The duke breathed the gas directly into his face, and everyone else in the room died instantly. The shield doesn't protect him from poison gas as far as I can tell. This scene didn't make any sense in the film.
shareHe made like Superman and flew to the top of the roof.
shareExcept we see people standing at the other side of the room die instantly from the gas. The gas was breathed directly in the Baron's face as we saw, he should have died instantly.
shareSome gases are heavier than air and, as such, move downwards. The Baron saw the trap, zoomed upwards, and did not receive a lethal dose.
shareNo, we see he is still leaning over the Duke as people around the room are dying.
shareI just watched the scene about 30 minutes ago, and I'm with you. His shield glows red (which seems to imply danger) while other Harkonnen are keeling over. It would seem that he would have had a lethal dose.
shareBeing overweight meant it would take more gas to kill him which meant he didn't get a lethal dose.
shareFrom the book...
"He could analyze it now. His shield had been activated, set low but still enough to slow molecular interchange across the field barrier. And he had been pushing himself away from the table... that and Piter’s shocked gasp which had brought the guard captain darting forward into his own doom.
Chance and the warning in a dying man’s gasp—these had saved him."
"The guard captain pushing him away" part did not happen in the movie. I guess shield is only thing protected him. But why is he the only one with shield? They are in still enemy territory, to save battery?
shareThe Baron was the only one who activated his shield. He did so because even with Leto subdued, he still, rightly, feared him.
When he heard Piter gasp the Guard Captain darts into the room to his death, but the Baron pushes himself away.
In the book it's into an alcove, in the film it's against the ceiling.
Either way, it's the shield and the fact he pushed himself far enough away from the Duke that saved him.
In the movie nobody is pushing anyone.
shareThere is no action of activating the shield, at least not shown, so the shield on the Baron has been on from the beginning. The point is why everyone wasn't doing the same, the war wasn't even over.
shareIt's shown clearly that they press the a button on their hand to activate the shield. Paul does it in training. The Atreides troops do it when they debark for Arakeen. Gurney and his men activate theirs.
The Baron activates his by pressing his ring finger. He doesn't have it on previously.
Were the Harkonnen guards dumb for having theirs deactivated? Probably. But it was clear that Harkonnen foot soldiers weren't too competent. That's why they needed the Sardaukar at least.
And you're right, it doesn't happen the same as it does in the book. The Baron in the book pushes himself away from the table into an alcove. In the film he uses his suspensors to press himself into the ceiling.
The result is the same. The answer to the question is that the Baron's shield and distance from the Duke saves him.
You can see his shield glowing directly next to the duke several seconds after the gas has been released as the guards are closing the doors. It doesn't matter what happens in the book, in the movie it makes no sense.
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I think there could be 2 possible reasons:
1) The shield protected him from direct contact with what apparently a quick acting nerve gas.
2) The baron is a user of spice, high concentration of spice in his system might have given him some level of immunity against the poison. His underlings might not have such luxury. The usage of spice is simplified in the movie, but could be extended later.
Because he has to die in exquisite anguish at the end of the story and the story isn’t finished yet.
shareThe book made it clear that his shield protected him from the poison gas.
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