Pitch Black (Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut)

Rating:
Summary: Pitch Black, great sci-fi scary movie!
Review: It seemed like a cross between JAWS and Hitchcock's Birds attacking a whole town. I loved it, the monsters were actually frightening! They looked like flying hammerhead sharks, plus they had that "Vampire" flesh which burns in direct sunlight thing going for them that was a nice touch...lol...

All in all I loved the movie and I loved watching everyone panic and get mauled to death. If you're a fan of gore and sci-fi you'll love this movie! I actually saw it in the theaters when it first came out, I hadn't even seen previews for it and didn't expect much, let me just say this is NOT a B movie, the effects were awesome especially the first scene when the ship gets hit by micro-meteorites and starts burning up while entering the atmosphere of this alien desert planet.

Rating:
Summary: hammerhead flying raptors!
Review: This was possibly the worst movie I have ever rented for a dollar. The title should have been 'escape from the velociraptors'. oh, but wait. The raptors can fly too and have hammerheads?! On a desert planet? No way! Try very, very boring. copyright 2000? That's a shame. I'd rather watch 'The lathe of heaven' on dvd with a hot dog up my can for bad low budget sci-fi entertainment. Vin Diesel's worst movie ever.

Rating:
Summary: Superior Science Fiction Action
Review: The first entry in what has been dubbed, a couple of years after "Pitch Black"'s release, the "Chronicles Of Riddick" series, this sci-fi/action/horror hybrid features more of an ensemble cast of characters than its 2004 "Chronicles" theatrical sequel, which focuses almost entirely around Vin Diesel's Riddick character. Here, the other characters take more active roles, though Riddick is still the central figure, a convicted mass killer who it's insinuated, more between the lines than anything, may have more extenuating circumstances in his history than would appear on the surface.

The thrust of the movie is about a deep-sleep passenger spaceship crashlanding on an arid, out-of-the-way planet, stranding Riddick, the bounty hunter who brought him in, and about a dozen other survivors. The world has 3 suns, leaving it in almost perpetual daylight, and it's here that the cinematography and other technical aspects really shine, making the world look quite alien; as the suns make their way across the sky a different light is prominent at different times, casting the world in different colors as time progresses, with the ghostlike all-encompassing 'white' stage most memorable. Even if you're not into the action and the monsters and the rest of the movie, fans who appreciate visual magnificence in cinema have got to see this one just for the sunlight effects on the bone-laden terrain.

It's not Always daylight though; once every 22 years the planets and suns aligh for a prolonged eclipse, at which point come the monsters from under the ground, every bit as ferociously impressive as the title beasts in "Aliens" or "Predator", and almost stealing the show completely if not for the impressive, way-beyond-stereotypical characterizations of the endangered survivors. Great action, superior suspense, top-tier performances (including arguably Diesel's best to date) and innovative special effects set this one up near the top of the pile in the crowded field of sci-fi actioneers. Its only real weakness is a rather heavy reliance on coincidence, which given the aforementioned strengths is certainly tolerable. Chalk it up to fate anyway, given "Chronicles"'s bringing into the flow a heavy dose of fate and destiny anyway. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A fun, disposable sci-fi flick
Review: I'm not a fan of Vin Diesel. His ego has inflated to a size his talent cannot match. He's better off in smaller movies and in smaller roles. I refuse to watch utter crap like xXx or A Man Apart but he's better than average in Pitch Black.

He plays Richard B. Riddick, a convict for massive, infinite crimes that are never defined in the slightest way. This was probably done to add mystery but I say it's bad writing. He's being transported on a spaceship on his way to spacejail but the ship crashes on a desert planet (as the original series of Star Trek proved, most planets are deserts) and he escapes.

But hold on, the planet is just entering an extended eclipse that only happens every 22 years. And when pitch blackness falls upon the nameless rock zillions of hungry bat-type thingies come out of hibernation to gobble-up whoever they can. So guess who the motely crew of survivors call on to help them.

Most of the film is simply going through the motions of killing the characters off one by one and it's nothing new. Sure it distracts one's attention for 110 minutes but it's nothing new or astonishing.

The best thing about the film is the presence of Keith David. Let's be honest, the man is 10 different kinds of cool. And he acts Mr Silly Voice off the screen very easily.

The DVD is in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby/DTS 5.1 sound and a bunch of extras I simply do not care about.