Author Frank Herbert reportedly got the spark for the concept of his book Dune after observing conservation attempts along the Oregon coastline, creating from this a science fiction action-adventure tale that would inspire readers for generations. Parts of this inspiration in readers are the worlds which readers explore, part of it is the intrigue that flows throughout the tale, and part of it is the intersection of nature, faith, colonialism, and capitalism as destructive forces. The story of Dune is a series that’s been adapted once before on film and once for television, but nothing in the way that co-writer/director Denis Villeneuve (Arrival; Blade Runner 2049) achieved with the 2021 theatrical adaptation titled Dune. This film, more accurately described as Part One, establishes the setting and the characters, enabling the follow-up story, Part Two, to dive into the action. After being in theaters for a period beginning at the start of March 2024, Dune: Part Two now comes available on physical formats and digital, bringing with it nearly 90 minutes of bonus materials that dig into all the details (big and small) that make Herbert’s fantasy a remarkable reality.

If you’d like a sense of Part One before we dive into Part Two, head over to the home release review.

L-R: Director/Writer/Producer Denis Villeneuve and Production Designer Patrice Vermette on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure DUNE: PART TWO, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Having won the fight against Jamis (Babs Olusanmokun), Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) are led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem) to the rest of the Northern Tribe where the pair can be considered for inclusion. They are outsiders and, therefore, are highly suspect, but Stilgar believes that Paul is the Lisan al Gaib who will guide them and will return their home to a world of green and water. Paul rejects this, desiring nothing more than to help the Fremen destroy the Harkonnen out of revenge for what they and the Emperor (Christopher Walken) did to his father, his friends, and his people. But the longer Paul spends with the Fremen, the more the prophecies appear to be real, requiring the young man to decide if he wants to avoid his fate forever or face it, come what may.

L-R: Zendaya as Chani and Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides. in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure DUNE: PART TWO, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

As mentioned in the home release of Part One, this writer is new to the Dune universe and, therefore, comes to these films without foreknowledge or background. Typically, this is not an ideal position to be in when considering one’s thoughts on a film that’s an adaptation, but the purpose here isn’t to consider how well Villeneuve transferred from page to screen, but whether or not the film works as presented. Unlike Part One, Two is far easier to move within as a newbie, the bonus features coming to the viewer’s aid only to provide deeper understanding of technical aspects of the filmmaking process, rather than explaining significant elements that the story breezes past. As mentioned in the review for Part One, one of its great strengths is that it doesn’t hold your hand, treating you as an intelligent audience with the media literacy skills to get enough information to understand what it doesn’t explicitly state. Two functions similarly, though it does offer quite a bit more exposition and place-setting, which is a tad strange at times and messes with the energy of the overall film, but never enough to cause a detriment to one’s enjoyment or immersion. Even with a brief voice-over introduction by new character, Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), who reminds us of the events of the last film and serves as the transition into the first action sequence of the current one, it is as much about reminding us what unfolded before as it establishes new characters and new stakes. What was once a battle between Houses now holds the potential to upend the entire monarchy and, thus, the galaxy as they know it. The opening does very little and, yet, we can feel the tension that will take roughly the length of the film to release. And, even then, this is Part Two, so it isn’t so much a contented release as a resignation that another battle is completed and more are on the way. In between that, the audience is invited into a world crafted and run by manipulators, murderers, and secret-wielders that Paul, ever the pawn, navigates as he seeks to determine his place. It’s refreshing to see a character who’s been raised fully aware of what’s expected of him and yet possesses the free will to attempt to battle it, to forge it into something that benefits him and those around him, thereby making the drama of the character’s arc all the more satisfying and troubling as the narrative continues. This brings us to one of the tricky things about the film as it relates to what it explains and what it doesn’t. For much like the first portion, in order to make Paul trusted amongst the Fremen, he must undergo various trials and engage in certain activities and, with all the things that the film must do, several of these appear to get shorted from our view. Travel through the desert to prove he can do it? He leaves, is intercepted by Chani (Zendaya), who offers help, and then it’s one moment after another where he tackles something and/or participates in an insurgent action. The amount we don’t see makes it harder to believe beyond the shifts in response from other characters that he’s as amazing as he seems. In short, in order to introduce Austin Butler’s sociopathic Feyd-Rautha, the brother of Dave Bautista’s Beast Rabban, who’s meant to be a mirror to Paul, we get to be told a lot about Paul without seeing him earn it. What we do get does warrant his welcoming into the Northern Fremen populace, but is it enough for the non-believers to convert even with Lady Jessica’s role transformed into the Reverend Mother of the Fremen, using her position to manipulate the believers into stewards for her son?

L-R: Director/Writer/Producer Denis Villeneuve, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure DUNE: PART TWO, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This brings us to the central element of Part Two which makes it a truly blistering achievement: it’s all corrupt. Chani and Stilgar are totally innocent, but the rest are little more than false gods fighting over scraps of power. Part One establishes the religious order of the Bene Gesserit whose operatives are revered among all the Houses of power and who Rebecca went against to have a son instead of a daughter. We know that Rebecca loves Paul and loved Leto (Oscar Isaac), but this film establishes that Rebecca also sought to reclaim power from the Reverend Mother herself, who we can infer is Rebecca’s mother by their ability to communicate telepathically to one another via a brief scene toward the end. But even before that conclusion, the seeds are there for the film’s proclamation against organization faith as Chani argues with Stilgar regarding Paul about how faith would have you wait thousands of years for savior when they could take action themselves right now. Paul agrees with her, partially in trying to confront who he may be, but, in this moment, with that language, the audience can start to see just how long the Bene Gesserit have been planting their own seeds and just how far they’ve reached — beyond the walls of the great Houses and to the people. If their faith speaks of a messiah, a ““Voice from the Outer World,” and the Bene Gesserit can bring it forth, how mighty would their strength be even if they don’t bear the responsibility of rule like the Emperor, Leto, or even Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) do on the day-to-day? How invincible would the Bene Gesserit become if they could control the House *and* the people via their own self-made messiah? Control the spice, control the people, control all the power. This is what makes the shift within Paul through the story so heartbreaking, because he seems too desperate to avenge his father and make a life with Chani, but all the paths to accomplish this seem to guide him toward becoming whom everyone else expects him to be, the truth being that this version of a messiah doesn’t lead with an open hand, but a white-knuckled fist ready to kill billions. Interestingly, while Dune lacks appropriate Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) representation (yeah, yeah — it’s a sci-fi action/adventure, but Herbert borrows heavily from this community and region and adaptations could make a point to have the characters reflect this when portrayed), but there’s something about so many of the non-MENA characters utilizing MENA-inspired attire, traditions, and affectations. It’s as though the film is screaming at audiences to notice the cultural appropriation and usage for attaining power rather than actual appreciation. There’s a strangeness to see Lady Jessica dressed as the Reverend Mother for the Fremen, wearing their religious garb, adorned in their symbols and skin-markings. It’s quite sacrilegious and insulting, yet the community allows it because their faith tells them to do so. In this regard, Part Two packs an intense punch as the audience starts to realize that all the time we’ve spent with Paul was not to observe the birth of The One as protector, but as the destroyer. Now we have to wait to see if a Part Three will come to watch the complete downfall take place.

Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure DUNE: PART TWO, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

In the meantime, there’re about 90 minutes of bonus features to enable fans of Part Two to explore the making of the film. Before digging in fully, be advised that many of the special features are gatekept to the digital edition. There are eight featurettes included with both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray editions and another eight with the digital edition. So if you want to fully explore Part Two, be ready and able to access a stream version. As of this writing, there appear to be no bonus features with the DVD edition.

L-R: Director/Writer/Producer Denis Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure DUNE: PART TWO, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Much like Part One, what’s provided in Part Two is top-tier exploration of the making of the film. Rather than focus on just the cast (who we hear from quite a bit), there’s a great deal of focus on the craft of filmmaking, placing the costume designers, prosthetics designers, stunts choreographer, VFX team, cinematography, and production design (to name a few), as the focus as much as possible. This creates a sense of just how much Villeneuve values his creative teams even before learning how he tried to bring back as many people as he could from the first production so as to continue their work here. Logistically, this makes a great deal of sense because then you’re not training or developing with individuals less familiar with the world created in the first place, but it also speaks to the trust Villeneuve possesses with his team and the level of commitment he has to work with individuals who bring out the best in him, as well. Villeneuve is the leader as director, but each featurette offers a glimpse into a filmmaker who may as well see himself as a band leader or conductor, guiding his team of craftspeople (in front of and behind the camera) toward his specific vision. Along the way we get insight into how they crafted the style and look for specific moments in the film, such as learning that the eclipse shown in the sequence just after the recap provided by Princess Irulan is a real eclipse occurring during shooting, thereby aiding in the look of the scene. Or how Butler trained for and crafted his idea of Feyd-Rautha, especially coming straight from his work on Elvis (2022). One thing of particular note is the construction of the final sequence in the film (difficult for the sheer number of cast members and the only time so many are together on-screen, but also for the lighting) in which a large number of LEDs were mounting and shown through a sheet in order to help create the illusion of the sunrise in the background of the confrontation between the Emperor and Feyd-Rautha and Paul. We learn here how these LEDs end up being the primary light source for the entire sequence, a novel and lovely way to connect the thematic elements of Dune with the physical confrontation about to take place (the sunrise being a symbol of a New Day). However, and this may be because Warner Bros. Pictures sent a 4K UHD edition for this review, due to the use of limited light sourcing in this scene, so much of it is nearly too dark to follow thanks to the deeper blacks afforded by the HDR. In the aforementioned eclipse sequence, the sand is a crimson red, indicative of the violence and danger in the sequence, but it’s also so dark that some elements are difficult to discern the details. A problem that occurs elsewhere in the film where light sources are minimal. That said, the blending of CG and real world elements remain a thing of beauty. The team truly creates environments, sometimes constructed of material, sometimes entirely VFX-based, sometimes threaded together, that maintain such tangibility that one questions whether or not this team is hiding advanced space travel tech from the rest of the world.

L-R: Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure DUNE: PART TWO, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Unlike Part One, there’s less of a tug to see where the story goes in the next installment. If Paul’s words are to be believed, it’s going to be a bloodbath across the stars. It’s a credit to Villeneuve and his team that these films are as impossibly good as they can be, even when aspects are unevenly approached in order to play with so many characters in the story. It’s also impressive how Villeneuve presents, via Chalamet’s performance, the depths of depravity religion and capitalism push on society. That both are so ingrained that any mention of the problems that result as a side-effect of their use is deemed heresy of the highest order, whether you worship money or a coming messiah. The notion that it all could have been avoided with different choices, this idea that Villeneuve and returning co-writer Jon Spaihts implant within the script, is what makes Part Two so engaging and interesting. But when we lead a life of violence, only more violence will come. And if the end of Part Two is any indication, violence is coming.

Dune: Part Two Special Features:

4K UHD and Blu-ray

• Chakobsa Training (4:52)
• Creating the Fremen World (11:42)
• Finding the Worlds of Dune (6:25)
• Buzz Around the New “Thopter” (3:52)
• Worm-Riding (9:23)
• Becoming Feyd (7:34)
• A New Set of Threads (7:41)
• Deeper into the Desert: The Sounds of the Dune (13:00)

Digital

• Filmbooks: House Corrino (1:31)
• Filmbooks: The Reverend Mother (2:08)
• Filmbooks: Water (1:44)
• Filmbooks: Lisan-al-Gaib and the Fremen (1:33)
• An Ensemble for the Ages (21:54)
• Chakobsa Training (4:52)
• Creating the Fremen World (11:42)
• Finding the Worlds of Dune (6:25)
• Buzz Around the New “Thopter” (3:52)
• Worm-Riding (9:23)
• Becoming Feyd (7:34)
• A New Set of Threads (7:41)
• Deeper into the Desert: The Sounds of the Dune (13:00)
• Inside Dune: The Spice Harvester Attack (5:40)
• Inside Dune: Gurney Hallaeck’s Revenge (3:25)
• Inside Dune: The Fight for the Imperial Throne (5:09)

Available on VOD and digital April 16^th, 2024.
Available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD May 14^th, 2024.

For more information, head to the official Warner Bros. Pictures Dune: Part Two website.

Final Score: 4 out of 5.

Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming

Tags: 4K UHD, action, adaptation, adventure, Alison Halstead, Austin Butler, Babs Olusanmokun, Charlotte Rampling, Christopher Walken, Dave Bautista, Denis Villeneuve, Dune, Dune: Part Two, Florence Pugh, Frank Herbert, Giusi Merli, Greig Fraser, home release, home video, Imola Gáspár, Javier Bardem, Jon Spaihts, Josh Brolin, Léa Seydoux, Legendary Pictures, Rebecca Ferguson, Roger Yuan, Souheila Yacoub, Stellan Skarsgård, Timothée Chalamet, Warner Bros. Pictures, Zendaya