Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.
Way the hell in the future, noble Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) is assigned a new position lording it over the desert planet Arrakis, home to “the spice” the most valuable substance in the universe (as it gains the user vast power of body and mind… which includes the ability to fold space itself, by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV to replace the repugnant and violent House Harkonnen, led by the bloated, floating psychopath Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), whom the Emperor is in cahoots with to eventually eliminate the powerful Duke and weaken the strength of House Atreides.
Along for the ride to that great dust-ball are Leto’s son Paul (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother, the Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), the Duke’s concubine and a Bene Gesserit witch who’s sisterhood possess vast mental abilities… and a sisterhood whom commanded Jessica to have a female child who’s male offspring would become their messiah, the Kwisatz Haderach. Nothin’ wrong with gettin’ a head start I guess…
Once settled in, the Atreides immediately fall victim to assassination plots, and the dangers of the planet itself, which besides brutal heat and precious little moisture includes massive killer sandworms. Before long things get completely upended for Paul, and he soon finds himself at the mercy of the sands while trying to keep a few steps ahead of the Harkonnens… a lead he can keep if he can unite with the mysterious Fremen that live on the desert dunes…
For those of you only familiar with the David Lynch take on the material from 1984, you are going to be in for one hell of a journey with Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of of the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert!
Gone are the industrial bondage fever dream that moves at a break-neck pace… instead we get a more even-paced narrative that goes far more into detail in regards to world building and characterization… but, like it’s cinematic predecessor, this version of Dune is filled with visual panache for fuckin’ lightyears!
Filled with elegance and beauty… even when dealing with those horrible Harkonnens Villeneuve’s Dune is simply jaw-dropping. We get rain drenched coastal planets, the slick detached coldness of Geidi Prime, and of course the wind swept sand dunes of Arrakis… all are distinct, designed to within an inch of their lives, and completely immersive… and the same goes for the spaceship design and costuming as well.
In short, the entire affair looks like a swirling phantasmagoria of the greatest Omni magazine covers never made… and if you get that reference you are going to love the unholy hell out of Dune!
Of course, all of that aesthetic wonderment wouldn’t be worth a bucket of worm shit without a great cast to journey through it, and it’s here that Villeneuve went of the charts with drawing talent to this project, as besides the fine thespians mentioned up yonder, we also get some fantastic supporting performances as well with Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, David Dastmalchian, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster all appearing!
Adding to the positives, is the bonus material included on this Blu-ray release from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
First up we get featurettes covering the royal families (which get broken down further through additional “encyclopedia” entries along with the spice melange), and closer looks at the filing of a stunt sequence involving the Duke’s chief warrior, Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa) and the Emperor’s Sardaukar troops, the training room sequence, and the spice harvester rescue.
Also included are a duo of segments covering the film’s design work, a look at the creation of the ornithopters, the film’s insect-like vehicles, a piece on the sandworms that make life on Arrakis such a nightmare, a closer examination of the Baron and Skarsgård’s performance, a brief glance at the various costume designs showcased throughout Dune, and an analysis of the picture’s sound design.
Dune is an impeccably acted, breath-taking sci-fi spectacular full of epic action and unforgettable design work that simply must be experienced!
