Extras: Featurette: "The Making of Pitch Black", Raveworld Pitch Black
Event, Theatrical Trailers, Production Notes, Cast and Filmmakers, DVD
Newsletter, 2 Audio Commentaries
Director:
David Twohy
(The Arrival, Below, Pitch Black, Timescape)
Producers:
Tom Engelman
Screenplay:
Jim and Ken Wheat and David Twohy
Music:
Graeme Revell
Cast:
Richard Riddick: Vin Diesel
Carolyn Fry: Radha Mitchell
Johns: Cole Hauser
Imam: Keith David
Paris Ogilvie: Lewis Fitz-Gerald
Shazza: Claudia Black
Jack: Rhiana Griffith
Zeke: John Moore
Owens: Simon Burke
Australian 'Aliens' is how I'd summarise this
film, with a threadbare plot that could also take in From Dusk Till Dawn
and any movie where the bad guy comes good.
A spaceship has crash-landed on an apparently barren land and once they find another
ship that's long since been used, they then have to search elsewhere for some power
cells and escape - but it must be completed by nightfall otherwise the bizarre vampiric
creatures will emerge, for they come out only at night or in any other dark crevices
since light destroys them.
With their own ship's captain dead, Carolyn Fry (Radha Mitchell, above right) reluctantly is forced
to take the lead, forever maintaining she is not the captain's replacement. If her name
seems familiar, then that's because she twice appeared in Neighbours - in 1994 as a
parachute instructor and in 1996 as student Caitlin. Amongst the survivors of the crash
is the convicted murderer Richard Riddick
(Boiler Room's
Vin Diesel). His plus, thus stopping the sane members of the team from trying to
kill him, is that his special eyes allow him to see through the dark and since sorting the
new ship out has taken too long, it's up to him to guide the hapless bunch through the darkness
to safety - but you know that along the way some will slip up and be gored to death in a
gruesome fashion.
While Radha Mitchell looks sultry, sexy and stunning in just about every scene in which she appears with sweat dripping off her glistening body,
does Pitch Black have any bad points? Yes - it's far from original and is never scary,
even when it's trying to be. Still, at least it avoids the crappy usual that most films fall
into of making their lead characters become romantically involved.
The film is presented in the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and is anamorphic.
Director Twohy frequently uses the full width in the special effects shots which are
frequently spectacular. Print defects are very few and far between, making overall for
a very impressive watch.
The average bitrate is a high and almost constant 7.32Mb/s.
Dolby Digital 5.1 has been provided in English and German dialogue, which really comes
into its own when the baddies strike - that's the flying creatures, not Mr Convict.
Gunshots and an upbeat thumping score also play their part. If you buy the Region 1 DVD
instead, you're blessed with an English DTS 5.1 soundtrack too.
First up in the extras dept. is a 'making of' featurette, which lasts but five
minutes and contains the usual clips of the film mixed in with chat from the
main cast members. The Raveworld Pitch Black Event is what was used
to promote the film when world class DJs held raves to immerse the punters
in the "Pitch Black" experience. If you haven't had enough rave in the clubs,
then it might be an extra that's up your street.
Two Theatrical Trailers in non-anamorphic 16:9, a few pages of
Production Notes, Cast and Filmmakers' details for the principal
cast and crew members, plus 2 Audio Commentaries make up the rest of
the extras. The DVD Newsletter just tells you to visit their website
for extra such news.
The disc contains 18 chapters, subtitles in English, German and Dutch and the menus
are static, but the main one contains some music.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Australian 'Aliens' is how I'd summarise this
film, with a threadbare plot that could also take in From Dusk Till Dawn
and any movie where the bad guy comes good.
First up in the extras dept. is a 'making of' featurette, which lasts but five
minutes and contains the usual clips of the film mixed in with chat from the
main cast members. The Raveworld Pitch Black Event is what was used
to promote the film when world class DJs held raves to immerse the punters
in the "Pitch Black" experience. If you haven't had enough rave in the clubs,
then it might be an extra that's up your street.