Forget Star Wars, This Is the Best Sci-Fi Epic Ever Made (& I Can Explain Why)

Skip to content Star Wars is still the ultimate sci-fi epic for a lot of people. All it took was one movie to make an impact, and then more followed until it became a big, timeless franchise. And if there’s one thing you can’t deny, it’s really the epic scale, because when the saga began back in 1977, nobody quite knew the power of combining this genre with such an extensive world. Of course, over time, Hollywood learned how to produce plenty of epics that defined generations, but there’s still a difference between doing something just because you can and doing it while fully understanding what you’re doing. So yes, Star Wars sits at the top when it comes to this — or it would have, if it weren’t for another story.

Lately, audiences have been introduced to an epic that manages to combine spectacle, politics, religion, war, and complexity in an even more ambitious and mature way. There have been endless comparisons between it and George Lucas’ saga over the years, but what I find most impressive about it is that, unlike many sci-fi productions, it can also work as a massively accessible blockbuster for audiences around the world. Maybe you’ve already figured out which film I’m talking about, but there’s a reason behind all this impact. This is a production that broke records, won Oscars, attracted a gigantic general audience, got people interested in reading its source material, and created huge anticipation for its sequel.

You don’t even need to have watched Dune: Part Two (or Dune) to understand what a phenomenon it was when it hit theaters in 2024. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the movie continues the story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) after his family is destroyed by the Harkonnens and he begins living among the Fremen on Arrakis. Alongside Chani (Zendaya) and Stilgar (Javier Bardem), Paul starts becoming part of the desert people’s culture while preparing to face those responsible for the fall of his house. At the same time, his visions of the future show that the coming war could have consequences far beyond a simple fight for control. On a basic level, this is the premise of pretty much any great epic, but there’s something different here that makes it much more impressive.

Unlike many stories we see out there, the film completely understands how dangerous this whole setup can be, since Paul isn’t just becoming a hero — he’s becoming a messianic figure. While the first installment puts him in a much more comfortable position, closer to the heroic protagonist who has to grow because of everything happening around him, the second never lets you forget there’s a difference between being seen as a savior and actually being one. And this isn’t just a choice made by Villeneuve, as Frank Herbert’s books were built around this idea in the first place. What the filmmaker does, however, is refuse to adapt everything in a traditional way or soften this aspect. Instead, he puts that uncomfortable side front and center. There’s tension because Paul’s victory could only be the beginning of something much worse.

And that’s exactly where Dune: Part Two has the advantage that makes it better than Star Wars. In the latter, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is the Chosen One, but his entire arc is tragic, with the impact of his political and social choices being softened along the way, which is why he eventually gets a redemption arc. With Paul, things go much deeper — and real. There’s no way to soften what happens (and Dune: Part Three will make this even more obvious), because we’re dealing with someone who deliberately chooses a very dark path, with several deaths carried out in his name due to religious fanaticism, the manipulation of an entire population, and the transformation of a prophecy into a tool of power. You can still understand some of his motivations, but the way the story is constructed never exactly makes you root for him all the way to the end.

But then how do we explain the audience’s fascination with the movie? After all, I’m talking about a highly complex sci-fi story that managed to attract an enormous audience and make around $715 million worldwide at the box office (and that’s no small achievement). Well, part of it comes from the way it breaks away from the conventional, and Dune: Part Two does that in a very smart way. When the movie begins, you still want Paul to get his revenge; you want to see him defeat the Harkonnens; you want to see him be accepted by the Fremen; you want to see him win. So, it follows the kind of rise you would normally expect from this type of story, but little by little, the way that rise is presented changes the meaning of all those victories. By the end, what you really want is to find out just how far a human being can go and what happens because of the choices they make.

On top of that, the entire world is designed to complement and reinforce the plot instead of just making everything look bigger, which is something you don’t see very often in other sci-fi movies (especially Star Wars). Arrakis, for example, is a planet that influences absolutely everything: the lack of water determined the Fremen’s culture, the desert shapes the way they live, the sandworms are a fundamental part of the mythology, and even the way the characters move through the environment is designed to show that they truly belong there. The world-building is more elaborate and carries an incredible amount of weight.

And, of course, you can’t ignore the direction either, since that’s what helps establish the scale of everything and makes you feel immersed in the universe from the very first seconds. The best example is when Paul finally rides a sandworm. But I imagine you might still be comparing Villeneuve with Lucas, right? Well, there are Star Wars fans who could argue that its creator wasn’t necessarily the strongest director, but in general, the legacy of the saga is still strong enough to make people question whether Dune can actually surpass it. I understand that, but the thing is that influence and quality aren’t the same thing.

We’ve already mentioned Anakin’s arc, but there are other things that make Dune come out on top, and here I’m going to set aside the fact that it came before Lucas’ universe, because while that may seem like a reasonable argument to debate (especially given the long-running discussion about Dune inspiring Star Wars), I think it’s more interesting to look at what each work does with its own ideas and how those ideas are developed within their respective stories.

Both have very specific identities and explore elements of adventure, war, romance, and sci-fi. The aesthetics are different, the pacing is different, and even the action scenes work differently. And no, there’s absolutely no doubt that Star Wars is one of the most important works in the history of cinema (trying to diminish that would be ridiculous), but while it established a language for the space epic, Dune: Part Two showed just how much further that language can be taken.

Plus, it doesn’t stick to the same classic hero-versus-villain structure since its conflicts are much harder to separate: the Harkonnens are obviously monstrous, but defeating them doesn’t solve the problem, just as the Emperor is responsible for extreme decisions, but taking him down doesn’t mean an entire system of power will disappear. And Paul may be the person capable of destroying his enemies, but that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily the person who should be given absolute power. Do you see the level of complexity that Star Wars simply doesn’t reach to the same extent?

Besides, there’s no way to talk about Dune: Part Two without praising its ending, which makes the whole experience even better. If this were a more conventional epic, after everything Paul went through, you could imagine a completely triumphant conclusion, right? He defeats his enemies, gains a position of power, and gets what seemed destined for him from the very beginning. But you don’t really see it as a victory, because from that point on, the protagonist is setting an overwhelming war in his name into motion. The fact that he even gives Chani a sad look before she decides to leave only reinforces that feeling, so you leave the movie impressed by the spectacle, but also thinking about its larger message. In Star Wars, when Luke beats the Empire, for example, do you get that same feeling? No. Also, it’s incredibly difficult to top the scene that brings everything to this ending:

It’s hard to think of many great sci-fi stories that manage to balance so many ideas without losing the audience in the process. What I’m saying is that Dune: Part Two is huge, but it isn’t empty. It’s visually magnificent, but it doesn’t rely only on its visuals or on having an entirely distinct and creatively designed universe. It’s a story about war, but it doesn’t treat war as the thing that makes it epic. And it has a plot about power that never tries to tell you that everyone who manages to obtain power deserves to have it. When you look at the complete package, Star Wars just falls short of this franchise.

Dune: Part Two is available to stream on HBO Max.

Do you agree that Dune: Part Two is a better sci-fi epic than Star Wars, or do you think George Lucas’ saga still has the edge? Share your takes in the comments!