Around the 35 minute mark, the House of Atreides arrives on Arrakis. As they exit the spaceship, Lady Jessica seems to be wearing a type of veil (a see-through textile the same colour as her attire) in front of her face. On the next shot the veil is on the back of her head, so her face is fully shown. On the shot afterwards (and up until the end of the scene) the veil is back in front of Lady Jessica's face.
Although it is established that strikes have to be slow in order to penetrate a shield, there are several instances throughout the movie where fighters deliver fast blows, and yet they apparently penetrate the opponent's shield, as indicated by the shield's red glow - for instance during the Harkonnen attack on Arakis and when Duncan fights Sardaukar in the research station.
A Crysknife may never be sheathed unless it has drawn blood. This is evident near the end of the film, when the entire tribe bloods their knives. However, in the scene where Jessica confronts Shadout Mapes, Mapes fails to blood her knife.
Chani removes her stillsuit mask when she first meets the Atreides, she apparently discards it and never retrieves it.
When Paul meets the Reverend Mother, he enters the large room with his mother standing to the right of her and slightly behind her. When the Reverend Mother starts to talk, a man is shown taking several steps forward into the room onto a carpet. It appears to be Paul, since he is the only person in the room wearing pants. The next scene shows Paul standing in the exact same spot he was before this, next to his mother, like he never walked forward.
Despite several mentions of the intensity of the sun on Arrakis, no character ever wears any eye protection.
At 1:15:56, when Dr. Yueh brings a tray and drink in for Paul, there is one white pill on the tray. After he leaves, Paul is looking at the tray and there are two pills.
This is not an error. The tray with the two pills is in the room with Duke and Jessica.
This is not an error. The tray with the two pills is in the room with Duke and Jessica.
2:03:20 When the ornithopter crashes in the desert, sand is clearly pushed in front of and up against the front windshield, when it stops moving. When leaving the machine, the cockpit and front windshield are shown to be above sand.
Not a goof: The sand falls off the window after it stops moving.
Not a goof: The sand falls off the window after it stops moving.
Duke Leto wears the signet ring on his middle finger. When Paul puts it on in the desert, it fits snugly on his index finger. For a "skinny" boy of 15, his father's ring would fit loosely on all of his fingers. It is well possible a boy has fingers of similar dimensions like his father's, no matter his stature.
At 2:02:53, when the ornithopter's fins break and fall off one by one, Paul tells his mother "as soon as we land, run for the rocks". Within the storm, he could not have known that there will be rock(s) within running distance of the site where they land.
However, while he says this, the desert can be clearly seen out the window behind him, indicating that they have exited the storm. With good visuals, Paul lets the ornithopter slide down smoothly using the lift of the two remaining fins, aiming to land near the rocks visible to him. When another fin breaks off, this throws them into an uncontrollable dive, the ornithopter crashing at some distance from the rocks he was aiming for.
However, while he says this, the desert can be clearly seen out the window behind him, indicating that they have exited the storm. With good visuals, Paul lets the ornithopter slide down smoothly using the lift of the two remaining fins, aiming to land near the rocks visible to him. When another fin breaks off, this throws them into an uncontrollable dive, the ornithopter crashing at some distance from the rocks he was aiming for.
When Duncan closes the supposedly heavy blast door, Paul hammers his fists onto the closed door but you clearly see the door moving under his fists, revealing it to be a light prop instead.
At around 1 hour and 4 minutes, when the helicopter piloted by Duke Leto is about to land in the desert next to the carrier, if you look closely from the exterior shot, there is nobody actually inside the aircraft.
When the imperial delegation is disembarking from their spaceship, the Reverend Mother Mohiam, played by Charlotte Rampling, can clearly be seen walking behind the Herald of the Change. The Bene Gesserit sister, however, is portrayed by another actress for the remainder of the scene.
At 41:23, a Fremen standing beside Mapes has normal coloured eyes.
When Paul is learning about Arrakis from the projector device, it describes the sandworms' length in meters, but the roots of the trees are in feet. The other instances of length in the film are in meters.
Kynes leads Paul, Jessica and Duncan into a place she describes as an old water reclamation facility that was abandoned when spice was discovered. (This was not in the book.) However, although spice had been discovered some 15,000 years before this, there is no sign of weathering on the entrance, nor any other sign of wear.
The Sardaukar Bashar is clearly speaking the English dialogue shown in the subtitles - having later been dubbed over with an alien language.
When Piter de Vries is talking to the Sardaukar and they're both walking away from the camera, the audio is Piter de Vries talking but the video is the Sardaukar talking.
The thopter Paul and mother take into the desert after the coup is disabled remotely, yet Duncans isn't (he stole one to go pick up Paul and mother and is chased).