So, after countless DVD international releases of Dune, which DVD version has the best video and audio quality??? I don't care about extras - I just care about the best quality video/audio. For a movie with so many DVD versions, I'm surprised that dvdbeaver hasn't done the comparison yet. Can anyone help me out? Is the newer UK DVD a pretty good version?

I've looked on the search here in DVD talk and all the different Dune dvds are scattered into different postings - still can't really figure out which is the best version to get...

Everything you need to know:

http://www.mindspring.com/~dunestuff/av.html

The French disc is the one you want.

Although he does suggest that there is still not a definitive version of Dune. Some people may have a problem with the PAL speed up.

And you know what that conversation leads to...

After reading that info page, i'm not going to buy either of them.

I wrote that page. Buy the French disc. The improvement is video quality is worth dealing with the PAL speedup.

Universal blew their chance to create a "definitive" edition of the movie. At this point, I seriously doubt we will ever see a release better than the French copy (which is very, very good).

Hmmmph. Watched the new Region 1 this weekend. As reported, the transfer is totally disappointing. And, I was bummed going in because no DTS soundtrack!

Unfortunately, I think the voices on this film constitute the best collection of acting voices you're likely to ever hear. And, as such, I can't bear the PAL speedup on the French disc (which has the best transfer). Guess I'm stuck with this region 1 disc...

If you're handy with DVD authoring tools, the original DVD release in Australia (not the 2-disc SE or the collector's tin, but the very oldest non-anamorphic DVD in that country ---- this one) was an NTSC-to-PAL conversion and had a DTS track that runs in sync with the original NTSC running speed. Unfortunately the disc is also very glitchy and I don't think I've ever gotten it to play all the way through without freeze-ups or skipping.

What exactly does one experience with a Speedup? Things move a bit faster? Is the audio on the French DVD in synch with the lips?

JOSH,
You have an excellent collection, almost second to PRO BASS's...can you tell me how the AKIRA DTS sounds in comparison to the regular 2-disk DD 5.1 version. I haven't found any comparing/contrasting reviews between the two region 1 AKIRA DVDs. I don't want to give up my two-disk AKIRA DVD, because it has some of the greatest extras that I have watched. But how does the audio improve? Big difference, or not such a huge difference. Is the video the same as well?

And also, on the French DUNE DVD, is it definite that the French subtitles can be turned off when watching it with the English audio? I hope it's not like the French DVD of IMMORTAL in which it's imposible to turn off the French subtitles...

I have the R4 Dune DVD that featured the full bitrate DTS track, though my copy plays perfectly,no skipping or anything you mention. I still think that particular track is the best out there for this film. The dated fidelity is still there, but its certainly not as bright as the new R1, DD. Diff is most obvious in the music score between the tracks...

The whole movie is sped up by 4%. Both audio and video remain in sync with one another, but both are faster than the corresponding NTSC edition. The speedup is almost never visible to the human eye, but the pitch of the audio is affected and you can hear it if you're familiar with how voices or music are supposed to sound. Some people are more sensitive to this than others. It's generally a subtle thing and rarely detracts too much from the movie-watching experience, but is a constant flaw that's unavoidable with PAL.

Well, this isn't really an apples-to-apples comparison, because the 2-disc doesn't have a 5.1 track for the original Japanese audio. The English dub is in 5.1, while the Japanese track is in simple 2.0. The DTS disc has only Japanese audio, which of course sounds much, much better than the 2.0 track on the other disc.

The video is exactly the same on both discs. Terrible edge enhancement, probably the worst I've ever seen.

The disc defaults to subtitles on, but they can definitely be turned off with your remote. They are not forced like many French DVDs.