DUNE: PART TWO and the World's Most Accurate Meme

DUNE: PART TWO (Blu-ray)

2024 / 166 min

FROM WARNER BROS / #InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Pepper the Poopy😸

I recently saw an amusing meme that read, “Dune is Star Wars for people who listen to Tool.” Not only did I laugh, I had to admit it was a spot-on assessment of the movie itself. If you are at-all familiar with Tool, you know their music is long, complex and damn-near inaccessible to casual listeners raised on pop radio. Yet they are currently one of the biggest bands in the world.

Similarly, both parts of Dune are long, complex and damn-near inaccessible to anyone with short attention spans. Yet together, they form what’s arguably the best sci-fi saga since the original Star Wars trilogy. Much of that is due to Denis Villenueve, the only director to successfully wrangle Frank Herbert’s oppressively dense novel (which I got 100 pages into before giving up) without dumbing it down or turning it into a mere highlight reel. 

In our review of Dune: Part One, I mentioned the utter bravery of spending gajillions to tackle half of a story without being sure Part Two would ever even happen. But now that it has, Dune: Part Two demonstrates a considerable amount of bravery as well, beginning exactly where Part One ended, with no recap or exposition of who these characters are and what's transpired so far. It’s literally the second half of a five-hour film, with enough confidence in the ongoing story that dividing it into two parts is not-only logical, but preferred (this coming from a guy who normally condemns the practice as a cash grab). 

Date Night with Paul Atreides.

Part Two is bigger, more action packed and introduces several intriguing new characters, especially the psychotic heir to House Harkonnen, Feyd-Rautha (played with menace by Austin Butler). Conversely, Christopher Walken is distractingly miscast as Emperor Shaddam, simply because he looks & sounds like himself. But perhaps the film's most surprising aspect - at least for those of us who couldn’t get through Herbert’s novel - is Paul Atreides’ (Timothee Chalamet) character transformation. Without going into specifics, let’s just say he doesn’t turn into another Luke Skywalker. But best of all, those massive, majestic sandworms show up early and often (a true sight to behold).

Both aesthetically and narratively, there’s so much going on that digesting the entire story as a single five-hour film would’ve been overwhelming in a theater. But while their overall visual and sonic grandeur is certainly diminished at home, watching Parts One & Two back-to-back on the sofa becomes immersive in a different way. It's a sprawling, complex story that may not always display a lot of heart, but is consistently engaging enough to justify two films and an epic overall length, especially for those of us who listen to Tool.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Chakobsa Training; Creating the Fremen World; Finding the Worlds of Dune; Buzz Around the New ‘Thopter’; Worm Riding; Becoming Feyd; A New Set of Threads; Deeper Into the Desert: The Sounds of Dune. These features run 4-13 minutes each and mostly cover various technical aspects of the film, such as various real locations, certain special effects sequences, Hans Zimmer’s brilliant score, production & costume design.

DIGITAL COPY

THE GREAT ALLIGATOR (4K) and the Rubber Reptile

THE GREAT ALLIGATOR (4K UHD)

1979 / 89 min

FROM SEVERIN FILMS

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat😼

There’s something oddly endearing about The Great Alligator’s titular creature. Though (eventually) chowing down on plenty of tourists, he moves with the agility of a rubber raft. As a matter of fact, in the underwater sequences, he looks a lot like a gator-shaped floaty I once bought for my daughter to play with in the pool.

For obvious budgetary reasons, those scenes are brief, but worth their weight in comedy gold. But that doesn’t necessarily make The Great Alligator a bad movie. Back in the day, Italy seemed to have the Jaws rip-off market cornered with such silly seafare as Tentacles, Great White, Deep Blood, Devil Fish and Cruel Jaws, just to name a few. Compared to some of those, this one is a bloody masterpiece. And at the very least, it doesn’t appear to rely on stock footage or lift existing scenes from someone else’s movie (a common practice among films of this ilk).

In this one, a greedy developer, Joshua (Mel Ferrer), builds a resort hotel smack dab in the middle of an African jungle. This doesn’t sit too well with the local natives, especially when a giant crocodile shows up to enjoy a buffet table of its own. They believe the beast is an angry god resurrected to exact revenge, so they help-out by slaughtering more tourists than the croc does! Taking-on both Joshua and the crocodile are photographer Daniel Nessel (Claudio Cassinelli) and Alice Brandt (Barbara Bach), the latter of whom is mostly on-hand to look pretty and be put in peril.

"I thought I told that gator I'd see him later."

It takes a long time before anything exciting happens, but by the final act, The Great Alligator is fairly entertaining, occasionally at its own expense. Rubber raft reptile notwithstanding, the film is pretty well put together, and considering Italian exploitation’s penchant for gratuitous nudity and gore, it displays a surprising (perhaps disappointing) amount of restraint. If released today, it might even get away with a PG-13 rating. On a related note…why this film is called The Great Alligator when the entire cast refers to the monster as a crocodile remains a mystery. 

This 4K UHD release from Severin Films features pretty decent overall picture quality, though both the English & Italian audio tracks are simple 2.0 mono…serviceable, but nothing spectacular. The accompanying Blu-ray contains both the film and a big batch of entertaining bonus features (mostly interviews). 

EXTRA KIBBLES

4K AND BLU-RAY COPIES

INTERVIEWS - Down By the River (with director Sergio Martino); Minou (with actress Silvia Collatina); Beware of the Gator (with camera operator Claudio Morabito); Later Alligator (with production designer Antonello Geleng); Underwater (with underwater camera operator Gianlorenzo Battaglia).

3 FRIENDS AND AN ALLIGATOR - A fun feature with cinematographer Giancarlo Ferrando, production designer Antonello Geleng & FX supervisor Paolo Ricci, who brings out what’s left of the miniature gator he made for the film.

PARADISE HOUSE: CHRISTIANITY AND THE NATURAL WORLD IN THE GREAT ALLIGATOR - An interesting video essay by author Lee Gambin, who attaches a lot more seriousness to the film than anyone else will.

ALLIGATOR LAND - Production drawings.

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ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (4K): Leone's Greatest...for Now

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (4K UHD)

1968 / 166 min

FROM PARAMOUNT

Review by Mr. Paws😸

I’m always torn over which is Sergio Leone’s greatest western, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or Once Upon a Time in the West. The former is his most iconic…exciting, funny and arguably the most groundbreaking revisionist western ever made. Conversely, the latter features the director at his most epic, artistic and cinematic…sweeping in scope and featuring his most complex characters.  

More often than not, I’m convinced whichever one I’m watching at the time is the greatest, and since I’m currently revisiting 1968’s Once Upon a Time in the West in 4K, guess what…

Even today, there’s so much to love about this film…the masterfully slow-burning opening sequence, Ennio Morricone’s evocative & haunting score, the panoramic cinematography, the beautiful Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson at his most engaging and, of course, one of the most memorable villains in movie history, played by a guy we’d least expect.

To me, the best moment in this film is when it’s slowly revealed that the man who just gunned down an entire family in cold blood - smiling gently at one of the kids just before pulling the trigger on him - is none other than perennial good guy Henry Fonda. What a shock it must have been for audiences to see that for the first time, and even today, it’s a disturbingly effective scene. Most importantly, Fonda nails it. 

In the film, former prostitute Jill McBain (Cardinale) arrives in Flagstaff to join her new husband, only to find he and his children have all been massacred by sadistic killer Frank (Fonda), hired by a railroad tycoon to scare the McBains off their land. While a local thug named Cheyenne (Jason Robards) is wrongly accused of the murders, an enigmatic, harmonica-tooting stranger (Charles Bronson) shows up, taking a special interest in Frank's doings, as well as the newly widowed Jill's plight.

Chuck catches a ladybug.

But the plot is really secondary to the aesthetic and the complexities of his four main characters (something of a first in a Leone western). With the exception of Frank's character, we are seldom sure of their true natures. Is it greed that motivates them, or something else? While the film often indulges Leone's operatic excesses (in a good way), Once Upon a Time in the West is probably his most intimate and character-driven movie, in addition to being simply great to look at. 

The performances he gets out of his cast are all outstanding. Again, Fonda's a revelation, while Robards has all the best dialogue. Upon seeing this film again, though, I am stricken by how effective Bronson is as Harmonica. Chuck's never been renowned for his dramatic range, but his style, expressions and demeanor suit this ambiguous character perfectly. It's hard to imagine anyone else in the role.

With Once Upon a Time in the West, director Sergio Leone does with the western genre what only a few others have...raise it to a level of high art. He pays homage to virtually every western that ever mattered while consistently confounding the viewer's expectations. 

Is it the director’s best? Right now, it is (at least until I revisit The Good, the Bad and the Ugly again), and certainly a worthy addition to the ongoing Paramount Presents series (#44, for those of you keeping score). Another long-overdue 4K release, the picture quality is quite good, with only occasional segments that appear a bit questionable (a few background or wide angle shots here and there), while the DTS-HD Master Audio track (for both the 4K & Blu-ray discs) sounds excellent.  A 2.0 mono track is also included.

As for the bonus material…in addition to some substantial older features (outlined below), this one includes a new audio commentary, a brief appreciation by critic Leonard Maltin and a nifty slipcover that opens to reveal the original American one-sheet. Overall, this is a decent upgrade from previous Blu-ray and DVD releases. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

4K, BLU-RAY & DIGITAL COPIES

FILMMAKER FOCUS - A brief appreciation by Leonard Maltin.

2 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By the host of the Spaghetti Western podcast (NEW); 2) Featuring directors John Carpenter, John Milius & Alex Cox, historians Christopher Frayling & Dr. Sheldon Hall, various cast & crew.

FEATURETTES - An Opera of Violence; The Wages of Sin; Something to Do with Death; Railroad - Revolutionizing the West.

LOCATIONS THEN & NOW - Photo Gallery

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DEVIL’S DOORWAY and Some Ironic Casting

DEVIL’S DOORWAY (Blu-ray)

1950 / 84 min

FROM WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😺

I suppose we should first address the elephant in the room. Devil’s Doorway was one of the earliest westerns depicting bigotry and injustices inflicted on indigenous people, yet its Native-American main protagonist is still played by a middle-aged white guy. For such a thematically empathetic film, I find that a little ironic.

Not that star Robert Taylor does a bad job in the role of Lance Poole, a decorated soldier returning home after the Civil War only to face losing his land due to the Homestead Act (which forbids Native-Americans from owning land). As usual, he delivers an earnest, dedicated performance. But in terms of both race and age, he’s simply the wrong guy for the job.

Still, it’s a good enough film that we can (mostly) overlook such a dubious casting choice. Much of that is due to director Anthony Mann and screenwriter Guy Trosper’s serious & sympathetic handling of the subject matter. Mann has visited themes of Indigenous injustice in other westerns, but never quite like this, painting a damning picture. 

A Man Called Horsey.

Hence, Devil’s Doorway is a pretty downbeat western for its time (as it should be), never putting the viewer at ease with the promise of a rosy ending. The film also benefits from a few interesting key supporting characters, such as Orrie Masters (Paula Raymond), an idealistic but conflicted young lawyer who takes Poole’s case when he fights for the right to keep his family’s land from greedy white ranchers. The movie also has a doozy of a villain in Verne Coolan (Louis Calhern), a smug, conniving and manipulative lawyer who incites the locals to violently try and claim Poole’s land, leading to an exciting climactic showdown. 

While we may not necessarily buy Taylor as a tribal leader, Devil’s Doorway is a unique, little-seen western that serves up action and relevant themes in equal measures. It’s not the most uplifting movie on Earth, but certainly deserves to be rediscovered.

EXTRA KIBBLES

2 CARTOON SHORTS - “The Chump Champ” & “Cue Ball Cat.”

TRAILER

THE POOP SCOOP: Monsters & Mayhem Edition

🐵GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE on Digital May 14, and 4K, Blu-ray & DVD June 11 from Warner Bros. Discovery.

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own.  The epic new film delves further into the histories of these Titans, their origins, and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humanity forever. Additionally, a 5-film collection celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Monsterverse will be available on 4K UHD disc this summer.  The 6-disc collector’s edition will include Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), along with a disc of special features including the new “Directors of the Monsterverse” featurette with Monsterverse directors Gareth Edwards, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Michael Doughtery and Adam Wingard.

 

😺ANGEL HAS FALLEN Coming to 4K + Blu-ray SteelBook July 2 from Lionsgate.

Morgan Freeman and Gerard Butler star in the political action-thriller Angel Has Fallen, arriving on SteelBook July 2 from Lionsgate. The third installment of the Has Fallen film series following Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen, the film follows a Secret Service agent as he races against time to clear his name after being framed for an assassination attempt on the President of the United States (Freeman). Angel Has Fallen will only be available at Walmart on 4K + Blu-ray SteelBook. When there is an assassination attempt on U.S. President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman), his trusted confidant, Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), is wrongfully accused and taken into custody. After escaping from capture, he becomes a man on the run and must evade his own agency and outsmart the FBI in order to find the real threat to the president. Desperate to uncover the truth, Banning turns to unlikely allies to help clear his name, keep his family from harm, and save the country from imminent danger. 

😺ESCAPE PLAN Trilogy Coming to Blu-ray + DVD SteelBook July 2 from Lionsgate.

The Escape Plan franchise stars Oscar nominee Sylvester Stallone as Ray Breslin, one of the world’s foremost security analysts who helps design the most protected and fortified prisons – and finds their security flaws by breaking out of them.  With a supporting cast that includes Dave Bautista, Jim Caviezel, Vincent D’Onofrio, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, these high-octane action-thrillers are full of explosive fights, high-tech intrigue, and edge-of-your-seat escapes. Follow Ray Breslin, an expert at infiltrating and breaking out of prisons, when the Escape Plan Triple Feature surrenders exclusively at Walmart on Blu-ray + DVD + Digital SteelBook.

😺Cult Classic, THE GUYVER starring Mark Hamill Arriving on 4K, Blu-ray & DVD on June 25 from Unearth Films.

On June 25th, Unearthed Films brings the Sci-Fi/Fantasy classic The Guyver, starring Mark Hamill, to Limited Collector’s Edition 4K UHD and Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for the first time. Each edition features a new 4K restoration packed with bonus materials. When college student Sean Barker (Jack Armstrong) finds the Guyver, an alien device that transforms him into a cyborg fighting machine, he inadvertently makes himself a target of the evil Chronos Corporation, who will stop at nothing to get the Guvyer back, including kidnapping Sean’s girlfriend Mizuki (Vivian Wu). Sean’s only hope is a mysterious CIA agent named Max Reed (Mark Hamill). Together they fight to save Mizuki, keep the Guyver out of Chronos’ hands and stop their ultimate goal of world domination. Directed by Screaming Mad George (Freaked) and Steve Wang (Drive) and produced by Brian Yuzna (Re-Animator, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) The Guyver is an epic superhero action adventure that you won’t soon forget. The 4K UHD + Blu-ray + CD Soundtrack Limited Collector’s Edition includes new commentary with co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, a new interview with producer Brian Yuzna and co-director Screaming Mad George, outtakes with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, a new gag reel, a new production and artwork gallery, an alternate title sequence, trailers, and The Guyver soundtrack, composed by Matthew Morse.

HARDWARE WARS: One of the First Star Wars Parodies

HARDWARE WARS (Blu-ray)

1978 / 13 min

FROM MVD VISUAL

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😼

This might be the most comprehensive Blu-ray dedicated to a 15 minute movie since Flicker Alley’s A Trip to the Moon. If only it included just a tad bit more.

For those unaware, Hardware Wars made its rounds on the festival circuit in the late ‘70s-early ‘80s. As the first notable Star Wars parody, this short film developed a considerable cult following over the years. Presented as an extended trailer, most of the humor stems from the use of household appliances in place of spaceships, weapons and robots, with deliberately cheap production values and special effects (decades before everyone started doing it on YouTube).

Whether or not any of it is actually funny is obviously subjective, so I won’t go there. What I will say, however, is that this Blu-ray serves two useful purposes. First, it offers both the original and remastered versions of the film. The original is preceded by a disclaimer stating that due to “the poor handling of the camera during the editing process,” the damage done to the original print has been preserved. If nothing else, you get the movie exactly as it looked in 1978…in all its 16mm glory.

Still better than The Phantom Menace.

Second, the disc pretty much collects Ernie Fosselius’ entire filmography as a director, with Porklips Now and Plan 9.1 from Outer Space included as bonus features. Porklips is arguably Fosselius’ funniest film and a more clever parody of its subject (Apocalypse Now) than Hardware Wars. 

Being the stuff of (semi) legend, one might think a little more substantial supplemental material would be fitting. The included batch of goofy bonus features is fine, but certainly a little more behind-the-scenes history would’ve made it indispensable. Still, this Blu-ray contains a ton of other stuff fans should enjoy and is nicely packaged, including a slipcover resembling artwork from the old clamshell VHS box, when it was released by Warner Brothers as Hardware Wars and Other Film Farces. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

2012 REMASTERED VERSION

“DIRECTOR’S CUT” - Shorter, equally irreverent and includes a few outtakes. Cameo by a kitty!

“FOREIGN” VERSION - It’s a joke, of course.

HARDWARE WARS SAVES CHRISTMAS 

HARDWARE WARS PREQUEL - This is actually a parody of Antiques Roadshow…and pretty funny.

PORKLIPS NOW - Ernie Fosselius’ lesser-known - but much funnier - parody of Apocalypse Now.

PLAN 9.1 FROM OUTER SPACE - Another parody…with puppets.

1978 CREATURE FEATURES INTERVIEW - Off-the-wall interview by director Enrne Fosselius.

AWARDS REEL

AUDIO COMMENTARY - An amusing commentary by Ernie Fosselius.

MINI POSTER