2024 – Dune: Part Two
Dune Part Two, of course, is a science fiction movie that lends itself to fantastic visual effects, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. There were flying space ships, explosive action sequences, dust storms, those really cool dragonfly flyers that we saw in the first Dune movie, and also returning, the gigantic Sand Worms. Here, we see more of them, and we see men riding across the desert sands on their backs. We saw more of those cool personal shields in action, and we saw more sword battles that utilized them. But therein lay the problem.
Nearly every effect in Dune: Part Two was one that we saw in Dune: Part One. They were done perfectly, without a doubt, but was there anything new? And as I think about it, I’d say yes. Yes, there was. For example, the entire Birthday celebration scene was a pretty cool color effect, turning everything into a stark black and white vista that still had depth and life. The effect actually helped tell the story in a unique way.
And to quote Sofia Atkins, writing for TopicRooms VFX, “The film’s standout visual effects sequences included the opening eclipse, the breathtaking sandworm-riding scenes, the harrowing attack on the spice harvester, and the epic battle of Arrakis. The VFX team also meticulously crafted Giedi Prime’s menacing aesthetic and achieved the distinctive blue eyes of the Fremen using advanced machine learning techniques.” And to be sure, those things were all very impressive. I especially liked the attack on the spice harvester, the battle that ended with a sand worm opening its maw beneath the harvester and swallowing it whole. And yes, even the glowing blue eyes of the Fremen were very cool. It was consistent, and was even a plot point for two of the characters.
But if we’ve seen all these things before, what earned it the Oscar? Well, I’ve done a little research, and from what I can gather, it was that Director Denis Villeneuve used as little CGI as possible. He filmed as much as he could in camera, opting to use practical effects whenever he could, and strategically enhancing them whenever necessary, to get the effects he wanted. He filmed in a desert location in Jordan, making use of a real environment rather than digitally re-creating one. This technique of blending the two resulted in a hyper-realism that was impressive on so many levels. I hope it is a trend that continues. But really, it was the sand worms that we all came to see. And in this second installment of the franchise, there were just more of them doing more things. They looked as real as anything and were pretty terrifying in their scale and power. And the fact that mere mortals were using them, if not taming them, was a pretty bad-ass part of the story. So I’d say yes, Dune: Part Two deserved its Oscar win.