Dune: Part Two (4K UHD Review)

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

In Dune: Part Two, the second half of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the Frank Herbert sci-fi novel, we re-encounter Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), have united with the Fremen in the desert and Paul has fallen in love with a Fremen woman, Chani (Zendaya). Paul is readying a plan to avenge the death of his father. The kink in his plan to taken on the hated Harkonnens is the fact that many of the religious fundamentalist Fremen see him as the fulfilment of a long-held prophecy by their people, and his increasing number of visions show him that following this path of prophecy and leadership will lead to tragedy and death.

This second part of the film is epic in its scope and multi-layered. Beautifully captured by cinematographer Greig Fraser using custom housed vintage lenses, it looks beautiful, from the rendering of the desert scenes to the sheen of the emperor’s ship. But beyond how magnificent the film looks, the story moves the characters forward and unveils many machinations concerning Paul, his mother, and the truth behind the Bene Gesserits – the powerful witch-like order of women, of which Paul’s mother belongs and from where he has inherited his powers, a rare occurrence for a man.

Villeneuve masterfully captures Herbert’s allegory of the colonized Arab population taking on the brutal British empire. A story even more relevant given events today. This is the adaptation fans of the novel have been waiting decades for, even with the somewhat well received but nowhere near as good mini-series of the early 2000s. Dare I say, Dune: Part Two is a sci-fi masterpiece, made even better when put together with Part One, and the nearly three-hour run time is a no burden for a film this good.

Purchase Dune: Part Two on 4K Ultra HD + Digital on Amazon.com

The Video

Dune: Part Two was shot on Arri Alexa 65 IMAX and Arri Alexa Mini LF IMAX with custom, rehoused vintage lenses from IronGlass, the VLFV MKII Dune and Moviecam lenses. Shot spherical in ARRIRAW 6.5K and 4.5K, it uses a 4K DI and has Dolby Vision. The film is encoded on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in 2.39:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision. This is a stunning disc that starts off in the desert with bright orange sands and skies, a sun that feels like it can blind you. It only gets better from there. Some battle sequences around the one-hour mark result in gorgeously nuanced flames that ‘pop.’ The scenes with the Harkonnens switch to a dark, almost monochrome world that shows inky blacks and extended shadows, bright whites. At some points we get actual black and white imagery that is also gorgeous to see. This is reference on the level of the Oppenheimer 4K release, but with better HDR.

The Audio

The English Dolby Atmos mix for Dune: Part Two is nothing short of magnificent. It is more aggressive than the mix for Part One, which is unsurprising given the heavier emphasis on action that takes place in this film. Hans Zimmer’s score often saturates the all the channels. There are times when dialogue drops below the sound effects and score, but this is an obvious choice to emphasize the chaos of the moment. The ‘thopters’ sometimes move overhead, but just a bit. This is the one area where I think the mix could have utilized the overhead placement just a bit better, but it is a minor – very minor – nitpick. I would be remiss if I did not mention the staggering, room shaking low-end. This is one for the bass-heads for sure.

The Supplements

The supplements included on disc are the basic production featurettes with interviews of the cast and crew.

Bonus Features:

• Movies Anywhere Digital Code
• Chakobsa Training (1080p; 00:04:51)
• Creating the Fremen World (1080p; 00:11:41)
• Finding the Worlds of Dune (1080p; 00:06:24)
• Buzz Around the New ‘Thopter’ (1080p; 00:03:51)
• Worm-riding (1080p; 00:09:23)
• Becoming Feyd (1080p; 00:07:33)
• A New Set of Threads (1080p; 00:07:40)
• Deeper into the Dessert: The Sounds of Dune (1080p; 00:12:59)

The Final Assessment

Dune: Part Two is a staggering, masterful work that is sumptuous on 4K Ultra HD. This is top-tier home theater and great filmmaking. Highly recommended.

Dune: Part Two is out on 4K Ultra HD + Digital May 14, 2024 from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment

Purchase Dune: Part Two on 4K Ultra HD + Digital on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: PG-13 (for sequences of strong violence, some suggestive material and brief strong language.)
• Studios & Distributors: Warner Bros. | Legendary Entertainment | Villeneuve Films | Eagle Pictures | New Zealand Film Commission | Ubisoft Abu Dhabi | FGM | The Royal Film Commission | Origo Film Studio | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
• Director: Denis Villeneuve
• Written By: Denis Villeneuve | Jon Spaihts | Frank Herbert
• Run Time: 166 Mins.
• Street Date: 14 May 2024
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• HDR10 Metadata:
  • MaxLL: 763 nits
  • MaxFALL: 218 nits
  • Max. Luminance: 1000 nits
  • Min. Luminance: 0.0001 nits
• Primary Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible)
• Secondary Audio: English DD 5.1 | English Descriptive Audio (US) | English Descriptive Audio (UK) | French DD 5.1 | Spanish DD 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH | French | Spanish | Danish | Finnish | Norwegian | Swedish