The Asylum, aka Asylum Pictures, did it again, and I didn't even know it until two years after the fact, when exposure for Planet Dune resurfaced in the wake of Arrow's Dune '84 restoration. Planet Dune and Dune '84 share the same star, Sean Young.
The Asylum, which is known for its quick-buck knock-offs ("mockbusters"), made Planet Dune in anticipation of Dune '21, but the movie is as much (if not more so) a Tremors and/or Alien/Aliens variant.
For Planet Dune, directors Tammy Klein and Glenn Campbell (ah, not the singer), and writers Lauren Pritchard and Joe Roche, present a prison-unit ensemble that blasts forth to retrieve freighter members stranded on a desert planet, which may or may not be the one featured in Frank Herbert lore (i.e. Arrakis).
The planet is populated by Moby Dick-sized worms, which are rendered with respectable CGI. In fact, Planet Dune's worms are as textured as those of any official, Dune adaptation and more than hold their own with Tremors' mutants. Credit must go not only to the film's multiple effects designers, but to Marcus (Lord of the Streets) Friedlander, whose cinematography makes the swift specimens, and all that surrounds them, crisp and clean, despite the occasional, dusty spurt.
Though Sean Young is Planet Dune's headliner, her character is but a cameoing one: Captain Chase, a rule-abiding toughie, who holds a secret.
Planet Dune's actual lead is Emily (Meteor Moon) Killian's Astrid, an ace pilot with a mind of her own, yet compassionate enough to rescue a cosmonaut left to die. Her selfless act gets her tossed among other tarnished, military mavericks for the arenaceous sojourn. Her subordinates butt heads with her, even though (beyond her moonshine flask), she's got her shit together.
Astrid's crew consists of Cherish (Monster Hunters) Holland's short-tempered Rebecca, Anna (Aquarium of the Dead) Telfer's chipper yet cynical Ronnie and Manny (Adventures of Aladdin) Zaldivar's even-keeled Brad. The worm-chased stranded consist of Sienna (Caveman) Farrell's muddled Marilyn and Ramiro (Alien Conquest) Leal's harried Harley. The characters are eclectic and therefore, realistic, thus making the impetuous mission seem plausible.
As with most monsters-attack set-ups, cooperation (even if smacked with a few hitches) is the key to survival, and once installed, Planet Dune becomes a streamlined, creature feature, worthy of such appreciated cash-ins as Titan Find (aka Creature), Inseminoid (aka Horrorplanet), Galaxy of Terror and Blood Beach.
Oddly enough, if not for the Herbert hook, the movie could have used creatures other than worms, and few would have been the wiser. Perhaps it could have gone by another title, like Planet Sand, in a lame attempt to grant some originality. However, if not for the Dune ruse, I (and others) may have missed this one altogether. Again, The Asylum is more interested in shameless-buck trends than an innovative legacy, so the plagiaristic ploy seems to have worked.
And with that said, Planet Dune is an unoriginal gem in light of the many leave-'em-high-and-dry rip-offs that have come and gone in recent years. It certainly can't hurt to view it, and one can (free of charge) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlqUPUpgBpI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Way9Dexny3w
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