Overall Rating
  Awesome: 19.89%
Worth A Look: 35.8%
Just Average: 28.98%
Pretty Crappy: 10.8%
Sucks: 4.55%
12 reviews, 104 user ratings
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| Pitch Black |
by Gravyboy
"Damn I can't wait to get a Riddick tshirt !!!"
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Pitch Black is good, hearty, sci-fi fare. It's not perfect by any means, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of action, cool one liners, a few nice plot twists, and one of the most bad ass characters invented in a long time help to make up for a few plot holes and average FX.A space transport crash lands on a barren planet with three suns. The survivors initially fear only lack of water and a murderous convict named Riddick, who was being transferred to an outworld "slam" (prison). These fears are soon replaced with the fact that there is something out there, it likes to eat, the light is the only thing keeping it at bay, and there's an eclipse-a-comin'.
Some inventive camera work during the crash scene passably hides what are only average special effects. When I say average, I don't mean you can see wires hanging from the space ship. But in comparison with other CGI pieces made today, there is nothing ground breaking like "The Matrix". It still looks good, but nothing that's going to take your breath away.
Once on the ground, Twohy uses the same visual effect as seen in "Three Kings", but cranks it up to 10. The over exposed, washed out look definately conveys the fact that this planet has three suns and serves to make a stark contrast between the searing daylight early in the movie and the pitch dark that follows later on. I didn't like the aliens at first but they kind of grow on you. Part pterodactyl, part hammerhead shark, part piranha and there you have your killing machine.
From the start of the movie, you can pick out the majority of the characters who are going to be shredded and when the time comes for them to be devoured, you don't really care. I got the impression that Twohy wants us to care, but he never goes deep enough to get us there. He only gives us enough background to explain who people are and how they got to this point but refuses to delve any deeper. Vin Diesel as the convict, Richard B. Riddick, is the only stand out and that is just because he's fed a steady diet of one liners and things to kill. But he is a supreme bad ass in this movie, that can't be denied. Oh, and it just so happens that while in some underground prison, Riddick had a doctor-inmate "polish" his eyes so that none of the other inmates could sneak up behind him and shank him, put things up his butt, or whatever it is inmates do to each other on subterranean, outerspace correctional facilities. As you can guess, this plays a major part later in the movie.
While this movie is drawing tons of " Road Warrior" meets "Aliens" comparisons. The movie I would consider it most similar to is "Deep Blue Sea". As deep as the kiddie pool, nothing redeeming, but plenty of surprises, thrills, and action. If I learned anything from "The Blair Witch Project", it was this; Don't know everything about a movie before you go see it. You will only be let down. If you read about a movie and it sounds good and you're fired up to see it, be patient. Don't dig any deeper than a few spoiler free reviews and let it go at that. One of the most enjoyable theater experiences I had last year, "The Sixth Sense", came about because I knew nothing about it. The only reason I went to see it was because TBWP was sold out. I was totally blown away. That is your lesson for today kiddies.So to all of you naysayers out there bashing this movie to pieces, you are entitled to your opinion. But I am also entitled to mine and my opinion is go take a running fuck at a rolling donut.
Get down off your high horse and come have some fun with the rest of us. As I constantly say, the purpose of going to the movies is to be entertained and this movie is entertaining, nothing more nothing less.
link directly to this review at http://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/review.php?movie=1801&reviewer=196
originally posted: 02/20/00 14:29:05
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Trilogy Starters: For more in the Trilogy Starters series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2016 Boston SciFi Film Festival For more in the 2016 Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival series, click here.
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USA
18-Feb-2000 (R)
DVD: 01-Jun-2004
UK
N/A
Australia
18-May-2000
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