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Riddick Trilogy (Pitch Black/ The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury/ The Chronicles of Riddick) |  | Directors: David Twohy, Peter Chung
Actors: Vin Diesel, Cole Hauser, Radha Mitchell, Judi Dench, Colm Feore
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $1.86
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Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 4514
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Discs: 2
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 281 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.9
MPN: 025192659423
UPC: 025192659423
EAN: 0025192659423
ASIN: B000EQHXN2
Theatrical Release Date: February 18, 2000
Release Date: May 30, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
PITCH BLACK CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK:DARK FURY
Amazon.com
Pitch Black
Owing a major debt to Alien and its cinematic spawn, Pitch Black is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations. As he did with The Arrival, director David Twohy revitalizes a derivative story, allowing you to forgive its flaws and submit to its visceral thrills. Under casual scrutiny, the plot's logic crumbles like a stale cookie, but it's definitely fun while it lasts. A spaceship crashes on a desert planet scorched under three suns. The mostly doomed survivors include a resourceful captain (Radha Mitchell), a drug-addled cop (Cole Hauser), and a deadly prisoner (Vin Diesel) who quickly escapes. These clashing personalities discover that the planet is plunging into the darkness of an extended eclipse, and it's populated by hordes of ravenous, razor-fanged beasties that only come out at night. The body count rises, and Pitch Black settles into familiar sci-fi territory. What sets the movie apart is Twohy's developing visual style, suggesting that this veteran of B-movie schlock may advance to the big leagues. Like the makers of The Blair Witch Project, Twohy understands the frightening power of suggestion; his hungry monsters are better heard than seen (although once seen, they're chillingly effective), and Pitch Black gets full value from moments of genuine panic. Best of all, Twohy's got a well-matched cast, with Mitchell (so memorable with Ally Sheedy in High Art) and Diesel (Pvt. Caparzo from Saving Private Ryan) being the standouts. The latter makes the most of his muscle-man role, and his character's development is one more reason this movie works better than it should. --Jeff Shannon Dark Fury - The Chronicles of Riddick (Animated)
Taking a page from The Animatrix, Dark Fury is part of a new trend of bridging theatrical sequels. As an official product of a franchise, the 35-minute anime benefits from having the original actors voice the characters, including Vin Diesel as Riddick. This story opens with the new action hero and the two other survivors of Pitch Black already caught by a giant spaceship filled with dread. The sinewy leader has a unique--and creepy--jail for master villains and she has her sights set on Riddick. The film--indeed the series--is indebted to animator Peter Chung, who brings his techno style from his Aeon Flux series. His smooth animation for Riddick doesn't reinvent the character as much as give him a new, appealing fluidity. As anime goes, there's nothing really new here--plenty of action, cool killers, and dramatic spurts of blood--but it's a building block for how this genre might enliven movie series and sequels in the future. --Doug Thomas
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 55
 Blu-Ray shines as best offering yet. April 1, 2009
SRFireside (Houston, TX United States)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
I think this movie has gotten a bad rap by most reviewers. Maybe they are expecting too much or maybe they just don't understand what's being done here. Chronicles of Riddick (CoR) is an entertaining movie with just little bit of subtle sophistication and even a misunderstood pedigree. It's essentially an action/adventure kind of science fiction that doesn't go too terribly deep, but deep enough to get the story across and end up being an enjoyable experience.
I don't know if this was where the director was going, but I saw a lot of elements you would see in one of those classic 50's space operas. If you have seen any of the classic Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon serials you might get what I'm saying. The movie gives you the impression of being on a grand scale without actually being on that level. The plot itself is rather simplistic and that's why it works. The beauty is in the subtle complexities most probably won't even notice. The side plots in this movie don't seem to fit right, but by the end they show as being essential.
On a less glamorous note certain things that lend themselves to that 50's matinee style of Sci-Fi do seem cheesy like how stuff is named. You have villains called Necromongers. You have planets with names like Crematoria and races with names like Furyans. Names like that kinda kill the whole Riddick coolness. Riddick himself, on the other hand, is still the ultimate coolness he was in Pitch Black. I have to hand it Vin Diesel. He definitely has this character down. While Pitch Black did a decent job giving this anti-hero some development this movie further expands on it. You get a little more into his motivations and drives in this movie, which are mostly personal. I do believe this is the best anti-hero character I have seen in science fiction.
The action on this movie is sweet, but in the first few scenes it does go by VERY fast. After a while the action settles to a better pace, which will delight the bruisers in the crowd. The imagery is definitely worth watching and the set design is awesome. There is this medieval style to the Necromongers that give it both a familiar and unfamiliar vibe to them. Locations like Crematoria (I hate that name) are both fascinating concepts and nice looking design-wise. You get to see a lot of different types of special effects here and generally they look very solid. The computer-generated effects aren't in any way top notch, though they are several degrees better than movies like Van Helsing.
They have released a theatrical cut and an "unrated" director's cut. Supposedly some of the content that would have given the movie an R rating was put in the director's cut, but to be honest I didn't see anything that would have changed the rating in my eyes. I guess the MPAA are very picky about some things. What are the differences? Well for one there are about 14 more minutes added to the movie. Some of it just little details. Some of it totally new content that changes some scenes (and the storyline) completely. Some of it useless. The biggest and best change is the addition of a sort of Furyan destiny laid out in front of Riddick. Not awesome, but it is interesting.
The sad thing is some good stuff that was in the theatrical version is lost. One in particular is the big Necromonger (sigh...) fight scene in Crematoria (ugh...). The theatrical version was a shorter and apparently the sound editing would have been horrible if cut with the same audio. The result was a music only scene that I call the "ballet of death" that to me carried a higher sensory impact that the uncut, full audio, fight. I suppose less is more for me. Another cut I would have liked to see stay was Riddick's "back of the bus" monologue, which was replaced by a completely useless (although sexually suggestive) scene with one of the mercs.
Previous releases of this movie only gave you one option in regards to which version of the movie you wanted to see, including the HD-DVD release. This Blu-Ray release gives you both versions of the movie. That in of itself is a big bonus for a guy like me who sees good stuff from both versions. The good times don't stop there. The video is a VC-1 codec taken directly from the digital master (same as the HD-DVD release). I'm not going to say it's the absolute best transfer out there, but it is really nice and definitely is head and tails above any Riddick DVD release. The audio, on the other hand, gets the full praise with DTS-HD 5.1 lossless surround sound. Not even the HD-DVD had that. You also get DTS 5.1 surround in French and Spanish (subtitles in all three languages).
The extras are a mix of content that was available in the DVDs and HD-DVD along with a little more (I did say this was the best release to date, didn't I?). Here's the breakdown (all in 480p standard definition):
Intro by David Twohy - Just an explanation of the transfer of the Director's cut. It almost sounds like an apology to those who may notice the cuts in editing. Same intro as in the Extended Cut DVD and HD-DVD.
Director's Commentary - Actually pretty informative as David doesn't seem to shy away from share all the details in making the film. Same commentary from DVD and HD-DVD (essentially the previous releases).
Virtual Guide to Chronicles of Riddick - A few entries on the Riddick universe as told by the characters in the movie. Same feature from previous releases.
Toombs Chase Log - A personal log chronicling Toombs' hunting of Riddick up until the start of the movie as told by Tombs himself. Same featurette from the previous releases.
Visual Effects Revealed - A short featurette on the special effects of the movie. I believe this is brand new, but it's pretty brief (about six minutes) so not much of a new bonus.
Creation of New Mecca - A look at the various set pieces from the movie. Same as the HD-DVD and it seems this featurette replaces Riddick's Worlds from the DVD. Alas... no more 360 degree views of the more impressive sets.
Vin Diesel's Guided Tour - Vin walks you around the sets showing you behind the scenes work on the movie. Same as in the previous releases.
Riddick Rises - A discussion of the Riddick character by Director David Twohy and Vin Diesel. The two people who effectively created the character give more background info on our favorite anti-hero.
Keep What You Kill - Very cool analysis of the Necromongers and their culture as well as film details like costumes and props and such. Same featurette as in the HD-DVD.
Complete Chronicles - A U-Control feature with picture in picture narrative of Riddick. Includes both video footage and text trivia. This is aBlu-Ray exclusive.
Chronicles Compendium - Another Blu-Ray exclusive that is also a U-Control picture in picture feature that delves into pretty much all the other things in the Riddick universe that Complete Chronicles doesn't cover. In the same format as Complete Chronicles as well.
Anatomy of a Fight - Yet another U-Control feature exclusive to Blu-Ray. This one focuses on Riddick's combat strategies and methods.
Deleted Scenes - Same as all previous releases. Some are alternate scenes. Some would have been nice to have added to the Director's Cut. Some definitely best left off the movie. Commentary by Twohy also available.
BDLive enabled - Of course this is a Blu-Ray exclusive. If you want to share Riddick comments and stuff that's what BDLive is all about.
Chronicles of Riddick is a good solid story with the look of an epic film but with the sensibilities of a good old 50's Sci-Fi adventure. If you are into action then you should be happy with this movie. This current release by far offers the most from any previous release with both versions of the movie, lossless audio, and a few extra features not previously available. If you have a Blu-Ray player this is the version to get.
You Keep What You Kill! October 29, 2006
mp3support@wi.rr.com (WI, United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Buy this CD for "Pitch Black" and (especially) "The Chronicles of Riddick". "Dark Fury" is an animation piece which I won't comment on.
"Pitch Black" uses the standard SF plot of crash-survivors battling for their lives against hostile alien life forms. Vin Diesel, as a convict and murderer, adds another dimension to the story though. The production also adds some fresh twists and great effects. This is VERY good stuff despite the familiar theme.
The gem in this collection is "The Chronicles of Riddick". This is imaginative 'space opera' at its finest. The production is lavish with detailed and overwhelming sets of mysterious deities. The dark plot is driven by otherworldly religious fanaticism, ugly politics, human greed and Riddicks revenge. There's lots of action here but thought provoking grist as well. The movie stands out as some of the very best SF ever made.
Both movies are the Directors Cuts and are burned on a separate disk. Each movie has Special Features/Bonus Material, including director's and actors' comments. Don't pass this DVD up. It's well worth the money.
Review of the Chronicles of Riddick Trilogy set July 11, 2006
DrSlick
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Chronicles of Riddick is by far one of the best Sci-Fi trilogies I have ever seen. I would encurrage anyone interested in the movies to invest in the trilogy set. Not only does it contain all three of the fantastic movies in the Chronicles of Riddick series but tons of special features as well. The DVD case is very sleek and sets the tone for the movies. The case folds open yielding highlights from all three movies adding another feature to the set. Inside there are two discs. One with both Pitch Black and Dark Fury and the other with the Chronicles of Riddick. All three movies are unrated and all contain additional footage. Both Pitch Black and the Chronicles of Riddick are featured as the director's cut version. The Chronicles of Riddick contains fifteen minutes of additional footage as well. Overall a great buy and it can't be beat at fourteen dollars for all three movies! If you are even thinking about buying one movie from the series I would strongly suggest the trilogy set.
Loved this set of movies January 16, 2007
Rebecca Glendening (La Luz, NM USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
These movies are so cool. I rented the Chronicles of Riddick from Hastings and loved it so much I had to buy it. Having the whole series in this easy package makes the last movie so much more interesting. The first movie introduces the character of Riddick and explains the connection he and Jack (the girl whose life he saves) have. Plus, for those of us who enjoy mixing diffrent genres the first movie is action horror where the third and final movie is more action drama. The second movie helps provide an explanatory bridge between the two. Also, it is a great way to see the developement of Jack and Riddick's trust relationship. However I still wish that the producers had been able to use the actors instead of animated characters in The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury. All around a really good set of movies. Buy it if you like great action, a love story, evil monsters, and good (or should I say better) guys against the evil ones.
Pleasantly surprised! November 10, 2007
Stephen D. Allen
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this originally at Wal-mart. I was not thrilled with the anime "story filler" second movie (i. e. Dark Fury; I just don't care for anime, but my youngest son liked it). I had already seen Pitch Black and liked it ok, but not enough to buy it. But for the price, I figured it was worth trying to see if the second and third movies were any better. Wow, what a suprise! The Chronicles of Riddick was fantastic. I thought the planet scenery, costume, and set artwork was as good or better than as in the last Star Wars but with a gothic-gladiator styling. The story was really good (lots of subtle forshadowing that I did not get until several times watching the movie) and the acting excellent. I rarely buy movies I have never seen before and when I do buy a movie, I will watch it again and again as time passes. If I had seen "The Chronicles of Riddick" in the theatre, I would have decided it was one I intended to buy in the future.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 55
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