History Film / DunePartTwo

* ShoutOut: A rather nice one in the direction of Creator/DavidLynch: After [[spoiler:Baron Vladimir's death, his corpse is left in the desert. A close-up shows insects crawling into his ear - strongly reminiscent of an early scene in Film/BlueVelvet]]

* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:In the end, Paul obtains revenge against the Harkonnens and the Emperor's betrayal, but the cataclysmic Fremen holy war he desperately wanted to prevent still starts, and Chani leaves him in anger when he demands Irulan's hand in marriage.]]

** The movie dramatizes Paul's integration with the Fremen but also excises additional details. Notably, in the book, Paul and Chani had [[spoiler:a son, Leto, who was born during the TimeSkip and who died as a baby just before the climax, when the Harkonnens attack Sietch Tabr]]. The book version of Chani is also the daughter of Liet-Kynes, with Paul noting that their recent paternal losses draw them together. These are dropped from the film.

* SignatureStyle: A minor plot point. While discussing reports of the Fremen Prophet with Mohiam, Irulan recognizes the signs of the Bene Gesserit religious engineering (the Missionaria Protectiva, which, as the first film established, was seeded on various primitive planets to benefit the Sisterhood's long game). Along with the Prophet's unusual Fremen name (Muad'dib AKA "Kangaroo Mouse"), this is how Irulan deduces Paul ''may'' still be alive (as the inference is that only someone connected to the Sisterhood would know how to access and activate that religious engineering -- someone like, say, the son of a Bene Gesserit concubine everyone believed killed in the Harkonnen attack).
* SingleBiomePlanet: As with the first film, Caladan is characterized as a lush, oceanic planet, while Arrakis is entirely desert. What we see of Giedi Prime is all heavily industrialized and colorless, with a "black sun."

* TheBadGuyWins: The film deconstructs and reconstructs this. By the end of the movie [[spoiler: There really isn't a "good guy" on the surface. The Great Houses are in orbit overhead and reject Paul's ascendency to the throne. Paul, in response, sends the Fremen and starts the holy war. Yes, Paul may have gotten his revenge. However, a bad guy (the Baron) was ''replaced'' with a [[FaceHeelTurn bad guy]] (Paul). Jessica tells Mohiam that she "chose the wrong side", to which Mohiam quips, "There are no sides".]]

* BigBad: [[spoiler:Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Mohiam]]. While the Baron was the main villain of the ''Part One'', he was merely a puppet in the entire scheme, as was the Emperor. The plot was [[spoiler:revealed to be orchestrated by Reverend Mother Mohiam and the Bene Gesserit - ''including Jessica'' - playing {{puppet master}} to manipulate the Emperor into destroying House Atreides as part of the larger effort to manipulate bloodlines to produce the Kwisatz Haderach. Both The Baron and Emperor's actions in this film made them more of {{big bad wannabe}}s. In the end, it all goes south for everyone because Paul is out of the Bene Gesserit's control.]]

** Possible example with Creator/ChristopherWalken's role as Shaddam Corrino. Whether it was intentional or not, Walken ''does'' have prior, albeit circuitous, history with the ''Dune'' franchise. Back in 2000, Walken famously danced in the music video for Music/FatboySlim's "Weapon of Choice", which itself had lyrics that referenced the original novel ("If you walk without rhythm, you won't attract the worm..."). Amusingly, Walken's [[https://ew.com/christopher-walken-dune-fatboy-slim-video-weapon-of-choice-connection-8606852? admitted]] he didn't realize the ''Dune'' reference in the lyrics until ''after'' filming Part Two.

* TakeaThirdOption: The Fremen expect (and all but demand) Paul kill Stilgar to take his place as the Naib of his tribe, thus becoming a peer to the other leaders and from there be able to make his play for leadership over all Fremen. Paul who has no desire to kill Stilgar sidesteps the entire argument by publicly reminding everyone HE is the lawful Duke of the planet, embracing the mantle of the Voice from the Outer World and gaining their loyalty to him that way.