first time watching *DUNE: PART TWO* 

The gradual realization on the part of people who haven’t read the books that Paul’s victory might not be a good thing is so much fun to see.

Can't use shields in the desert, they drive the worms into a killing frenzy. Keynes mentioned it in the first movie.

It's actually really chilling to see the way the Fremen go from harvesting the water from their slain enemies to just straight up burning their bodies in the end, sacrificing their culture so quickly for religious fervor

The worm remains on the surface because one of its skin folds is lifted up, and it stays on the surface as long as that fold is raised. It not only stays on the surface, but the skin fold ends up on top of it. So even if it is grabbed from the side, the worm slowly turns around.

The bene gesserit don’t tell their women who their parents/family are so that if they needed/wanted to breed two relatives together to keep certain bloodlines strong, they could make it happen without question. That’s one reason why the Bene Gesserit Mother was pissed that Jessica produced a son because their plan was to breed a female Atreides with Feyd

Watching this on IMAX was a whole experience. Not many movies can give me chills, this one did many times.

"How does his hair look so perfect?" Maybe he's born with it? Maybe it's Muad'Dib...

Fun fact: the books actually explain that the Imperium have the power to make Arrakis inhabitable, but they choose not to, because in order for the Spice to exist, Arrakis needs to be a desert.

"We're not going to give the worms a little snack? Excuse me, the worms worked very hard." That line killed me. Comedy out of nowhere.

32:11 This scene has a LOT of meta significance. In the books, Paul says he sees 2 possible futures for survival. One of those futures involves him standing before the Baron and saying "Hello, Grandfather". Paul is disgusted by this future. The other involves Paul's sister Alia (who is already born at that point) killing the Baron herself. Paul saying "Grandfather" is a nice callback to that, AND can help explain the differences between the book and the film. The book is one of the possible futures. The film is an alternative future/universe.

The scenes on Giedi Prime genuinely made my jaw drop every time I've seen this movie. The way they were shot is not only so creative, but the acting and music set the atmosphere so well that it instantly feels like a completely different planet, culture and a huge threat, which is exactly what the movie is going for.

Fun Fact about the books, Princess Irulan the emperor's daughter will become the prime historical source for Paul's story. Every chapter begins with a quote from her documents.

34:31 the cinematographer is Greig Fraser. He's the genius behind the first film as well and he won an Oscar for best cinematography. He's also behind huge films like The Batman (2022), Star Wars Rogue One (2016), and The Creator (2023).

32:59 can we just acknowledge how badass the shot of Rabban's body falling to Gurney's feet is ? the lighting is just flawless, all you can see is this shadow-like figure triumphing over his enemy

It's gonna sound lame, but I'm very grateful for you choosing a company that does so much good for a sponsor. I was homeless for about 6 months and the shelter I was in ALWAYS had a steady flow of Bombas socks. They're actually doing what they say they do. Thank you for supporting those in need!

The first Harkonnen unit didn’t used their shields cause in lore when a laser shot hit a shield, it creates a small nuclear explosion, they were using laser guns, so a single shot could kill them all. All of them got killed by the Fremen anyway 😂

First fight scene explained: The black suits that Harkonnens wear are a good example of their unwillingness to adapt I think. Everything they have is basically black and white due to their black (colorless) sun. Hovering/Floating takes... battery power... Shields + Laser/Lasgun = Nuke explosion. The same reason a lot of warriors use swords instead of Lasguns against one another. That guy who screamed "No shields!" was actually pretty smart, the only person who did anything useful in that situation for their side.

The hooks used for riding a worm expose the inner sensitive flesh of the worm, that's why it doesn't sink into the sand again. They turn the worm moving the hooks, because the worm will always try to have the exposed part on the top. For dismounting they just ride the worm until it tires, then it's not "as dangerous" to drop down.

Nobody else mentioned what you said at 10:56, I totally agree this is much more nuanced than people are seeing. Paul starts off the movie with pure revenge in his heart, that's where he ended the last film. Then he opens this film by saying early on his exact plan, convert the non believers. Later he stands between the two groups looking back and forth. He leaves the believers and goes to talk to the unfaithful, not just because he understands them more and is more like them, but because he needs their help. Because he wants to be accepted, and he does this in this underhanded way... His thoughts evolve through the film, but this is definetly where he starts out, and is an important motivator. He resents the propoganda, yet he uses it, and yet the most profitable course of action is to reject it at first and gather support from all sides. Now that's crazy.

Hits a lot harder when you remember, that in Part 1, Paul's first words after he sees the future for the first time is: *"Somebody help me, please."*

35:40 Paul surviving his wounds isn't as lucky as you think. Paul had already been getting Prana-Bindu training from Jessica, and had a lot of control over his own body. Also, when Paul drank the Water of Life, he gained all the powers of a Reverend Mother with one very important difference: he gained the memories of both his male and female ancestors. So Paul likely used his bodily control to stop the bleeding. In the novel, Feyd uses a blade that is poisoned with a drug that that slows you down, but isn't detected as a poison by the poison snoopers (devices that check for the presence of poison). Paul is able to adjust his body chemistry to counteract the effect of the drug.

"That is the wrong tactic to take" to the guy who sees all the correct dialogue options lol.

The reason the gladiator fight looks like that is because it was shot in infrared. It's a very cool style choice.

The first time Paul rides the sand worm was utterly incredible in theaters. That and every time there was a thumper, the audio was awe inspiring. My mouth was dropped through that entire scene.

12:51 - I actually love this moment. Don't know how it's described in the books, but cinematically, when the thopter falls as they run away laughing, I get the sense that these are two youths playing in a giant "sand box" (so to speak), having fun. It's like it's such a normal experience for Fremen (fighting invaders) that it's also one of the activities the way their youths play together while growing up, like it's all a big game if that makes any sense. Two people falling in love against the backdrop of a larger war, fighting the good fight or something. A trope we've all seen before.

The cinematographer is Grieg Fraser, he won an Oscar for best cinematography on the first Dune movie & he also did the cinematography for The Batman which is also visually stunning.

I watched this in IMAX. I will never be the same again.

Wooo! Thank you for your sacrifice for US! There’s no judgment when you give up the ultimate experience just to give us this content. Much appreciated 😊

Love love LOVEEEEE Jessica’s character arc in this movie! She’s so slimy but I loved every second of it

There is absolutely NO WAY she cut lisans speech about bringing them green paradise, WHAT

Despite Paul calling Feyd-Rautha "cousin", he still isn't revealing to others the fact that the Baron, Vladamir, was his grandfather; it's well-known that the Houses' lords are occasionally distantly related. In Part 1, when Vladimir has Duke Leto naked at the dinner table, he says, "You have a wonderful kitchen, cousin," acknowledging the fact that they are related by blood. Ultimately, the way the Bene Gesserit "careful cross bloodlines" is by providing concubines to ruling houses w/o the men actually knowing which bloodline they come from.

I'M READY TO RIDE THE WORM!!!

The sound design is SO good. When all the music drops for the final fight and it's just them breathing? Perfect.

Read the books after the first movie. Watched the second movie three times and am now rereading the books 😂 I’ve absolutely fallen in love with this world

“ Come on bro, stick it in! “ ….heheh😂 that’s what’s she said

Pauls tale is one of tragedy. He didn’t ask to be the Kwisatz Haderach. Paul himself in the first film says the line “Your Bene Gesserit made me a freak” He loses his father and close friends. Not even his spice enhanced prescience ability could foresee the attack on sietch tabr. He says the line in the film “I couldn’t see” he then has visions of chani dying. Even then he says he can’t go south for fear of fulfilling the prophecy. When Chani asks him to help, he reluctantly agrees. It’s tragic because he is torn between this awful future but it’s the only way he can be sure to help his friends and save the women he loves. A genuine masterpiece from Deni Villeneuve

The level of existential dread and sorrow I felt the rest of the night after this movie was something else. I haven't read the books but I was generally aware of the direction it was going but this movie really captured that feeling. As soon as Lady Jessica took the blue juice, the movie became so much more horrifying.

Two kind of people watching Dune : having read the book and who did not read it. The reaction can be very different.

I saw this in theater with my son. The riding of the worm, was an unforgettable experience. The whole theater was shaking! My seat was trying to throw me off, like riding a bucking bronco! incredible! I needed a seat belt! I reached for my son, fearing for his safety. He was screaming with delight! We both let go of our seats, stretched our arms and legs and WENT FOR A RIDE on the worm!

The Worms stay above ground because they pull back one of the plates with the hooks, which exposes it to the irritating sand. It won't dive while that's exposed.

Mate im literally here for Your personality 😂, your reactions are really genuine 🎉

Never had a true favorite movie until now. Dune 2 is a masterpiece, especially in IMAX.

The final look between Paul and Chani with their theme playing in the background never fails to make me tear up

Denis really did something very interesting with Chani in his film. She's very different in the book, and I admit she didn't make a big impact on me when reading it. But here, Denis took such an amazing approach, making her a more critical voice against the Bene Gesserit, the prophecy and Paul's role. I really loved that change in the story, and Zendaya played her wonderfully. All in all the movie is amazing, I loved what Denis and his team brought to life from the source material and what they chose to alter/adapt. It was very effective in the overall story. Such a stunning movie!

so the main things to note that i felt this movie doesn't explain all that well: water is poisonous to sand worms, which is what we see when the fremen drowns the baby worm. When a worm is mixed with water, it makes the water of life, which is basically like concentrated spice and is what allows you to expand your mind enough to be able to use prescience, but is deadly to anyone who hasn't been trained to survive poisons. the spacing guild is a powerful faction of people who have genetically modified themselves to be able to use spice to pilot FTL ships. They consume a ton of spice and that allows them to access a limited form of prescience to be able to fold space and allow ships to travel between stars. Originally this was possible with AI, but after the butlerian jihad all AI were outlawed. So the spacing guild have a complete monopoly on space travel, and require spice to do this. Which is why Paul threatening to destroy the spice fields works, because the space guild would never allow anyone to threaten Paul and therefore lose their monopoly. this next part is not in the movie at all, and so could be considered a spoiler for the next movie(s). But it is explained in the first Dune book. Read at your own risk. spice is created as a result of baby sandworms, so if the worms all die, there will be no spice. Reintroducing water to Arrakis will kill all the worms and therefore destroy all possible production of spice. So making Arrakis green and habitable means the worms will die which will destroy the only known source of spice and permanently stop the galaxy from using FTL travel. The empire has had the ability to make arrakis green forever, they just never will because they know spice is related to the worms. Obviously the fremen don't really care about this, they want the planet to be green and while they worship the worms they don't really care about spice all that much. In the books Paul threatens to flood the spice fields with water as opposed to using nukes, and the spacing guild then basically surrenders to him and supports his holy war against the other great houses.

4:16 The shot of the eclipse is actually real (bar the second moon, of course). It happened when they were shooting the movie in 2022 and they decided to film it and put it in the movie!

Ever since seeing this in theatres ive been looking forward to your reaction to it. 6 theatre viewings later and im still hyped!!!!

“Come on bro! Stick it in!” -real thing said in this video

They said in the first film that the shields are not used out in the desert because they attract sand worms due to vibrations.

The scene where Paul enters the great hall and gets everyone to follow him is both awesome and chilling. These men and women have had their messiah, their god revealed to them, the greatest moment of their cultures existence. They are now lead by the one person in the Imperium who cannot be ordered by the Emperor, killed by the Harkonnens, or (most importantly in my opinion) controlled or subverted by the schemes of the Bene Gesserit. Paul Muad'ib Atreides, Duke of Arrakis, Emperor, Lisan-Al-Gaib and Kwisach Haderach will burn the galaxy, and the Fremen will happily to it.

Every time I watch the monologue from Paul towards the climax of the film, I get goosebumps. An incredible job of writing and performance from Timothee. He does a great job driving home the sinister tone of that moment. It’s terrifying to see him embrace the role of Lisan Al-Gaib.

I havent read the books yet but a little detail I learned is that because of energy shields guns became useless. And if they use laser guns and makes contact with a shield it kills both the one with the shield and the shooter with a nuclear explosion.

It's not really touched on or explained by the movies, but laser weapon + shield = nuclear type explosion. Hence the Harkkonnen soldier at the beginning saying "no shields". Also, the attack style on the spice harvesters. Physical penetration weapons work against the kill-copters, lasers don't (unless you want to kill everyone in the area and ruin all the stuff). On the nuclear topic, yes, they targeted the walls behind the stronghold. Part of the agreement between all of the Great Houses (of which Atreides is one), is that they will never use nuclear weapons against each other's armies. Paul is being clever in a technical sense.

23:20 Paul is having a nightmare about Chani being burned by an atomic blast. The Imperium has VERY STRICT rules about the use of atomic weapons. The Great Convention states "The use of atomics against humans will be cause for planetary obliteration." The primary use case would be when one house attacks another. It could also be used when one faction on a planet uses atomics against another faction. In the case of Arrakis, there are special considerations. No one wants spice destroyed. So in lieu of planetary obliteration, it would likely be obliteration of Fremen sietches.

33:34 Paul's threat to spice is different in the books. Instead of threatening them with atomics, he threatens to use the Water of Death. If the Water of Life is poured onto a pre-spice mass (spice fields are the result of pre-spice blowing up.), it will cause a chain reaction that will kill all sandworms on Dune.

I think Paul knew that Maud'dib meant "The one who points the way", since we saw him studying the mouse in the first movie. This is a smart movie in that Paul is complicated in his motives...is he saying things to manipulate or is he being sincere? Keeps the audience guessing.

This is currently my favorite movie ever made - can’t wait to see your reaction! I wish there was a way for you to get the theatrical experience and still have your reaction like here… it truly is magical!

33:47 The term "Abomination" is used by the Bene Gesserit to describe a fetus that is exposed to the Water of Life. The Water of Life causes them to become aware, and unlocks the memories of generations of their female ancestors. This can be problematic (which is discussed in later books).

In the post Star Wars, current super hero generation, it’s easy to forget how few people have actually seen true science fiction handled with respect for the genre and for the audience on the big screen. Thank goodness for directors like Villanueve who have actually read these works helming films like this with the clout to actually get them marketed as they should.

The editing choices for this one (as far as what scenes and moments to leave out) are truly insane

Hell yes I've been waiting for this one. Saw this in IMAX on acid and it was an EXPERIENCE

Its never said in the movie but the sandworm, the little holes you see are like nostrils, they wont dive if they are expose to sand. Thats why they have those hooks that life them open.

3:48 The technology that makes them float, called repulsors, drives the worms crazy. So since the worm had already been called it made sense to use the repulsors. That is also why you will see balloons lifting spice harvesters. 35:55 And Chani Übers out

Guns have a limited use in this setting because of the shields. In the desert there is some use for them because the worms are driven to frenzy by the shields, but overall, close combat is the key to victory. And the sandworms can't dive when there's a rider on them because the rider uses the worm hooks to pull open its scales, and the worm can't let sand enter under them in significant quantities or it'll choke.

The worm stays above ground because its armor is folded up. The actual skin beneath is very sensitive, so if the worm were to dive it would cause a lot of pain

Watching this in imax was a revelation. I’ve read all the books but even then, I’d never been more swept up the way I was with this movie. Afterwards it was just a bunch of silent, disoriented people stumbling out of the theater not knowing what to do. Last time I experienced that was after Everything Everywhere All At Once. Edit: The way I screamed at the idea of Feyd-Rautha in a duel to the death with Maude.

"There just happened to be an eclipse on this day?" LITERALLY YES!!! It's incredible. They managed to capture a real life eclipse when they were filming that scene and worked it in.

16:00 The two hook-shaped implements Paul carried are “Maker-Hooks” (“The Maker” is one of the Freeman names for the sandworms). A worm-rider plants the hooks, then uses them as levers to pry up an edge of the thick, protective scales that cover the worm, partially exposing the softer, sensitive skin underneath. The worm reflexively rotates its body to orient the exposed flesh as far from the abrasive surface-sand as possible, carrying the worm-rider along with it. The hooks are also used to direct the worm. By using them to expose more flesh on one side, they cause the worm to reflexively turn that side away from the sand.

We appreciate you Natalie!!!! Thank you for giving us this experience with you!

The worm stays above ground because of the hooks. The rider pulls the scales up, exposing the worms flesh beneath. Sand getting past the scales is very painful for the worm, so they keep the side with the rider above the sand so that it hurts less. This is also how the rider steers, and why after being ridden, the worms don't attack. They are exhausted.

there are two reasons they didn't turn on their shields one it drives sandworms into a frenzy, and two and the big one if the beam from a lasgun hits an active shield there can be an atomic explosion

I don't blame you for messing up your outro. I felt like I couldn't think about anything else for about an hour after watching the movie for the first time. An absolute masterpiece and moving beyond words. Thanks for the reaction. I love your appreciation for Denis and all involved. I'm in awe of these films.

Sad about your editing lately though, all the best parts are gone 😭 really wanted the "hand of God as my witness" scene and "long live the fighters"

I think one of the biggest reasons why there's such a divide among audience's response to Paul is because his archetype isn't nearly as familiar with in pop culture. Paul is not a hero, or villain or even anti-hero. Paul is a tragic hero, and that's a very different thing than most of the discourse surrounding the character and ultimately what Herbert is trying to communicate within his work. The whole "Paul is good guy vs. Paul is bad guy it just depends on your perspective" perspective misses the point. Paul is very deliberately written as the Mary Sue of Mary Sues; he's raised from birth as a mentat, an order that represents all of the sacred aspects of the masculine. He's surrounded by alpha males who love and guide him. He's trained in the Bene Gesserit way by his mother, representing all the cunning power of the feminine. Paul's mother loves him and his father so much that she disobeys a sacred order of her own sisterhood. Paul is raised as a ducal heir and learned in the ways or war and politics. He then goes on to live among the most robust, resourceful and pragmatic people in all the imperium and eventually becomes their legitimate ruler after succeeding in all of their rituals and besting all comers. At this point the missionaria protectiva is moot, Paul has fulfilled all of the prophecies that no other person in the imperium ever could, he literally is That Guy and proves it. And that's all before becoming the goddamn Kwisatz Hadderach, the supreme being who can see in all places at once. The most capable human to ever live. And yet, even this supreme being is unfit to wield such monopolized power because no one is. The jihad is inevitable, violence sings its own song. This understanding of power is demonstrated in all the surrounding characters and subplots. The Bene Gesserit have the hubris to think they can control humanity and even the Kwisatz if they just patiently plan in the shadows long enough, the Fremen think they are ready to fulfill their dream of the "green paradise" which they do, but at great destructive cost to themselves, and so on. Herbert once stated that his favorite president was Richard Nixon as Nixon taught the American people to distrust presidents.

I know you do it for the content, but not seeing this film in theaters is insane. A theater experience I will never forget, as long as I live!

About the worm ride! If you take another look, the hooks pull up these ridges of skin that reveal sensitive vents underneath. The sand irritates the area so the worm keeps that part above ground

I don’t understand how people are shocked by the ending. It was literally the plan all along for Paul to make a play for the throne. He made that very clear in the first movie.

This goes unexplained in the movies but the reason they fight with swords and not guns (lasguns) is because if a lasgun hits a shield it creates a nuclear-like explosion. This is why swords and shields are the preferred fighting gear. Also having a shield out in the sands would drive the sandworms into a killing frenzy.

Thank you for saving your first reaction to this masterpiece for us Natalie, I was looking forward for it!! Love from Brazil ❤️❤️

Now that you've saved it for doing the reaction, go watch it in theaters!! It's still in IMAX :D

Thank you for recognizing the political necessity of Paul marrying the princess. His ascension to the throne lacks legitimacy at this point in the eyes of the other Great Houses, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit etc. This is what this universe is about sometimes - marriage as a political strategy. It’s exactly the same reason why Paul’s father never married Jessica. In the book this is not quite so sentimental, as Chani understands and accepts it, knowing that Paul will never love the princess, will never give her children. I don’t dislike the ending and the changes that they made to Chani’s character, but she shouldn’t have been surprised by this. Paul should have prepped her for this situation. I feel like it was added just to lend a little bit of drama between the two characters.

"Are we blowing up the mountains behind them?" Yes. The atomics are used to destroy the Shield Wall (mentioned in the first film) and surrounding mountains that normally protect Arrakeen from sandstorms and worms. Once the obstacles are removed, the static electricity in the sandstorm neutralizes the shielding on the Emperor's ship, and the worms... well, you know the rest.

Watching this in a real imax was nuts. You could feel the sand hitting you riding with the worm. The gunshots felt like you were getting assaulted by the bass. And the worms coming at the camera were life sized, literally leaned back in my seat out of instinct. Really hope WB gets their shit together to release the full 1.43:1 imax scenes cause even with it being a square image, the height hits much harder than a wider image.

4:27 it’s not that they don’t have shields, it’s that shields really piss off the worms. So the order to activate shields was immediately countermanded by someone who knew it’d only make things worse

The only omission that legitimately upset me is the omission of the guild in this. Only since they are the main catalyst to what comes after this. Also count fenring not being in the film kind of upset me to and hearing tim blake nelson played him just why, how could you take that away

Fun fact: those mice are not fictional creatures. It’s a jerboa, and they are absolutely real.

What makes Dune Part 1 and 2 so special, that others also try but rarely achieve, is this desire to be epic. The story is epic, the status Dune as a story has, especially for the SciFi genre is epic so the movie needs to be just as epic and Denis Villeneuve delivers this epicness with every shot, if the camerawork, light, sound and all the other part wouldn't work on the highest level it could drift off into being a little cringe, but this movie does it perfectly. Without wanting to shit on a different director and the team behind the camera, but Rebel Moon is the perfect example of what happens if you want to be epic but you just can't deliver it. Dune reminded me of Lord of the Rings in that way, these movies are epic, they want and need to be epic so bad and they just got it right.

Tims acting is EXTRAORDINARY! I did not know that he had this range. Fantastic job!

The true villain of the Dune saga: cults of personality and charismatic leadership.

Never use lasgun with shield ! the two exploded....use sword and knife, or bullets.

I find it funny that the ending mirrors Attack of the Clones, like I’m expecting Yoda come out and go… Begun the holy wars have lol

Thank you for understanding why I’m here Nat and sacrificing your theater experience so we can have you for a true first reaction. Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated and things like this is the reason why you’ll always have my subscription

My Dune, my Arrakis!

Your comment about whether this should be seen in theaters or at home was funny for me because I never considered going to the theater for this one. My wife and I went to the first one at our local theater, but it was an absolutely miserable experience due to the theater's old, blown-out sound system. I know for a fact they haven't fixed it, and since I live in a remote, isolated region of western Canada I don't have any other options short if traveling unreasonably far to find a better theater. At home, on my 4K TV with a decent enough sound system (not great, but good enough), the experience is vastly superior.

Natalie, it's always amazes me how well you anticipate directions in plotlines and are seldom ever wrong. Beautiful Lady, lovely smile and sharp as a tack. Always a pleasure to watch a movie with you, thank you!

19:00 Their skin is translucent because it’s not a filter, but filmed in infrared.

I remember seeing a lot of "white savior" comments when the trailer dropped for the first film. Oh, just wait😂

I am a golden nugget and I am ready to RIDE THE WORM!!! *Insert stilgar LiSaN aL gAiB here*

I'm really thankful for your decision to do this on Video! Thankyou, means a lot! :)

The worm stays above ground because of the hooks- they pull up one of the scales which reveals the tiny breathing holes, you can see them, which makes the worm keep that side upright so that sand doesn't get inside, and also keeps them above ground