take. I remember thinking, when I first saw it, in one of the movie's last fight scenes, 'hmm, we must be at the halfway point'