Pitch Black

Nexus6

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I'm a huge science fiction fan, and one movie I somehow missed this past decade was the Australian film 'Pitch Black'. Finally got it from Netflix thinking it would be a good October/Halloween movie, and I was actually rather impressed. It's an Alien clone to be sure, but a good one. Also, there's a touch of the Arnold/Rambo style reluctant hero with Vin Diesel's 'Riddick' character. The gritty and edgy production reminded me a lot of that other famous Aussie scifi series, 'The Road Warrior'. The movie started out with one of the best crash landing sequences I've ever seen, and it will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat. At first I thought the 'brevet' Captain (Rhada Mitchell) was too young, but she actually came off quite likeable and competent, but at the same time believable and fallible. It was also interesting seeing Keith David in the cast, as some of you may recall him from another great scifi horror film, John Carpenter's 'The Thing'. Additionally, it was great seeing Claudia Black from Farscape, though they killed her off maybe a bit too soon. Anyway, the ending was sort of bittersweet but still mostly satisfying. I would definitely recommend the film for your Halloween viewing.

Speaking of John Carpenter, I need to watch 'The Ghosts of Mars' again. I thought that was a rather underrated movie by Carpenter.
 
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Scott Tortorice

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Pitch Black was a good sci-fi movie. Even the sequel, Riddick, was decent but unfortunately suffered from an over-ambitious plot that tried to cram too many sub-plots into its run time and, in the end, resolved nothing. However, I hope they revisit it some day (Riddick was supposed to be part 1 of a trilogy) because the Riddick galaxy is an interesting one with lots of refreshing ideas and settings. In fact, I think that is another reason why Riddick didn't do well in the theaters - it bore no resemblance to the standard Star Wars / Star Trek template.
 

Dr Zaius

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This was a solid B- in my book. I liked the look of the planet and there were times when scenes built up to an excellent climax. But overall it seemed to become just a bit too predictable as the film progressed. I also didn't like how Riddick morphed into an superhero toward the end and the chick was killed off without any real purpose.

This one was decent and I would watch it again, but it could have been really memorable with just a few key adjustments.
 

Nexus6

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That's good Scott: "It bore no resemblance to the Star Trek/Star Wars template." lol Yes, the film's edginess was one of the things I liked most about it. Again, I was reminded of the Road Warrior series. For some reason I was thinking it was a first movie in a trilogy. So you're saying that there are only two? BTW, I saw on IMDB that Claudia Black does the voice for the witch Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins. Another reason for me to get it. ;)

The good Dr. Zaius ;) - Although I thought you were maybe being a bit hard on the movie, I do agree that Rhada Mitchell getting killed off at the end was a bummer and left me with a 'wtf' feeling. I dunno, having never seen Vin Diesel before, I wasn't expecting much, but thought that he played the reluctant hero part rather well. Not a great character, but a good one. Certainly no worse than Arnold or Bruce Willis. Anyway, 'Space Odyssey' or 'Blade Runner' it was not, but I still found it very entertaining.

As an aside, another thing that really appealed to me about Pitch Black was the strong female lead. In a similar vain, I loved Natasha Henstridge's straight-laced military officer playing off against the New York City 'home boy' Ice Cube in Ghosts of Mars. They were a great odd couple.
 
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Morbii

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I was quite lucky enough to be pretty film-savvy back in the day and caught this one in the theater. Quite liked it, but I'd definitely skip out on the sequel (and most likely the upcoming part two of said sequel).
 

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Nexus, good greif man how could you have missed this one? I really liked it, even though there were moments when it devolved to b movie corn, I still thought it was great. Corn can be a good thing sometimes. I also must confess that I liked the sequel. I'm sure it was nothing like what the producers had hoped it would be, and again, more corn than a Nebraska farm, but I still enjoyed it. What the heck, I'm a simple man and sometimes just want to be entertained without having to think to much about what is really going on with person "A" and their interaction with person "B" etc... These are those type of films. I think they're fun and entertaining. Could they have been more, I'm not so sure. Will I see the sequel(s), heck yeah.
 

Scott Tortorice

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First poster released!

First poster for RIDDICK

The latest chapter of the groundbreaking saga that began with 2000′s hit sci-fi film Pitch Black and 2004′s The Chronicles of Riddick reunites writer/director David Twohy (A Perfect Getaway, The Fugitive) and star Vin Diesel (the Fast and Furious franchise, xXx). Diesel reprises his role as the antihero Riddick, a dangerous, escaped convict wanted by every bounty hunter in the known galaxy.

The infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he’s encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty.

The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won’t leave the planet without Riddick’s head as their trophy.
Sounds good! I already like it better than Prometheus. :rolleyes:
 

prymus

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Hope you like it, It is one of the few movies I'll watch more than once.
 
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Good si fi movie, Vin Diesel was great as riddick, he played in SPR too ... would've been nice if he'd got to do the knife fight scene with ss guy at the end of the movie.
 

Nexus6

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Yeah, Pitch Black definitely kept me entertained. I think what I liked best about it was all those quirky and bizarre touches that reminded me of the Mad Max series. Also, Vin Diesel's comment about God was priceless! :laugh:
 
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