With Denis Villeneuve’s take on Dune finally arriving on Malaysian cinema screens this week, we at last have an answer to the most burning question regarding this latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic. No, not “Do the worms look good?” (They do!) Or “Is Timothée Chalamet convincing as Paul?” (He is!) “Has Villeneuve done Herbert’s book justice?”(See our review.) Or even, “Does the split between Parts 1, and the eventual Part 2 (fingers crossed), make sense?” (It does.)
No. We now know whether Villeneuve got the single most important aspect of Dune lore correct: “Are the ornithopters cool?”
For the uninitiated, ornithopters are the aircraft used by non-Fremen to navigate the shifting sands of the planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. Now, you might be thinking of a generic future aircraft or a helicopter of some kind, but ‘thopters are far more than that. Herbert never describes them in detail in the books, however. Even the “Terminology Of The Imperium,” at the back of the first book, describes them only as:
“ORNITHOPTER: (commonly: ’thopter) any aircraft capable of sustained wing-beat flight in the manner of birds.”
Herbert, Frank – Dune (The Dune Sequence)
Instead, Herbert prefers to conjure images in his reader’s imaginations through every day references. Comparisons to insects abound. They “squat” while on the ground, “humming softly on standby like a somnolent insect.” A squadron of smugglers’ ‘thopters following their spice factory are described as “like a swarm of insects following its queen.” Again this could lead you to assume that ‘thopters are some kind of helicopter. And they would be, if it wasn’t for the descriptions of the wings.
“Folded flat against its (the ornithopter’s) sides in a power dive” or being “snicked in to beetle stubs” in flight. Even the description of the “thwok-thwok” noise as they approach marks them as something different.
I Heart ‘Thopters
I LOVE ornithopters. In concept and in some of the iterations we’ve seen over the years.
Realizing them on screen has always been a tricky proposition. Considering Dune’s far flung future setting, there is always some difficulty bringing the technology to life. In making things appear futuristic and yet not so unfamiliar as to confuse the audience. As more and more visions of the future come to our screens, it gets harder and harder to come up with sci-fi designs that are fresh and distinct but not outlandish. That don’t feel like they are just ripping off the lived in look of the original Star Wars trilogy, the clean design ethos of the prequels, or any of the various blue collar takes on space travel and the future as found in Alien.
It’s a conflict not every version of Dune has resolved satisfactorily.
The Stubby Winged Sleeper Must Awaken
David Lynch’s doomed adaptation came up with swathes of striking imagery, but for whatever reason, Lynch’s ‘thopter was rendered essentially as a small room with sadly static wings. I don’t hold its lack of design ambition against Lynch though. He had more than enough other things to worry about on that film.
On Digital Wings
While I’m not familiar with all the videogames produced based upon the Dune license, I’ve always had a soft spot for the ‘thopters of 1992’s Dune adventure game from Cryo Interactive and Virgin Games.
Its military style, tandem cockpit configuration, similar to that of a terrestrial Hind–D and long slender landing “legs” certainly lent an insectile air to this design, while retaining some sense that this could actually fly.
Alas, the wings only slide forward on take off, so you never really see them beating. For a time this was probably my favourite version of the ‘thopters.
Sci-Fi Beetle Bugs
The Sci-Fi Channel’s multi part adaptation, Frank Herbert’s Dune and Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune got a lot of things right, but when it came to the ornithopters, the filmmakers only seem to have to read the sections of the book that mentioned beetles. Sure, the show’s ‘thopters fit the descriptions of “squat” to a T, and definitely bring to mind chunky desert beetles, but they seem to have skipped over the beating of the wings.
Again, like Lynch’s version, I assume either the technology wasn’t ready, or it was prohibitively expensive to render flapping wings using the CGI effects available at the time. Instead we got a VTOL style aircraft with jump jets embedded in adjustable wings, that looked like something more suited to school runs than desert power.
With no flapping wings or the telltale “thwok-thwok” noise (the engines emitted more of a whine), if you squinted and didn’t think about it too much, the movements of the wings could be seen to match the passages from the book. Maybe.
So, how do the ‘thopters of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune match up?
The Ornithopters in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune SLAP.
I mean just look at this beauty!
Tell me that doesn’t perfectly capture a “thopter plummeting there in a power dive, wings folded flat against its sides.”
Like some of the designs featured in the other recent adaptation of a classic sci-fi work, and by one of Herbert’s contemporaries at that, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation, Villeneuve’s Dune throws together a perfect mix of the outlandish and the familiar.
While the Heighliner’s of the Spacing Guild and the imperial courier’s ship appear suitably otherworldly and mysterious, ironically the ‘thopters of Villenueve’s Dune feel more grounded. The angular windows of the cockpit evoke those of current day military aircraft. It has components easily recognizable as vents or wings, making its purpose clear just by looking at it.
And then you get to the wings…
Villeneuve and his designers really understood the assignment. His Dune takes the time to luxuriate in the wings opening or closing whenever he gets a chance. These ‘thopters feel like predatory metal dragonflies, but are also recognizably aircraft.
In flight they actually behave as described in the book. You see the “wings folded flat against its sides” for a power dive, as seen above. You get the feeling of how, on take off, the “stub wings elongated, cupped the air.”
More than that, the ‘thopters are integrated into the film. They provide an essential marker of scale in it’s vast desert vistas. More than just a conveyance from plot point to plot, they are integral parts of action set pieces.
The ornithopters of Dune, with the furious beating of their wings, sound like an impossible dream. A design far too power hungry and inefficient ever to be realized.
They may only be a small part of the film but Denis Villeneue makes you believe.
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