24 Movies to Watch if You Liked Dune – menshealth.com

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If you've even seen the trailer for Dune, Denis Villeneuve's epic 2021 adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel of the same name, one thing is abundantly clear: it. is. big. That's going to be the first observation that anyone has when looking at the massive scale at which the sci-fi tale was created. It's huge. Beyond thatand don't get us wrong, filming on location and merging special and practical effects makes for a grand visual spectaclethe movie tells the first part of its story in an accordingly fitting, but, again, epic, manner.

Once you're done with that, though, we wouldn't blame you if you sort of found yourself starting to get a taste for more of what you just got. We may have to wait a little bit for the Dune sequel or spinoff, but there's plenty that's tangentially related to Villeneuve's Dune that you can use to further immerse yourself in the same kind of world.

Obviously, you can start looking for other space and Sci-Fi epics. You can look for general epics, toothe idea of a hero's story told on a grand scale is far from limited to outer space. You could look into past adaptations of Dune to compare, and you could watch documentaries about failed attempts to adapt Dune. The history is rich. Hell, maybe you even just want some Sci-Fi but want to scale everything back a bit.

No matter the mood, there are plenty of worthy follow ups to Villeneuve's 2021 Dune. Here, we've gathered some of the very best.

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1Star Wars

This is a recommendation for not only Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hopewhich is the Galaxy Far, Far, Away equivalent to Dune: Part Onebut for the entire franchise, which was heavily influenced by Herbert's 1965 novel from the jump. It's ironic, then, that Star Wars, with 11 feature films, a live-action hit series, and a whole animated universe, eventually became something that the world of Dune had to acknowledge.

"It was a very long process to find this identity in a world with the giant elephant of Star Wars in the room," Villeneuve said. "George Lucas was inspired by Dune when he created Star Wars. Then as we were making a movie about Dune, we had to negotiate the influence of Star Wars. It's full circle."

If you somehow haven't seen Star Wars, well, there's only one place to start.

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2Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

The last film from Denis Villeneuve was the similarly-ambitious Blade Runner 2049, which served as a 25-years-later sequel to Ridley Scott's original 1982 Blade Runner. Harrison Ford returns as Rick Deckard, but the lead here is Ryan Gosling. Gosling is convincingly broody the whole movie and wears a very cool coat; supporting roles from Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista, and Jared Leto are super watchable. But, like Dune, what makes Blade Runner 2049 really stand out is its visuals and the scale. This is an incredible movie to watch. Find the biggest screen you can, and press play.

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3Interstellar (2014)

We probably could have put quite a few different Christopher Nolan films on this list, but, you know, he does have a space epic, so we're going to include it. Interstellar might be Nolan's most ambitious movie yetwhich is really saying something. It stars Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, and Anne Hathaway, among others, in a story about space travel looking to help society survive. Bonus for Dune fans? It features a young Timothe Chalamet as Matthew McConuaghey's son.

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4Arrival (2016)

If someone wanted to say that Arrival was Denis Villeneuve's best movie, it would be hard to argue against them. Arrival is sci-fi at its best telling a twisty and engrossing story that makes sense and blows your mind by the very end. Amy Adams gives perhaps her best performance in the lead role (she should have won the Oscar!) and the film's score is also unbelievable. Arrival is based on a short story from a collection by author Ted Chiang, and quite frankly is a strong testament that Hollywood should adapt his work way more.

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5Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

A desert-esque wasteland, barren of resources, where water supply is super-limited? Where have we heard that before? It's clear that Mad Max: Fury Road took some influence from Dune along the way to becoming the most thrilling and visually-arresting action movie of the last 20 years.

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6Ad Astra (2019)

Another space epic from recent years is Ad Astra, which follows Astronaut Brad Pitt as he searches for his father, Astronaut Tommy Lee Jones who went missing long ago during his own outer space expedition. Stunning visuals and great acting make this a space voyage worth taking.

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7The Matrix (1999)

If you're looking for another tale of a so-called chosen one, look no farther than the groundbreaking action of The Matrix. This first movie was unbelievably unique and divergent at the time of it's release, andguess what?it still kicks ass! The sequels are just OK (The Matrix Reloaded, which does still have some good action) and bad (The Matrix Revolutions, which sucks), but still worth seeing for the scope of the story. The Matrix Resurrections, out later in 2021, should be an epic reboot of sorts.

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8Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

This story of a military officer's adventures in Arabia are formative to American cinema, and particularly the desert-heavy aesthetic of Dune. Peter O'Toole never won an Academy Award despite being nominated for Best Actor 8 times; he lost for Lawrence of Arabia to worthy competition (Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird), but this is one of the most classic performances of all time.

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9Gladiator (2000)

Ridley Scott's Gladiator is like Dune in the way that it's a visually-arresting epic set in a time and place that is definitively not ours. The movie stars Russell Crowe as a former general who's out for vengeance when a corrupt emperor and his regime kill his entire family. The rest of the action-packed story is a revenge story, and a damn good one.

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10Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

For another film that serves as a gateway into a brand new world, you can do a lot worse than the first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. It's a high-seas adventure with top-notch villains, heroes, and, uh, in-between (whatever Captain Jack Sparrow is, your call). There have been quite a few Pirates sequels, but The Curse of the Black Pearl is an epic adventure that holds up.

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11Prisoners (2013)

For his first film in the English language, Villeneuve made a mystery/thriller/crime drama. And it fucking rules.

Prisoners features a stacked castJake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Paul Dano, Maria Bello, Melissa Leoand tells a story of a small community of parents and families that gets impacted after two children go missing.

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12The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Enter another epic saga with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which brings you fully and immersively into the middle earth that Peter Jackson created. Like Villeneuve's Dune, this movie sets the table in a massive way for the world that exists while still telling a self-contained storyand leaving the door open for more.

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13Sicario (2015)

Villeneuve shifted his genre to political thriller with Sicario, a non-stop, action-packed ride of tension that takes viewers along with an FBI agent played by Emily Blunt for an anti-drug mission that goes off the rails quickly. Blunt is joined in an incredible cast by Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Daniel Kaluuya.

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14Avatar (2009)

There are many sequels coming, but as of now we've still only ever gotten the first of James Cameron's Avatar movies. And it's fair to say that it's done pretty well, going back and forth over the last couple years with Avengers: Endgame as the highest-grossing film of all time. Avatar was groundbreaking visually upon release and is still a fun watch, especially if you want to get ready for those sequels Mr. Cameron keeps teasing.

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15Dune (1984)

It's somehow both way weirder and way cheesier, but we can't deny that David Lynch's Duneadapted and greatly truncated back in 1984does exist. His frequent collaborator, Kyle MacLachlan (best known as Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks), is our Paul here. Worth checking out if only to see a comparison, right? Sting (yes, that Sting) plays Feud-Rautha Harkonnen, a character who we're eager to see return for Villeneuve's Dune sequel.

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16Jodorowsky's Dune (2014)

And if you want to see the story of a Dune movie that didn't get made, you can check out Jodorosky's Dune. This documentary goes deep on director Alejandro Jodorowsky's plan to make a super-ambitious version of Dune, which was in pre-production for two years and never got made.

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17Nausica of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Writer/director Hayao Miyazaki (who you may know from Spirited Away) made this film considered a post-apocalyptic classicthat's also considered to be either heavily influenced by or unofficially adapted from Herbert's Dune book.

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18Ex Machina (2015)

If you want to shrink things down but still get your Sci-Fi on, consider Alex Garland's Ex Machina, which stars Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Dune's Duke himself, Oscar Isaac. This movie has a twisty plot, stunning visuals, and a bit to say about artificial intelligence. Worth checking out.

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19Moon (2009)

Another sci-fi story, Moon almost serves as an antidote to the massive scale of Dune; a reminder that sci-fi stories can be quite small but still wholly engrossing. Sam Rockwell stars and Duncan Jones directs.

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20Prometheus (2012)

The scale on Prometheus is just enormous. Firmly landing in the Alien universe, the movie was Ridley Scott's most ambitious sci-fi since Blade Runner, and while reaction to the movie at the time was polarized, there's no question that it's got the scale, effects, and tension to stand the test of time. Lots of great world-building and planetary aesthetics.

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21Enemy (2014)

Villeneuve's smallest movie in the English language might also be his biggest mind fuck. Enemy finds the director re-teaming with Jake Gyllenhaal to tell the story of a man who's life begins to spiral out of control when he sees another man who...looks exactly like him. I am not spoiling anythingI would not darebut this movie has an ending that had me exclaiming aloud to no one.

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22The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather is not what we would call a "genre" film. It's not sci-fi, it's not a period piece action, it's not a thriller. It's a straight-up crime epic, though, and the first film in the series, The Godfather, has a surprising number of parallels to Dune. There's Don Vito (Marlon Brando), the family business patriarch, and Michael (Al Pacino), his emerging heir. Drama emerges, but the epic arc is familiar for a reason.

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23Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

This movie was a bit overlooked upon release, and it's not all that similar to Dune in just about any way. But it's a quick-paced sci-fi/action/thriller that does enough world-building to establish both characters and a setting that you wouldn't mind returning to by the time the end credits start rolling. Maybe if Alita: Battle Angel becomes a big enough cult hit, we'll get one of those years-later sequels down the line.

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24Jupiter Ascending (2015)

OK, sure, Jupiter Ascending may not have landed like the sci-fi epic that the Wachowskis thought it would. Still, if you wanted to transport yourself to a larger galactic world, you could do a lot worse. Find a big screen and take it all in. It's Channing Tatum and Mila Kunisthey're charming, and the visuals are half the battle anyway.

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24 Movies to Watch if You Liked Dune - menshealth.com