Frank Herbert's Dune (2000)

[Doctor M]

Considered by many to be the weaker interpretation of Frank Herbert's novel, the miniseries is, to date, the most faithful. (I don't want to start a discussion of the upcoming movie, but I do not have high hopes for it based on publicity and early reviews (and the lack of greenlighting for parts 2 and 3(?)).)

TV budget aside, I think most issues that fans of the books have with this version were resolved in the extended cut that wasn't widely seen.

The U.S. DVDs are out of print, and the international Blu-ray releases are of the broadcast(ish) version and full of technical issues.

Additionally, there is the problem that this was filmed on 35mm, but the effects were finished in standard definition. (I can't remember where I read that originally.)

On HDBits there is a hybrid edit of the BD sources by DON:

German Blu-ray has worse picture quality but it has English intro and credits and also 24 fps audio.
So I used intro, credits and audio from German Blu-ray and the rest of video from French Blu-ray.
There's few lines of hardcoded subtitles in both video tracks, French subtitles are lot smaller
so I used those and added forced subtitles.
Source has a lot of aliasing, but that's gone when resized to 720p. Fixed dirty lines on the left and right.
Few scenes are cut in both Blu-rays when compared to DC NTSC DVD.
They are: 4 scenes were shortened (4 min 40 sec) in Part 1 (cut dialog) and 1 scene (37 sec) in Part 2 (cut dialog). Part 3 wasn't cut.

So it sounds like a nearly director's cut version, but I did notice the runtimes are weird.
Part 1 is 2-3 minutes shorter, Part 2 is 2-3 minutes longer and Part 3 is 2 minutes longer than the DC DVD.

A user named Esmerillon on MySpleen has stated that:

If memory serves, the length discrepancy may be the result of a framerate conversion issue. That is, the German Blu-ray may be slightly slower and pitched slightly lower than it ought to be ... a sort of reverse "PAL speed-up" effect.

Sigh, so the old OOP DVD is currently the best version.
I have no problem with BD's being downscaled and DVD's upscaled to make an ideal 720p version, but it sounds like this is more than a simple project when I initially considered tackling it myself.

Edit: Besides, no other movie can yet claim to have sequels covering books 2 and 3. With a young James McAvoy no less.

[Bigrob]

the only release of Dune (2000) i trust is the Director's Cut 3 disc version. I have the Aussie BD but have no idea what version that is to be honest. The German one is apparently missing scenes and no idea what the subtitle situation is on any release.

[Doctor M]

I don't understand all the changes in the different releases, or why Syfy hasn't cashed in on the new movie's publicity.
The David Lynch film is getting a big refresh. Heck, Koch Media is going really big and claims there will be a 3rd unnamed cut in the box set.

Yet not a single physical version in the U.S.? Is there even a streaming service with it?

[Johnny-5]

The IMDb alternate versions page has quite a bit of info: Dune (TV Mini Series 2000) - Alternate Versions - IMDb

This thread on Blu-ray.com delves into the different versions: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=334335

Here's some details and caps from the French Blu-ray: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php...ost8869525

The UK release seems to be pretty poor and people have recommended the German release instead, which seems to be pretty well reviewed, especially in comparison to the French release. Which is odd, since according to the post you quoted, the French Blu-ray is better.
Would be nice to see caps from the German Blu-ray to compare them.

[Johnny-5]

Is there even a streaming service with it?

Not according to JustWatch.

[HippieDalek]

I'm a great fan of the mini series; it came out not long after I read the novels and it closely matched the images from my head. It could certainly be better but I much prefer it to the lacklustre Lynch film. Very much looking forward to the new film but I've got to wait another month before it comes out here.

I've owned the UK DVD, US Director's Cut DVD and recently I picked up the German Blu Rays of both series. My understanding is that the German Blu Ray currently has the best picture quality. My understanding is that the Australian and French Blu Rays are 50i (25p - PAL speedup) while the German Blu Ray is 24p (native speed). I have heard that the recent UK Blu Ray release is awful but haven't seen it myself, though apparently it's just been re-issued so perhaps they improved it? Apparently the UK Blu Ray of Children of Dune is ok.

Note that while the German Blu Ray has the best picture quality, the two instances of subtitled dialogue in episode 1 are burned in and in German. Doesn't bother me too much as the point of those two scenes is that Jessica can speak the native language, what she is actually saying is less imported (plus I can muddle through on my old high school German), but your mileage may vary. Children of Dune has burned in English subtitles for the "hand talking" scenes and they are covered up by player generated subtitles. These subtitles can be turned off on any player so the German Blu Ray for Children of Dune is perfectly English language friendly (assuming you can navigate the German menus).

When it comes to the Dune mini series I think there are four versions:

US TV Version - Heavily edited and censored. This version was released on US DVD back in the day, I borrowed it from a friend.
International TV Version - Uncensored and longer, but a couple of dialogue scenes were trimmed. This version is on most DVDs and I believe all Blu Rays.
UK TV Version - The same as the International version but episode 1 has a neck break censored. Released on UK DVD, not sure about the current Blu Ray.
US Director's Cut - For the most part this is the International version but with the trimmed scenes restored to their full length. I think one scene in episode 2 uses an alternate take with more dialogue than any other versions. Opening credits have been removed from parts 2 and 3, and the closing credits have been removed from parts 1 and 2, making it more like a continuous film with "Part" titles displayed on screen instead. Released only on US DVD.

The US Director's Cut is the longest and most complete version, but you don't lose much by "settling" for the International version. Most of the differences between the two come down to first half of episode 1.

I had hoped with the new film coming out that the Director's Cut would get a Blu Ray release but doesn't look like it's happening any time soon.

As has already been said the series was shot on film, but all special effects were completed at SD. Children of Dune was similar except that the effects were finished at 720p instead. The CGI looks a bit rough, but to be honest it looks just like it did when it was first shown in 2000. I think the series as shown on German Blu Ray is the best it can look.

[Bigrob]

I think another little nugget of info is the fact that this was shot by Vittorio Storaro using his beloved Univisium process so there is probably a AR 2.00:1 version out there that is needing to be seen

[Doctor M]

It's easy enough to get individual screenshots from the different releases. Unfortunately, I haven't found a comparison between the discs of the same screenshots.

[HippieDalek]

I think another little nugget of info is the fact that this was shot by Vittorio Storaro using his beloved Univisium process so there is probably a AR 2.00:1 version out there that is needing to be seen

From what I've heard it was shot at 2.00:1, but edited at 1.78:1. Maybe if the new film creates a "Dune Boom" they could be convinced to go back to the original negatives and make a Univisium version with updated effects...we can dream

[HippieDalek]

It's easy enough to get individual screenshots from the different releases.  Unfortunately, I haven't found a comparison between the discs of the same screenshots.

Happy to provide screenshots of the two versions I own; US Director's Cut DVD and German Blu Ray.