2021 brought the first chapter in Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Slightly delayed due to Hollywood strikes, 2024 sees the second – and final? – segment via the logically titled Dune: Part Two.

In the first film, we went to the year 10192 to see battles between the Harkonnen and Atreides clans over who controls the desert planet Akkakis. That location boasts a supply of spice melange, a substance with many uses, and that factor makes it especially vital.

The Harkonnens took control of Arrakis but not without opposition from the native Fremen tribe. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) joins them, a factor complicated because some feel he may act as their “chosen one” and savior.

Paul learns the ways of the Fremen and also bonds with local Chani (Zendaya). All of this pushes toward an inevitable confrontation with the Harkonnens over control of Arrakis.

As I noted when I reviewed both Part One as well as the 1984 David Lynch version, I never read the Frank Herbert novel. This means my entire understanding of the Dune universe comes from these films,

I thought the 1984 flick offered a silly disaster, but I mainly liked the 2021 Part One. Though it didn’t dazzle me, it created a reasonably intriguing universe.

I come away from Part Two with a similar reaction, as I can’t claim the film truly enchants me. Still, it forms a mostly involving experience.

Albeit a slow one too much of the time. The 1984 Dune got knocked in part because it crammed so much content into a single 137-minute film, but now that I’ve watched nearly five and a half hours of Villeneuve’s Dune, I begin to wonder if Lynch had the right idea.

Actually, I suspect a compromise would work best. 137 minutes seems too little to encompass the enormity of the Dune universe, but – at least as executed by Villeneuve – 321 minutes feels like too much.

Would two 120-minute Dune flicks fare better than the 155 minutes of Part One and the 166 minutes of Part Two? We’ll never know, but I suspect they would, as both films simply can drag at times.

Again, I get that the complexity of the Dune saga means that the story requires ample real estate. However, Villeneuve just doesn’t use the running time in the most efficient manner.

And that causes the drag I mentioned, as we find ourselves with scenes that sometimes seem redundant and not especially necessary in the bigger picture. Perhaps these issues stem from the Herbert source, but whatever the case, I feel Part Two can take too long to get where it needs to go.

At least Villeneuve executes all this with tremendous visual flair. That’s always been the director’s strength, and we also get solid action at times.

Dune Two pushes toward a Big Battle Climax, and those scenes succeed. When Villeneuve allows the movie to engage in thrill moments, it sparks to life.

I just think Part Two feels stuck in neutral a little more often than I would prefer. Like the first chapter, this one works as a whole but probably overstays its welcome.

Dune: Part Two appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This turned into a strong Dolby Vision image.

Sharpness worked great. No real softness emerged, so this left us with a tight, concise presentation.

Neither jagged edges nor shimmering impacted the movie, and I saw no edge haloes. Of course, print flaws failed to manifest.

Given that most of the film took place on sandy Arrakis, the prevalence of amber and orange tones came as no surprise. Add some teal and you get a pretty Hollywood Standard palette.

Still, like I said, most of those colors made sense for Arrakis, and the disc replicated them as intended. HDR added zest and power to the hues.

Blacks felt dark and deep, while shadows offered appropriate clarity. Whites and contrast received a boost from HDR. I felt highly pleased with the picture.

Well, except for one befuddling choice: aspect ratio. Director Denis Villeneuve shot the entire film on IMAX cameras, most of which went with 1.90:1 but he also used 1.43:1 for a good chunk of the film.

Rather than take advantage of these choices, Part Two stuck with 2.39:1 the whole way. Apparently Villeneuve wants to preserve IMAX ratios for theatrical screenings, but I don’t get how that makes much sense.

In any case, that’s what we got: 2.39:1 rather than the more expansive aspect ratios found during IMAX screenings. Perhaps someday Villeneuve will relent and allow both of his Dune movies to enjoy IMAX ratios on home video but unfortunately, that doesn’t happen here.

No complaints greeted the terrific Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Dune: Part Two. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the mix created a consistently involving setting.

Whether the movie opted for quiet or loud sequences, the soundfield used all the channels in an engaging manner. These filled the room in ways that helped immerse us in the material.

Of course, big action scenes fared best, as those threw the violence at us hot and heavy. All the information showed up in appropriate spots and meshed smoothly to form an excellent soundfield.

Audio quality impressed as well, with speech that appeared natural and concise. Music demonstrated solid impact and range.

Effects delivered a great impression, with clean highs and taut lows. Everything about the soundtrack succeeded.

Eight featurettes appear, and Chakobsa Training goes for four minutes, 51 seconds. It brings notes from writer/director Denis Villeneuve, dialect coach Fabien Enjalric, and actors Timothée Chalamet, Javier Bardem, Souhelia Yacoub, Zendaya, and Rebecca Ferguson.

The show concentrates on the Fremen language featured in the film. We get a few decent thoughts on that topic but "Chakobsa" largely seems superficial.

Creating the Fremen World lasts 11 minutes, 41 seconds. It delivers comments from Villeneuve, Chalamet, Zendaya, Ferguson, Bardem, production designer Patrice Vermette, producer Mary Parent, 2nd unit director Tanya Lapointe, cinematographer Greig Fraser, and actor Austin Butler.

As implied by the title, "World" looks at set design. Though we get stuck with a little too much happy talk, Vermette leads us through the locations in a positive way and makes this a fairly informative reel.

Next comes Finding the Worlds of Dune. It spans six minutes, 24 seconds and features Villeneuve, Lapointe, Fraser, Chalamet, Zendaya, Bardem, producer Cale Boyter, executive producer Herbert W. Gains, location manager Matt Crauford, and actors Florence Pugh and Josh Brolin.

"Worlds" covers various movie locations. It becomes another mix of insights and fluff.

Buzz Around the New "Thopter" lasts three minutes, 51 seconds. It provides info from Villeneuve, LaPointe, visual effects co-producer Brice Parker, special effects supervisor Gerd Nefzer, supervising sound editor Richard King, and actor Dave Bautista.

Like the title hints, "Buzz" discusses the design and execution of a vehicle in the movie. Expect another moderately informative piece.

With Worm-riding, we get a nine-minute, 43-second reel. Here we find remarks from Villeneuve, Chalamet, Fraser, Lapoint, Nefzer, Bardem, Zendaya, Parker, prop master Doug Harlocker, visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert, and stunt double Lorenz Hideyoshi.

Unsurprisingly, this segment examines the different elements involved with sand worm sequences. It functions as a fairly solid take on these domains.

Becoming Feyd occupies seven minutes, 33 seconds. Across that time, we hear from Butler, Villeneuve, Parent, Bautista, Lapointe, Zendaya, Chalamet, Brolin, prosthetics co-designers Eva Bon Bahr and Love Larson, and stunt coordinator/fight coordinator/actor Roger Yuan.

"Feyd" covers Butler's character. Some of the usual happy talk emerges, but we still get some decent insights.

Up next we get A New Set of Threads. It fills seven minutes, 40 seconds with material from Villeneuve, Lapointe, Chalamet, Bardem, Zendaya, Ferguson, Parent, Butler, costume designer Jacqueline West and supervising textile artist Matt Reitsma.

In this reel, we learn about costumes. Some useful thoughts emerge but we find even more praise than usual.

Finally, Deeper into the Desert runs 12 minutes, 59 seconds. This one involves Villeneuve, Bardem, King, re-recording mixers Rom Bartlett and Doug Hemphill, editor Joe Walker and composer Hans Zimmer.

"Deeper" looks at the movie's score, audio and editing. Anticipate yet another combination of good info and praise.

Denis Villeneuve’s take on Frank Herbert’s universe ends – maybe – with Dune: Part Two. While I think Villeneuve creates a compelling visual impression, the story drags a little too much for me to find the film to become better than just pretty good. The 4K UHD delivers excellent picture and audio along with a mixed bag of supplements. I find Villeneuve’s Dune saga to work some of the time but not to seem as compelling as it potentially could be.