Don't Turn Out The Light (Pitch Black (DVD))

Member Name: wampyrii

Product:	Pitch Black (DVD)
Date:	10/10/01 (16 review reads)
Rating:

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Sci-fi movies have always seemed somewhat hit and miss to me, and it was with some trepidation that went wandering along to my local cinema to watch this a few months ago. I had heard mixed reviews about it and I really hate sitting through bad movies in a cinema because its not as if you can just change the channel or fast forward through the really duff bits..it just ruins an evening. Well fortunately Pitch Black is as entertaining as the trailers made it look - just a little meatheaded at times...

The plot is simple and derivative, but as far as entertainment value goes, this one provides a fairly good way to waste an hour or two. It begins with a spaceship on the way to a distant galaxy called New Mecca. However it never reaches its destination because it has an accident en route and the cripple ship must crashland on the nearest planet or everyone aboard will die. As it happens most of the crew and passengers die in the concussive landing but a few survive, finding themselves stranded on an apparently lifeless desert planet which is pounded by the heat of three suns. Survivors include the pilot Fry(Radha Mitchell), a cop(Cole Hauser) and the usual 'soon-to-be-dead' assortment of cast members. Things begin to look a little strange when they find a mining community completely abandoned, its inhabitants wiped out by something nameless. Then things look worse when they find there is an alien lifeform here which shuns the light but is deadly during the darkness and terrible when they find that there is a solar eclipse on the planet every 24 years...and that 24 years is coming up right now. They must put their faith in the one member of their party who might be able to save them - a violent prisoner(Vin Diesel) who we first see as being bound and gagged because he is so dangerous but who has spent so long in solitary that he can see in the dark...

Yes, this movie is pretty hokey, and steals much of its ideas and execution from other movies -
mainly the Alien franchise - but it is also a lot of fun. We might roll our eyes and laugh when Diesel goes one on one with one of these beasties and does a kind of spastic dance with it which I think was meant to be a macho show of strength before he dispatches of it but its all good fun despite such weak sections. Its entertaining and you can't ask for more than that really. Dennis Twohy gives us a great movie from a relatively low budget showing the big boys in their ivory towers how it ought to be done and good luck to him I say. Sci-fi movies often come down to how good their special effects are and this one has some absolutely gorgeous ones. The aliens aren't exactly orginal but they are effective and deadly and thats all this kind of movie needs. The scene where the eclipse takes place is stunning with a ringed planet slowing arcing across the sky to obscure the multiple suns...great stuff.

As far as acting goes...a week ago I had never heard of Vin Diesel, and the next I seem to find him in every movie I touch(also in The Fast And The Furious showing now at cinemas). I think Hollywood is on the lookout for a new action hero and it looks like Vim might be it, he certainly looks and sounds the gravely-voiced part. He is good here, but he, along with everyone else, really only need to go through the motions of what is a pretty by the numbers script. Radha Mitchell gets to play the 'Ripley' role here and does so adequately, giving her a chance to be seen on a larger stage than the indie films she has been in before has allowed. Everyone else...is everyone else. Nobody really stands out and most are only there to be slaughtered in the carnage which ensues when the lights go out. Twohy does however give us some interesting characters and humourous twists along the way, including a holy man whose faith is tested to breaking point by these voracious beasts and the relationship between jailor and jailed...Diesel showing the most humanity bet
ween the two. This keeps up the interest level even though we can pick out who is going to die and who is going to survive from the first few minutes.

As far as this sort of movie goes, Pitch Black is a worthy addition to the genre. When compared to other recent sci-fi movies which have included Virus, Ghosts of Mars and Supernova, it is easily the best sci-fi made for a while...but thats not saying much given this kind of competition(and don't mention A.I. to me, I haven't seen it, and it sounds so cheesy I'm not sure I want to). If you are a fan of sci-fi/action movies then I recommend you check it out. Iyts not too intelligent but its a lot of fun.

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