To say that the 1984 film version of Dune was not popular in its day would be a tremendous understatement. It’s still not very popular, to be honest. Nevertheless, Dune is my favorite movie, and I have obsessively collected copies of it on every home video format from VHS to 4K. I will continue to do so on whatever comes next.
I’ve previously written reviews of Dune to explain why I love the movie, despite its admitted weaknesses and its reputation. I will write more about that aspect in the future. For now, this post is meant to focus specifically on my collection.
Although it may sometimes feel that way, I’m not entirely alone in my fandom of David Lynch’s Dune. If still generally dismissed, the movie has developed enough of a cult following over the years to keep it in continuous circulation on every new home video format that has come along. While many of those editions have had a checkered history with quality, the trend has turned in a more positive direction in recent years. Some copies have even come dressed up in fancy packaging and loaded with hours of supplemental content.
For a time, I made an attempt to collect every home video release of the movie, on every format. When I realized the futility of acquiring multiple editions from different countries that are otherwise alike except for the language printed on the cover, I scaled back to focus on copies that are substantively distinct, either in packaging or content. Even to that end, I’m sure I’ve missed some unique foreign releases that either never came to my attention, were too difficult to import, or seemed redundant to something else I own. (I’ll note that I don’t have any PAL VHS tapes at all, and I know I’m missing at least one important PAL Laserdisc from the UK.) Nevertheless, I have a lot of copies of Dune, from various parts of the world, on video formats both common and obscure.
The following are all currently in my collection. Within each section, titles are arranged chronologically by order of release, from earliest to latest.
Notes
- Click on photos to enlarge.
- These charts are best viewed on a computer monitor. At the very least, try turning your mobile device to landscape orientation.
VHS
 | Video Format: VHS (NTSC) Country of Release: United States Label: MCA Universal Home Video Year of Release: 1990 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 pan & scan Audio: Stereo surround (analog) | I’m sure that Dune must have been released on VHS earlier than this, presumably in 1985 alongside the Betamax, but the copy I own is copyrighted 1990. For years, this was the only option I had to watch the movie. Half of the photographed image is missing because the tape has been “formatted to fit your television screen.” (How considerate!) It’s practically unwatchable once you’ve seen the film in its proper widescreen ratio. The tape originally included a small booklet with a glossary of terms used in the story (reprinted from the index to the novel), but I have since lost the booklet. |
 | WIDESCREEN EDITION Video Format: VHS (NTSC) Country of Release: United States Label: MCA Universal Home Video Year of Release: 1997 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 letterbox Audio: Stereo surround (analog) | “To preserve the artistic integrity of the filmmakers, this film is presented on videocassette in its original theatrical screen image. The black bars at the top and bottom of the screen maintain this aspect ratio and are normal for the format.” Dune did not appear letterboxed to its original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio on American home video until 1997, a good 13 years after the film’s original release. That long overdue breakthrough was tempered by the fact that the tape experiences a bizarre anomaly approximately 100 minutes into the movie where footage is photographically flipped for almost 15 minutes. In one spot, it’s also been cropped on three sides of the screen and shifted off-center to the right. I can hardly imagine what sort of incompetence would cause such an error, much less pass QA and allow the product to be released to market. The original theatrical trailer is included as a supplement. |
BETAMAX
 | Video Format: Betamax (NTSC) Country of Release: United States Label: MCA Home Video Year of Release: 1985 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 pan & scan Audio: Stereo surround (analog) | During the home video format wars on the 1980s, MCA Home Video (Universal’s home distribution unit) hedged its bets and released movies like Dune on all available options. Of the tape-based formats, Betamax had marginally superior picture quality compared to VHS, but the longer recording times on VHS were more appealing to the general public and won out in the end. The Dune Betamax packaging is identical to, but smaller than, a VHS cover and sports the movie’s standard home video artwork. The box cover boasts that, “This videotape has been digitally mastered onto Hi Fi and digitally mixed from the original master analog tapes. This videotape has been recorded in stereo with a BETA HI FI (AFM) soundtrack along with a conventional beta monaural soundtrack.” |
SELECTAVISION CED
 | Video Format: SelectaVision CED Country of Release: United States Label: MCA Home Video Year of Release: 1985 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 pan & scan Audio: Stereo (analog) | RCA’s Capacitance Electronic Disc format went by the names SelectaVision, CED, or sometimes just “videodisc.” Unlike the superior Laserdisc format available around the same time, CED discs were read by a stylus, similar to vinyl music records. The movie was split to two discs, each of which was stored inside a plastic caddy that would be fully inserted into the player. The machine would then eject the caddy until you were ready to retrieve the disc. Video quality was said to be comparable to VHS. (I’ve never owned a CED player to verify.) The format was short-lived and was discontinued by 1986. The back of the Disc 2 caddy has a longer summary of the film’s plot than most other home video editions. |
VHD
 | Video Format: VHD Country of Release: Japan Label: Thorn EMI Year of Release: 1985 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 pan & scan Audio: Stereo surround (analog) | Another obscure videodisc format, the VHD (Video High Density) disc is held inside a plastic caddy similar to a CED, but the caddy is rectangular in shape rather than square. The format was released primarily in Japan. Its intended American debut was cancelled after the market failure of CED. The format was discontinued by the early 1990s. The Dune VHD is credited to Tohokushinsha Home Video and Thorn EMI. The movie is spread to 2 discs, with the more attractive two-moons artwork on the cover of each. |
LASERDISC
 | Video Format: Laserdisc (NTSC) Country of Release: United States Label: MCA Home Video Year of Release: 1985 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 pan & scan Audio: Stereo surround (analog) | With twice the resolution over VHS, Laserdisc was the video format of choice for discerning film lovers for almost two decades until DVD eventually hit the scene. Nevertheless, the format didn’t hit its stride until letterboxing became a standard feature in the early 1990s and video mastering quality improved. Earlier releases were typically pan & scan transfers of uneven quality. The first LD edition of Dune opens with the prologue introduction and credits letterboxed to 2.35:1, but quickly shifts to cropped 4:3 afterwards. Colors and contrast are weak, though acceptable given the age of the disc. The movie is spread to three sides in CLV format. |
 | Video Format: Laserdisc (PAL) Country of Release: UK Label: Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment Year of Release: 1985 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 pan & scan Audio: Stereo (analog) | This early PAL Laserdisc release has very lazy cover art with an image of the rectangular PAL VHS art awkwardly pasted onto the square LD canvas. While the jacket is a gatefold, the interior merely advertises other random titles available from the same label, such as Watership Down and Blame It on Rio. While still spread to three sides in CLV, the movie’s run time has been shortened to approximately 130 minutes due to the PAL format’s inherent 4% speed-up. I’ve never owned a PAL Laserdisc player capable of playing this disc, but the video transfer is reportedly pan & scan and the audio is analog only. The jacket describes the sound format as “Stereo.” |
 | Video Format: Laserdisc (NTSC) Country of Release: Japan Label: Thorn EMI Video Year of Release: 1985 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 pan & scan Audio: Stereo surround (analog) | The (to my knowledge) earliest Laserdisc release of Dune in Japan has logos for three different labels on the cover: Thorn EMI Video, Tohokushinsha Home Video, and King Video. The picture quality of this disc is perhaps the worst I’ve seen the movie look. Unlike other pan & scan copies, even the Princess Irulan prologue is cropped to 4:3. The movie awkwardly segues to letterboxing for the opening credits, but transitions back to cropping afterward. The image is washed-out and fuzzy, with indistinct dull colors and anemic flesh tones. Large Japanese subtitles clutter what little of the picture is left after the cropping. The jacket lists a running time of 131 minutes, which may be a typo or may suggest that the transfer is a PAL-to-NTSC conversion of Thorn EMI’s UK Laserdisc. (I’m no longer in a position to play the disc to check.) The collectible value of this disc is found entirely in the jacket design. The front cover contains the two-moons artwork and the jacket opens to a gatefold with a black & white still from the movie. The film is spread to three sides in CLV format. The audio tracks are analog only and sound quite poor. |
 | Video Format: Laserdisc (NTSC) Country of Release: Japan Label: Warner Home Video Year of Release: 1990 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 pan & scan Audio: PCM 2.0 stereo surround | Warner Home Video later took over distribution of Dune in Japan. The Laserdisc reissue is once again pan & scan with Japanese subtitles. It comes in a gatefold jacket similar to the Thorn EMI Laserdisc, but with different lettering over the two-moons artwork and new black & white stills spread across the interior of the fold. A sheet of liner notes in Japanese text has also been included. The running time is listed as 130 minutes. Cropping and picture quality are about the same as the Thorn EMI disc. The movie is again spread to three CLV sides, but this disc at least offers digital soundtracks with better audio quality. |
 | Video Format: Laserdisc (NTSC) Country of Release: Japan Label: Comstock, Ltd. Year of Release: 1994 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 letterbox Audio: PCM 2.0 stereo surround | The first home video edition of Dune to treat the movie of some measure of respect, catered directly to fans wishing for a comprehensive package, came in the form of a deluxe Laserdisc box set released in Japan by Comstock, Ltd. and distributed by Pioneer LDC. The set contains both the theatrical cut of the film and the longer “Alan Smithee” re-edited version that was prepared for television broadcast without David Lynch’s participation or approval. At the time, this was one of the few officially released home video editions of the TV cut. The theatrical trailer is also provided as a supplement. The box set has lovely packaging, with separate disc jackets for each version of the movie. The theatrical cut (split to three sides in CLV) comes in a gatefold with the two-moons artwork on the front cover and different interior art than either previous Japanese Laserdisc. Each part of the TV cut (four sides total across two discs in CLV) has its own separate single jacket. A glossy color booklet has several pages of liner notes in Japanese text. Unfortunately, my copy sustained quite a bit of shelf wear on the outer box before I wised up enough to start storing it in a protective sleeve. This was the very first home video release of Dune to present the theatrical cut in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with letterboxing, and was a major revelation for fans who’d suffered nothing but cropped editions for a decade. (Although the disc has forced and non-removable Japanese subtitles, they’re placed in the letterbox bar below the movie picture and are easily ignored.) Disappointingly, the color transfer, from a print, is weak. Dark scenes look murky and some of the interior shots, especially during the final knife fight in the Arrakeen palace, have a greenish tint. The TV version is pan & scan with Japanese subtitles on top of the image. |
 | Video Format: Laserdisc (NTSC) Country of Release: United States Label: Universal Studios Home Video Year of Release: 1997 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 letterbox Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 | My recollection is that Universal’s remastered American Laserdisc release was delayed several months, presumably to fix the flipped-footage issue that plagued the comparable VHS edition (described above). That problem has indeed been corrected, and the disc has a bright and colorful transfer, in 2.35:1 letterbox, that was the best the movie had looked up to that point. (It was originally announced to be a THX-mastered title, but the actual release does not carry the THX logo.) For Laserdisc, it was a very good-looking release, though our standards have risen considerably since then. The audio was also remixed into energetic Dolby Digital 5.1 with some satisfying bass action and surround activity. The film is spread to three sides with the final side appearing in CAV format. Sadly, Universal didn’t do anything special with the packaging or other contents. Both discs are shoved into a single jacket (no gatefold) with the old and boring poster art. The only supplement is the theatrical trailer. |
VCD
 | Video Format: VCD (PAL) Country of Release: Malaysia Label: MTV Production Year of Release: Unknown Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 pan & scan Audio: PCM 2.0 | “A place beyond not dream, A movie beyond your imaguntion” I bought this disc believing it to be an authorized product, though the sloppy typos on the front cover and lack of any copyright notice make me question whether it’s actually a bootleg. On the other hand, MTV Production (M) Sdn. Bdh. appears to be a legit (or at least established) importer business in Malaysia. The film is spread to two discs stacked on top of each other in a CD jewel case. The picture was mastered from a pan & scan source similar to the original videocassette release, with the added benefit of pixelation and compression artifacts inherent to all VCDs. |
DIVX
 | Video Format: DIVX (NTSC) Country of Release: United States Label: Universal Home Video Year of Release: 1998 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 pan & scan Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 | The Circuit City electronics retail chain’s DIVX video rental format was intended as a lower-priced competitor to the emerging DVD format. Physical media discs were sold for under $5, but were initially only playable for two days. Additional viewings could be authorized on a pay-per-view basis by connecting the disc player to a telephone landline and paying a rental fee. Nobody wanted this. The format was a spectacular failure that flamed out almost immediately upon launch. Circuit City eventually went bankrupt and closed shop. The DIVX system was disbanded and discs are no longer playable. I’ve left my copy in the sealed shrinkwrap. |
DVD
 | Video Format: DVD (Region 1 NTSC) Country of Release: United States Label: Universal Home Video Year of Release: 1998 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 letterbox (non-anamorphic) Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 | Universal released Dune fairly early in the DVD era, just a few months after the remastered Laserdisc. The DVD recycles the same video master from that LD. The slight uptick in resolution (from ~425 lines to 480) is tempered by the lack of anamorphic enhancement, which other studios had already started supporting. Compared side by side, the LD and DVD are very close in quality, but the lack of side breaks gave an edge to the DVD. Looking back on it, the transfer also has a fair bit of edge enhancement noticeable throughout the film, which is disappointing. For supplements, the disc contains the theatrical trailer as well as a few cast bios and brief production notes. The package is fairly thin in this regard, but was comparable to other early DVDs of the time. |
 | DAVID LYNCH BOX Video Format: DVD (Region 2 NTSC) Country of Release: Japan Label: Comstock, Ltd. Year of Release: 2000 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 letterbox (non-anamorphic) Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo surround | Both the theatrical cut and the Alan Smithee TV cut of Dune were released on DVD in Japan in early 2000. These were available either individually or bundled together along with Eraserhead and Blue Velvet as part of an expensive David Lynch Box. The copies of Dune were direct ports of the video transfers used for Comstock’s previous Laserdisc box set (see above). The quality is markedly inferior to the American DVD. In fact, picture resolution seems even softer than the Laserdisc releases. The audio is in 2.0 Dolby Surround only. The theatrical cut is letterboxed to 2.35:1 without anamorphic enhancement. About the only improvement over Laserdisc is that the Japanese subtitles can be disabled. The only bonus features are the theatrical trailer and some character bios (in Japanese). The most collectible aspect of these DVDs is the packaging. Within the box, the discs are stored in CD-style jewel cases and each comes with a fold-out booklet with liner notes in Japanese. |
 | Video Format: DVD (Region 4 PAL) Country of Release: Australia Label: Infogrames Asia Pacific Year of Release: 2001 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 letterbox (non-anamorphic) Audio: DTS 5.1 | Dune didn’t make its way to DVD in Australia until 2001. The first release recycles the non-anamorphic letterbox master from the Region 1 edition, and suffers a number of problems in the conversion from NTSC to PAL, including image judder and additional compression artifacts. The primary selling point of the disc was the inclusion of a DTS 5.1 surround track, which people at the time thought was a terribly impressive feature. Honestly, it doesn’t sound much different than the Dolby Digital 5.1. Also included are simple animated menus (not found on the R1 disc), two theatrical trailers (the R1 disc only had one), and some brief production notes and cast bios with an unhealthy fixation on the love lives of the actors. |
 | PARADISE EDITION Video Format: DVD (Region 2 PAL) Country of Release: Germany Label: Laser Paradise Year of Release: 2002 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: Dolby Digital-EX 5.1 | The German 3-disc Paradise Edition DVD sounds like it ought to be a Dune fan’s dream come true. Disc 1 features a new video remaster with anamorphic enhancement for the first time ever, and Dolby Digital-EX 5.1 surround audio for the theatrical cut. A second disc contains the TV cut (in 4:3 pan & scan), and a third is loaded with supplements. Included in the extras are video production featurettes with behind-the-scenes footage, an option to watch the extra footage from the TV cut on its own without sitting through the whole thing, extensive still galleries, production art, text information and proposed storyboards for the failed Alejandro Jodorowsky Dune project, music samples from songs inspired by Dune, recipes for cooking with spice, and much more. All of it’s in German, of course, and most of the content was lifted off various Dune fansites that can still be found (in English) on the internet, but it’s nice to have it all packaged together in one place. The set has two flaws: The video transfer on the theatrical cut is absolutely awful. The print used is washed-out with pasty colors and excessive dirt and scratches. Worse yet, it’s censored! Lines of dialogue have been removed from Princess Irulan’s prologue narration and two other scenes have been cut for no good reason. In all, it’s unwatchable. The set was released in both a standard 3-disc version and a special Limited Edition of only 500 copies (mine is #364) that included a faux-velvet box and a sandworm statuette. While I’ll probably never watch the DVD itself again, the LE remains a valued collectible for its packaging. |
 | Video Format: DVD (Region 2 NTSC) Country of Release: Japan Label: Comstock, Ltd. Year of Release: 2002 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo surround | At the same time the German Paradise Edition really mucked up the movie, Comstock in Japan made its own attempt to remaster Dune into anamorphically-enhanced widescreen. The print used for this transfer is indeed better than previous Japanese releases of the title, and is nowhere near as bad as the Paradise disc, but it’s still problematic. The print is too bright, has faded colors, and exhibits a nearly constant presence of dirt and age-related artifacts. The audio is also limited to Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. The same theatrical trailer seen on several previous releases is included, here looking in worse condition than usual. |
 | PERFECT COLLECTION Video Format: DVD (Region 2 PAL) Country of Release: Germany Label: Marketing-Film Year of Release: 2003 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 | As if to make up for the botched Paradise Edition, a label called Marketing-Film put out another deluxe DVD box set for Dune in Germany less than a year later. This one boldly promises to be a “Perfect Collection.” Limited to 5,000 copies, the 4-disc set includes the theatrical cut, the MCA TV cut, a disc of extras, and a copy of the Polydor soundtrack CD. The set comes packaged in an oversized, faux-leather book-style case that also includes a booklet with a chapter listing, a collectible film cel, and a “Retro Filmprogramm.” Most of the extras are text-based (in German) and seem to be recycled from the Paradise Edition, which in turn were mostly borrowed from numerous popular Dune web sites. At long last, this may have been the first decent anamorphic transfer for the movie. The picture is sharp, colorful, and uncensored. German subtitles can be disabled. At the time, it was the best the movie had been seen on home video. Unfortunately, the English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack’s front soundstage is out of phase and the dialogue track has a distracting echo in the majority of scenes. Overall fidelity is also very much inferior to that of the American DD 5.1 disc. The Dolby 2.0 track on the disc has better dialogue clarity, but it’s dull and lacking in bass, and goes out of sync during several stretches of the movie. This Perfect Collection is rather imperfect, but was a notable step forward for the movie on home video. It makes a fine collectible for rabid Dune fans. The first two discs from the set were also available in a cheaper “Spice Pack” DVD edition sold separately. |
 | SPECIAL EDITION Video Format: DVD (Region 0 PAL) Country of Release: UK Label: Sanctuary Visual Entertainment Year of Release: 2004 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 | This 2-disc Special Edition from the UK is PAL format but not region-coded. The movie is again remastered into anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The video appears to be transferred from the same cleaned-up master source as the German Perfect Collection disc, but has been heavily filtered and compressed. It’s quite soft and lacking in detail in comparison to that German disc, and contrasts have also been dulled. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is OK (the dialogue track has no echo and is certainly not the travesty the Perfect Collection disc is), but suffers noticeably from PAL speed-up. Most of the characters have chipmunk voices, especially bad during Princess Irulan’s prologue. It also lacks bass and has some noticeable sync issues. Where the DVD excels is with its supplements on Disc 2. The 35-minute documentary Impressions of Dune is excellent and features then-new interviews with Kyle MacLachlan, Raffaella DeLaurentiis, Freddie Francis, and others involved with the original production, plus Harlan Ellison and David Ansen, two of the movie’s biggest defenders. The 6-minute Destination Dune, a previously unreleased 1983 promotional featurette, is not quite as exciting but provides an interesting glimpse of the crew at work on set. It also contains of brief look at the excised Caladan garden scene not found in any edition of the movie. The disc also has a 1984 video interview with Frank Herbert, and comes packaged with a booklet essay by Paul M. Sammon (author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner) called Dune: The Filming of a Masterpiece. The essay unfortunately perpetuates the myth of David Lynch’s “four-to-five hour rough cut.” (What was screened for the crew was a Rough Assembly of raw production footage, not in any way edited, and cannot rightly be called a “cut” of the movie.) |
 | COLEÇÃO DEFINITIVA Video Format: DVD (Region 0 NTSC) Country of Release: Brazil Label: Versatil Home Video Year of Release: 2004 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 | The 2-disc Coleção Definitiva box set from Brazil is officially listed as Region 4, but the discs are actually coded for all-region NTSC and will function in any American DVD player. Disc 1 contains the theatrical cut in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Disc 2 has the MCA TV version in pan & scan. Each comes in a separate keepcase (also sold individually) held in a slipcover box with the two-moons artwork. The discs appear to be PAL-to-NTSC conversions of the German “Perfect Collection” masters and exhibit the effects of PAL speedup. New problems with judder and MPEG compression are also evident. The audio has the same dialogue echo problem and overall lack of fidelity as the German disc. Supplements are mostly still galleries (lots of book covers from the Frank Herbert bibliography) and production notes in Portuguese text, plus the usual trailers. This “Definitive Collection” is hardly definitive, but is another interesting footnote in the movie’s home video history. |
 | COLLECTOR’S EDITION Video Format: DVD (Region 4 PAL) Country of Release: Australia Label: Force Entertainment Year of Release: 2005 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 | Australia gave it another go with this 3-disc set, available in either standard packaging or a handsome Collector’s Edition tin (which looks like a SteelBook on the outside, but has a different interior). The anamorphic video and Dolby Digital 5.1 track are direct ports of the UK “Special Edition,” which means overly filtered picture and helium-pitched voices. The Australian release also has a DTS 5.1 track, which might have sounded slightly better if it didn’t have a mastering error whereby all dialogue comes from the front right speaker rather than the center. (Subsequent pressings were corrected, and Force Entertainment offered a disc exchange that wasn’t terribly practical for an American collector to take advantage of.) The supplements on Disc 2 are all copies of those from the UK set, as is the booklet with Paul M. Sammon essay. Disc 3 contains the MCA TV cut in the usual pan & scan. |
 | ULTIMATE EDITION Video Format: DVD (Region 2 PAL) Country of Release: France Label: G.C.T.H.V. Year of Release: 2005 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 | For a time until true 1080p HD media became available, the 3-disc Ultimate Edition from France was the standard-bearer for best picture quality available on DVD. The image from a “nouveau master haute definition” (new high-definition master) is pretty bright, sharp, and colorful. French subtitles are automatically prompted upon playback, and the menu has no option to turn them off, but are easily disabled by the remote. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 audio options still suffer noticeably from PAL speedup and are generally inferior to the DD 5.1 track on the old Region 1 release. Strangely, an audio glitch occurs immediately after the opening credits. Where the voiceover is supposed to say “A secret report within the Guild,” it instead hiccups and says “A siscrit report within the Guild”. This is present on both Dolby and DTS tracks and is 100% repeatable every time the scene is played. The same error will recur on numerous later video editions of Dune, which makes it pretty easy to identify them as coming from the master that debuted here. Disc 2 contains the usual pan & scan TV version. The bonus features on Disc 3 are mostly in French with no English translation. They include several short interview featurettes with French journalists about the film adaptation, the history of the project, and the Alan Smithee recut. A 5-minute piece about the restoration work done to the movie seems to focus on the audio remix, and features clips from the film but only played in the French dub. Still galleries for production drawings, behind the scenes photos, poster art, and movie merchandise are interspersed throughout. English speakers will be glad to see the Destination Dune featurette carried over from the UK disc. The gem of this set is a 1985 French TV interview with David Lynch (in English) that runs about 9 minutes. The packaging consists of a glossy but nondescript black slipcover that’s a magnet for fingerprints and scratches. The inner digipak folds out to a striking desert scene. |
 | ULTIMATE EDITION Video Format: DVD (Region 0 NTSC) Country of Release: South Korea Label: Spectrum DVD Year of Release: 2005 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 | The French Ultimate Edition transfer made its way to Korea in this 4-disc box set. The conversion from PAL to NTSC has left the picture a little filtered in direct comparison, and the image exhibits noticeable and often distracting judder during horizontal motion (especially the first reveal of the Baron Harkonnen’s face, which occurs in a left-to-right pan from the doctor to the Baron). The audio is available in English DD 5.1 or DTS, both of which sound about the same as the French disc’s counterparts, including the speedup and “siscrit report” glitch. Optional English or Korean subtitles can be disabled during playback. The theatrical cut is available on the first disc, the pan & scan TV version has been spread to two separate discs, and the fourth disc contains the supplements. Bonus features include the Impressions of Dune documentary and Destination Dune vintage featurette found in other regions, plus the Lynch interview from the French disc and a vintage 2-minute TV interview with Frank Herbert making its first appearance on DVD. The still galleries of poster art, merchandising items, production photos, and storyboards are also ported over from France, as is the usual theatrical trailer found on most editions of the movie. Most exciting is a brief live performance by Toto (in 16:9 video) of what sounds at first like some incidental music from the movie but segues into a new melody. The thick slipcover box holds a 4-panel fold-out digipak within. The disc’s animated menus are kind of generic and play in an annoyingly short loop. |
 | EXTENDED EDITION Video Format: DVD (Region 1 NTSC) Country of Release: United States Label: Universal Home Video Year of Release: 2006 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 | After a long wait (the last American DVD release was in 1998), Universal finally reissued Dune in 2006 with a new anamorphically-enhanced video remaster. Sadly, it looks awful. The theatrical cut is dim and dull, and slathered with heavy Digital Noise Reduction that wipes away significant amounts of important picture detail visible on older copies. The main focus of the release is found on the flipside of the DVD-18 disc. The so-called “Never Before Seen!” extended edition is actually a reconstruction of the Alan Smithee TV version in 2.35:1 widescreen for the first time. Most of the live-action footage comes from the theatrical cut master, and this marked the first opportunity to see some of the scenes Lynch discarded in their original widescreen. However, content created exclusively for the TV version (such as the cutaways to storyboard art, which were photographed in 4:3) is cropped and stretched to the wider ratio. On the other hand, the release does well with bonus features, starting with several truly never-before-seen deleted scenes. An introduction by Rafaella de Laurentiis finally puts the myth of the “4-hour director’s cut” to rest. Four excellent featurettes, each 5-10 minutes in length, provide a lot of information about the designs of the film, the special effects, the models, and the costumes. They also contain some terrific behind-the-scenes footage. A still gallery has many on-set photos and production artwork sketches, and a reasonably informative set of production notes. I would’ve liked to see the Impressions of Dune documentary and Desination Dune vintage featurette from the British release included, but Universal apparently wouldn’t pay to license them. The animated menus are tacky, but the busy Photoshop montage art on the metal case (not officially a SteelBook, though it looks like one on the outside) has grown on me over time. |
 | Video Format: DVD (Region 2 PAL) Country of Release: UK Label: Sanctuary Visual Entertainment Year of Release: 2006 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo | This one’s a bit of a mystery. I didn’t remember owning it until coming across it on my shelf while preparing this list. I may have been given it as a gift. It appears to be a promo item for British newspaper The Observer, packaged in a simple CD-sized cardboard sleeve. The disc itself seems to be a stripped-down version of the video master from the UK Special Edition described above, authored with just the movie itself, minus any bonus features or even disc menus. The audio has also been downgraded to stereo. |
 | Video Format: DVD (Region 2 NTSC) Country of Release: Japan Label: Albatros Film Year of Release: 2014 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo | Here’s another mystery. I have no clear memory of buying this copy of Dune. I never entered it into my DVD Profiler collection, and the UPC isn’t in the database. The packaging claims release by Japanese label Albatros Film, but the movie isn’t listed on the company’s web site. It appears to be a professionally manufactured and packaged product, but both the slipcover and the main case art mistakenly print credits for an entirely different movie (something called Sounds). This suggests that it might be a bootleg, but a Google search of the UPC finds listings at several reputable retailers, including Amazon Japan. The DVD itself is nothing special. It’s just the movie with no bonus features, and has very basic menus. The video quality seems OK by DVD standards, but it was released well into the Blu-ray era, so I must not have paid it much attention. The soundtrack is only stereo, but does not have the “siscrit report” glitch. I may have bought this disc just for the slipcover, which has an interesting sparkly texture in hand. The DVD also came with three postcards inside the case. |
UMD
 | Video Format: UMD Country of Release: UK Label: Sanctuary Visual Entertainment Year of Release: 2006 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: Stereo | Universal Media Disc was a 2.5-inch videodisc format designed specifically for playback in the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) video game system. The UMD edition of Dune comes from the UK and claims to have no region coding. (I don’t have a PSP to verify whether it will function in an American unit.) Listed specs reference a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and stereo audio. I must assume that it’s sourced from the same transfer as Sanctuary’s DVD edition. The run time is stated to be 135 minutes, which doesn’t correspond with either NTSC or PAL. I hope that’s just a typo. |
HD DVD
 | Video Format: HD DVD Country of Release: United States Label: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Year of Release: 2006 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 | During the bitter High-Def Format War of 2006-2008, Universal sided with Toshiba’s HD DVD format over rival Blu-ray from Sony. Dune was among the titles to appear exclusively on HD DVD during this period. Thankfully, the studio remastered the movie once again. The disc’s 1080p video has excellent detail and depth. It looks far superior to the lousy transfer from the Extended Edition DVD. Even the French Ultimate Edition DVD looks duller and oversaturated in comparison. Some speckles and dirt on the source elements are the only minor disappointment. Bonus features include everything from the Extended Edition DVD except for the extended TV version itself. Nor does the disc contain any of the additional scenes from that cut on their own. (Full review at DVDTalk.) |
BLU-RAY
 | Video Format: Blu-ray (Region B) Country of Release: France Label: Opening Year of Release: 2008 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | The earliest Blu-ray edition of Dune I came across was a French release from a label called Opening. The disc is clearly sourced from the same master as the French Ultimate Edition DVD (described above). It has the same “siscrit report” glitch on the soundtrack and a bit of stutter during the zoom-in on planet Kaitain. However, the HD transfer plays back at the proper theatrical running speed and has no PAL speedup. The movie clocks in at the correct 2hr. 17min. length and the audio pitch is fine. Compared to the American HD DVD (and eventual Blu-ray), the French transfer has next to no speckles or age-related damage, but black levels are elevated in darker scenes and the image looks a little washed-out. Colors sometimes look oversaturated with yellow skin tones. All of the bonus features on the French Blu-ray are encoded in PAL format. Destination Dune and the Lynch interview are here, as well as most of the featurettes and still galleries from the G.C.T.H.V. DVD, but the Blu-ray does not include the “Extended Edition” TV version. |
 | Video Format: Blu-ray (Region B) Country of Release: Germany Label: Marketing-Film Year of Release: 2008 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | This German 2-disc set includes one Blu-ray and one PAL DVD. The movie transfer is based on the above French Blu-ray with some modifications made to the video. The soundtrack has the same “siscrit report” glitch. Because the French disc looked a little too bright, the German disc authors attempted to pull down the brightness and tweak the contrast electronically. While this means that the image doesn’t look as washed-out, black levels have been crushed in many dark scenes and the image is missing important details in shadows. The Blu-ray disc starts the movie automatically upon loading. It has no main menu (just pop-up menus) and no bonus features. All supplements are found on the accompanying DVD. That DVD opens with a logo for the studio Laser Paradise, and is literally Disc 3 from the “Paradise Edition” DVD set (the one with the worm statuette). Features are mainly German text pages with production info and trivia. Also included are one making-of featurette (in German) and all of the extra scenes from the longer TV edit isolated on their own (in English, but 4:3 pan & scan). There’s also a section for listening to tracks from the soundtrack album. The packaging is a handsome foldout digipak with cardboard slipcover. |
 | Video Format: Blu-ray Country of Release: USA Label: Universal Studios Home Video Year of Release: 2010 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | The High-Def Format War ended in early 2008, but it took Universal until 2010 to release Dune on Blu-ray in America. For the most part, this is a direct port of the 1080p transfer and contents from the studio’s prior HD DVD, which is fine, as that HD DVD was excellent. The soundtrack has been upgraded to the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio codec, though there isn’t much audible difference over the HD DVD’s high bit-rate Dolby Digital Plus track. The only new features are the addition of D-Box enhancement and a BD-Live connection that offers nothing specific to Dune. (Full review at High-Def Digest.) |
 | Video Format: Blu-ray Country of Release: Germany Label: Marketing-Film Year of Release: 2010 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | Dune must be a popular title in Germany, because the film has been released and re-released numerous times by multiple labels in the country. This second Blu-ray edition from Marketing-Film is a single-disc release containing two different copies of the movie. Both are the theatrical cut, but one is in standard 2D while the other has been converted to 3D. To facilitate the conversion, the video on both has been heavily de-grained and edge-sharpened. The contrast has also been further pushed to the point that dark scenes are impenetrable, and even brightly-lit scenes have no shadow detail at all. Characters in dark clothes appear as undistinguished black blobs with no texture or definition. The larger your screen, the worse the movie looks. The 3D version is authored in old-fashioned anaglyph 3D, and Marketing-Film didn’t bother to provide any color-filtered glasses with the disc. I’ve found that the 3D effect works best with a pair of red-and-green 3D glasses that originally came with an anaglyph copy of Monsters vs. Aliens I still had on hand. Red-and-blue glasses aren’t effective with it. Anaglyph is such a low-quality process that it’s difficult to judge the 3D conversion this way. While it does demonstrate 3D depth layering, surprisingly well at times, the picture is dark and murky through the glasses, with terribly skewed colors. The 5.1 audio has the “siscrit report” glitch. The disc has no bonus features. |
 | Video Format: Blu-ray Country of Release: Germany Label: Screen Power Home Entertainment Year of Release: 2011 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | I’m not sure I’ll ever understand the way distribution rights work in Germany. It seems as though multiple labels can release the same movie simultaneously. Perhaps these companies are all connected? The Blu-ray from Screen Power Home Entertainment boldly proclaims Dune to be “Das Meisterwerk von David Lynch.” The disc has no menus or bonus features. Video quality appears to be about comparable to the first (2008) Blu-ray from Marketing-Film, with some black crush but not as much as the second Marketing-Film release. Although not mentioned anywhere on the packaging, the disc does offer an English soundtrack in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, but it suffers the “siscrit report” glitch. |
 | EXTENDED EDITION Video Format: Blu-ray Country of Release: Germany Label: Intergroove Media Year of Release: 2012 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | Another German label stakes a claim in Dune. Hilariously, despite being marketed as an “Extended Edition,” the release from Intergroove Media doesn’t actually contain the extended TV cut of the movie, just the theatrical cut with the same crummy 2D and anaglyph 3D transfers found on the 2010 copy from Marketing-Film. (No, this one doesn’t come with 3D glasses either.) Disc 2 is a copy of the “Paradise Edition” bonus features DVD, making this essentially a consolidation of the two earlier releases from Marketing-Film. (Full review at High-Def Digest.) |
 | DAVID LYNCH COLLECTION Video Format: Blu-ray Country of Release: UK Label: IndiVision Year of Release: 2012 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | Dune made a late Blu-ray debut in the UK. The movie was available either on its own or bundled into a David Lynch Collection box set along with copies of Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and Lost Highway. The box set’s handsome packaging includes a large fold-out panel and some art cards for each of the movies. Sadly, all the Blu-rays inside are compromised in one way or another. The Dune disc comes from the same contrast-boosted master as the first Marketing-Film Blu-ray in Germany, with crushed blacks and little shadow detail. Strangely, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is fine and (unlike the German disc) is not afflicted with the “siscrit report” glitch. It seems as though IndiVision borrowed the good audio from America but the weaker video from Germany. For extras, the disc offers the trailer, Impressions of Dune, Destination Dune, and an interesting half-hour interview with production coordinator Golda Offenheim. (Full review at High-Def Digest.) |
 | SPECIAL EDITION Video Format: Blu-ray 3D Country of Release: Germany Label: Marketing-Film Year of Release: 2012 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1 | Marketing-Film is back! For at least its third Blu-ray release of Dune (that I know of) in the span of just four years, the label’s “Special Edition” attempts to make some amends for the botched 2010 release (and its clone from Intergroove). The 2-disc set features 2D and 3D copies of the movie on Disc 1, while Disc 2 is a soundtrack CD. The 2D version comes from the less problematic of Marketing-Film’s two masters, the one with some black crush but that’s still mostly watchable. The audio has been slightly downgraded to lossy DTS-HD HR, and and still has the “siscrit report” error. No bonus features are offered. The main selling point of the release is a new 3D conversion authored in genuine frame-sequential Blu-ray 3D format, rather than the primitive anaglyph format from previous copies. Somehow, it looks worse than the anaglyph version. The disc menu is the only part of the release that has any sense of proper 3D depth layering. The movie has none at all. It’s almost entirely 2D. In the few instances when anything is noticeable, select moments look like a flat image projected onto a concave curved screen. As a 3D experience, it’s worthless. The anaglyph version has way more 3D in it than this. |
 | 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION Video Format: Blu-ray Country of Release: Japan Label: Happinet Year of Release: 2015 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | A label called Happinet brought Dune to Blu-ray in Japan for the 30th anniversary of the film’s original release in that country. The 2-disc set contains the theatrical cut on one disc and the MCA TV cut (old pan & scan version) on the other. The discs are held in individual keepcases within a sturdy box. Also included are a printed booklet and a couple of art cards from the manga adaptation. The only on-disc supplement is a copy of the movie’s trailer. The theatrical cut transfer is based on Universal’s master, but with some extra work to digitally clean up much of the dirt and speckles that were visible on the American disc. I’d be tempted to call this the best Blu-ray copy of the movie, except that the DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack (although free of the “siscrit report” issue from European releases) has a weird hollow tone, like the high-end was rolled off too much. It’s not terrible, and many viewers might not even notice, but I picked up on it right away in comparing the American and Japanese discs. |
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY
 | LIMITED EDITION Video Format: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Country of Release: USA + UK Label: Arrow Video Year of Release: 2021 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | In 2021 (no doubt timed to piggyback on publicity for the remake), Lynch’s Dune was remastered into 4K by Koch Films, a division of German software and video game distributor Koch Media. However, that work hit the market in America and the UK first, under license to Arrow Video, which released it in three packages: a single-disc Collector’s Edition in a basic keepcase (the one I didn’t bother to purchase separately), a 2-disc Limited Edition, and a 3-disc Deluxe SteelBook. The 2-disc LE has a 4K Ultra HD for the movie and a Blu-ray of supplements (no Blu-ray for the feature). Both are housed in a thick keepcase inside a box, along with some art cards, a fold-out poster (same art as the box), and a small book with several essays and interviews. Many of the extras were ported from previous video editions (some foreign), including the Impressions of Dune documentary, Destination Dune, deleted scenes, and multiple short featurettes. New to this copy are two audio commentaries (one by Paul M. Sammon and one by The Projection Booth podcast host Mike White), an excellent half-hour documentary on the movie’s merchandising, another about the Toto score, and an interview with makeup effects artist Giannetto de Rossi. A new feature-length making-of documentary didn’t make the deadline for inclusion and had to be dropped at the last minute, but it later ran on Arrow’s streaming service. The new 4K video remaster from the camera negative looks very good, though not terribly dissimilar to the Universal Blu-ray. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track sounds OK, but a little thin and lacking bass. |
 | LIMITED EDITION DELUXE STEELBOOK Video Format: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Country of Release: USA + UK Label: Arrow Video Year of Release: 2021 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | Arrow’s other, even more premium Limited Edition of Dune features a box holding a new SteelBook, a poster (mirroring this box art), the same book and art cards from the other Limited Edition, and a second book filled with way more production art. Two of the discs are identical to the other LE. The third is a standard Blu-ray copy of the film. |
 | LIMITED 3-DISC STEELBOOK Video Format: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Country of Release: Germany Label: Koch Films Year of Release: 2021 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | Koch Films trailed behind Arrow by a couple months before releasing its own 4K copies of Dune in Germany, also available in multiple unique editions. (I don’t yet have any of the five different Mediabook packages, each with different art.) The 3-disc SteelBook edition includes the movie on both Blu-ray and 4K UHD, plus a disc of extras. Delaying the release meant Koch could include the very thorough new 82-minute documentary called The Sleeper Must Awaken, as well as an exclusive interview with actor Jürgen Prochnow. (Unfortunately, the interview has no English translation). Also here are the merchandising and musical score docs, the Giannetto de Rossi interview, and a photo gallery of other odds and ends. Arrow may have offered more content overall, but the excellent Sleeper documentary is worth the purchase on its own. The SteelBook itself features very weird artwork with a tumorous worm that looks nothing like the actual creature design in the movie. |
 | ULTIMATE EDITION Video Format: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Country of Release: Germany Label: Koch Films Year of Release: 2022 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | We’ve had several home video copies of Dune in the past that proclaimed themselves to be “Ultimate Editions.” The Koch Films mammoth box set (which was delayed an additional four months, into 2022) comes closest to actually earning that title. The 7-disc package includes: the feature on both Blu-ray and 4K UHD, a copy of the same extras disc from the Koch SteelBook, a new disc of “archival” extras (lots of stuff found on previous video copies), a 2.35:1 HD copy of the “Alan Smithee” Extended Edition on Blu-ray, the first ever home video release of the “Spicediver” fan edit on Blu-ray, and a soundtrack CD. About the only items of substance missing are the two audio commentaries from Arrow, though I must mention that some of the supplemental content here lacks English translation. The collection comes in an oversized acrylic box also housing a glossy book of photos and artwork, and a German translation of the original 1984 Marvel graphic novel adaptation. Bundled alongside this is a metallic art placard that won’t fit inside the box. All of this was very difficult to import to the United States. Sadly, the acrylic box is rather fragile, and mine arrived with a chip broken off of one corner. (Read full review.) |
That’s all I have for now. I’ll update this page if or when I add more copies of Dune in the future.
The Video File Blog 