... the weak spots in the film are easily forgotten when you have the great characters and engaging overall story that “Pitch Black” delivers.
Audio
Other than the initial scene where the characters find their spacecraft being punched full of holes by intrusive meteorites, "Pitch Black" does not contain a lot of aggressive sound design. There are some nice effects to be heard, but the film is not as noisy as the sequel and there are notable moments of silence. Being partly a horror film, silence aids in building tension and is an integral part of the soundtrack. Graeme Revell was responsible for the score for this picture (he also did the sequel) and when music is called upon, it succeeds in building emotion and tension. The film is presented in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 across the analog outputs. My Denon receiver translates the digital output as DTS 5.1. The soundtrack translates everything nicely. When the night overtakes the day, you can hear the shrieking beasties from a multitude of directions. Dialogue certainly passes without a good grade. This is not a film to show off one´s sound system, but the sound matches the material quite well.
Extras
I continue to be a very happy consumer and journalist for HD-DVD. One of the reasons for my continued happiness is the manner in which supplements are handled. "Pitch Black" contains all of the features (minus trailers – still puzzled about their continued dismissal from HD-DVD) from the original DVD releases and a few I could not find on my "Unrated" DVD that may have appeared on a version I did not purchase. There is one supplement that I feel is an HD-DVD only feature. The HD-DVD release of the film is the Unrated Director´s Cut of "Pitch Black" and contains three minutes of additional scenes. One scene involves Riddick and the character Shazza having a moment where Riddick shows a more human side. Another scene involves Carolyn and Johns. There is probably some longer bits of gore as well. Not as lengthy as the fifteen minutes that "Chronicles of Riddick" received with its Unrated Director´s Cut, but it is always nice to have the director´s vision of the film.
There are two Feature Commentaries. The first commentary track features director David Twohy and star Vin Diesel. The two talk back and forth about the film and there is a lot to be learned in their commentary. Vin is a very personable person and when he is involved in supplements, it is usually worth taking notice. However, there is a lot of dead air in this commentary track. It is hard to believe two people having trouble finding something to say, but it happens. A lot. The second track finds Twohy returning for more commentary work and this time he has Producer Tom Engelman and Visual Effects Supervisor Peter Chang. This commentary is far more entertaining than the first as the visual effects supervisor and producer sound as if they are having a good time making the track. There is still too much dead air.
Clicking the ´menu´ button will bring up the overlay menu, which is the Universal standard menu. Oddly, when you are not in the film and just on the menu, you are provided with a big Universal logo and not bits of the film as you typically are. I´m curious to see if "Friday Night Lights" will be the same way. The first extra found on the menu is An Introduction by David Twohy, and two-and a half minute bit where Twohy is working with an editor on "Chronicles of Riddick" and gives some minor background on the film and talks about the sixty-day shoot for "Pitch Black" in the outback. David Twohy is entirely too serious. I believe this is why he frightens me. He is way to stiff and non-personable for me. Then we have Johns´ Chase Log, which seems inspired by "Toombs´ Chase Log" from "The Chronicles of Riddick." I believe this is the first time this supplement has appeared anywhere. It offers up backstory on the film in its seven minutes and is worth watching for the backstory alone.
The Making of Pitch Black is a five minute EPK supplement. Not particularly interesting or informative. Dark Fury: Advancing the Arc is a minute and a half infomercial for the animated sequel that bridges the two theatrical films. Another supplement that appears created for the HD-DVD to make it the perfect partner to the sequel is the The Chronicles of Riddick: Visual Encyclopedia. This time, there is only four entries and it funs for under three minutes, but adds three minutes worth of additional information on the story. The twenty-minute Raveworld Pitch Black Event is a compilation of footage from some rave parties held before "Pitch Black" was released. This is an odd bit of value-added content and is worth checking out for its oddness. I hope you like Techno. The Game is On is about the very good "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay." The game was very good and this is an ad for it. Finally, A View into the Dark is a supplement I did not have on my DVD releases and runs for just four minutes. It is another EPK styled supplement, but this time for "The Chronicles of Riddick."
"Pitch Black" on HD-DVD contains a number of supplements, but they are all short. If you omit the time of the commentaries and the rave party, you won´t get a half hour of bonus materials. With the rave party, you get about 45 minutes of bonus materials and almost none of them are worth watching a second time. They are either short EPK bits or infomercials. There is really nothing of substance here. The commentaries are very informative, but fall on the dry and hard-to-sit through side. It is still nice to have pieces of value-added content to make your hard earned cash purchase easier to swallow and Universal really needs to be applauded for having so many nice little things on their HD-DVD releases. For this reason, the supplements will get a score of 5.
Parting Thoughts
I really enjoyed "Pitch Black" when I first saw it in movie theaters on the second day after it was released. I remember seeing the horrid "Supernova" about the same time and that film stunk. Years later, "Pitch Black" holds up well and I find myself enjoying it much more than the bloated sequel. It was perhaps the major step in Vin becoming the box office star he is today. "Pitch Black" is a great little sci-fi/horror film that plays better than its limited budget. In my original theatrical review, I gave "Pitch Black" a 7.4/10 for story. I think that score is still pretty accurate after repeated viewings. It is not a perfect picture and it is not a great picture, but it is the shining moment of the Riddick franchise and maybe the best film Vin Diesel has done. The HD-DVD release was surprising in its visual quality, as I was not expecting much. All of the old DVD supplements and a few new ones have made the journey. "Pitch Black" is a good value and with both films being available on HD-DVD, I see no reason in not picking them both up to show off the new format.
Other than the initial scene where the characters find their spacecraft being punched full of holes by intrusive meteorites, "Pitch Black" does not contain a lot of aggressive sound design. There are some nice effects to be heard, but the film is not as noisy as the sequel and there are notable moments of silence. Being partly a horror film, silence aids in building tension and is an integral part of the soundtrack. Graeme Revell was responsible for the score for this picture (he also did the sequel) and when music is called upon, it succeeds in building emotion and tension. The film is presented in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 across the analog outputs. My Denon receiver translates the digital output as DTS 5.1. The soundtrack translates everything nicely. When the night overtakes the day, you can hear the shrieking beasties from a multitude of directions. Dialogue certainly passes without a good grade. This is not a film to show off one´s sound system, but the sound matches the material quite well.
Extras
I continue to be a very happy consumer and journalist for HD-DVD. One of the reasons for my continued happiness is the manner in which supplements are handled. "Pitch Black" contains all of the features (minus trailers – still puzzled about their continued dismissal from HD-DVD) from the original DVD releases and a few I could not find on my "Unrated" DVD that may have appeared on a version I did not purchase. There is one supplement that I feel is an HD-DVD only feature. The HD-DVD release of the film is the Unrated Director´s Cut of "Pitch Black" and contains three minutes of additional scenes. One scene involves Riddick and the character Shazza having a moment where Riddick shows a more human side. Another scene involves Carolyn and Johns. There is probably some longer bits of gore as well. Not as lengthy as the fifteen minutes that "Chronicles of Riddick" received with its Unrated Director´s Cut, but it is always nice to have the director´s vision of the film.
There are two Feature Commentaries. The first commentary track features director David Twohy and star Vin Diesel. The two talk back and forth about the film and there is a lot to be learned in their commentary. Vin is a very personable person and when he is involved in supplements, it is usually worth taking notice. However, there is a lot of dead air in this commentary track. It is hard to believe two people having trouble finding something to say, but it happens. A lot. The second track finds Twohy returning for more commentary work and this time he has Producer Tom Engelman and Visual Effects Supervisor Peter Chang. This commentary is far more entertaining than the first as the visual effects supervisor and producer sound as if they are having a good time making the track. There is still too much dead air.
Clicking the ´menu´ button will bring up the overlay menu, which is the Universal standard menu. Oddly, when you are not in the film and just on the menu, you are provided with a big Universal logo and not bits of the film as you typically are. I´m curious to see if "Friday Night Lights" will be the same way. The first extra found on the menu is An Introduction by David Twohy, and two-and a half minute bit where Twohy is working with an editor on "Chronicles of Riddick" and gives some minor background on the film and talks about the sixty-day shoot for "Pitch Black" in the outback. David Twohy is entirely too serious. I believe this is why he frightens me. He is way to stiff and non-personable for me. Then we have Johns´ Chase Log, which seems inspired by "Toombs´ Chase Log" from "The Chronicles of Riddick." I believe this is the first time this supplement has appeared anywhere. It offers up backstory on the film in its seven minutes and is worth watching for the backstory alone.
The Making of Pitch Black is a five minute EPK supplement. Not particularly interesting or informative. Dark Fury: Advancing the Arc is a minute and a half infomercial for the animated sequel that bridges the two theatrical films. Another supplement that appears created for the HD-DVD to make it the perfect partner to the sequel is the The Chronicles of Riddick: Visual Encyclopedia. This time, there is only four entries and it funs for under three minutes, but adds three minutes worth of additional information on the story. The twenty-minute Raveworld Pitch Black Event is a compilation of footage from some rave parties held before "Pitch Black" was released. This is an odd bit of value-added content and is worth checking out for its oddness. I hope you like Techno. The Game is On is about the very good "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay." The game was very good and this is an ad for it. Finally, A View into the Dark is a supplement I did not have on my DVD releases and runs for just four minutes. It is another EPK styled supplement, but this time for "The Chronicles of Riddick."
"Pitch Black" on HD-DVD contains a number of supplements, but they are all short. If you omit the time of the commentaries and the rave party, you won´t get a half hour of bonus materials. With the rave party, you get about 45 minutes of bonus materials and almost none of them are worth watching a second time. They are either short EPK bits or infomercials. There is really nothing of substance here. The commentaries are very informative, but fall on the dry and hard-to-sit through side. It is still nice to have pieces of value-added content to make your hard earned cash purchase easier to swallow and Universal really needs to be applauded for having so many nice little things on their HD-DVD releases. For this reason, the supplements will get a score of 5.
Parting Thoughts
I really enjoyed "Pitch Black" when I first saw it in movie theaters on the second day after it was released. I remember seeing the horrid "Supernova" about the same time and that film stunk. Years later, "Pitch Black" holds up well and I find myself enjoying it much more than the bloated sequel. It was perhaps the major step in Vin becoming the box office star he is today. "Pitch Black" is a great little sci-fi/horror film that plays better than its limited budget. In my original theatrical review, I gave "Pitch Black" a 7.4/10 for story. I think that score is still pretty accurate after repeated viewings. It is not a perfect picture and it is not a great picture, but it is the shining moment of the Riddick franchise and maybe the best film Vin Diesel has done. The HD-DVD release was surprising in its visual quality, as I was not expecting much. All of the old DVD supplements and a few new ones have made the journey. "Pitch Black" is a good value and with both films being available on HD-DVD, I see no reason in not picking them both up to show off the new format.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]18862[/release]