IMAX theatres don't have atmos sound. But yeah, it was meant for IMAX, I missed my chance.

IMAX has bespoke 12 track sound and this one had it applied but it's not genuine IMAX and the image quality certainly isn't up there with genuine IMAX films. However, there seems to be a compatibility problem on my system as it's among the worst 4Ks I've seen so far. It's very sharp when I can see the image clearly but it's so dark a lot of the time that the resolution was lost here. Hopefully I'll get to the bottom of what is going on sometime soon but the steelbook is a beauty so despite being a bit disappointed with the film and the quality, it's a keeper alright. John.

@@moviecollector5920 It is most likely the Dolby Vision, as I've had this exact same issue with several Dolby Vision movies. When viewing the movie in HDR10, it was bright and crisp as I had expected.

@@DrJackalPhD He was watching it in HDR 10. As he says in the video, he doesn't have any DV devices. Most projectors still don't support DV. I think there's been one or two released in the last few months.

You don't seem silly at all Hawk, I think you've summed up a great cinematic experience. The reason it was so memorable is because you were enjoying IMAX 12 track sound and if it's anything like the system in the BFI IMAX, there's nothing else quite like it. THX Ultra for the home is unbelievable enough but when I come out of a screening at the Waterloo BFI IMAX it makes you realize there is always going to be something better out there. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I was watching in a regular multiplex, but can attest to a similar experience, seemed my chest and some clothes sometimes vibrated from the sound, not just hairs. 😄

Would love to watch a film in IMAX, maybe i might get somewhere to watch it, there is no where near me that has IMAX, but saying that i will 100 percent watch part 2 in a cinema, watching dune in 4k was mind blowing on my lg oled so in the cinema it will be a whole other level.

@@burnsZY85 Be prepared though Chris because there are plenty of comments on here confirming that even cinemas had the same problem as me with the image being noticeably too dark so let's all hope the same does not happen with part 2. I've just spent most of this evening playing with the 4K disc but every attempt to punch more light through the chip resulted in a muddying of the picture. However, having gotten over the disappointment of Saturday night I can see that I'm really going to enjoy it the next time around. These things never appear quite so bad the second time around. John.

@@LennyNero2019 IMAX cinema sound is no better than cinemas with Dolby Atmos. The speakers and subwoofers the cinema used, the implementation, and the room will determine the sound quality. Quite a lot of IMAX cinemas actually have poor sound quality. The sound quality and bass was excellent at my local cinema (non IMAX) for Dune. I could feel the bass rumble through my chest and body during certain scenes. I do also have a IMAX cinema nearby but personally I think IMAX cinemas overdo the output leading to too loud a fatiguing mix. I know some people love listening above reference but that's not my cup of tea!

Looks fairly awful a lot of the time on my system so it's going to take some fathoming out. Dolby Vision given superior treatment to HDR perhaps. John.

Yep excellent 4k blu ray disc for video and audio quality. If you have good OLED, LED, Projector, and good speaker's, subwoofer/subwoofers. The audio quality is reference.

You and I are in complete ageement then cburg. It seems that most of us have confirmed Dune is too dark. Glad I dared to mention it all now as people had been telling me it was one of the best quality films they'd ever seen. If I could have actually seen it, it might have been!!! John.

Well, you've explained it to me Luke and it all now makes sense. The real flaw in the rigmarole they went through was to transfer to 35mm because that meant any blow-up to IMAX was inherently compromised and would not work. But it does explain the video noise I could see when the image wasn't too dark - it was grain and not noise. The original version of the film holds the distinction of being the only film I have seen in the cinema during which I have fallen asleep. I was somewhat younger then so might appreciate it fully today and that's why I finally feel like giving it a second chance. Thank you for posting such a great comment that clarifies the problems I saw in this 4K disc. John.

It's such a shame that it's one of the worst 4Ks I've seen on my system. One day I may work out what is wrong but at one point I was thinking the projector lamp was on the way out. John.

I haven't watched the original version of Dune since it's theatrical outing. I do fancy giving it another go even though I really didn't like it back in the day. John.

i think I'd agree with you but for the rather drab (at times) image quality but that's down to the post production used. Maybe if part 2 does really well (given that we'll be out of the pandemic then) they'll go back to the original video and re-issue it without all the nonsense of transferring it to 35mm and back again. That should sort out the darkness issue and the lack of definition at times. Maybe then we'll have a classic on our hands. But it's not so disappointing to look at the second time around so I can see I'm going to really enjoy it when the times comes for a full second viewing. Glad that you really love it. I could be joining you in that sentiment in the future because I did feel that there was a great film in there trying to get out. John.

@@moviecollector5920 Hans Zimmer's score really enhanced into being greater than the sum of its parts for me. I thought I had heard that the "digital to film to digital" process was a practical approach to dealing with the ambient heat of filming in the desert, and attempting to achieve more of a film look, but I could be wrong. Nevertheless, your channel is the most detailed and educational source on this platform for understanding technical aspects of filmmaking, which I really appreciate. I'm curious to see your 65mm recommendations on my 4K screen in the future. Also, I'm curious what you would think of Steven Soderbergh's "Che" from 2008, as I understand he used a special new camera at the time for most of it. Criterion has a nice blu ray edition.

@@sandite26 Thank you Sandie. Che has just gone on my list of discs to keep a lookout for. As for transferring a video to 35mm only to go back again, I think I'd have been banging my fist on the table if I'd have been a meeting about that. It was a valiant attempt to make Dune look like a film but it failed. If we'd have seen a major production like that at a premiere theatre in days gone by looking so comparatively poor I think I'd have complained to the manager. Having said this, the worst image quality I ever saw was Star Wars Attack of the Clones at the Odeon Leicester Square and it was so awful to look at that I spoke to the manager. He told me things he really shouldn't have but it confirmed all my suspicions. He said that I was the first complainant and that he couldn't believe it as the film had been on for a week or so. They thought they were going to be in serious trouble putting such image quality on at the premiere venue but George Lucas had insisted they video projected and he actually came over the check it out ahead of time. A 35mm print was coming for when the film went next door to the Odeon West End (Leicester Square Theatre) and he had us back as guests. It was better but I could tell the image quality was not there to start with. The summary of this is that the Star Wars film was an experiment to see if the industry could get away with screening lower quality at cinemas and it confirmed that they could. A few years later I stopped going to the West End cinemas unless I knew a film print was being screened. Video projection has improved today but it's still sub-standard most of the time compared to what I used to enjoy at the premiere cinemas. John.

It's all a bit odd Alex but rest assured you are not alone as a few people have commented on here that they saw the film in two or more cinemas and had the same experience as you. I was wondering if the 2K master video pre the 35mm transfer was sent to some cinemas or used to make the faux 3D video but I doubt that was the case now. John.

Don't wear your sunglasses Mark or you won't see a thing!!! John.

Don't spend too much now you've got the equipment but the priority should be Murder On The Orient Express as it's the best video quality I've ever seen. The film is pretty darned good too which helps but may not be for younger audiences... as there's no superheroes in it! John.

It is only due to the clarity and scale of 15/70 IMAX Lenny. Shooting in those aspect ratios on video is putting these lower quality productions onto those giant screens now despite not being genuine IMAX and film makers can't resist the opportunity. I'm still waiting for the return of Cinerama! John.

I expect it will be out sometime Simon but it might take a year or so. The 2.40:1 frame doesn't give any indication of cropping and that's due to the different frame heights being taken into account during the shoot. One of the worst image quality 4Ks so far on my system but I'll play with it again to see if I can brighten it up without making it too muddy. John.

@@moviecollector5920 Thanks for the response. It's a shame as it looked great in the cinema for sharpness blended with dream like atmosphere. Without the extended height the impact of the rooms I imagine are reduced. I could be wrong but Imax enhanced is needed here to get the full substance of the film. The negative space made the world seem so much more enriched as I felt small as a viewer watching it.

@@simonl2072 The 4K disc is certainly sharp enough - there's no question that the definition is good at all - it's just that it's so dark for much of it that the image quality isn't perceptible. It was evidently a deliberate choice to make it look like this but I feel that it was taken just a little too far. Others will disagree with me but all our home systems are different and it will look slightly less dark on some than others. Mine has surely got to be the darkest around because I try to make video look like film as closely as I can. John.

It's certainly not IMAX as we really know it Aisback but it was projected onto IMAX screens. I want to see Tenet at the BFI IMAX because a lot of that was shot in genuine IMAX and I can well imagine how good that will look on the 90 foot wide screen. I wouldn't want to see Dune projected on that screen because it's just too dark and the resolution is not up to the standard of genuine IMAX as it was shot 4K, transferred to 35mm and then transferred back. I wish I'd known that before I watched the film and recorded the review!!! Very interesting though and possibly unique methodology there. John.

@@moviecollector5920 hi just to clarify I was talking about the experience itself. The Imax screen displays dolby vision which really helped with those darker scenes :)

It's likely you made the right choice David as people have reported that the Blu-ray isn't as dark. I think it's a bit more muddy looking but at least you should be able to see what is happening a little better. John.

It's not exactly one of the best 4K discs you're ever going to see Stephen but if you lower your expectations you shouldn't be too disappointed, largely because the sound is so good. John.

Thank you JK. Dune was a bit of a mixed bag on both my systems but slightly better on the telly than the video projector but I think that was largely down to the size differential. The sound is among the best I've heard though even if the image was a little too dark in places, particularly the sandworm sequence. John.

Thanks Roy. And courtesy of Luke Ormsby's comment below I now know why Dune turned out to be so dark so it's worth a read. The upshot is that it's not likely to be a problem restricted to just my own system. I think it's one of the worst 4Ks I've seen so far but I'll have to play with my settings now I know what was done and see if I can brighten it up without making it too muddy. I'll then have to set everything back down before running anything else though so it's a bit of a faff. Can't wait to hear what Keith thinks of it. John.

And postie's just delivered it. I'll aim to get it watched and then put a review together at the weekend. John.

You're the second comment to say much the same thing about IMAX. Perhaps they have someone new in charge who is going to try to restore the IMAX name and reputation. I know, I'm dreaming!!! John.

I just hope you can see it a little better than we did. With good picture quality I think this would have been a cracking film. As it is, the sound makes it enjoyable despite any problems you may have with the image. John.

There are a few people who are reporting no issues with the film being too dark at all. I don't know what the answer is but I'll try to find it. Keith at Euphoria Pictures has Dolby Vision and an OLED television so it's possible that combination is able to squeeze more from the video than other systems. How on earth they thought it was viable to put on in genuine IMAX theatres is a real mystery to me. It's not going to do the IMAX name much good in the long run. 3D is a different market I suppose as the glasses can disguise a myriad of inadequacies but they can also make great looking film quality look sub-standard. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I suspect that it's the Dolby vision and OLED that might be doing it. Since Dobly vision is a dynamic HDR and as the film goes along the brightness and contrast will adjust accordingly and the OLEDs are some of the best tvs on the market when it comes to blacks due the pixels being self illuminating thus requiring no back light.

@@Ahriman13 Keith at Euphoria has commented to remind me that he looked at the opening 15 minutes of the copy of Dune in 4K that he imported from Italy and he felt it was too dark so we'll have to see what he thinks after a bit more of a study of it. Keith swears by his OLED with Dolby Vision so if it's a similar result on his then I think we can assume this disc has been mastered too dark for our home systems generally. Maybe not for everyone's home systems but the majority. John.

Hope it's not far too dark on your system too. Might be worth reading through a few of the comments just so you're fully prepared. Whatever, the sound is about as good as I've ever heard so it's still worth a punt. John.

@@moviecollector5920 yeah will do thanks

It seems there were two different interpretations of the film in cinemas Matthew with some cinemas managing to punch enough light through the image and others looking as dark as the 4K disc. There have been many interesting comments so I have inadvertently started a rather major discussion about it on here. I didn't know the 4.5K video was transferred to 35mm film and back again before I recorded the revew and I wish I had have done because I think I'd have been able to use that to explain the muted, dark look. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. John.

I think mankind would need at least another 10,000 years to get to that sort of level of technology! But why on earth they're using swords when they've got all those amazing weapons remains a mystery. Just wish I could remember the answer from having read the books all those years ago. John.

@@moviecollector5920 The technology is complicated, because they the AG part was after a holy war called the Butlerian Jihad fought between people against those who controlled AI tech which enslaved mankind. The result of this jihad was that all AI and computing technology was banned. This meant that faster than light space travel was unsafe, until spice was discovered which allowed heavy users foresee the safe paths to navigate. The swords are visually explained in the movie because of shield technology. Any fast projectile weapon is stopped by the shields, and lasers would result in a nuclear explosion that kills the shooter and the target. This meant that warfare changed to hand to hand combat. In the novel, the Baron used long unused bomb technology which slows penetrated the shells as shown in the attack scene.

@@iamsheep I realized the swords were something to do with the personal shields but it does make it all a little hard to explain in a film without a load of boring exposition through dialogue. Books like this are difficult to translate to the screen. If the sequel does get made I hope someone puts their foot down and insists the grading is less dense and the colour more vibrant because a better image combined with the quality of sound from this film and it could be something very special indeed. John.

I was expecting it to be much slower than it actually was Scott as the stories were great to read but difficult to re-interpret on screen. I think I'd have loved it if the image quality had have been good but alas, on my systems (both of them) among the worst I've seen owing to the darkness issue. It seems most of us have encountered the same thing, even in most of the cinemas but there are exceptions. John.

There are some clever people out there. If he was to volunteer to redo his 'fan cut' in HD I wonder if the outtakes have been released in HD or if they're still SD even if they've made it through to the latest disc release. I know how long video editing and special effects can take so the chap deserves all the plaudits for doing what he's done. I haven't seen it since 1984 but I suspect I will finally give it another chance. As for the villains in the new version, I was going through much of the disc again last night and having got over the disappointment of the comparatively poor image quality I found I was enjoying it much more. There is some exposition near the start where the villains do actually explain in cryptic from that the whole evacuation and handover thing is a setup by the Emperor. Josh Brolin's character also suggests that all is not as it seems. But I do find that modern film makers often don't realize that before an audience knows what a film is all about they are not going to pick up on little details like this. I didn't. And because I haven't had anything to do with Dune since 'Heretics of Dune' I could barely remember a thing about any of it. Funny thing is, that I can remember the whole Asimov Foundation saga in detail so I hope the creators of the new Foundation series made for a streaming channel haven't tried to follow the books too much because for people who don't know the books, I can't see how it would work on screen. It might be an absolute bore for all but fans of the books. John.

Most of us have found that Dune is too dark Lenny so we're not alone by any means. It turns out - and I wish I'd known this before I did the review - that the 4.5K video was transferred to 35mm film and then back again to get a realistic grain effect. I think this is where it went wrong but I can't know for sure. Apparently one of the cine transfers was at 2K so it's easy to see why the 4K disc is a bit of a mess. But the daylight scenes (the few of them there are) do have good definition so it's possible this will look better on some systems than others. As I have mine generally set a little darker than most I suppose I was a prime candidate to get a bad experience. I think I'd have really enjoyed the film with a rich, vibrant image. John.

Just be prepared that you may get the dark version of the film. Most seem to be getting The Dark Side but some are getting The Light Side. Whatever, who cares what it looks like when it sounds this good?!? John.

Luke Ormsby told me of that a few comments back too. That may be a unique way to try to make a video look like a film so it deserves a second look on that basis alone. It does explain why it's ended up too dark on my system though as that's setup to replicate the look of film which predominantly means darker. I was caught out this time. John.

Great comment Adam! I will give the Atmos soundtrack a try through my 5.1 and see if it's even better. Actually, it was so good already that I suspect I won't be able to discern any difference. As for the elusive DTS-HD, you are the first person to answer that one and there have been a lot of comments on here. If you fancy reading a volume of comments to fill the Encyclopaedia Britannica take a look through them. There has been a really interesting discussion and right at the start it was pointed out that the Dune master video was transferred to 35mm and back again so that appears to explain what went wrong. Some people are reporting that they saw a bright version of the film though so perhaps there really are two different masters out there. As for a genuine IMAX cinema not having genuine IMAX, might as well shut the bloody place! It's happening over here too so I suppose we'll just have to accept mediocrity on an enormous screen but video projection is getting better and better. Maybe the laser projector installation will get things back up to where they once were... one day. John.

Thanks John. I have done a few videos over the past month or so but hopefully more will follow starting with Last Night In Soho. John.

I think the ease of purchasing and viewing films in the home is taken a bit for granted today. Certainly many of us expect perfection with these 4K discs and I probably include myself in that. This isn't a perfect disc by any stretch but it's still wonderful to be able to have it albeit The Black Hole Of Calcutta version! John.

Some comments have reported similar to yourself Graham but I think we're getting to the bottom of what went wrong. I am going to see what I can do on my video projector to try to brighten and colour Dune up as I have the setup to replicate the look of film which does mean darker so once I have that all sorted I'll put a note in with the disc to remind me to whack everything right up to the settings I think is best before watching it again. It's all good fun. Thankfully the sound is fabulous so that saved the day for me. John.

I took a second look the other evening and having got over the bad impression it gave me on the first viewing, it wasn't so disappointing the second time around. It is one of the poorer 4K discs on my system though and I can see why that is now I know about the jiggery pokery to 35mm and back again. I thought the film grain visible occasionally was video noise but thankfully I didn't mention it and that was because I was concerned I would make the picture sound truly awful, which it isn't but it's not really up to standard. Some have reported a good cinema visit for this one while others report the dark image quality problems. One or two saw the film multiple times in different cinemas and while it looked good in one it was poor in the other. I have been wondering if there were two copies of the video doing the rounds at cinemas with the 3D version perhaps being fabricated from the original 2K master prior to the transfer to 35mm but it now seems that was not the case. I'm sure the film will be a lot more enjoyable the next time I watch it but when I'm watching a 4K disc for a review video I'm hoping there won't be anything too disastrous to report. This was good in places but then a little soft in places which was in part due to the dark nature of much of it. When that sandworm sequence appeared 25 mins from the end I thought the lamp was on the way out! And I'm not the only one on here to say that. Something went a bit awry in post production and I strongly suspect it was the transfer to 35mm and back again which was a valiant attempt to make the end product look like film but doesn't appear to have been overly successful. By the way, one commenter has suggested the Blu-ray is better than the 4K because it's not so dark. It looked too muddy to me but I can understand the logic. John.

Well done Lee and thank you. Just be prepared for it to be a little too dark in places and you should have a great time. If you can't see anything at times then just turn the volume up and forget about the picture because the sound is great! John.

Funny thing is Clark, I think this is one of the worst quality 4K discs I've seen on my system so something's not translating correctly. But since doing the review I've analyzed that sandworm scene again and they have overly darkened it so perhaps it's just the home video version of the 4K video with the problem and it's been graded differently to the theatrical version. I do suspect Dolby Vision was prioritized so we could all be seeing varying quality from the same disc. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I watched this twice at the cinema - once on a imax and once on superscreen. Both looked incredible but slightly different. I think the transfer is slightly darker in places and the scene you’ve mentioned is clearly darker. This resembled the imax version to me. But at the very least - the sound design is insane!

@@ColonelSternlove One commenter has suggested the 3D version may not have gone through the 35mm transfer and then back to video again so it's possible the 3D Blu-ray is brighter. Maybe for once, the 3D option is the way to go. But I'll play with my projector settings to see if I can improve how Dune looks and report back in a future video. John.

It wasn't an IMAX film so it was another one that was passed off as IMAX when it was nowhere near IMAX quality. I really don't understand how they're getting away with it. Amazing it looked as good as it did because I quickly learned, after putting this video up, that the video was transferred to 35mm and then back again to video to ensure it had the filmic look. Now I know that I think I'll be a little more impressed with it next time around because I thought all the grain was video noise owing to the low light levels! Whoops. There were a lot of comments about the dark nature (or not) of this film and many of us found the sandworm sequence and after too dark whereas others genuinely didn't. It turned out that commenters were able to confirm that they saw the movie in two or more different cinemas and one would be too dark and the other wasn't. Dune proved to be one of the most interesting conversations in the comments of anything I've done so far. John.

Let me know if the sandworm sequence about 25 minutes from the end is dark and then much of the remainder of the film Steve. So far it's about 60% report too dark and 40% okay to good. It was the same at cinemas from the accounts on here. John.

If the reports are true about the filming of Death on the Nile then they used the finest Kodak film stock for the 65mm shoot. I do still have a few concerns about getting on a train to London but I feel we've got to do it because I don't want to miss another great large format film. You tend to only get one chance to see them but not always as in the case of 2001. I don't think the 4K disc is quite as good as some (Murder on the Orient Express, Tenet) but it is among the best. If you are seeing slightly more clarity in the disc to the 70mm print it might have been slightly off focus at the cinema but could also be the size differential. The smaller the screen, the sharper it will appear. Luke Ormsby's comment just before your own has explained the look of Dune and from what he's said it will be a general issue with everyone's systems so it wasn't the lamp failing in my video projector. The video noise I was seeing occasionally (that I didn't think I should mention in the review) was actually film grain as the video was transferred to 35mm and then back again. Definitely not suitable for IMAX cinema presentation then but they seem to have managed to pull the wool over patrons eyes yet again. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I was actually going to put that in my comment John, that dune was shot on 4.5k imax approved cameras, then put on 35mm film, then scanned. I just checked if any theaters in sydney are screening anything on 70mm, and nothing. but the Ritz does show some 70mm prints occasionally, but I have to drag one of my parents accross the whole town to get there.

I do have 16mm but I never really got into that gauge. It takes up too much space really but I was prepared to accept a few 35mm features and trailers and accept that I wouldn't be able to get too many. 35mm is just a bit of fun and a bit of a cinema lover's dream really. I can't fit any of the film projectors in the new home cinema yet as I wasn't expecting to have to put the video projector where it is - I'd planned on siting the 35mm there. But I'll get it all sorted eventually. John.

I hope you've got the brighter version of the film Video Demon because I'm really beginning to think there are two versions out there. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I got the standard BluRay version as I don't have a device which can play the 4K UHD discs.

It's almost like two versions of the film exist Richard but the majority of us have seen The Dark Side. The most telling comments have been from people who saw the film at more than one cinema with one cinema having a good video copy and the other having a dark video copy. I can't believe there really are two versions out there but it's possible, particularly as there is also a faux 3D version and perhaps it's not impossible that was done from the pre-35mm transfer jiggery pokery which is what is most likely to have messed it up. Whatever the truth, it's made for a very interesting discussion on here. John.

I'm almost beginning to believe there are two different versions of Dune Joris because the majority of us saw The Black Hole Of Calcutta version. I wonder if it's possible there were two versions owing to the faux 3D copy and that has somehow been used to create brighter copies around the world and the version that had the 35mm jiggery pokery (that I wish I'd known about before doing the review!) is what most of us have had to suffer. I think I'd have really liked this film if I could have seen what was on screen a bit more easily. Whatever the truth, we're all agreed on the sound. There's a comment from a former projectionist just below your comment. He was the 70mm of Murder on the Orient Express at one our top cinemas over here (Bradford) and he reports that it was poor so I'm a little concerned that modern lab production methods are not using the old techniques to produce 70mm prints any longer. This could make me look like a bit of an idiot but I have to say that genuine IMAX prints over recent years have been better than anything else I've ever seen so I'll keep my fingers crossed for Death on the Nile. John.

You and Mondo have a lot to answer for Keith! I was thinking I might have to call you tonight to insist you do a review for this because if anyone is going to correct me that the disc is actually good or okay, then it's you with your OLED and Dolby Vision. Some comments on here have said they could see everything fine so it's over to you. The sound is fabulous though and if it had have had a better picture I'd be impatient to go through it again to analyze how they made the sound so impressive but I have an idea the multitudinous sound effects coupled with the near constant Hans Zimmer score are the answer. I must have seen your video with the Amazon Italy purchase as I watch them all (including over four hours of a live stream with that bloke from up north!) but I don't recall it right now. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I'm not going to lie John but from the 15 minutes that I have seen of this movie I will never call it's a demo worthy disc. But that's just going by 15 minutes so I will watch the rest tonight. Thank you so much for popping by and checking out me and Johns stream the other night. The two of us haven't stopped talking about it since we done it we really had a great time and we were saying we would love to get you on along with the two of us. How special would that be. If you have a couple of free minutes tomorrow night John please do give me a ring because I would like to hear how the move is working out for you and Susie

Oh, that's a terrible shame. IMAX do seem to be committing hari kari at the moment. Then again, maybe someone's taken over who wants to put the quality back into the name and perhaps Dune was the catalyst because I think it's among the worst 4K discs I've seen here for image quality. That's owing to the overly dark grading of course, the sound is among the best I've heard which makes it alright in my book. John.

@@moviecollector5920 not sure either. My guess is they want more branded recognition for the masses as they started a home project under IMAX enhanced, which felt (to me personally) as a new THX product... buy an IMAX Enhanced TV, AVR, Speakers that can support "full range" audio as IMAX has no .1 channel and then play your IMAX enhanced disc. Well since 2018 about 6 movies ever came with "scenes" to take advantage with IMAX always saying ummmm... "more will be coming" so at end of the day its a niche of a niche with only small numbers adopted 4k UHD discs and players, then how many people are going to spend again to support IMAX enhanced? So dumping the content on Disney + could be a quick money grab or... (my theory here) keep content held back and have the stream rights to have your own "premium" content with high, high data like Bravia Core in the US. 80mbs is lower than UHD Disc but if you can stream "all" the images from IMAX @$12.99 per month? Is that what might be next? I don't know? But it's very sad all these companies want to stream platforms robbing passionate people who still pay at the cinema, buy the gear for the best and it goes elsewhere under stream locks. I don't have patience or money to rent the content forever. I got into this from Laserdisc, so I go back a while. And yes... it was always a niche, yes it was expensive but it was what wanted. I would have worried if all the bonus footage and wide-screen aspect ratios was on the VHS version and not allowed on the best I could afford. I hope the IMAX editions of Dune, Marvel and other studios find a way on to disc? New Top Gun is out this year and want to see it IMAX as may never get another chance, unless I sign to Paramount +? Well... I won't be lol 😆. So fingers crossed, I can buy it and own the physical. Great video John and thank you again for your quick response and time to read the comments. Thumbs up, as always take care

I think you might have hit the nail on the head Ariel because although it's a bit dark most of the way through, it's that last half an hour that made me think my video projector lamp was turning black. The majority of us on here are reporting that it's too dark overall so maybe that last half an our just takes it too far for most of us. Good comment - made me think. John.

Yes, I was getting informed of that as soon as my video went up. I wish I'd known about it before recording the review because it does appear to explain the overall comparatively poor look to some of the film. i could have told them they were barking up the wrong tree but they didn't ask. It's quite likely the special effects were 2K which would mean the master video that went to 35mm and back again was 2K. I thought the film grain that showed occasionally was video noise due to the grading curves being set so low but I didn't want to mention it for fear of sounding too negative. The sound is wonderful though so who cares if you can't see what's happening towards the end?!? John.

@@moviecollector5920 I just hope the director decides to do an extended cut because he left several scenes on the cutting room floor that follow closer to the book and adds one character/ story beats. However Denis hates extended cuts and including deleted scenes on blu-ray

@@enterlinemediavisual I think that it's rare for a scene to be cut other than for it not to fit into a film for some reason. I can't think of an 'extended cut' that I've seen that has resulted in an improved version of a film and I include Aliens and The Abyss in that. It's nice to see the deleted scenes from a favourite film that so many of us have read about though even if those excised scenes do tend upset the flow of a film somewhat (Aliens) or break the focus away from the main, compact set of characters (The Abyss). So Monsieur Villeneuve and I seem to be in agreement there. Dune probably isn't for everyone but it's found a big, enthusiastic audience and that's got to be because so many of us love a good science fiction film and in the case of Dune, there is a large following of the Frank Herbert books so that surely had to be a help too. If I were neither of those two things I think I'd have found it a bit of a chore at times but as it is, it was only the comparatively dull image quality for quite a lot of it that meant I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. Watched quite a bit of it again last night and now I'm over the disappointment I can say for sure that I will enjoy it a lot more the next time. John.

@@moviecollector5920 There are some scenes that would have clarified some things with characters (Dr. Yueh) and the situation on Dune that were cut. I think Denis was just trying to get the movie to a manageable length for theaters. I still want to see those deleted scenes from Blade Runner 2049 that Denis didn't include on the blu-ray or the earlier 4 hour cut he did (he should have referenced the fine work that went into the extensive Blade Runner Collector's Set). Kingdom of Heaven is a great example of a director's cut that should have been released instead of the theater version (the DC is the version I always revisit on disc because those extra 40 minutes turns a good film into a great film). On the other hand, some of the deleted scenes in Prometheus should have been left in the movie and shows a perfect example of Ridley Scott sometimes not understanding the movie he should be making and sometimes be too accommodating to studios). Ridely Scott knows that extras content and alternate versions are of value to fans of a movie where Denis V doesn't care and disagrees with including such content.

@@enterlinemediavisual I was rather disappointed with the Blade Runner sequel David but I will give it a third try sometime. I want to like it, I just find it a bit bland but that could be because the original film is so darned good. Arrival looked a bit bland too but I only watched that once so need to try it again sometime soon. There's a good film in Arrival, I just didn't feel like I was watching a good film due to the picture quality but I have better equipment now so that should help. Imagine if all those CinemaScope and VistaVision greats from the 50s and 60s had have looked like some of the modern productions... they'd have been long forgotten by now but the Technicolor and large format film clarity ensured their future even if the films are possible a little eccentric today. I'm still trying to think of an extended version of a film that I prefer to the original. There's got to be one but I'm so far blank on coming up with anything. I even like the new Dune as it is, I just wish it looked a little more like the outstanding quality of some of the great films of the past. Oh well, you can't have everything. John.

You may have noticed that I didn't recommend Dune. I didn't want to be too negative about it because it may be that it appears better on other systems but it's the darkest home video i can ever remember and that means it's a bit difficult to watch. The sound is among the best, if not the best I've heard. So lower your expectations of the image quality if you do go for this one Adam. John.

@@moviecollector5920 funny story on that. I was watching Dune on my LG CX OLED and the last sequence was so dark for so long my TV, thinking the video was off, activated the screen saver and darkened it further.

@@adamATOM3 I knew there were actors on screen because I could hear them!

Morning Clark... or 'evening' as you're way the hell down there! Apparently IMAX are no longer permitting IMAX sequences on disc. I don't know if that's true yet but it could explain things. I suspect they'll make an exception for Christopher Nolan productions though. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I certainly hope they make an exception to Nolan, otherwise that will be very dissapointing. I have some toast with a cup of tea at the moment, I'm thinking about what movie to watch.

Clark, the picture on your steelbook is massively more representative of the film than the one on John's: That photo makes it look like a bright world with blue skies (which, if I was feeling uncharitable, I'd describe as extremely deceptive marketing!) rather than the sepia tinted world yours depicts. To paraphrase Spinal Tap: "How much more brown could this movie be? None. None more brown!"

@@3D_Blu-ray_Bunker I do think that Johns steelbook is a lot nicer than the terrible looking standard edition, looks so cliche because almost every other blockbuster poster looks almost the same.

@@ClarkTeddles Agree: I *hate* those awful "floating heads" pictures!

I hope it makes a great profit in the end and judging by the enthusiasm for it on the home movie market it must be looking good in that respect. John.

The BFI IMAX is 90 feet wide Nick but being a genuine IMAX cinema doesn't have masking. However, the projected image is so big that it doesn't really notice. The Odeon is about 54 feet wide but comes with masking, curtains and a fabulous auditorium. I think I'll be selecting the Odeon. Another thing to bear in mind is that I don't know of any 15/70 IMAX prints being struck so they may be video projecting and no one wants to see that when there's the chance of 70mm. Dune wasn't a genuine IMAX film and was in fact fairly low quality video. Having said this, it looked good in the daylight scenes, it was just graded down too dark to make it an easy watch. There do appear to have been two different versions out there though as some are reporting a good viewing experience such as yourself. I plan to play with all the settings on my video projector just for this film to see if I can brighten it up and colourize it a little. The sound saved the day for me otherwise I don't think I'd have enjoyed it much at all. Last Night In Soho arrived here today and the package is really nice. An extra fiver for a bit of cardboard really but what can you do?!? John.

@@moviecollector5920 Thanks very much for replying John, I appreciate it! I will book tickets for the Leicester Square Odeon then :) I have a few other things to do in London so we will make a nice day of it. I haven't ever seen a 70mm projection so can't wait, I must have seen the original Peter Ustinov classic at the very least 6 times. I look forward to seeing what Kenneth Branagh does with the script, if he will stick to a similar plot or add some new twists. His Murder on the Orient Express was beautifully shot and from the trailers Death on the Nile looks to be too. I got the Zavvi steelbook version of Last Night in Soho and the pre-release artwork was the really nice poster art, I do think it looks really good and was a bit disappointed when the artwork was changed to a different design, but now the steelbook has arrived the alternate cover art does also look good. I don't mind too much paying extra if the packaging is nice :)

There have been a lot of comments which is wonderful so thank you ABR. If you liked Dune on the IMAX ratio and massive sized screen then try to get along to see a genuine IMAX film next time because if you thought Dune looked good... Actually, I'm probably preaching to the converted! I didn't see Tenet in genuine IMAX and I can only imagine how good that looked in IMAX 70mm. Interstellar was like a religious experience but I suspect Tenet would look ever better. Dune did have the unique IMAX 12 track stereo sound though and I think that's how they give these videos the IMAX label at cinemas. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I missed Tenet in the cinema sadly, and Dune was my first time back at the cinema since the pandemic. Agreed, Interstellar was quite the experience in IMAX, I remember being blown away. After seeing Blade Runner 2049 in IMAX I told everyone they HAVE to see it in IMAX no exceptions haha. Anyway, appreciate your input, very informative as always on the videos, keep up the great work!

@@CaliBoyinJapan Blade Runner 2049 was a video which is a terrible shame but irrespective of how a film is made, usually the bigger the screen, the greater the impact. I hope the labs have got the 70mm prints of Death on the Nile right and they'll be to the standard that only a 70mm film can provide. John.

There are several different steelbooks for Dune available Krishna and all of them look rather nice. John.

OLED does tend to make things darker at times. We had a big conversation/discussion about this over this 4K release of Dune because I suspected it had been edited with OLED monitors but it turned out that it either made no difference or was actually darker in places. Many enthusiasts have purchased OLED tellies but there's nothing like a big screen presentation to watch a movie and even the biggest tellies aren't able to compete with that. I just wish I had everything completely sorted so we had an even larger picture... I need a barn! John.

I plan to watch it again in The Empire before seeing the sequel Timothy. In other words, I'll be taking a few steps into the other room to watch it! BFI IMAX released tickets last night I think but I can't even look into it yet as I'm too busy. It's a 15/70 print but only a blow-up from the 4K master so we shouldn't expect too much. John.

@moviecollector5920 The since that everyone seems to think is too dark played quite well in our viewing; it was actually pretty clear. But the sound really wasn't as good as it should have been. But the most peculiar thing about the night was that we arrived for the evening show and we were the only ones there. It really started me wondering if cinema is dying. Maybe the Super Bowl had something to do with the lack of people..I don't know.

@@timothymathetes Cinema is in terminal decline but I was hoping that it would recover somewhat as people increasingly realized the pandemic was over. It's happened a little but it's obvious that cinema is not going to return to the heights of the 1990's. The die was cast long ago with the big downgrade but to be fair the image quality had been set on a downward path more than ten years before that in preparation for it. If DUNE had have been a 15/70 IMAX production or even a standard 65mm shoot then it would be capable of generating good audiences in cinemas today but alas it ended up being a lowly 2K release. Started out at 6K for much of it though. The sequel is a 4K but I think it was all shot 4K so I do have concerns about how it's going to look at 85 feet wide but hoping to be surprised in a good way. The fact that it's getting the blow-up treatment to 15/70 is a good indication that some within the film industry have taken notice of OPPENHEIMER and why it was such a huge success. John.

@moviecollector5920 Thanks for the response. It is genuinely appreciated. I am so looking forward to seeing Dune part 2, even more so now that I've seen the first part in the theater. I think it will do well. I hope it does, at least. I do hope also that Dennis Vilenuve gains as much regard as Christopher Nolan because Dune part 1 is an achievement of Nolanite proportions as far as I am concerned. And he too, obviously cares about the art of cinema. How's the new video going? I'm looking forward to it.

@@timothymathetes Dennis Villeneuve didn't learn his craft while film was de rigeur. He therefore missed out on learning the best tools of the trade and that is a big reason why Christopher Nolan is currently the top film maker in the world. Dennis Villeneuve does know about the importance of film because DUNE was output to 35mm and then put back to video to try to achieve an authentic film look. It failed in two regards though because firstly the image was too dark in several areas (but this varied from cinema to cinema and on different home equipment) and secondly it was only put back out to video at 2K. I hope this second film is a huge success and perhaps Mr. Dennis's next film will actually be a genuine film with the top artists from the industry working for him to ensure it is of the highest quality. I also hope this sequel helps to continue the OPPENHEIMER trend of getting all age groups back into cinemas and not predominantly just teenagers and twenty somethings. I've just finished the projection box video so I'll probably make that live on the channel tomorrow evening. I need to catch up with a whole load of other things before then otherwise I'll have such a backlog of comments to respond to that I'll feel like I'll never get through them. I do enjoy the corresponding with fellow film enthusiasts though and it's a big reason why I've kept plugging away with this channel. Us filmies are a dying breed so it's good to be able to talk to like-minded enthusiasts. John.

I managed to miss that so thank you Cian. You just can't get the staff these days. John.

i do fancy watching the 1984 version again Michael. I thought it was terrible back then but I suspect it's aged well and will prove to be an interesting view now. I never saw the television series so that might be worth looking for too, particularly as Susan Sarandon is one of the stars as she's good in everything. John.

The 1984 film is the only time I have ever fallen asleep in a cinema. Funny thing is that's I'd probably enjoy it now and I do fancy seeing it again so this remake has enthused me even though I couldn't see what was going on some of the time. I knew there were actors on the screen because I could hear them! I just purchased the second of the Tom Holland Spider-Man films half price from HMV. We're two of a kind! Can't wait to see Tobey Maguire back in the role and I hope they make a full Spider-Man film with him again as a result but don't overdo the computer effects like they did a bit in Spider-Man 3. John.

@@moviecollector5920 😁😁 Yes, we are two of a kind!! Glad I wasn't the only one who fell asleep in the 1984 version. I wanted to buy the tom holland trilogy box set but it was so expensive that buying the 2 at half price (£9.99 each) and no way home on pre order at £25 still worked out much cheaper than the boxed trilogy set!

Apparently it's already sold out here Zack and it's release day today. Quite amazing. I hope it doesn't disappoint too many people because it's among the worst 4Ks I've seen. Only the definition in the brighter scenes tells me it was very good to start off with but was messed with too much. Possibly not quite as bad on all home systems as they all tend to vary. First class sound though and that saves the day. John.

I'm going to have a play with my system too Jeremy so perhaps between us we'll get these dark copies of Dune (I'm almost seriously wondering if there are two versions out there - the light side and the dark side!) into a watchable form. But I have been through all this before because of one dark scene in Terminator Dark Fate and it wasn't possible to do too much and what I did messed every other scene up and every other film up. So back to where I was rather quickly. Whatever the truth of all this, it's been an interesting discussion. One thing we all seem to be agreed on is that the sound on Dune is fabulous. John.

I had another look at that 4K disc a few days ago Carl and because I was ready for the rather dull or muted image quality it didn't come across quite as bad as it did the first time around. I only skipped through a few sections though and didn't look at the almost blacked out sandworm sequence about 25 minutes from the end. See how you get on with it. John.

Thanks Dan. The Nest seems to be a love it or hate it film but we both seem to love it so that's alright then. As for the image quality on Dune it's been explained by Luke Ormsby in an earlier comment and I can see why it looks so comparatively poor now so I'll play with the settings sometime to see if I can clean it up. It is one of the worst I've seen so far but I do have everything setup to replicate the look of film and not video so I'll have to reverse that for this one film and keep a note in the tin to remind me next time I run it. John.

@@moviecollector5920 As I mentioned in another comments section, we were lucky enough to see it on the massive screen in Bradford (even though it's not a native IMAX presentation) and the picture quality on the 4K release (on Dolby Vision capable LG OLED) is a very close approximation of what we saw during that showing - none of the issues with excessive darkness that you are encountering.

@@danhardcastle Thanks for confirming that Dan. No doubt you'll be looking more closely the next time you watch it given the discussion we've had. Dolby Vision and OLED does seem to reduce the effects of the overall dark imagery so your combination is probably closest to a current 4K cinema video projector. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I'm looking forward to your review of "Last Night in Soho" - certainly my least favourite of Edgar Wright's movies thus far but still a very good film - the evocation of swinging London is wonderful. You've got me wondering if one of those large prints of "Death on the Nile" will make its way up North! It's a bit of a journey to get there but we have relatives in the vicinity and it's a measure more convenient than getting to Leicester Square!

@@danhardcastle I'll take a look and see if I can find out. Stand by.

It wasn't an IMAX film though Will so it shouldn't really affect the overall impact of the home video version. I know what you mean though because if you're watching on a telly then it does seem like a 'Scope frame movie wastes a lot of space with black bars. For a cinema though, there's nothing quite like that 'Scope frame to suck you into the picture... unless it's a genuine IMAX cinema of course. John.

I saw the original Dune in 1984. Fell asleep! Glad you enjoyed the remake though which may not be the best looking 4K disc we've enjoyed so far but who cares when it sounds this good. John.

Better get our copies up on eBay then!!! John.

Others have reported that they saw Dune on IMAX screens and it was too dark. Others - but fewer of them - have said there was no problem with it so there is a bit of a mix of results out there. I think it was just a bit of a mess and perhaps they'd invested so much in the transfer to 35mm and back again that no one wanted to be the one to admit it. If you want a film to look like a film you really have to shoot it on film. I thought the film grain in this was video noise where they'd messed about with the grading curves too much. I didn't mention it because I didn't want to appear too negative but it is one of the worst 4Ks I've seen on my system. Who cares when it sounds this good though? As for the cropping, it was filmed with the guidelines for the wider frames so that nothing vital was cropped out. If you've seen the 1.43:1 scenes though then that will mean it will never look as impressive again. Apparently IMAX have prevented the taller aspect ratios on discs according to a couple of commenters on here so maybe it's nothing to do with the film makers. John.

I think it's a very good film but not for everybody perhaps. i think you need to be a science fiction aficionado to get the most out of it but just be prepared that the image quality is not really up to standard for some of it. Not only has the whole post production dulled it down too much but it is a bit soft at times too. The video noise which I didn't mention for fearing of sounding too negative, is actually film grain. The video master was transferred to 35mm and back again to get the filmic look... but possibly not the biggest success in cinema history! John.

I had completely forgotten about the television series Dmitri. I don't think I ever saw it but I expect I will now. Susan Sarandon is always good in everything she's in so that's an extra incentive. John.

I only heard about that once this review went up Terminator. But I didn't know it was a 2K transfer. Why would they do that other than to make the image quality poorer than it really was and that makes no sense. It does all explain why the final result was so dark and had minor evidence of video noise which I didn't want to mention because I couldn't understand it and didn't want others to pick up on it and start making a fuss over a little detail. As it happens, it was film grain. A worthy attempt to make a video look more like film and I would have given plaudits for that if I'd have known about it even if the process failed to look successful on my system. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I believe they did the DI at 2K because that's what the visual effects were finished at, and it helped blend them together. But whatever the reason was I feel It's a real shame, because I'm a fan a really clean looking images, and I think that Dune would have greatly benefited from going straight from 4.5k to the UHD bluray! Also, I'm mad at whomever made the decision not to include the IMAX aspect ratio for the scenes that were originally framed that way... I just wish there was a standard practice for movies once they hit the Home video market, so that there would be some consistency with these 4K blu-rays. I mean how many people actually have a scope screen in their homes compared to all the 16x9 screens??? I get that alternating aspect ratios is a bit off putting at times, so I would love to see the option to watch the all Bluray movies in 1.78:1 without having to zoom. But that's a topic for another day! Lol

@@TerminatorJuice A couple of comments have said that IMAX have stopped home disc releases getting the taller scenes applied. We'll have to wait for Christopher Nolan's next film to see what happens there but I would imagine he'll fight tooth and nail to get his film onto video in the best possible form. My ultimate plan here is to have a 'Scope screen that simply opens up for the 'Scope frame. However, I do expect that I'll have to have a moving top mask to get the biggest possible image from 1.78:1 aspect ratio movies, it just won't be as wide as the 2.40:1 movies. And really, that's pretty much how it should be. Philips did do a 'Scope television about 10 or 12 years ago and I was very tempted by that. John.

Most comments are reporting the dark problem but it only gets really bad when that sandworm sequence appears and I now think that was blacked out because the film makers may have felt it looked a little too much like a cartoon so they may have done the right thing. The image does brighten up again just before the ending but by this time most of us will have been wrapped up in the film so I think they did well to get away with it. I'm just a little too fastidious perhaps when I'm watching a 4K disc for review but I'm pleased I dared to mention this film has technical problems. I have looked at it again and it is a bit soft for much of the time but that's due to all the jiggery pokery the video went through in post production to make it look more like film. I don't suppose it was intended to look quite so soft but for sure it would have been similar to the look aspired to. There are always compromises when making any film. John.

It's been an interesting discussion on her Timothy but the majority are reporting the film to be too dark. I suspect it's even darker on my system than most because of the way I try to replicate the look of film. Perhaps the trailers were done from the original 4.5K video before all the messing about transferring it to 35mm and back again to get realistic film grain (I wish I'd known about that before doing the review!) but I think that is where the image has gotten messed up. Maybe I'll find out for sure one day. John.

Gawd, that sounds like a bit of a disaster. The IMAX 70mm prints I've seen in more recent years have put video projection into the shade so something went wrong with Murder on the Orient Express. There could be other reasons why it didn't project well but I won't need to mention those to you having been a projectionist. 4K video doesn't quite equate to 35mm really which I think the 6K transfer of Jaws proved. Given that 35mm roughly equates to 5.6K then 70mm is about 15K so maybe the 70mm prints were taken from the 4K video. I hope they've struck Death on the Nile from the original camera negative if that was the case. John.

I went through much of it again last night Andrew and now I'm over the disappointment of the rather underwhelming image quality I can see a better and more enjoyable film in there. So as long as you're prepared for the image to be a little lacklustre at times you should be in for a good screening. It might look better on your system anyway so you could be in for a great time. John.

I only got into the Blu-ray checking syndrome because I was beginning to suspect that 4K was not all it was being sold as. My conclusion is that on our tiny home screens you can rarely tell the difference other than for HDR. And that is probably why it was invented! John.

Hi John I agree I don’t think is too much of a difference in 4 K apart from the HDR I got Godzilla v Kong which I paid £25.00 for and didn’t the quality was that great.

@@paulallenMacca Godzilla V Kong is another one that people rave over but I wonder if they're confusing the look of their video games with how a film should look. I shouldn't really say that though as there is little chance of me wanting to see that film so I haven't seen any of it at all yet but I do wonder about some of these films that get rave reviews and then I watch them and they're nothing that special. All our systems are different though and on some apparently even Murder on the Orient Express doesn't stand out as one of the best. I find that amazing but it's true. We never used to get this with film although there was variable quality in the prints of course. John.

@@moviecollector5920 Yes that’s why I went out and bought it,I didn’t think the movie was too bad but I was expecting better quality for it being 4K.

It will be interesting to see how well the sequel does at the box office assuming that another pandemic doesn't come along to scupper things. It might do even better than this one. John.

If you want to waste some of Boxing Day reading through the comments on here Philip you'll find one of the most interesting movie discussions we've all had so far because the dark image problem was present in many cinemas too. Some who left comments saw DUNE in multiple cinemas so were able to confirm that some projections displayed everything with good brightness so that all was visible whereas others had the problem I have experienced on both my 4K video projectors. It did spoil the film for me a little but it wasn't one of my favourites of 2022 - it was probably the most interesting though and that was good enough for me to include it in my top ten of the year in the end. And it's a lovely steelbook too. John.

I don't think the books translate to the screen anywhere near as well. What thinks you? John.

@@moviecollector5920 yes and no. Some parts of it definitely don’t translate very well. The fourth book God Emperor would be very difficult to adapt.

The 1984 film might be a lot of fun today Doug. I might even give it a second chance myself now that almost 40 years have gone by and I've got over how boring I thought it was back then. I think I have a better understanding and appreciation of film now I'm older and can accept that not every science fiction film needs to be as exciting as Star Wars. In my defence, I was only 19 when I saw the David Lynch film. John.

@@moviecollector5920 I like it but it's definitely flawed. The portrayal of the baron is better in the old film, for me.

@@dougquaid570 I wish someone had got me the Arrow 4K for Christmas too Doug!

Stellan Skarsgard is good in everything. Even if you put a fat suit on him! John.

That is a good tip. I was planning to experiment with it before we next watch a disc and I will ensure I put all the colour settings up to see if that improves things. I don't think I'll be able to do too much about the darkness issue but I should be able to lift it a little. Trouble is, I won't be able to leave it on those settings as it will mess up just about every other disc. John.

I too prefer the 'Scope frame but I expect we'll be offered a special edition soon which will include the the higher framed scenes in 1.78:1. It's all about money. I saw the first JVC D-ILA projector that was brought into Britain about 17 years ago and it was a revelation. Only HD back then of course but it was mightily impressive. My Optoma is a single DLP so not on a par with recent JVC machines so I'm coming over to watch Dune at your place!!! What I really liked about the sound was the way the music seemed to keep going and filled the room with sound the whole time. I've only ever screened Fury once but I remember it was terrific. I've only ever screened Elysium and Saving Private Ryan the once too and I can't really remember the sound in Elysium as it was that long ago. Saving Private Ryan was a Dolby Stereo demonstrator for dealers when it was first released on home video. John.

I hope it all looks well so perhaps just be a bit prepared for a slightly dark image occasionally and it will come across much better. I can confirm that it doesn't look so bad once you know how it looks as I stuck it on a second time to try to clean it up... failed miserably but I'd gotten over the initial disappointment. Some commenters have reported that they saw this in more than one cinema and while one might have been too dark, the other was not. Best of luck and I hope you have a great time. John.

Because it was an absolute bore Clive! But I'm prepared to give it a second chance after all these years so I may take a punt sometime soon. The sound on this new version makes it worthwhile. Not sure if the film itself will be your cup of tea because it may be that Dune is not suitable for a film. Often great literary works just don't transfer to the screen. John.

Optoma UHD550X. Not had anything this dark on it previously Windvale but thankfully it's the disc and not the lamp about to blow! One scene in Terminator Dark Fate had a similar issue but it wasn't this bad. And it looks the same on our television so it's a more general issue as the comments on here have largely confirmed. John.

@@moviecollector5920 Thanks ! God bless !

I went through much of it again last night to see if I could improve the image but nothing seemed to do much other than muddy the picture. It is a bit soft in places but the really dark sequences are the last 25 minutes or so and by then many viewers are probably so wrapped up in it that it's unnoticeable. However, as I now know of the attempt to make it look more like film by transferring the 2K video master to 35mm and back again, I think that explains the overall look to the film. It's better once you are prepared for it to be a little dull looking in places and I can see a better film in there. In other words, I've got over that initial disappointment. Nothing wrong with the disc, this is how the film was made. John.

@@moviecollector5920 This movie is definitely darker than others I've watched on the OLED. In one particular scene I noticed the subtle vertical banding that is present on most OLEDs. But to my eye the film was just incredible to look at and listen to, as you mentioned. Great work on the channel btw. Big fan

@@pastramiking6874 Glad to hear you had a slightly better viewing experience than most of us PastramiKing. It seems that the image quality went a bit awry because there was a transfer of the 2K master video to 35mm and back again in an attempt to make it look like film. A brave experiment but I really did think the grain that I could discern was video noise so that wasn't too successful. It's also why I think the film is overly dark but that one particular scene with the sandworm was just how it was graded. Maybe they thought it looked too much like a cartoon and so darkened it down to disguise it. Might have been the right thing to do even if it started me off thinking the lamp in the projector was about to fail. John.

Thank you for pointing that out No89lan. I think I ran the Digital Theatre System track - excellent! John.

Thanks Terminator. It seems that the majority of us have had the too dark issue so there's got to be an explanation why some people don't experience it. Dolby Vision and an OLED television perhaps. I do have all my equipment setup to replicate the look of film as closely as possible so that could be a partial factor. I plan to have a play and may report an update in a future video. I think I see another comment from you so I'll get to that shortly. John.

@@moviecollector5920 When I get home from work I'll watch that second sandworm scene in my living room on my OLED TV with Dolby Vision, and then revisit it on my 1080p SDR projector to compare, but I definitely didn't feel I was missing out on any detail in the previous 3 times that I watched it... Also, maybe the fact that you seen how that sandworm looked before they dramatically changed the lighting of that scene in post, could possibly be adding to your disappointment with how it looks in the movie???

@@TerminatorJuice For sure it made it obvious that the curve had been toned down too much. But the fact that it was shown off in the extras suggested they were proud of how it looked but the scenes around it were darkened so much that I presume they couldn't include it as originally intended as it would have jarred with the dark scenes around it. A bit of a mess really but you may be able to confirm it's more acceptable on your OLED/Dolby Vision system.

@@moviecollector5920 What I'll do is record some off screen footage of that scene on my OLED and describe what I'm seeing, and then upload that as a unlisted video, and share the link with you here.

@@TerminatorJuice That'll be great. I'll have to include an update of all this in a future video because there has been some great discussion. Most have the same conclusion as me and that is the image is too dark but all our systems are different so we all need to take that into account. Even cinemas now have varying equipment with around 50% still projecting 2K video - often through knackered video projectors.

I wouldn't mind if they put out Dolby Stereo films with just Dolby Stereo if that's what they came with originally as they still sound fabulous. Then again, there are films such as Jaws that are enhanced even further by mutli-channel sound. John.

@@moviecollector5920 Jaws as remixed in multi-channel has divided a lot of cinephiles. Personally, I love the additional sound-effects, because, they are way clearer, more dynamic than the quaint sound-effects the recording equipment was able to offer in 1975, despite Jaws winning the Oscar for Best Sound. However, I feel that John Williams' Oscar-winning music has been way too thinned out with reverb. The opening "DAAA DUM", those two notes that tell you the shark is there, loud, front and center in the 1975 mono mix, has been so lowered in level and reverbed out in the 7.1 and now Atmos mix that you can barely hear it under all the bubbles. Maybe this was an artistic choice, to make you think the shark is far away in the distance as it approaches us, but this is a case where I like the 2.0 mono DTS-MA track better than the multi-channel track.

@@kthx1138 Jaws was wonderful in its original form and if I'd have been given the job of chopping the sound about for a modern audience it would have felt like murdering grandchildren. However, it has quite likely succeeded in bringing the film to a new, younger audience who wouldn't have given it the time of day otherwise. I've heard knowledgeable people comment that they are surprised how good some of these 'old' films look compared to new films. They really do think that modern video is superior to 35mm and 65mm film. One look at the 4K disc of Jaws should put those thoughts to bed and it was only 35mm! John.

Good to hear from you again Pascal. Luke Ormsby has put a great comment in a couple before your own and he's explained how Dune ended up looking how it did so it's apparently not a compatibility issue with my system. It must look fairly similar everywhere but more so here as I have all my equipment configured to replicate the look of film as closely as possible and that tends to mean darker than most people watch video. I'll have a play sometime to set it up to look like video and see if Dune looks any better. John.

The image quality may not exactly be the best example of a 4K disc but the sound can literally be described as out of this world. I'd give it a second spin on that basis alone but now that I have been told how the lacklustre picture quality was achieved I may be able to clean it up a bit. Well, I can but hope! John.

Hi what Panasonic tv do you have as i have the Panasonic FZ952 55 Inch.

@@paulallenMacca I can't remember the model number now. Had it just over four years if that's any help. One thing that is probably a little different on both my systems (and I may have said this to you before so tell me to shut up if I'm repeating myself) is that setup all my equipment to try to replicate the look of film as closely as possible. That does tend to mean darker. But I have only come across one other title that was too dark and that was only one scene that I can recall and that was Terminator Dark Fate. That wasn't as dark as Dune though even for that one scene. From all the comments on here i currently suspect the transfer to 35mm and back again has caused a bit of an issue and no one wanted to admit it. Some cinemas do appear to have screened copies that weren''t too dark, or not as dark as others in any case. John.

@@paulallenMacca I have the 2021 JZ1500 in 65" which is basically as good as it got last year and I did not adjust anything except opting for the Dolby Vision Dark variant as I'm watching in a very dark room anyway. I would agree that while it does look great, there are better discs to display what 4k can do. One of my favourite demo discs so far is Aquaman (as far as digital / modern looks go - for older movies I thought Apocalypse Now was quite amazing).

@@foxyfoxtrot4233 Thanks for the info i thought the 4K quality of Vertigo was excellent.

I'm going to play with the video projector settings to see if I can force more through it but most of us are reporting that it's too dark and even some who saw it in cinemas say the same (others don't though). It's certainly proving to be an interesting discussion. Apparently it got messed up with a transfer to 35mm and back again to introduce film grain. Seems a bit ridiculous to me but admirable to try to make it look like film even if it seems to have failed on this occasion. John.

If you haven't already tried it then 'Ambulance' may surpass 'Dune' William. It's not a movie for a big screen though as the camerawork is about the worst you'll ever see but on a smaller screen it's actually not impossible to watch. Certainly has no sequences that will display too dark on any equipment either. John.

@@moviecollector5920 LOL, that movie looked like a total dud to me. I guarantee that watching it on a huge screen was making you sick because they filmed a lot of the movie using high speed drones. I'll check it out, Michael Bay always delivers with what my wife likes to call "the big booms" aka my subs shaking her kitchen to the ground.

Greetings Matt. It's been suggested that possibly the 3D version was done before all the jiggery pokery with 35mm to get the authentic film grain look into the finished product. I wish I knew about all this before I did the review as I might have nailed what is wrong with the image quality on the 4K. As it is I'll play with all the video projector settings to see if I can correct it as much as possible. That will mess up every other disc of course so I won't be able to leave it on the 'Dune' settings. Great sound on the Dolby Digital 5.1. Some have reported that the Dolby Atmos isn't as good as some so perhaps the 5.1 has the edge in some respects. John.

I did really go through this one because it really did look fairly awful at times but there are some scenes where it actually rather good. I've had Keith at Euphoria check it on his television (an OLED) and he thinks that a lot of it is near the best you can see so it does seem to be presenting itself differently across our varying equipment and we've had it confirmed on here that it was the same in cinemas. Film used to vary but not this much. It is a shame though because I think I'd have been really taken with this new version of Dune but I do expect to enjoy it a lot more the second time around. John.

I ran quite a bit of the new version of Dune a second time and it's better second time around because I'd got over the disappointment of the comparatively poor image quality. Such a shame it doesn't look better because I think it would have long term popularity if it looked as good as films used to look. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. I did enjoy it more than the 1984 version but I'm prepared to give that one another go now as I suspect I'll actually really like that one almost 40 years later! John.

A lot of us are reporting the same thing so you're not alone. As for Lawrence of Arabia, yes, 65mm is why that one looks so good. Shame Dune didn't utilize the same methodology! John.

It would have looked amazing and really fitting for the movie. I actually think we could sort of ressurect the old type of movie making for big productions, like Christopher Nolan does. But going even one step further with real Super or Ultra Panavision. Also, overture and intermission does work wonderful at home for long movies and all those streaming platforms could benifit from that too! With nice artwork iE.

@@spyglass-music5098 We're thinking along the same lines. I think cinema needs to be able to boast 70mm screenings in order to survive. All this purported 'Digital' nonsense hasn't done it any favours because however good video projection is nowadays, you can watch a film in 'Digital' in the home and that's all most people would think when they see that word. John.

I think Denis Villeneuve is making his films darker than ever now. I always remembered Arrival as being colourless and dull to look at but he's taken it to new low levels with Dune. I think he's taken it a little too far but I'll play with the settings on the video projector and see what can be done before I really blow a gasket over it. Good to hear from you again Danny. I should have been with your for that visit to the BFI IMAX for the Blade Runner sequel. John.

I think this film could have been a spellbinder if it hadn't have been graded so dark. The Frank Herbert premise as you describe it is in there but you can't really see it much of the time. Maybe a future release will go back to the original video and grade it so it's more vivid and with richer colour. Imagine The Ten Commandments looking like this. It would be awful and the film would have died a death. But as it is, whatever anyone thinks of the religious aspect of The Ten Commandments it is so good to look at that the film itself could be utter crap and it would still be a good watch. I think this version of Dune is almost the other way around. But the sound is a whole different thing and saves the whole production. John.

@@moviecollector5920 The visual *hdr grading issues you describe do sound serious. hdr is saving grace of 4K, in that it has the potential to almost capture the projector feel/light level of theatrical releases. If you loose that, yes the detail is nice, but I have become accustomed to a projector feel with my 4K. even blu ray tends to look horrid in 4k. hmm, thank you for the excellent review as always!

@@MonkeyspankO It's unlikely but it could be that the application of HDR (and Dolby Vision from what others are telling me) has been messed up for the 4K home video release. Given all the discussion and what I've seen it is becoming increasingly certain that the film makers simply got the grading wrong. A very interesting subject for us film lovers to discuss though so it's not all bad. And who cares when a film sounds this good?!? John.

I had another look at a few bits of it the other night and it didn't look as bad as I remembered but it's still too dark. The sound on my 5.1 was outstanding so it's worth a try but I have come across the same issue as you have with one or two other recent releases and in those cases selecting the original matrixed four channel Dolby Stereo gave superior sound with clearer dialogue. John.