So in the first trailer for Denis Villeneuve's Dune Part 2, we got brief looks at a lot of
iconic moments in the film.
We got the extended scenes with the harkonnens and Feyd Rautha
on Geidi Primi.
We got scenes with Paul and the Fremen, including that of Timothee Chalamet's character attempting
to ride a sandworm.
And we got teases of the culminating crysknife battle between both Paul and Feyd.
And while some of what was shown hints at whats to come in the ending parts of the film,
we haven't really seen too much more of the Battle of Arrakeen,
the final battle that will be adapted in the second part.
So thinking about how its detailed in the book and how Denis is approaching his adaptation
as a whole, I'm going to be discussing how the filmmaker might take on
that final battle in the ending of Dune Part 2.
There will be spoilers from the book in this breakdown, so if you haven't read Frank Herbert's
novel yet or you don't want to know some of the details from the back part of the story,
then I'd recommend watching this at a later time.
Before I get into it though, if you want to keep up to date on any of my content surrounding
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But without further a do, lets dive into the Battle of Arrakeen in Dune Part 2.
So the Battle of Arrakeen is arguably one of the most anticipated moments in Denis Villeneuve's
upcoming film.
It will detail the climactic events where Paul and the Fremen seek for
vengeance against both the Harkonnen forces and the Empire for control of Arrakis, its
trade and the people there.
While the scenes will likely feature some of the most relentless
action from a Villeneuve film, what's more interesting about some of these ending segments
is a potential look at the Emperor played by Christopher Walken, as he finally arrives
on the planet during that battle.
And on top of this, if we are indeed getting a faithful adaptation of the sequences, there
will also be a unique viewpoint of this very battle, and an
adaptation of it that fits in line with the central themes.
Now some of the final shots in the Dune Part 2 trailer showcase Paul and his assembled
Fremen ready to fight the Harkonnens, and this follows the moments where he trains
them in the weirding way, allowing for the formation of highly-skilled warriors known
as the Fedaykin.
But we haven't seen much of what comes after, and that of course includes the
Battle that takes place.
So to begin with, I'm going to be briefly describing what takes place in the Battle
Of Arrakeen, so that we can then think about how this might be depicted
on the big screen both through filmmaking and through point of view.
At the begining of that battle in Frank Herbert's novel, the Emperor, Baron Harkonnen and the
Sardaukar arrive on ships that land behind the shield wall of Arrakeen.
With a sandstorm approaching the city, Paul, Gurney Halleck
and Stilgar wait for the right moment to break through the shield walls with atomic weapons
and while they do so the Fremen destroy parts of
the enemies ships so that they cannot escape the fury that awaits them.
What follows is a quick and relentless assault against their combined forces.
The Fremen attack the Sardaukar and that compels the people of Arrakis to also
join the fight against the empire.
Before Gurney blows up the shield, and Paul and his Fedaykin prepare for battle, they
do recieve a message from Sietch Tabr, one that notifies them of
a raid, where many were killed, including Paul's son Leto.
On top this, we learn that Paul's sister Alia Atreides was captured and this
becomes part of the plan that the Emperor, the Baron, Feyd-Rautha and Rabban construt
to hold off the assault.
However their intimidation tactics fall short.
The emperor underestimates Alia's bene Gesserit and now water of life
developed abilities, because while she's with the enemy she's able to can get inside the
mind of the Reverend Mother Helen Mohiam and she also
kills her grandfather, Baron Harkonnen with a gom jabbar.
This is followed by a potential iconic shot in the film of the Fremen approaching the
Emperor and his men on many sandworms, bringing that mentioned fury and defeating
the Sardaukar.
While the battle does end there it also transitions us onto another battle, one that's more focussed
on the drama and politics that we love Dune for.
Paul accepts that he is now the kwisatz haderach, but he's also worries about the potential
Jihad that he's seen in his dreams.
So when Paul, now joined by Chani and Lady Jessica, confronts the Emperor and
his men, he knows that there will be more schemes to stop him.
We learn that the Emperor had given Thuffir Hawat a poisonous needle to use to
kill Paul, and that the Baron had already marked Hawat for death with poison.
However, in an act of sacrifice, Hawat decides not to use the needle, eliminating an opportunity
for the Emperor to kill Paul.
In retaliation, Paul compels those of the Spacing Guild to get the Landsraad ships to
leave, and if that isn't taken care of, he threatens to destroy all spice on
the planet so that they won't have their supply.
They do listen to this and that enrages the Emperor, who now has no support.
But the one hope for him that this does end differently is
that crysknife battle that takes place between Paul and Feyd-Rautha.
Feyd challenges him to duel, one that he accepts, and after overcoming Feyd's cheating, Paul
ends up winning the fight.
In reaction to this, Count Fenring is ordered to kill Paul, but there's a realisation that
Fenring was almost a Kwisatz Haderach himself.
So he refuses and this follows with Paul asking the Emperor for the throne itself.
His negotiation is that he will marry the Emperor's daughter, Princess Irulan, and after
he does so, he still assures Chani that she will be
his true wife, even if the Princess is his royal concubine.
So the novel ends with the battle being won, Paul as the new Emperor of the known universe
and as the kwisatz haderach.
While this is seen as an abrupt ending it's one
that also leaves us with all the questions surrounding that mentioned Jihad that Paul
worries about.
So now that we've briefly detailed the final battle, how might the filmmaker approach bringing
it to the big screen.
Well like many things in his adaptation so far, I think it's going
to be very faithful in the sense that the action will serve the story and questions
that this ending poses.
An effective action scene is one that serves the narrative, and Denis himself
tends to apply that approach, especially when we think about how he did so in part 1 and
how he's done so in his other sci-fi films like say Blade Runner 2049.
In the book, the battle becomes a powerful moment, and while the whole
sequence is over quite quickly, it describes the relentless force by which Paul and the
Fremen assault Arrakeen.
The whole point of it is to detail them as the unstoppable force that
destroys everything, in turn, becoming a symbol for the jihad that Paul has foreseen and aims
to stop.
In my opinion, the moment shouldn’t be portrayed as one that is heroic and like
in the pages, it should be shorter, more provocative and horrific in its imagery.
We see many epic films and fantasy endings convey the
heroic nature of what's taking place and that of course is right for those particular stories.
But Dune was quite the opposite.
By sticking to it's pages, it can become a more
interesting approach to a final epic battle and one that feels right for this very story.
In the novel, Paul even tries to make things less severe by giving the emperor the chance
to surrender, but the fact of the matter is that
he is not a hero.
He is a symbol for the eventual Jihad and one that takes that destruction even further.
So I do see this sequence being one that isn't commited to the more
lengthy action like in the battles of Lord Of The Rings for example, and rather, one
that like the book is around 10 minutes in length, but
effective at conveying the destructive themes that should be on display.
I see it as a perfect reflection of the siege by the Harkonnens in the first film, but this
time from that reverse perspective.
And speaking about that different perspective, I think that also links into how this might
be shot and what characters we get the point of view from.
Of course we're going to get a lot from Paul and the
Fremen's perspective, but to convey the reverse nature of the destruction on show, I think
we'll see some point of views from the opposite side.
In the book, we do get a POV moment from the Emperor.
So like how in part 1 we got the perspective of multiple Atreides figures like Duke Leto
during that siege, I think we'll see more viewpoints from both the Emperor and
the Harkonnens.
It has been confirmed that part 2 will have a lot more harkonnen scenes throughout the
film, and by giving the audience an intriguing viewpoint from their perspective,
it could really demonstrate the eventual power that Paul and Fremen rise to.
I think during the battle Denis is going to be faithful to
those moments and give us scenes with the Emperor, as just like the audience, he's overwhelmed
by the apocalyptic imagery.
In Dune it was never the action of the battles that made it so
fascinating, it was the planning and reasons for them.
And like when Duke Leto and the Atreides are assaulted by the Harkonnens, the idea of capturing
the underlying plot and messages of that moment in reverse will make this battle
that much more meaningful.
So I think the same can be said about the Battle Of Arrakeen and how it can symbolise
the destuctive path put in place and do so through an interesting
point of view.
And capturing this with a strong combination of Greig Fraser's cinematography, the practical
effects that worked so well in the first film and as a whole, creating a hellish
aesthetic for the scene, it can really elevate the purpose of the whole moment.
Overall, Paul’s ascension to becoming emperor and the Fremen’s regaining of Arrakis is
a complete reversal to what occurs during the events of the novel.
The power structure changes and we are left to wonder how the Fremen’s
culture will change, whether that's transitioning into the easier route of spice mining or following
their leader into space with a bloody Jihad.
The battle of Arrakeen symbolises and sets in motion the change that's coming, and while
it has dark parrallels on what happened previously, it also leaves us with questions
surrounding what this all means.
One of those storytelling reflections is the crysknife battle between Paul and Feyd, which
like in the battle with Jamis at the end of part 1, sets up
a motion of events to follow.
Similar to how the siege and the battle of Arrakeen will have a reflection, I can see
Denis stressing on the reflection between those very knife fights and
essentially signifying the progression of Paul into a messianic figure.
The original fight was that initial step towards this path but this one would hightlight the
apocalyptic fears of his whole transformation.
Obviously what comes next is Paul's ascension to the throne, but there's also a sense of
unknown surrounding what his future actions involve.
By expanding from that final battle, I think Denis will touch
on the central thematic beats of this ending, showing that Paul does not know how he intends
to stop the jihad and that we as an audience do
not know how he aims to bring peace and not war.
In the book he says, “they sense that I must take the throne, but they cannot know
I do it to prevent the jihad.”
Paul hopes to stop the bloody deaths of millions but the relentless
push for revenge in that Batlle and what happens in Dune Messiah is something that only complicates
that debate of a peaceful messianic figure or one of war.
So the whole idea of how the abrupt ending of the novel leaves us on that very question
is something that I think Denis will not be ashamed of adapting faithfully.
It is the somewhat second chapter to a potential Dune trilogy and Messiah will wrap up the
story of Paul Atreides.
The storytelling reversals of Part 2 can really showcase the big
transformational twists with whether Paul and the Fremen will align with peace or fury.
So while the final pages of Dune are filled with fast-moving action and while some say
that the battle and Paul’s ascention is anticlimactic,
the destructive actions that take place, will cement the ideas that part 1 posed.
And the ending of part 2 can also act as a storytelling
twist on many sci fi franchises we've seen in the past or present.
For example, while Star Wars was influenced a lot by Dune, Herbert's story had much more
darker consequences and ones that do mark a change on the convensions of
that type of tale.
These are ones that fit in line with Denis Villeneuve's filmmaking style, and I think
in that sense, the destructive nature of the Battle of Arrakeen, the different
perspectives within the battle, and the questions it raises, can be very effective in conveying
the true meaning of Paul's ascension.
But that was my video discussing how Denis Villeneuve might tackle the Battle of Arrakeen
in Dune Part 2.
With Paul riding a sandworm and the water of life scene, the final battle is
definitely up there when it comes to my most anticipated moments in the film and I'm excited
to see how Denis Villeneuve will visually adapt it.
From what we've seen of the film already, the visuals and cinematography from Greg Freiser
look to be elevating this beyond the scale of part 1, and I can only expect that technically,
they'll be doing some impressive things with the ending.
Most importantly though, the way this final battle will portray the rise of Paul Atreides
from the son of a duke into the kwisatz haderach is what will really propel it.
Hopefully Denis has done something incredible with it and at the end of the day, we won't
have long to wait to see it all on a huge IMAX screen.
But are you excited for the Battle of Arrakeen in Dune Part 2 and how do you think
the director and his team will go about adapting the iconic moments from the book over to the
big screen.
Let me know down below in the comments section.
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