... the weak spots in the film are easily forgotten when you have the great characters and engaging overall story that “Pitch Black” delivers.
Back on the 21st of February, 2000, I wrote in my theatrical review of "Pitch Black," "Vin Diesel is going to make some serious waves in Hollywood over the next few years. Mark my words. With the likes of Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Willis making their way to the geriatric center, Hollywood needs some heroes." At that time, nobody had really heard of Vin. He was a newcomer and "Pitch Black" was a fairly low-budget and unheard of film that went on to double its production cost in ticket sales. It truly did put Vin on the map and after my prophet quote, Vin went on to make "XXX," "The Fast and the Furious" and a handful of other successful action films. He is a box office draw that is capable of breaking the $100 million mark, though one of his least successful films would turn out to be the sequel to the film that put him in front of theater-going masses.
The Sci-Fi/Horror genre is not an easy genre for a modest or low-budget film to succeed. They typically require some special effects, monster effects or complex sets to bring an entertaining product to the big screen. Twenty million dollars was far from a lot of money when "Pitch Black" was created. The film featured a mostly unknown cast. Keith David was perhaps the biggest name at the time the film was released. Vin Diesel had a part in Steven Spielberg´s "Saving Private Ryan" and voiced "The Iron Giant," but "Boiler Room" was the only starring role the actor had before "Pitch Black." The lovely Radha Mitchell found work on Australian television, but had relatively no film work. Cole Hauser was one of the more veteran actors, but was far from a household name or even a familiar face.
So "Pitch Black" arrived in theaters with an unknown cast, a low budget for a film of this genre at the time and a relatively quiet marketing push. The film opened with $14 million dollars on 1,832 screens on its opening weekend. It would eventually gross just under $40 million before the end of its five month run. After being removed from the big screens, "Pitch Black" found a good deal of success in the video market and the DVD format was just starting to generate steam as the choice format. "Pitch Black" went from being a fairly successful low-budget film into a franchise that has so far yielded an animated film, a successful video game and a not-so successful sequel that did not do well at the box office, but has done well on DVD. Is the character of Riddick done, or will the franchise continue? Considering Universal´s releasing both pictures so early on HD-DVD, it does appear Universal considers Vin Diesel and the character that helped make him famous an important element of their studio. I´d have to say we have not seen the last of Riddick.
So what is this film about? To sum things up quickly, "Pitch Black" tells the tale of a group of people being transported across space to New Mecca or some other destination. While in hypersleep, things go badly when meteorites wreck the spaceship and they are forced to crash land on a desolate planet. Many of the crew perish in the accident and only a few survive. One of the survivors is an escape convict, a murderous and vicious man, Richard B. Riddick (Diesel). Riddick initially escapes the bounty hunter, William J. Johns (Cole House) and is seen as a dangerous threat to the survivors of the crash. Once they collect themselves, Riddick is captured after survivor "Zeke" is killed. Of course, Riddick is blamed.
After interrogating Riddick, the lovely Carolyn Fry (Radha Mitchell) goes into the cave where Zeke´s blood was found. Carolyn discovers that Riddick was telling the truth when he said he was not the worst of their worries. A large number of vicious monsters dwell in the dark and the discoveries do not end. It is discovered that the previous inhabitants of the planet locked themselves in a coring building and were overcome and killed by whatever Carolyn saw in the cave. They then realize they are near an impending eclipse and that once night comes, they will be in a very perilous situation.
Day becomes night and all hell breaks loose. To avoid spoiling the fun, I'll end my summary here, but it is an entertaining story that is filled with the usual plot holes and loose ends, but this is common in the genre and the film tries to make good on many of these. The anti-hero of Riddick is an great character and this first film is the best place to first witness the role that made Vin Diesel a household name. I do enjoy the sequel, "The Chronicles of Riddick," but the vulgar and foreboding Riddick we see in "Pitch Black" is a far cry from the big-budget action hero version. Yes, there is blood and gore and cussing aplenty, but Riddick is from a world where it is okay to drop the f-bomb as common vocabulary and find himself covered I blood.
There are a few plot holes or weak spots in the storyline. You can ponder for hours who cut the rope and saved Carolyn. You can wonder for hours why Keith David´s character does not seem to saddened when his sons are taken away by the dark-dwelling beasts. Yes, I´m sure somebody else would have noticed Jack was a girl before Riddick announced the fact to everybody. There are times when the nasties that fill the skies appear to be gone and other times they completely surround the survivors. What makes them suddenly give up and return? Well, the weak spots in the film are easily forgotten when you have the great characters and engaging overall story that "Pitch Black" delivers. If you make something good, it is easy to look past the bad.
I consider "Pitch Black" to be a classic film in the science-fiction/horror genre. It introduced one of the more original and interesting heroes to be part of the genre. Vin portrayed Riddick to perfection. The film contains enough scares to keep viewers on the edge of their seat in a dark room and enough action to keep things moving at a nice pace. When you compare "Pitch Black" to the eerily similar "Screamers," or even the more expensive "Event Horizon," it is hard to not put "Pitch Black" in front of the pack. There have been many entries in the genre since "Alien" first showed there was money to be made in science-fiction/horror and I have to say that "Pitch Black" is in my top ten list for the genre.
Video
The film is visually stunning. The opening sequence where the intergalactic transport is forced to crash land is fast, loud and a special effects delight when appearing against the planet and starscape background. The desert planet would typically be a very dull and boring backdrop, but by using film overexposure, color de-saturation, spherical lenses and a few other camera tricks, "Pitch Black" takes on an interesting look that change enough to make the dull and desolate desert far more entertaining. The aliens are a mix of CGI, puppetry and animatronics. They look great and the CGI has held up well over the years. I can´t help but notice the teeth they have here looks just like the Aliens from "Aliens vs. Predator." The alien-vision is an interesting touch, but Vin's characters night vision has been done a few times over the years and is nothing spectacular.
When brining the picture over the HD, the 2.35:1 transfer is stunning. Details are incredibly strong. In one scene you can easily see every pore on Vin´s skin or every grain of sand. Even with the strongly desaturated palette that is very prevalent and the low-budget beginnings of the film, "Pitch Black" holds up well. I remember watching "Pitch Black" and reviewing the film for standard definition DVD and thinking how low budget it looked in the transfer. The High-Def picture now makes the film look more artistic than it does cheap and I was pleasantly surprised by the new transfer for "Pitch Black." Shadow detail – good. Black levels – good. My only complaint is about three scenes where film grain is present. Most notable of these is when Vin is wiping axel grease from his personal grooming tool. Still, "Pitch Black" is a great looking picture.
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