"To suffering there is a limit; to fearing, none." - Sir Francis Bacon (Pitch Black (DVD))

Member Name: ILoveJackDaniels

Product:	Pitch Black (DVD)
Date:	02/04/02 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Vin Diesel, Cool aliens

Disadvantages: None

With the popularity of films like Aliens, Starship Troopers and Lost in Space, it is hardly surprising that we have a chance to see yet another group of strangely mis-matched companions thrown together by misfortune, fighting for their lives against an unbeatable enemy. Strange then, and a touch surprising, that this film was not only superbly watchable and very entertaining, but actually felt original, despite the obvious parallels with other space-based horror films.

Pitch Black is a Sci-Fi B-movie, a low-budget special effects extravanganza, and from the outset, you will be sure that you already know the plot: boy meets girl, girl falls for boy, incidental red-shirted extras get eaten by huge monsters with funny shaped heads, boy saves girl from funny-headed monsters, boy and girl ride off into the sunset. Again though, a pleasant surprise that the script, though predictable at times, actually did take some interesting twists and turns. Various revelations and unexpected deaths keep you on the edge of your seat, and give you the distinct impression that nothing is ever quite what it seems.

The film kicks off with standard introductory matter - a spaceship in trouble makes a crash-landing on a desert planet, crew members and passengers dying like flies during the violent descent, leaving a handful of survivors on the surface of the planet. One of these survivors is Riddick, a convicted murderer who has escaped his shackles and poses a huge threat to the group. With three suns beating down on them and no water, they quickly split up - one group heading in search of water, the other staying at the landing site, looking out for Riddick.

The group quickly discover that they have more to worry about than Riddick, as the planet's native inhabitants make their presence felt. These vicious creatures live underground and are actually hurt by the light. The group quickly realise that all they have to do to avoid beaing eaten is stay in the lig
ht - and on a desert planet with three suns and no night-time, that should be an easy task. Except that the planet is due to start its next, 22-yearly, and this time permanent, eclipse. Total eclipse. Darkness. Pitch Black.

With this, out come the aliens, in their masses, and as the group is thinned out, we learn more and more about the people we are watching. The film is at this point a fight for survival, and stays that way until the very end.

From the outset, the film is saturated with superb imagery. The daytime desert scenes look almost bleached, they are so blindingly bright. In contrast, when night falls, it is obscenely dark, the flickering lights just about illuminating the metallic ship and its frightened crew. The aliens are rarely seen with any clarity, the director preferring to show them in number and give only glipses of the creatures for most of the film. The space scenes are just as breathtaking and magnificent, in great contract to the harsh reality of the planet surface.

Vin Diesel plays the self-serving Riddick, and plays him brilliantly, making the character mysterious, chilling and threatening while at the same time being a kind of highly intelligent anti-hero. Riddick is a superbly written character, with astonishing eyes (surgically altered to allow him to see better in the dark) and a selection of lines that leave you wondering whether it would be better to face the aliens or Riddick himself.

Radha Mitchell plays the only member of the crew to survive the oringinal crash, and puts in an excellent performance as the unwilling impromptu Captain figure, Carolyn Fry. Despite her occasionally fragile appearance and demeanour, she becomes very believable as the group's protector and an object of curiosity for Riddick. Her confidence grows through the film as she accepts the reality of the situation they have been placed in, and gains faith in her ability to lead the group, and it is a pleasure to see her al
most evolve through the movie.

Cole Hauser put in an excellent performance as Riddick's guard for the trip, William Johns, a cocky character with a heathly respect for Riddick's reputation and deadly abilities, though I felt that more could have been made of his character, the focus being less on him than on Riddick and Fry through the film.

I have to say that I am a huge fan of Pitch Black. It is a beautifully created film, best suited to a Saturday night with a few beers, a few friends and a big bag of popcorn - especially with the lights off. It is the epitomy of good Sci-Fi horror, and though it pays obvious homage to the Aliens films, it is still one of the most original and entertaining films of recent years.





CAST

Vin Diesel (Fast and the Furious, Saving Private Ryan)
Radha Mitchell (Nobody's Baby, Emma, Neighbours)
Cole Hauser (Tigerland, Gang Boyz)
Claudia Black (Farscape)
Keith David (Armageddon, Platoon, Volcano)
Lewis Fitzgerald (The Four Minute Mile)
John Moore (Deadly)



RATING

UK - 15
US - R



INTERESTING TRIVIA

A prequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, is due to begin filming in August.

The desert scenes were shot in the same location as Mad Max.



MY FAVOURITE QUOTES

Carolyn Fry: "Is he really that dangerous?"
Johns: "Only around humans."

Riddick: "You're not afraid of the dark are you?"

Riddick: "Did NOT know who it was f***ing with!" (After massacring one of the aliens)

Summary: