Dune - Denis Villeneuve to direct!

[grounded_dreams]

This is now available to buy on DVD/Blu Ray and 4K  physical formats.

Very positive impressions on Blu-Ray review site on the transfer.

[Thor]

The Atmos track on the 4k disc is bloody good!

[Waggo]

Yep got the 4k disc for my birthday and it's absolutely gorgeous all round.

 

Great film, can't wait for part 2.

[Thor]

Aye, it's a great film! Rebecca Ferguson is phenomenal in this.

[Benny]

This might be a stupid question, but is it possible to buy a digital 4k HDR version of this that is lossless? I.e. what you get on the 4k disc as a file. Or does one still have to put up with streaming artefacts on literally every thing if you're trying to go discless these days? I rented it on Amazon last night in 4K and as usual even the 4k stream was still lacking in quality in terms of bitrate, and I fancy owning it.

 

EDIT: I'm guessing if I download to the Amazon Prime app it will essentially be the highest quality a (legitimately purchased) 4K digital version is going to get?

[Benny]

As for the film: really liked it.

 

Been a fan of the director's work ever since Sicario, and this was just bombastically absorbing pure cinema.

 

I've loved the books ever since I read them when I was a kid, and what impressed me most was how close some of the visuals seemed to fit with what I had imaged in my head decades ago.

 

It's a fairly straight adaptation in fact. The film is quite "cold" though, which seems to be a hallmark of Villeneuve's work, but for a story that is mostly concerned with large, sweeping events, what small emotional moments that are there have some weight.

 

It's best taken as its own work though, as I think the novel in its entirety is still essentially unfilmable, so the way this takes the broad strokes and leaves you to fill in the blanks with some of the things hinted at was I think the best way to go about it.

 

What it does do is transport you to another universe that feels incredibly tangible. The sets feel tactile and lived in, with real texture to everything. The soundtrack is also genuinely quite something.

 

My favourite scene was actually

 

Spoiler

The anointing of the Sardaukar. When the shot pans up from the bowls of blood, and you see it's all come from human sacrifices lined up in rows being drained of blood for the ceremony. It was genuinely one of the most haunting visuals I've seen in a film in a long time.

 

[max renn]

Just seen that DV is slated to direct Rendezvous With Rama...love that story!

[JoeK]

14 minutes ago, max renn said:

Just seen that DV is slated to direct Rendezvous With Rama...love that story!

One of the greatest sci-fi books ever. 
 

Just don’t mention the sequels please. They are interminable dross. 

[Triple A]

On 06/02/2022 at 11:51, Benny said:

This might be a stupid question, but is it possible to buy a digital 4k HDR version of this that is lossless? I.e. what you get on the 4k disc as a file. Or does one still have to put up with streaming artefacts on literally every thing if you're trying to go discless these days? I rented it on Amazon last night in 4K and as usual even the 4k stream was still lacking in quality in terms of bitrate, and I fancy owning it.

 

EDIT: I'm guessing if I download to the Amazon Prime app it will essentially be the highest quality a (legitimately purchased) 4K digital version is going to get?

I think Apple TV+ generally gives the best bitrate of the major streaming services, but even that is a way off the quality of the disc version.

 

The streaming service Kaleidescape gives quality even better than disc for some modern movies, but needs special hardware which isn’t cheap

[Oracle]

A 4k blu ray starts at 50gb and can be up to 100gb in size. 
 

There’s no scalable (economic) way of streaming that sort of video. Which is how you can get “4k” with mangled audio via compression. 

[Festoon]

35 minutes ago, Oracle said:

A 4k blu ray starts at 50gb and can be up to 100gb in size. 
 

There’s no scalable (economic) way of streaming that sort of video. Which is how you can get “4k” with mangled audio via compression. 

 

Yeah, you can get 4K but with a low target bitrate to keep the filesize down. Not the ideal way to watch, say, Dune.

[Benny]

I know streaming versions are always going to be terrible quality in comparison for that reason, but I was wondering if literally any service offers lossless digital downloads. It's annoying that such things do exist but only if people either rip them themselves or resort to piracy.

[Triple A]

Edit to my earlier message - with Kaleidescape you do download the movies and not stream

[JPL]

Doesn’t iTunes let you download full bitrate movies? It’s been years since I’ve used it, so I may be way off. Worth having a look though @Benny.

[Oracle]

7 hours ago, Festoon said:

 

Yeah, you can get 4K but with a low target bitrate to keep the filesize down. Not the ideal way to watch, say, Dune.

if it has a low target bitrate it’s going to have less data and lower quality….

[Benny]

2 hours ago, Triple A said:

Edit to my earlier message - with Kaleidescape you do download the movies and not stream

 

I had a quick look - that appears to be a home cinema installation service for millionaires?

 

Edit: something like the Kaleidoscope Strato I guess - ten grand! Yeah maybe not.

 

If iTunes ever did let you download full bitrate movies, it appears not any more.

[Triple A]

29 minutes ago, Benny said:

I had a quick look - that appears to be a home cinema installation service for millionaires?

Not quite but you're in the right ballpark.

It's a movie download and playback/serving device, which connects to an online store that is of course a proprietary walled garden.  Cost of entry is a touch under £7K, and there's no Dolby Vision support (yet?) either.

https://www.touchstoneav.co.uk/kaleidescape-strato-s-movie-player--server-4346-p.asp

But you wanted to know the best download service, so here you go.

[Benny]

It's honestly no wonder people resort to piracy. But the spice must flow I guess.

[Triple A]

[Festoon]

5 hours ago, Oracle said:

if it has a low target bitrate it’s going to have less data and lower quality….

 

That's what I mean, to high res, but more compression to keep the file size down = shitty visuals.

[monkeydog]

Here's  really exhaustive talk on the VFX by various DNEG folks. Interesting if you like this sort of stuff.  Probably not if not.  They really went out of their way to avoid blue/green screen issues.

 

 

[wev]

I genuinely think I could watch footage of the various ships landing/taking off for hours, good job really as that does feel very much this film is 🥰

[monkeydog]

Christopher Walken is confirmed as Emperor for part II. 

 

Technically he looks too old for Shaddam IV, but he clearly has the skills to pull off the part

 

 

[jonamok]

They could cast Christopher Biggins. I’m just glad they’re getting to make it.

[JohnC]

Léa Seydoux joining Part 2 as Lady Margot.

[monkeydog]

That's an interesting character to include in part 2. 

[probotector]

I've never heard of her!

[monkeydog]

7 hours ago, probotector said:

I've never heard of her!

 

She's Lady Fenring, if that helps. You can hang a load of stuff around the character. How the Bene Gesserit are influencing the great and minor houses, the breeding plan stuff, relationships to the Emperor and Feyd Rautha. 

 

You could easily ignore all that stuff.  Given the way the first film tied a lot of Dune's laborious world building around character, chucking an actor of Seydeux's qualities in the mix with those spinning lore parts really peaks my curiousity.

 

[Padaxes]

Hopefully we will see the Harkonnen fighting pits.

[Darren]

15 hours ago, JohnC said:

Léa Seydoux joining Part 2 as Lady Margot.

 

Quite a change from the casting last time round.