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Blu-Ray : Highly Recommended
Ranking:
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Release Date: January 11th, 2022 Movie Release Year: 2021

Dune (2021)

Overview -

Dune has been reborn on Blu-ray with exquisite visuals, wonderful characters, and a stoic storyline that is gearing up for some epic battles on other planets. Denis Villeneuve sure knows how to capture pure science fiction for the big screen. The 1080p HD transfer looks excellent, however, the 4K UHD image is a better upgrade. The Dolby Atmos track is the best-sounding audio mix as well. The bonus features are all worth watching. For those wanting the Blu-ray disc only, go ahead and get the 4K release, because it comes with the Blu-ray as well. Highly Recommended! 

Read our Dune 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review

Read our Dune 3D Blu-ray Review

 

A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, “Dune” tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive. 

Bonus Features

  • The Royal Houses
  • Filmbooks: House Atreides
  • Filmbooks: House Harkonnen
  • Filmbooks: The Fremen
  • Filmbooks: The Spice Melange
  • Inside Dune: The Training Room
  • Inside Dune: The Spice Harvester
  • Inside Dune: The Sardaukar Battle
  • Building the Ancient Future
  • My Desert, My Dune
  • Constructing the Ornithopters
  • Designing the Sandworm
  • Beware the Baron
  • Wardrobe from Another World
  • A New Soundscape

 

OVERALL:
Highly Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
Blu-ray + DVD + Digital
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p AVC/MPEG-4
Length:
155
Audio Formats:
English: Dolby Atmos
Release Date:
January 11th, 2022

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

"Revisiting Dune since its initial run in IMAX theaters is a fantastic time for a few reasons. One element is that it's official that there will be at least one if not more sequels in this epic Dune universe. This allows the first film to breathe and take its time exploring the different houses, characters and of course, set up all the conflicts and battles that will be coming to a head in those future movies.

After the initial shock and awe at all the visuals throughout the film, it's easier to focus on the nuanced performances by the actors and learn some of the culture and reasoning behind the actions that take place in Dune. It's still a long film that takes things nice and slow spending more time with world-building than having a ton of fun like a Star Wars outing. But that's the tone for this particular sci-fi epic and it works well. This is the first part of a longer movie that will only get better with age and after repeat viewings."

For the full review, Read Bryan's Theatrical Feature Here.

 

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Dune arrives on Blu-ray from Warner Bros Home Video. This package comes with the Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Code. The discs are housed inside a hard, blue plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. The artwork features the main cast of the film looking out over the sand dunes. There is an insert for the digital code.

 

Video Review

Ranking:

Dune comes with a stunning 1080p HD transfer with an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 that looks incredible. The image isn't as cultivated or rich as the 4K picture with its HDR upgrade, but it still has an excellent-looking image.

The transfer was handled with love on this Blu-ray and it shows even with the extra hour plus of bonus features. Those colors still pop and look wonderful with natural amber and orange tones in the sand dunes that contrast well with the blue-ish skies above. The dark nature of the interior shots looks great with some exquisite black levels set in the dark. The electric blue eyes look fantastic as well. It's the more nuanced colors in lower light situations and the more subdued color palette during twilight hours where the image doesn't show as much depth or detail as it does with the HDR uptick.

Additionally, while the detail is sharp and vivid, in the darker sequences, closeups don't always reveal the beads of sweat, sand specks, or other minor details that the other 4K transfer picks up easily. Still, the black levels are deep and inky and the skin tones are natural for sure. However, for those that are watching Dune on a big projector or large OLED TV, the 4K image is better suited for viewing. For those with smaller televisions, this Blu-ray will come through with flying colors. There are no video problems to speak of. 

 

Audio Review

Ranking:

This release also comes with a Dolby Atmos track, which is the best-sounding audio option on a disc that has been released. Yes, it's that good. Read the full audio review HERE

 

Special Features

Ranking:

There is over an hour's worth of extras here, all of which are worth watching. There's no doubt going to be a big collector's set with multiple commentary tracks, deleted scenes, and more coming out in the future, but for now, these few extras are worthy and entertaining. To read the full list of bonus features, CLICK HERE. 

 

Dune by Denis Villeneuve is simply wonderful and a master-work in an upcoming two or three parts. There's nothing else like it in the sci-fi world right now. This Blu-ray release has a visually stunning 1080p HD image that looks great, although the 4K picture with HDR looks better and more nuanced. The Dolby Atmos track is out-of-this-world wonderful and might be the best audio track to ever come out on home video. The extras are all worth watching with more coming in future releases. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!