“The Dune Towers”

M.G. Siegler, writing about the new movie Dune: Part Two, for his new-ish newsletter/blog Spyglass:

“The key point though: it’s beyond a worthy sequel and something you absolutely must see in theaters. Preferably on IMAX. At least once.”

I’m looking forward to doing just that. Sadly, I was late to buying tickets, and the IMAX theater with the 70mm screen was booked solid, unless I wanted to sit in the front row (I didn’t). So, I’m not seeing it until March 12th.

“One more thing: having just watched Dune: Part 1 on Vision Pro leading up to the new movie and now having seen Part 2 on a massive IMAX screen (yes, 70mm), I stand by my assessment that Vision Pro is better in some ways as a viewing experience. I know this sounds sort of nuts. But you literally can have the best seat in the house, always with the device. And you can completely tailor it as you see fit. The 3D element is no longer a gimmick either. You feel like you’re inside of Dune in the Vision Pro.”

I agree generally, although I still have not come around to 3D movies—the kind shown in theaters, but now consumed in the Vision Pro, not the immersive 3D experiences specifically created for such a device, which are great. I recently watched Edge of Tomorrow ★★★★☆ both in the Vision Pro and my home theater, and had similar feelings to when I did the same with Dune: Part One.

The key difference was that I watched it in 3D in the Vision Pro, the first time I watched a complete movie that I was already very familiar with that way. I still don’t like that the “3D” really comes across as having three-ish planes (foreground, middle, and background), and objects are only in one of those depths, rather than having true depth. The effect tends to bring me out of the movie, rather than make it more immersive. It looks better than in the theaters, where it’s too dark, but it still isn’t compelling.

I also find camera shake—when the director deliberately allows the watcher’s viewpoint to be unstable to impart a feeling of stress or excitement (or to hide bad fight scene choreography)—to be especially uncomfortable in 3D.

“With IMAX, all of your senses are under assault – notably, hearing, which is a huge advantage over Vision Pro, of course. And the communal element adds a unique layer at times. Both experiences are great and serve a purpose. But I’m just shocked at how good Vision Pro is as the ultimate individual viewing experience.”

Just as I said in my Dune comments: The Vision Pro really needs a way to play its audio through external sources. Reading this, though, I’m really looking forward to having all of my senses “under assault” seeing Dune Part Two in IMAX.