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Pitch Black [2000]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Pitch Black is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations, even though it owes a major debt to Alien and its cinematic spawn. As he did with The Arrival, director David Twohy revitalises 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 straight-to-video 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 film works better than it should. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Editorial
Synopsis

A spacecraft carrying an assortment of passengers including Riddick (Vin Diesel), a dangerous, shackled murderer between prisons, is forced to make a crash landing on a barren, triple-sunned planet after the craft suffers severe damage during a meteor shower. The ship is ripped into pieces, killing several crew members and leaving meek officer Fry (Radha Mitchell) in charge of the survivors. After two unfortunate deaths, the survivors discover that the only visible life form on the planet is a species of light-fearing, carnivorous, occasionally cannibalistic aliens dwelling in caverns beneath the desert surface. Using a model of the planet and its suns in an abandoned research station, Fry deduces that she and her fellow travellers have unfortunately descended on the planet on the day of its first total eclipse in 22 years, giving them mere hours before they are bathed in total darkness. Only then is it safe for the hungry subterranean creatures to emerge, seeking to feed on the remaining survivors. However, the dangerous Riddick, through black market injections received in lock-up, is able to see in darkness- causing the surviving crew members to reluctantly remain dependent on the potentially harmful criminal. As the survivors are killed one by one by the hungry creatures, they realise that Riddick may be their only hope.

Good movie which takes a new approach to the sci-fi genre
Review date: 2008-07-20 Rating: 6 out of 10

Even though this movie starts off with the usual: something goes wrong, spacecraft crashes, people are stranded etc. it still pulls off and introduces the viewer to some new ideas. Riddick is somewhat of a badass convict and has modified his eyes so he is able to see in the dark which is a sought after ability in the situation the shipcrew and he is in. The cutting in the movie is very good and emphasizes the mystique that shrouds around the anti-hero and male protagonist: "Riddick." The story in Pitch Black is, as already mentioned, to some extent very unoriginal and dissatisfied, but the clipping and cutting in the movie blended with some surprising elements which has been added to the story helps it to still support itself very well and one is afterwards left behind with a hybrid feeling of satisfaction and hunger for more. Vin Diesel acts really well in the role as Riddick and even though his character is a hardcore, tough survivor he still takes morale decisions almost on the verge of good, but that does not mean his decisions do not turn in his favor at the very end... Why destroy an already perfect reputation?
All in all this is a very good movie though not perfect. The story seems very unoriginal at the surface, but underneath it shines with enough originality to entertain. Some scenes has that wow factor while it as a whole is a bit better than average. It could maybe be described as a cult movie and it is definetely a recommendation for people who wants a spiced up sci-fi story blended with some minor psychological moments and an intriguing protagonist, namely Riddick.

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Reviews


passable
Review date: 2008-06-07 Rating: 4 out of 10

disposable alien rip off its assembly line fluff but it has a couple of good points 1)its visually impressive 2)its decently acted

Engrossing, Stylish, Brutal Sci-Fi
Review date: 2008-04-03 Rating: 10 out of 10

There's one thing science fiction films have always had on their side - ideas. The genre allows filmmakers an enormous amount of creative freedom, meaning that all you really need are some good ideas, followed through well, and you've got the makings of a sci-fi great. Pitch Black is the perfect example of this, it takes a small number of very good concepts and turns them into one of the most gripping and entertaining films you'll ever see.
The movie is set at some nonspecific point in the future and starts when a ship crash-lands on an apparently deserted planet. The film follows the survivors of the crash as they try and work out a way off the planet whilst trying to avoid Riddick (Vin Diesel), a murderer who was being transported on the ship having just been recaptured. Make no mistake, though his name's on the front cover Diesel does not play the hero of this film, Riddick is a psychopath and a killer who's only priority is his own survival. Rather the role of hero falls to the ship's pilot Fry (Radha Mitchell), who is burdened with the position of leader after all the crew senior to her die in the crash.
Vin Diesel does a great job as the menacing Riddick, lending the first half of the film a constant sense of threat and an edginess that is badly needed since that portion of the film is largely build-up for the second half. The initial chunk of the film is a surreal desert survival drama, based around a group of strangers trying to work together for mutual benefit; in the second half however, the film becomes a bloody and desperate thriller as the planet is plunged into darkness and nocturnal predators swarm over it's surface, this isn't about working together, it's about just how far you're willing to go to survive and who you'd sacrifice to save your own life.
One of the best ideas this film has is the way light and dark fit into the story. The predators exist only in darkness and are harmed by light, thus their exclusively nocturnal existence. This means that the survivors' best defense is artificial light, which naturally they never quite have enough of. An interesting twist on this idea is that Riddick has surgically altered eyeballs, making him super-sensitive to light (he wears dark goggles in the day) but able to see well in pitch darkness. That both Riddick and the predators spend an awful lot of their time lurking just out of sight in the darkness makes them both much more scary, since - as in alien (a film this film 'borrows' from pretty regularly) - your imagination will naturally imprint the scariest thing you can think of onto what you don't know.
The film isn't just dark visually, it's also extremely dark in tone. The film doesn't have some great redeeming moral at the end or a chirpy side-kick who provides comic relief so you don't have to be too scared, it's about what happens when human beings have to rely on our most animalistic sides to survive horrific conditions. And that's rarely cheery material. Pitch Black is a brutal story, but it's one well told that never descends into violence or gore for their own sake, treating them simply as devices to tell a story.
Visually this film is absolutely stunning. The opening crash sequence leaves you shell-shocked throughout the immediate aftermath, the predators look great and move with brilliantly creepy animations, and the breath-taking desert setting is both gorgeous and deeply unsettling.
If you enjoyed Alien and want to see a more modern take on a similar principle then you should definitely give this a look. But Pitch Black is very much it's own film; a brutal, stylishly executed, creepy science fiction thriller that is guaranteed to keep you entertained to the last.

Owes a major debt to ALIEN
Review date: 2008-03-11 Rating: 10 out of 10

Have you seen this film: a merchant cryo-ship makes an emergency landing on an inhospitable planet. The reluctant female leader and her shipmates encounter mysterious signs of former human habitation and devastating carnage. They soon discover that the planet swarms with ravenous razor-fanged nocturnal carnivores. As the bodycount rises, the survivors demonstrate individual acts of courage, compassion, cowardice, betrayal, and resourcefulness. No, it's not "Aliens", but this low-budget Aussie film definitely owes a great deal to that series. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. There are some unexpected twists to this story, including a prolonged eclypse of the three suns which plunges the planet into extended night. Let the hunt and the fun begin! As it happens, the predators are physically harmed by light, so survival becomes dependant on finding a dependable power source. The stranded spacefarers are a sympathetic bunch and the menacing antihero played by Vin Diesel is a compelling character even if he does remind me of the WWF's "The Rock". The carnage in this movie is particularly visceral, and you realize there's gonna be no mercy when a cute little boy falls prey to the predatory pack. Sci-fi audiences are very critical when it comes to plot plausability, and this one can be dismembered as remorselessly as its predators' human prey. But watch it for the action and suspense and cinematography and effects, and you won't be disappointed at all.

Awesome
Review date: 2008-01-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

If you loved Alien and Aliens, you will like this. Drawing inspiration from, but subtly different to the aforementioned Sci Fi greats, it delivers on every level. The harsh landscape offers up a bleak beauty as a backdrop to a frightening struggle for survival. Characters twist and buckle under the strain. And as the creatures home in, only the quick will survive. This is great storytelling.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Vin Diesel
Cole Hauser
Lewis Fitzgerald
Radha Mitchell
Keith David

Creators:
Vin Diesel (Primary Contributor)
Radha Mitchell (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
EAN: 5050582050424
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen,
Release date: 2004-08-16
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 104 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2000
Language: English (Original Language)

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