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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Dune (2000)

Dune (2000)

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Released 12-Mar-2002

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Theatrical Trailer
Featurette-The Filmmaker's Vision
Featurette-The Production Story
Gallery-Photo
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2000
Running Time 291:39
RSDL / Flipper RSDL
Multi Disc Set (3)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By John Harrison
Studio
Distributor
SciFi Channel
Twentieth Century Fox
Starring William Hurt
Alec Newman
Saskia Reeves
James Watson
P.H. Moriarty
Ian McNeice
Matt Keeslar
Laszlo Kish
Giancarlo Giannini
Julie Cox
Case ?
RPI ? Music Graeme Revell


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    It has often been remarked that the novel Dune is to science fiction what the novel The Lord of the Rings is to fantasy.

    In order to do Dune justice, I will briefly mention Dune the books, and Dune the movie, before I move on to Dune the mini-series:

    Dune the books: Frank Herbert worked as a social and ecological studies consultant. He also dabbled in journalism and was an infrequent contributor to science fiction magazines. For his first novel, The Dragon in the Sea (1955), Herbert drew upon his background in the US Navy, and wrote a submarine thriller set in a world facing a dramatic oil shortage. Herbert later spent some time studying a governmental ecological project designed to halt the spread of sand dunes on a coastline. Herbert's concern over a world fuel shortage, the world's ecology and his experience amongst the dunes inspired him to write Dune, an elaborate and realistic novel, detailing a complex interplanetary civilisation. Herbert studied desert culture and Arabic for six years, and as a result, much of Dune has an Arabic flavour. The novel focuses on an ongoing struggle for political power, but still teases out the various relationships between the main characters. Published in 1965, Herbert wrote a further five novels in the Dune Chronicles, and following his death, his son Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson, continue to write Dune novels.

    Dune the movie: In the mid 1980s, after a few earlier failed attempts, Dune made its big screen debut. This lavish and expensive movie failed to capture much interest on its initial release. In fact, David Lynch's movie managed to alienate many fans of the book, and many audience goers who had never heard of Dune. I recommend that you read Michael D's review of the Special Edition DVD here.

    Dune the mini-series: The US cable Sci-Fi Channel commissioned a television adaptation of Dune. A ratings winner, the television mini-series has been released on DVD, and a second series, based on the novels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune has already been commissioned. With a running time of almost 300 minutes, the mini-series has a lot more time to do the complex novel justice. Blending Herbert's ecological concerns with environmental and power politics, Dune is set on the planet Arrakis (Dune), where various clans seek control over a spice known as Melange, which has the power to expand consciousness and enable space travel. It is the epic story of Paul Atreides (Alec Newman), a man destined to avenge a traitorous plot against his family, and fulfil a long-held prophecy.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Befitting an epic story, the mini-series features lush images and sweeping vistas, composed by one the the industry's all-time great cinematographers, Vittorio Storaro. Known in the industry as 'the painter with light', Storaro's credits include the sublime cinematography on movies such as Apocalypse Now (1979), The Last Emperor (1987), and The Sheltering Sky (1990).

    The mini-series is spaced across three discs and the transfer qualities for video and audio are consistent across all the discs. For consistency, the times used below in examples are all taken from the first disc.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness, black level and shadow detail are all acceptable for a made-for-television production.

    As with most of Storaro's work, there is a rich palette of colours, and the art direction has colours themed around the different clans in the story.

    There are some MPEG artefacts, but I did not find them overly distracting. There is some pixelization, for example at 53:36, some macro-blocking in the background, for example at 40:21 and 72:35, and there is some posterization evident in some of the faces, for example at 32:38. There is also aliasing throughout, for example, consider the shimmer on the background walls at 23:39.

    This series was shot using a combination of conventional 35mm film and digital technology, and there are a few film artefacts. Examples of these tiny flecks appear at 5:35 and 35:02.

    There is a lot of green-screen work during this series, and a great deal of very serious edge enhancement. Obvious examples of edge enhancement appear at 11:31 and 35:42.

    The only subtitles are English, and they are very accurate. Interestingly, the subtitles are aligned with where the character appears on-screen.

    The second disc in this 3 disc set is Dual Layered.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio is very good, and surprisingly for a television program, there is only one audio track, English Dolby Digital 5.1.

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent. Interestingly, most of the Harkonnen scenes end with Shakespearian rhyming couplets.

    The musical score is credited to Graeme Revell. The music plays an integral part of the story. Over the 300 minutes of the mini-series, Revell's score assists viewers in following the complex story, as Revell has created themes for the various clans. For example, traditional European orchestral music accompanies the Atreides and Arabic based motifs accompany the Fremen.

    Considering that this series was originally broadcast in stereo, I expected this mix to be quite front-heavy, but the rear speakers are used effectively and aggressively to help carry the score, for example at 70:37, and to provide ambience, for example during the knife fight at 9:06. The rears also do add nicely to the cacophony of the battle scenes, such as at 80:20.

    The subwoofer is also utilised very effectively for sound effects, such as the craft landing at 41:15.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    There are a few extras which provide some interesting background information.

Menu

    A very simple menu, presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, it is static and silent.

Theatrical Trailer

    This exciting trailer runs for one minute and forty seven seconds, and is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, non-16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital stereo audio.

Photo Gallery

    Stills from the mini-series.

The Filmmakers' Vision

    Focussing on Dune the book, this thirty minute and two second extra contains behind-the-scenes footage, soundbites from the main cast and crew, and letter-boxed clips. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, non-16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital stereo audio.

The Production Story

    In the style of a 'making of' documentary, this thirty one minute and forty seven second extra also contains behind-the-scenes footage, soundbites from the main cast and crew, and letter-boxed clips. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, non-16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital stereo audio.

Censorship

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    Dune (2000) was originally released on DVD in Region 1 in 2001.

    The Region 4 version is released as three discs, and misses out on:

    The Region 1 DVD was released as two single-layered discs and misses out on:

    Dune (2000) Director's Cut was released on DVD in Region 1 in 2002.

    The Region 4 version now misses out on:

    The new Region 1 DVD misses out on:

    Considering the Region 4 version's affordability, and its superior PAL image, the DTS audio would be the only feature to attract me to the new R1. However, the serious Dune fan might enjoy all the extras on the new R1 release. I'm still sticking with my R4 version. According to Widescreen Review, the DTS track is only marginally better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, and I only tend to watch extras once.

Summary

    Dune is a brilliant mini-series which raises the bar of what we can expect production-wise from television Science Fiction. It is very accessible, and thus is designed to be enjoyed by all, and not just lovers of the books. There are almost 300 minutes of DVD enjoyment here, and I thoroughly recommend it.

    For a made-for-television production, the video quality is reasonable.

    The audio quality is good.

    The extras add to one's enjoyment of the series.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Brandon Robert Vogt (warning: bio hazard)
Monday, February 11, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using S-Video output
DisplayGrundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony STR DE-545
SpeakersSony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer

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