Chronicles of Riddick, The (HD DVD)

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The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack is an improvement over the standard definition release, but it is not as dramatic an improvement as the visual presentation. The soundtrack features cleaner and tighter bass. My peer and fellow reviewer for this site, John J. Puccio, pointed out to me the other week how HD-DVD was not as boomy through the analog connections as it was the digital output and this was something I listened for as I compared the optical output stream to the six analog wires. I have to agree and "The Chronicles of Riddick" shows the same variance between the outputs. The DD+ 5.1 mix truly does sound fuller, cleaner and the bass output is tighter. Richard B. Riddick is not a man of many words, but when he does speak, the soundtrack does an admirable job of delivering his words to thy ears. Francais and Espanol 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks are provided as well as an the English DTS 5.1 mix carried over the digital outputs.

Extras

One thing I have enjoyed greatly in the early days of HD-DVD is the wonderful amount of supplements that are typically present on the releases. Out of my fifteen releases, almost every disc has something to offer and only "Happy Gilmore" and "Full Metal Jacket" feel lacking. "The Chronicles of Riddick" continues the trend of supplying the best supplements previously available and is a nice package. Before writing this review, we had a very nice discussion between the readers and the reviewers of this site. I am typically very hard on my scoring of supplements and really didn´t realize how hard I was. I had only given out one top score so far. Ouch. I want to say now that "The Chronicles of Riddick" has a plethora of nice features and they are entertaining. You have to pay about thirty dollars for this DVD. For that price, you get the full director´s cut of the film and you get a wealth of value added content. This is a very good deal and when you look at this value-wise as opposed to Blu-Ray, you realize that the inclusion of these supplements is very nice indeed.

In addition to the film being the Unrated Director´s Cut, which I consider to be a value-added bonus, there is a wall of text describing the supplements on the shiny packaging. The longest and most substantial of these supplements is the Feature Commentary with writer-director David Twohy and actors Karl Urban and Alexa Davalos. Much of the commentary is run by Twohy and there is a lot of discussion about the making of the film, what worked, what didn´t and certainly praise for Vin Diesel. An Introduction by David Twohy describes how there may be jumps in the film as this is a director´s cut. I don´t know about you, but Twohy makes me uncomfortable, and this ´special introduction´ is anything but.

Going down the list on the standard Universal template, next up is the Virtual Guide to The Chronicles of Riddick. This is a nifty little interactive supplement that gives you lots of information on the film. It provides some backstory on locations and characters. You can view them separately or use "Play All." It runs for about eight minutes. At times it feels a little cheesy, but it is fun. One more click down on the remote and you get Toombs´ Chase Log. This is another video-gamey feature that chronicles the eighteen days where Toombs´ chases down Riddick. It is a ´Captain´s Log´ of sort. Toombs´ likes to curse and he is way over the top. Again, cheesy, but fun. It does provide a little backstory on Toombs and his tracking down of Riddick.

Visual Effects Revealed is a short five minute look at the films wonderful special effects. Twohy is back in this and he still makes me feel uncomfortable. I find it hard to believe he was the man behind "Pitch Black." The feature felt way too short for the amount of great looking effects in the film. Oddly, you get even more backstory in this supplement. The next stop on the supplemental tour delivers us the Vin Diesel Guided Tour. I think Vin is great and when you read my "Pitch Black" review, you get a better feeling on my opinion of the actor. Sadly, this feature runs for only three minutes and then, Vin is gone. You get the guy for a supplement and it is a simple three minute walk through the set. Vin is really personable and a good host. Just too damn short.

I love deleted scenes and you can watch them with Twohy turned on or off. There are eight minutes of scenes present here. They are played in a singular clump and you cannot select them individually. The scenes are not complete and even though they would add a bit to the film, they are certainly unnecessary. The Creation of New Mecca is the next entry. Running at just over eleven minutes, this is another electronic press kit style of feature. Twohy mentions making more films in this supplement. This provides hope. Twohy, Diesel and others lend their time to this little bit. Riddick Rises is one of the longest of the EPK supplements and goes very deep into the Riddick character. There is a lot of Vin Diesel time here and you get more insight into the wonderful character and hope that he can be redeemed in the future. The final supplement is Keep What You Kill. This IS the longest supplement and it runs at only seventeen minutes. The Necromongers and the underverse is the topic of discussion here. I still don´t like the Necromongers after watching this and I´ve decided that Twohy makes me uncomfortable because he really is one.

The HD-DVD is the director´s cut. I love extended editions and usually prefer the director´s original vision. I feel that "The Chronicles of Riddick" may actually get more silly with Twohy´s inclusions. Riddick containing this powerful inner force just doesn´t sit well with me. Still, the film´s pace is improved and some of the inclusions made are nice. The commentary is nice, but where is Vin? There are no HD-DVD specific features. All of the included supplements are ports presented in 480i/p. The EPK style supplements run for roughly about an hour. This isn´t too bad. There is a nice number of them, but nothing really substantial. My favorite bit was Vin´s tour, but that was only three minutes. Commentary track, director´s cut, forty-five minutes of decent supplements and maybe fifteen minutes of really good stuff; I feel that "The Chronicles of Riddick" is about a six on the scale.

Parting Thoughts

It has taken a bit of time, but "The Chronicles of Riddick" has slowly become a film I can enjoy. I agree that it is entertaining and can be a load of fun. It certainly looks and sounds impressive. The big budget just went to the filmmaker´s egos or heads. Maybe this is their original vision, but I loved Riddick for the anti-hero character he was and how he overcame more scaled situations. The scope of "The Chronicles of Riddick" was just too overblown. As I mentioned in my main review, the Xbox video game was a better sequel. As far as an HD-DVD title goes, "The Chronicles of Riddick" is by far the most impressive looking release. It sounds very good, but the image quality is really what grabs you. I know that HD-DVD is going to just get better looking, but for now, this looks truly next-gen for home video. I´m certainly happy to see all of the supplements, but they are typical EPK-style bits and the best supplement runs for only three minutes. It is easy to recommend this title, because it is currently the title to show of your system and perhaps the most ´fun´ in a title out there for the fledgling format.

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