Having grown up somewhat obsessed with the David Lynch Dune film, having recently seen the new Dune film, and having also recently reread the book, I find the treatment of the Harkonnen characters, specifically the Baron Harkonnen, interesting in the new movie.

The Lynch film stayed more true to the book's portrayal of the Baron. He was loud, boisterous, rude, and over-confident. He was grossly fat, gay, and diseased. Nothing about him was quietly threatening. He spends a lot of time bragging about his plans, both to Piter and Jessica, and then gloating over Duke Leto Atreides until the Duke bites the tooth. The Lynch film captures most of this pretty well, only really toning down the homosexual implications (which isn't really a bad thing - puts a bad light on queers), but even this is still in the movie. He has that creepy scene with the younger slave boy, and he clearly lusts after Feyd.

The Baron's portrayal in the new movie is almost nothing like this, other than fat. He's quiet, dark, and menacing. I will say, he's super creepy - that part is kind of effective, but it is NOT the Baron from the book. Maybe flamboyant and loud is not the type of bad guy that caters to this audience, but I think the character loses something. Part of what makes the Baron's downfall so glorious was the part where Alia finally shuts his great fat mouth. It will be interesting to see how they develop the character in the upcoming films.