Once we discuss with a movie as a “basic,” we sometimes imply a movie that got here out a number of a long time in the past. Nonetheless, legendary director Steven Spielberg lately all however bestowed that moniker on a film that got here out simply final yr: Denis Villeneuve’s blockbuster sci-fi epic Dune: Half Two (2024), the follow-up to his 2021 movie Dune, each of that are based mostly on Frank Herbert’s seminal novel of the identical title. On an episode of the Administrators Guild of America’s podcast The Director’s Reduce, Spielberg advised Villeneuve that Dune: Half Two was “probably the most sensible science fiction movies I’ve ever seen.”
Whereas it might appear stunning to listen to such immense reward lavished on a lately launched movie by a director of Spielberg’s caliber, a detailed take a look at each Dune: Half Two itself and different motion pictures admired by Spielberg reveals that it truly makes good sense that Dune: Half Two would attraction to him. The movie’s epic scale and thematic complexity, through which the road between good and evil is severely blurred, simply place it within the pantheon of all-time nice sci-fi movies, alongside the likes of 2001: A Area Odyssey (1968), Alien (1979), and Blade Runner (1982).
Dune: Half Two
4.5
/5
- Launch Date
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February 27, 2024
- Runtime
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167 minutes
The Epic World-Constructing of ‘Dune: Half Two’
The Scope Is Huge
Spielberg was notably impressed by how Villeneuve and his crew constructed and filmed the desert planet of Arrakis, the place almost your entire movie takes place. He posited that the movie’s cinematography and Oscar-winning visible results work replicate the preciousness of water on this oppressively dry setting, telling Villeneuve that “for such a desert-loving movie there may be such a craving for water on this film. […] You movie the desert to resemble an ocean, a sea.” He even went as far as to check Villeneuve to the likes of Walt Disney, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, Federico Fellini, and almost a dozen different filmmakers whom Spielberg describes as “the builders of worlds.”
As ridiculously effusive as Spielberg’s feedback are, anybody who’s seen the movie must agree with him. Certainly, the planet Arrakis is itself arguably the true most important character of the movie, moderately than Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), particularly provided that the movie’s central battle revolves round management over the planet’s spice provide. Its monochromatic but lovely panorama dominates almost each shot of the movie, creating quite a few sequences whose epic scale and technical virtuosity rival these of different movies identified for his or her groundbreaking world-building, such because the Lord of the Rings and Avatar franchises.
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Spielberg singled out one explicit sequence as completely superior: when Paul rides a gargantuan sandworm as a part of his initiation into the planet’s indigenous Fremen tribe. Spielberg bluntly described this sequence as “one of many biggest issues I’ve ever seen,” and it isn’t exhausting to see why. In line with Selection, filming the preliminary worm-riding scene took 44 days and required constructing a 90-foot-long and 25-foot-wide set piece for the worm itself. All of this difficult work and creativeness paid off in dividends, yielding a sequence that, mixed with the Oscar-winning sound design and Hans Zimmer’s equally majestic rating, makes for probably the most exhilarating theater experiences in cinema historical past.
‘Dune: Half Two’ Is Just like One other Spielberg Favourite
One doubtless purpose why Dune: Half Two hit all the correct notes for Steven Spielberg is that it is vitally comparable, each aesthetically and thematically, to a different one among his private favorites: David Lean’s 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia, which Spielberg and Villeneuve additionally mentioned throughout their dialog. Like Dune, Lawrence of Arabia facilities on a person affiliated with a political energy that seeks to colonize a sure area, solely to turn into intimately concerned with the native peoples of that area and later help their resistance efforts towards colonization. Moreover, the protagonists of each movies could be described as having a savior advanced, initially pushed by altruistic motives earlier than step by step turning into morally corrupted by their newfound energy and affect over the individuals they’re ostensibly serving to.
Furthermore, like Dune, Lawrence of Arabia can also be remembered for the sweeping desert vistas that dominate a lot of its surroundings. Spielberg wrote in a 2021 Empire article that the cinematography of the characters’ arduous journeys by means of the desert “solid a spell” on him. It is in all probability not a stretch to think about that lots of Dune: Half Two‘s epic sequences within the Arrakis desert, together with, amongst many others, the sandworm-riding scene, left Spielberg equally awestruck, largely as a result of they evoked these formative reminiscences of seeing Lawrence of Arabia as a younger man.
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After all, Lawrence of Arabia is a historic drama set up to now, whereas Dune: Half Two is a piece of science fiction that takes place a number of millennia sooner or later. Which means Dune‘s social commentary shouldn’t be confined to a single particular person, area, or time interval, however to the entire historical past of the human race.
‘Dune: Half Two’ Is Each a Thrilling Sci-Fi Epic and a Biting Social Critique
The movie’s critique of poisonous ideologies shouldn’t be restricted to the grasping colonialism and imperialism of the Harkonnens and the Emperor (Christopher Walken). It additionally extends to Paul himself, in addition to his mom, Woman Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). Collectively, the mother-son duo manipulate the Fremen into worshiping Paul as their prophesied Messiah (a prophecy that was itself fabricated by the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, of which Woman Jessica is a member).
Though Paul is initially reluctant to observe alongside together with his mom’s plan, the attract of energy — each political and supernatural — proves an excessive amount of for him to withstand. Solely Paul’s love curiosity, Chani (Zendaya), appears skeptical about whether or not the prophecy is supposed to liberate her individuals or simply subjugate them even additional. On this regard, Dune isn’t just a cautionary story about colonialism and imperialism à la Lawrence of Arabia, but additionally a warning about spiritual fundamentalism and thought management.
It is because of this, above all, that Dune: Half Two has attained the uncommon standing of “on the spot basic.” The movie not solely presents probably the most breathtaking cinematic spectacles in latest reminiscence but additionally tells a well timed story of the damaging results of oppressive techniques which have formed human historical past and proceed to have an effect on billions of individuals to at the present time. On condition that Steven Spielberg is an professional at creating each crowd-pleasing blockbusters and explorations of heavy real-world themes, his immense admiration for Dune speaks to the movie’s success in each, as effectively. Dune: Half Two is out there for streaming on Netflix and Max.