I knew what I used to be moving into once I sat down for a press screening of Dune Half 2: A towering sci-fi epic greatest seen on an infinite theater display screen, similar to . What I did not understand was that it could additionally give me a severe again therapeutic massage — it actually does kick butt. That was my expertise at an Atlanta-area AMC, the place the movie whipped the Dolby Cinema seats into such a frenzy that, for one thrilling sequence, I felt like I used to be really using a sandworm plowing by way of the spice-filled desert of Arrakis.
Now, I am unable to assure you may have the identical experience at a traditional theater (except the subwoofer is cranked up obscenely excessive). What makes AMC’s Dolby Cinema places distinctive is that they characteristic rumbling transducers in each recliner seat, along with highly effective dual-laser Dolby Imaginative and prescient projectors and enveloping Atmos sound. I’ve seen tons of movies in AMC Dolby Cinemas since these screens started rolling out in 2017, however Dune Half 2 is the primary time the haptic seats really felt like they enhanced my moviegoing expertise. Once I rushed out to the lavatory in the course of the movie, I seen that my physique was nonetheless vibrating, the way in which you type of really feel after a deep therapeutic massage by knowledgeable fingers.
Technically, you are still higher off watching Dune Half 2 in IMAX theaters — it was really filmed for that big format, and true IMAX theaters additionally ship sufficient walloping low-end sound to shake your core with out the necessity for rumbling seats. Nevertheless it’s arduous to search out full-sized IMAX screens, and for many US viewers it will probably be simpler to discover a close by AMC Dolby Cinema.
Let’s be clear: I am , just like the shifting seats and numerous climate results in 4DX cinemas. So I am genuinely stunned how a lot I appreciated a heavy dose of recliner rumbling in Dune Half 2. Maybe it is as a result of the movie can also be fanbtastic — not that I anticipated any much less from Villeneuve, a director who turned the primary Dune right into a cinematic feast and was additionally miraculously in a position to ship .
Dune Half 2 picks up the place the primary movie abruptly ended, with Paul Atreides and his mom making their manner by way of the desert with its native inhabitants, the Fremen. It is instantly clear that this is not really a sequel to the primary movie, it is genuinely a second half, with all the motion and extra spectacle that many felt had been missing earlier than.
Personally, although, I simply cherished being again in Villeneuve’s imaginative and prescient of Frank Herbert’s universe. As a lot as I respect the bombastic costumes and environments from David Lynch’s Dune adaptation, I discover this iteration way more immersive: Each room appears genuinely lived in, each customized looks like an natural outgrowth of a society that is existed for 1000’s of years. It is the type of consideration to element we do not usually see in movies and TV right now, when it is simpler to shoot fake desert scenes on ILM’s StageCraft set (aka “The Quantity,” the know-how that was ).
Even should you don’t find yourself seeing Dune Half 2 in a Dolby Cinema (I swear, this isn’t an advert), it’s a movie value seeing on the large display screen. Its huge scale and ambition can’t be contained on a TV, and its elaborate soundscape (together with Hans Zimmer going additional arduous for the rating) deserves greater than tinny flatscreen audio system or a mere soundbar.
Dune has at all times appeared like an unadaptable work, one thing so large that it may solely actually exist in Frank Herbert’s shroom-filled desires. However as soon as once more, Villeneuve and his artistic workforce have seemingly carried out the unimaginable: They’ve turned the fantasy of Dune right into a cinematic actuality. You owe it to your self to pay tribute.