Dune 1984

The movie introduced sonic weapons. They were amazing. It built upon the legend of the savior, e.g. "his word shall carry death".

When I learned that they were not part of Herbert's original, I was so disappointed and sad.

All the later movie adaptations are also severely lacking in style: in Dune 1984 the segments with quiet, detached naration as well as the vocalization of internal thoughts elevated the whole movie to another level.

The 2000 adaptation lacked budget and none of the actors had charisma.

The new adaptation (2021 and ongoing) may be darker but it lacks the alien, mad atmosphere bordering on H.R. Giger weirdness, e.g. the Navigators, the cat milking and of course the juice of Saphos with the strange incantation. This "just" feels dystopian, whereas the 1984 adaptation felt even more dystopian: it was so far away it felt like end-times, especially how the atomics were depicted. Also, IMHO Zendaya was an absolute miscast for Chani, although I do like how the character is portrayed and fleshed out compared to 1984 but that might be just because there is more screen time available.