Dune

Video:
"Dune" comes to life on HD-DVD in a very nice 2.35:1 VC-1/1080p transfer that continues Universal´s excellent track record of supporting the format. Previous incarnations of "Dune" have been grainy and muddy messes that do not do justice to the visual feats accomplished by David Lynch back in 1984. "Dune" is about sand. It is not the most colorful film and a few visual ´treats´ discovered in the film are pretty downright disturbing visually. The Baron (Leonardo Cimino) is absolutely repulsive. You do get to see some rocks, sandstorms and very large worms. Did I mention sand? There are some blue skies and unusually colored blue eyes that are part of the film´s convoluted and glossed over storyline. When "Dune" does have colors to show, they come across very nicely. Detail ranges from slightly better than muddy to quite detailed. This is a superb upgrade over previous releases, but the film is still hindered by moments of film grain and low detail. I will say that I was quite pleased with the transfer, but the source materials really are a handicap for this transfer.

Sound:
The English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack of "Dune" is not the most compelling or aggressive transfer. It is clean and it sounds just find, but the film shows its age, which is nearing a quarter of a century. Much of the soundtrack takes place in the front channels as the rear surrounds and the .1 LFE channel are used sparsely. The sandstorms are pleasing to the ears and the laser blasts are powerful, but the overall intensity of the soundtrack is quite tame. The reasoning for this is simply the film´s age and quality of the source materials. "Dune" has not received the George Lucas treatment in restoration and could probably use a trip to Skywalker Sound for some touch up work. Still, the soundtrack is clean and more than adequate. It is just not anything that screams HD-DVD.

Extras:
Whereas the "Dune" release I have on DVD is the original, sans supplemental materials release, this HD-DVD delivers the materials that were present on the recent re-release of "Dune." The number of supplements are fairly good, though I would imagine some would have liked branching of the television version to be included. As far as deleted material goes, Deleted Dune contains a number of scenes that were included in neither this version or the televised version of "Dune." Producer Raffaella De Laurentiis provides an introduction to the material. Designing Dune is a look at Frank Herbert´s "Dune" universe and the work involved in bringing his designs to the big screen. Dune FX is a look at the film´s visual effects that helped bring large worms and intergalactic battles to life. Dune Models is another special effects featurettes looking at the models used to make the picture. Dune Wardrobe looks at the desert suits and other costumes used in the film and a Photo Gallery is a collection of pictures from the film. Overall, the supplements run for about an hour and though there is a lot of material out there that could have been included, this is a nice little collection of supplements.

Closing Comments:
I don´t hate "Dune." I don´t love "Dune." Then again, I´m not one of the legions of fans of Frank Herbert´s epic books. Fans certainly fall in one category or the other. One argument is that so much was left out of the books and the film´s sometimes silly nature destroys Herbert´s vision. Other fans think Lynch should be commended for bringing "Dune" to the big screen. Either way, "Dune" fans have always been left wanting more. A mini-series did make its way to the Sci-Fi Channel. Since then, the world of "Dune" has been mostly silent except for the "Children of Dune" mini-series. The new HD-DVD release looks decent enough and sounds well enough, but is far from being reference material. It is good to see all types of films make its way to the format, but the overall product, while being a vast improvement over older releases, is still lacking.

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