Search - Dune on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations Movie Release: 2000 DVD Release: 03/20/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Letterbox for TV Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 2 Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 4 hrs 25 mins Studio: Live/Artisan Total Copies: 2 Genres: Science Fiction, Sci-Fi Action, Space Adventure See Also: Dune, Dune [Special Edition Director's Cut]

The Sci-Fi Channel's first miniseries production adapts Frank Herbert's esteemed futuristic novel -Dune into a six-hour epic. When House Atreides lead by the noble Duke Leto Atreides (Academy award-winner William Hurt) gains control of the universe's most powerful commodity -- Spice -- rival House Harkonnen begins plotting their revenge. As a result, Duke Atreides' mistress (Saskia Reeves), a magical Bene Gesserit witch, and their son Paul (Alec Newman) must flee into the dangerous, worm-infested dunes where they find help from an ancient civilization that engages in guerilla warfare. As the political agenda of the reigning emperor unfolds, Paul is enlightened about his powers in the world and those of the mysterious Navigators of Spacing Guild. The series is written and directed by John Harrison who had considerable help from an award-winning production team including three-time Academy award-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (The Last Emperor, Apocalypse Now). ~ Jessica Frost, All Movie Guide

William Hurt
Laura Burton
Julie Cox

Artisan's two-disc DVD edition of Dune comes as a slight disappointment, unfortunately, thanks to somewhat ambitious plans that never came to fruition -- including a commentary that was never recorded, additional scenes never incorporated, the lack of the Dolby 5.1 soundtrack that was intended, and the absence of a large amount of bonus material that had been promised at one time or another. Instead, the package consists of the miniseries as aired and a short documentary piece, "The Lure of Spice," along with some production designs, cast and production notes, and an essay by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.
Both discs are dual-layered, with each section of the miniseries having its own layer (the second layer on the second disc is used for the documentary). The image is letterboxed at 1.77:1, but is not presented anamorphically, which seems odd, considering that HDTV and 16:9 presentation were amongst the reasons for producing it in a widescreen format. The image is generally excellent, with a broad color palette that ranges from screaming primary tones to subtle earth tones -- each part of the cast has a specific palette and specific design elements that function almost like design for stage production. The production utilized a kind of background scrim called Translights to help represent various planetary exteriors on the Prague soundstages, and these help add to the aura of a stage production during parts of the miniseries. Despite the amount of color, there is no sense of oversaturation and no indication of color bleed anywhere. Compression artifacts and edge enhancement are fairly absent, though some scenes utilizing CGI demonstrate an odd shimmery effect on the CGI elements themselves -- some of the closer shots of the sandworms demonstrate this effect particularly well. This appears to not be an artifact of the actual DVD transfer process, but rather a result of the DVD format making clear flaws that would be overlooked in a TV broadcast or videotape release. The computer-generated imagery throughout the miniseries is of variable quality, though most viewers will find it mostly acceptable. The image quality as a whole is generally sharp and easy to watch, and certainly belies the limited budget on which the miniseries was shot.
The soundtrack uses Graeme Revell's score as a major component, with the various themes underlying a large number of the scenes -- the soundtrack album actually excerpts only a small part of it. The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is good, with clear dialogue and reasonably good separation. The surround channel is used to good effect for a number of directional effects, from deep reverbs to vehicle flyovers and worm effects, though it is not in constant motion. The front soundstage is quite well handled, with clear and effective sound design that has not been overcomplicated (it's delightful to note that the space scenes are, aside from music, silent). The documentary has moments of interest, but is basically a puff piece. The cast, crew, and production notes are brief, as is the design gallery. The Storaro essay, "The Cinematographic Ideation of Frank Herbert's Dune," is interesting, but is likely to have limited appeal for many viewers. ~ Steven E. McDonald, All Movie Guide