Michi
I dislike attempts to rewrite history
Yes, Foundation has more depth than your run-of-the-mill sci-fi series. Don't get me wrong—I didn't think it's bad, but I also don't think it's great. The characters are too simplistic and cardboard to really come alive. Compare with The Expanse or Westworld, both of which had better character development, IMO, and similarly high production values.To me what makes it shine is the world-building... it reminds me a bit of Dune.
And it just goes far beyond the usual 'disaster-movie in space' / 'lord of the flies in space' / 'standard people-drama with aliens' kind of stuff in creativity IMO.
I'm a bit conflicted about Dune. I watched both movies (as well as the 80s movie with Sting back when it was released), and I read the books as a teenager. It's a good epic story. The recent movies managed to capture the scope of the story well, the production values and camera work were impeccable, costume design was awesome, and they captured the steam punk feel really well.
My disappointment with Dune again is with the character development. The characters never really came to life to the point where I really cared about them. They felt a little bit too simple and cardboard. The whole movie experience was nice and enjoyable high-quality escapism. With characters I will have problems remembering two years from now. Make the characters more real so they engage the audience more, and you turn a good movie into a great one.
I had the exact same feeling with Wheel of Time. Great story, great production, beautiful constumes and sets, but just a tad shallow characters. In contrast, I really enjoyed House of the Dragon (Game of Thrones prequel). The characters there felt much richer and complex, and I actually could remember them and their internal struggles.