Description: When their ship crash-lands on a remote planet, the marooned passengers soon learn that escaped convict Riddick (Vin Diesel) isn't the only thing they have to fear. Deadly creatures lurk in the shadows, waiting to attack in the dark, and the planet is rapidly plunging into the utter blackness of a total eclipse. With the body count rising, the doomed survivors are forced to turn to Riddick with his eerie eyes to guide them through the darkness to safety. With time running out, there's only one rule: Stay in the light.
Pitch Black is the original sci-fi hit that introduced the world to the character of Riddick, the ultimate anti-hero. Take a ride on the pulse-pounding adrenaline rush that USA Today calls "the best excuse to root for the bad guy since Arnold in the original Terminator."
Amazon.com: Owing a major debt to Alien and its cinematic spawn, Pitch Black is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations. As he did with The Arrival, director David Twohy revitalizes a derivative story, allowing you to forgive its flaws and submit to its visceral thrills. Under casual scrutiny, the plot's logic crumbles like a stale cookie, but it's definitely fun while it lasts.
A spaceship crashes on a desert planet scorched under three suns. The mostly doomed survivors include a resourceful captain (Radha Mitchell), a drug-addled cop (Cole Hauser), and a deadly prisoner (Vin Diesel) who quickly escapes. These clashing personalities discover that the planet is plunging into the darkness of an extended eclipse, and it's populated by hordes of ravenous, razor-fanged beasties that only come out at night. The body count rises, and Pitch Black settles into familiar sci-fi territory.
What sets the movie apart is Twohy's developing visual style, suggesting that this veteran of B-movie schlock may advance to the big leagues. Like the makers of The Blair Witch Project, Twohy understands the frightening power of suggestion; his hungry monsters are better heard than seen (although once seen, they're chillingly effective), and Pitch Black gets full value from moments of genuine panic. Best of all, Twohy's got a well-matched cast, with Mitchell (so memorable with Ally Sheedy in High Art) and Diesel (Pvt. Caparzo from Saving Private Ryan) being the standouts. The latter makes the most of his muscle-man role, and his character's development is one more reason this movie works better than it should. --Jeff Shannon
A CHARACTER-DRIVEN THRILL RIDE Vin Diesel as the complex, escaped prisoner, Riddick, and Radha Mitchell as Fry are two of the more interesting characters to come along the sci-fi trail in a long time. The camera-work, and action manage to take your mind off the not overly-original script. The beasties are nicely gruesome, and there are plenty of genuinely scary moments in this very enjoyable film.
Great Visual Effects and Camera Work..But Very Unoriginal Plot I recall watching this for the first time when I was 12 or so, and I remember liking it; now as an adult I've re-watched it and came to the conclusion that this is a pretty dull movie, an alien/predator rip-off. I don't see anything special about this movie. I do agree that the movie has very descent visual effects and the camera work is superb; all the colors used to show the different sunlight of the planet, from bright orange, to neon blue. But aside from that...I don't see any essentiality in the plot.
And if you are unfamiliar with the plot don't worry, it isn't complicated at all. A commercial spacecraft crash lands on a mysterious and unknown planet; the survivors are trying to figure out what happened, looking for a way to get back home. Along with the survivors is a prisoner named Riddick, he has a special ability to see in the dark, why? Never mentioned. also there are these weird creatures or aliens (however you want to call them) who only came out in the dark, hence the name of the movie "pitch black" since Riddick is the only one capable of seeing in the dark, they need him to survive and find their way home.
Trust me the movie is pathetic, as I mentioned, it has nice visuals; it even has some unpredictable moments, but their short lived. I guess if you are a Vin Diesel fan you can rent it or wait for it to be shown on TV. Though don't buy it, you might regret it.
MY PERSONAL RATING: 2 ½ OUT OF 5
DVD COLLECTION This is one of the many DVD's i wanted in my collection. It was easy to find in Amazon ( as always ) at at my price ( also , as always ) . Its why i always come back to Amazon for all my wants and needs. This is one of the few DVDs that was missing that i had wanted for quite some time. I finally just sat down at my computer, went to Amazon, typed in what i wanted,,,,and wha-la,,,there it was. And its a FABULOUS movie to boot !!
A little above average for a sci fi movie. I wasn't going to review Pitch Black, I bought it back when it came out on DVD. I thought it was..........ok. But I only watched it once. I was bored on Saturday, so I dug it out of my DVD piles this last weekend and watched it again. I don't think my opinion has changed very much.
The FX are very well done, it's just a feeling of been there, done that. That seems to be the case with so many movies, but considering how influential Alien and Aliens were its hard not to draw comparisons. Some of the scenes are just flat out trippy with the different colored worlds. I say Pitch Black deserves three stars just for the visual effects.
As for the script itself, it's just so - so. It's neither here nor there. The monsters are kind of cool but are also so - so. Nothing really new or innovative in the story telling dept. This movie thrives on its visual appeal not so much in the story telling dept.
The acting is fine, considering 90% of the cast is basically monster food. They do ok with the subject material but none of the performances are what I'd consider Oscar worthy.
All in all, it's worth a rental, I've never seen the other two and I'm not really interested enough to bother renting them. The visuals MAKE this movie and I'd love to get a pair of Vin's contacts. LOL. If the whole sci - fi, alien thing is your gig and you're not looking for anything cutting edge or life changing then Pitch Black should be right up your alley. If you're an old, jaded, cynical Alien fan you may want to pass. I recommend Pitch Black for its impressive visuals not its ho hum story line. A recommended rental.
First Riddick Movie Got the three Riddick movies as a gift and watched all three over the weekend. I can't believe I liked them so well. This first movie has beautiful but very bleak desert scenery. The characters are likeable and interesting, especially the Riddick character. Much of the movie takes place in the dark, as the title describes. It is suspenseful and I enjoyed watching it very much. I was sad that most of the characters didn't make it, but overall I found this to be very well done as far as science fiction. I liked it every bit as much as the old alien movies, maybe more.
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