1 Convert or die
"Convert or die" seems to be the overall theme for this film. "Riddick" will either convert you over to believing that a night-visioned, hunky, escaped murderer is a misguided savior or it'll leave you dying for a film that actually makes sense.
"The Chronicles of Riddick" has several things working to its advantage: namely Vin Diesel and Karl Urban (Eomer of Lord of the Rings), the introduction of the galaxy's greatest scourge (Necromongers), and some of the coolest special effects I've seen in a while (the planet Crematoria comes to mind).
Set these aside, block out the stunning visuals for a moment, and look at the story itself...the plot...or plots, I should say. There are too many things introduced in this film to really make it enjoyable for the viewer and we are left with many questions at the end.
What is it about the Furians that the Necromongers fear? Is it their defiant attitudes and fierce natures? If so, then how were they able to convert at least one of them to the Necro faith?
Who are the Necromongers and what exactly is the "Underverse"?
Why did the creators of this film decide to give Riddick a tender heart for kids and Kira?
Why should we believe that Riddick isn't just a ruthless escaped convict but is, in fact, the last free survivor of a proud race of warriors and a misguided savior to boot?
The character of Riddick, as introduced in Pitch Black, is a cool one...sort of an anti-hero. I have no problem supporting a character such as this, in fact, I prefer my "good" guys to have a touch of "evil" to them. However, taking a great character and trying to make him super-human and give him some type of "great destiny" when there was nothing to indicate that he was anything other than an escaped convict when first introduced is stretching the boundaries of believability. I'm all for character development, but to go from sinner to savior in the span of "five years"...give me a break.
"Chronicles" is a stunning visual scifi film and seems to have a lot of potential in the beginning. But, the story soon becomes mired in too many subplots which are never fully resolved. I guess that's why it was left open for a sequel, and I can only hope that the loose ends are taken care of in the next film.
2 fantastic sci fi fantasy
i am so glad that i gave this film a chance. it was right up my alley, and the Conan like ending just rules. i went back and took in Dark Fury, and it is awesome as well. See this movie, you wont regret it!!
3 Sci fi without the thriller.. RIDDICKULOUS
This movie was everything Pitch black wasn't. it was neither a thriller, suspensfull, action filled, or exciting. Riddick was the only link this movie had to Pitch Black otherwise the Cronicles of Riddick fell into a confusing unfocused tangent.
Pitch black had a simple concept of man eating aliens threatening the survival of the remaining people on the planet and Riddick becoming the unexpected reluctant hero. The story worked and the film kept you captivated.
The Cronicles presented none of these qualities. Instead it gave us a complicated story of some unbelievable soul stealing pirates that conquer civilizations yet the movie never goes in depth into showing us where they came from or how they originated. We never really gained an understanding as to where Riddick came from either. All we are told is that Riddick came from a certain place that caused a threat to the leader of the conquering hoard as a result of a prophecy. How corny is that?.
This movie would have been ok had it not been linked to Pitch black however, since it was, it will be percieved as a flop since it didn't approach the high bar Pitch Black set.
4 A little different from the Theatrical release
NOTE: THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE UNRATED WIDESCREEN EDITION
I won't spend much time on reviewing the movie itself as there are plenty here for you check out. I will do a review on the "director's cut" version and the DVD itself. In a nutshell COR is a combination of action sci-fi and classic serial science fiction (or "Comic Book" sci-fi if you prefer). In other words lots of cool action, fantastic sets, nice special effects, and decent plot development is on one side. On the other side you get cheesy names for locales and peoples (Crematoria, Hellion, The Elementals, The Necromongers), a few 2-dimensional characters, and a somewhat condensed story. This kind of content would do well in a longer run time (in spite of that being taboo in Hollywood). While it is a completely different kind of movie than the previous one, for those who loved Riddick in Pitch Black you will love him here too.
Now for the special edition. To those of you who watched the theatrical version and complained about holes in the story a lot of them get filled in this edition. With 15 minutes of new footage lots of little loose ends get tied up and a new character is introduced. The new slant might seem a bit on the mystical side for some tastes, but I felt it appropriate. There are more than a few little things added to scenes to help flesh out development and I'm glad they did that.
Probably the biggest change was the big fight scene at Crematoria. It now has more of it and the scene now has full audio sounds of guns blazing and bodies busted instead of just music like on the theatrical release. As much as I enjoy the additional footage I kinda liked the silence of the theatrical release better. What with just music playing and seeing all that mayhem it felt more dramatic and even artsy (in a "Ballet of Death" sort of way).
They took out the "Back of the Bus" dialog in one scene, which i miss. Seems like they replaced it with a "sexy" scene that to me is a total waste of film. Don't ask me why they decided to put such a useless scene in (if you watch you'll know what I'm talking about). At least this is the only added footage that I recall that would have been better off in the deleted scenes section.
While I won't say they fixed everything and now COR is the movie it should have been I do have to admit it felt much better watching the Unrated Edition as opposed to the Theatrical one. That might just be that I picked up more the third time around (yes I saw it twice in the theater), but then again maybe the new cut is just plain better. As for the "unrated" rating it's no big deal. More violence but still little to no blood and gore. Maybe a little more bad language, but it didn't seem like it. I guess it could be an R movie now, but it's a light R. If I was the one running the MPAA I would still call this a PG-13 movie.
Quality-wise Twohy makes a comment on the introduction about how you might see noticeable fluctuations where they made the cuts for the new footage, but I didn't notice any. However I didn't see it on HDTV so maybe as you get to better quality TV's and bigger screen tv's you might notice it. DVD looks great and visually crisp with the audio being just as clear.
The extras are pretty good, but I've seen better. Here's a breakdown:
Audio Commentary - It's informative but not nearly as much as I had hoped. There is a fair amount of the crew just shooting the breeze comparitively speaking. No Vin commentary, which I would have liked to have heard since he apparently put a LOT of creative effort into this movie.
Two menus - The exact same menu but with different art and stuff. An interesting diversion, but not a dealmaker.
Toombs Log - Interesting, but doesn't really give you that much insight. As a primer for the movie don't bother, but as a little character development on Toombs' side it works well enough.
Worlds or Riddick - The 360 degree view of some of the sets is not bad. The sets are pretty neat and it's nice to know they didn't go all CG like George Lucas and actually built some wonderful sets. Extra feature-wise? Again I say... I've seen better. The tiny featurette with Vin Diesel was the most informative and entertaining of this set. That little snippet should have been longer.
Documentary - A pretty good documentary for its size. Definitely the most worthwhile extra on here. Again it would be nice if they made it longer.
Deleted scenes - Some of these scenes are not only cool, but I feel would have really given more depth to the movie. Those few scenes I wish had stayed, but most are approprately taken out for whatever reason. Still as far as deleted scenes go most of them are pretty nice with only one lame duck scene that never should have gotten past the script that I recall.
Virtual Guide - Practically useless if you are looking get more insight into the Riddick universe. Doesn't really tell you anything more than what you would find out in the movie anyway.
Facts on Demand Viewing - Haven't tried it yet, but it sounds interesting. Will update when I learn more.
Riddick X-Box game - Useless if you don't have an X-Box. No trailers or other teasers for non-X'ers to see.
All in all if you liked Riddick in the theater you definitely should be getting this version. Forget the theatrical cut. There is more to love here. If you never seen Chronicles of Riddick and are a sci-fi fan of any kind I recommend renting this. If you like what you see you can always buy it later. Better yet go to one of those used DVD stores that apply credit from rental towards a purchase.
5 Much better than Pitch Black
I see some average reviews for this and some even said it wasn't close in comparison to Pitch Black, I don't see that though, this movie was much better in my opinion. It picked up pretty good from Pitch Black, this movie was long so if they walked you through the entire "5 years" since Pitch Black it would've been a 6 hour movie, instead they picked up in a good spot.
Chronicles Of Riddick has a much better story than Pitch Black, TONS of special effects and eye candy that anyone will enjoy watching, the acting was better, etc. You can tell the budget was a lot bigger for this sequel and it shows. I enjoyed this movie a lot and would recommend it to anyone that likes lots of action and that sci-fi futuristic twist.
6 This is Opera in its Purest Form
The villains are as over the top as you can get, but it works. It's never campy. Somehow we've been led to believe that if you go that over the top, it just looks bad if it's done seriously, and while it may be true to an extent, there is a balance struck here. When I say over the top, I mean that the Necromonger flagship, The Necropolis, has a throne room in it with these gigantic thirty-foot statues depicting torture and suffering. The whole room looks like it is carved out of black stone with gold accents where needed. It's completely insane, and anyone who takes sci-fi too seriously will pull their hair out at the idea of the ships having these tortured faces and relief molded into their outer hulls.
Anyone who thinks Dr. Doom is one of the great antagonists of modern literature (as I do) will eat this up with a spoon and demand seconds... and thirds. Lord Marshal is the best kind of villain, one who believes he's right, and believes it so strongly that he's willing to lead a crusade across the universe.
Anyone who hates the idea of turning a good bad-guy into a bad good-guy will love this, as Riddick is still a criminal. Not a scary-looking, but wholly misunderstood guy who has changed and become a lovable hero. He's a friggin' killing machine. He has no "code against killing". He can kill you with a tea cup, and he will if you start some crap with him. You can bolt him down, arms and legs restrained, and sit on his chest holding an automatic rifle right at his face, and he'll STILL find a way to kill you!
Riddick's universe isn't a pretty one. The good guys don't win. Nice, kind, and sensitive people are usually crushed underfoot by things like the Necromongers, and those who stand up to them thinking their words alone will stop them are usually the first to die. Riddick survives because he's the ultimate killing machine. Like Conan, he's the strongest, and like Conan, he doesn't really care about good and evil. If he goes after the Necromongers, it's because they did something to him, or one of the two people he might care about.
The visuals of this movie are outstanding. Everything from the Necromongers' ships, to the planets looks amazing. The acting in most cases is about as over-the-top as the concept and designs, but not so much so that it becomes campy. The ending, also, is one of the single coolest I've seen in a long time. It could end right here and still be one of the coolest endings ever, but it still leaves room for a sequel. One in which Riddick is still an anti-hero, or where he becomes the biggest threat to the universe.
7 A Strange Allegory
Oops, should be one star. Why can't we change that?
First of all, the movie itself was tedious. Watching Diesel in those goggles is painful. Hearing him deliver those lines ... more painful. Not that anyone in this movie fares much better; there is a lot of grimacing and gritting of teeth - probably a physical reaction from having to deliver those lines - while the numerous sci-fi cliches play out (the prison being the most tired of all).
But in the core of the movie, there's a surprise!
Let's see ... the guards of Helion Prime look like Christian Knights ... there's that Muslim Imam from Pitch Black ... Judi Dench talks about fire and water, air and earth, perhaps representing paganism or Greek philosophy ... or, as she says, calculation, which would be cold logic ...
Oddly enough, this movie seems to be an allegory - Darwinism's (or liberalism's) long war against religion and reason - convert to our way or die. No other faiths are allowed, as in Richard Dawkins' wildest fantasies. (Dawkins has intimated that doubters of evolutionism are evil or wicked. As Behe has pointed out, it's not a big step from saying people are wicked to doing something about that wickedness.)
The Darwinist's weapons are technological, perhaps representing their faith in science and progress. Their reasoning is soupy and, along with their faith, is quasi-religious, demanding the surrender of individual reason and choice. Conversion is not of the mind of heart, but by coercion. Join or die; like join or your career dies, like that of Virginia Steen-McIntyre, whose radiometric dates for ancient tools were a couple of hundred thousand years too old and was banned from her field of science, or the hapless graduate students who dared to write papers pointing out Darwinism's flaws.
Thus the Lord Marshall's "Take it on faith," the Darwinist mantra.
The Necromongers' fascination with death mirrors the neo-liberal culture of death, and Darwinism's faith in the creative power of death. The communication device using some sort of human being brings to mind Darwinism's and Marxism's machinistic view of human life - we are just tools to spread our genes, we are just instruments of the State.
As the Lord Marshall has seen the Underverse and returned, so has Darwinism died a thousand deaths, stabbed to death by evidence ("Forbidden Archeology" by Cremo, OOPARTS, etc.) and reason ("Darwin's Black Box" by Behe), only to be resurrected by unreason.
Who would've thought?
8 Another good addition to the Riddick world...
...living up to and probably surpassing Pitch Black in many regards, most of all plot. Obviously TCOR had more to work with, but you know what I mean.
First, acting. Not terribly good, as this B-film territory, although it is nevertheless fun and adequately original (at least Riddick is). Karl Urban was somewhat laughable as he tried to mold his voice to match his eye shadowed looks and his wife was basically eye candy. Colm Feore did a good job in his role, kind of a classic villain portrayal. Alexa Davalos (the grown-up Jack) didn't remind me too much of Jack, but that was ok, 'cause she did her job as Kyrra. Vin Diesel, though not the greatest actor out there, has improved immensely concerning his character depth and emotional rapport with the audience since joining Riddick and company; his voice is still awesome, too.
The plot is pretty good, spanning a variety of worlds and keeping it interesting, although some underlying plotlines have been recycled from countless other moviews. Basically, a warrior consulted a seer and found that he was to be killed by a Furian (I refuse to spell it "Furyan") warrior, so he launched a crusade against them, and killed them all (I think), except one, Riddick, who escaped. Here he winds up again, and Colm Feore, the Lord Marshal and leader of the Necromongers (death-worshippers who seek the planet system known as the Underverse) is determined to kill him once and for all. Riddick, who was basically just an escaped criminal the last two outings (Pitch Black and Dark Fury) finds he has a higher calling in the role of the entire universe, and the ending of this movie is very original and should prove interesting for the sequels to come (Vin Diesel said there would 2 more!). TCOR is robably one of my favorite sci-fi/superhero movies I've seen, up there with Spider-Man, Hulk, Daredevil, Punisher, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Hellboy, Van Hesling, etc (ok, just about every one recently made!).
The action and special effects look great, although Riddick doesn't seem to be hitting anything while he's fighting, his blades' power seeming to come from his "intention" to hit someone.
In regard to parental reservations about this movie, there is some cleavage from both Kyrra (Alexa Davalos) and Dame Vaako (Thandie Newton, mostly her). There is some bad language sprinkled throughout this movie, including an F-word, but is very mild in comparision to the profanity filled Pitch Black.
Overall, a movie worth your time, at least if you like the scifi/superhero/fantasy genre. Vin Diesel's one of the coolest action heros out there. I have one recommendation to make: watch all three movies in order: Pitch Black first, Dark Fury second, and the Chronicles of Riddick last, so that you get the full effect and aren't wondering what happened in the prequels.
Good movie! Check it out, along with the rest of the Riddick line!
9 A very fun movie
This movie is a lot of fun for anyone who enjoys violent action movies. The movie is almost non stop action with just enough story to keep the action rolling. The story is actually pretty good, but it seemed that the writers sacrificed fleshing out the story in favor of pacing.
If you are looking for one of those movies that make you ponder your existence, come back and get this one when you want a fun break. If you want to see a lot of cool fight scenes and get your blood pumping, pick this one up immediatly.
10 Good popcorn movie...
I would say that Pitch Black, the low budget original classic is much better than TCOR. This movie is a large budget attempt to re-capture on a sequal. I reminds me of Fast and the Furious vs Too Fast Too Furious. Boy stick to the original first movie. But the sequal is only a rental. I would say Dark Fury is worth the price though. These new in between DVDs are more interesting and fun.
11 Good but a confusing mess
As a sequal to the original movie "Pitch Black" this movie was completely different. It didn't follow the thread of the first one at all. Riddick's character is different, and there are too many things that are not explained. Just thrown out there for the public to make of it what they will. Such as Riddick's feelings for Kera, or where the Necromongers came from in the first place. Why did they just of a sudden pop up in the universe? Other than that, the movie was not too bad. The actors where ok, not great, just ok. The planets where pretty cool, especially the prison on the one sun where Kera was held. But the movie certainly did not showcase the best of Vin Diesel's talents. His lines left you pretty unsure at what they where trying to get at, or why he even bothered saying them.
Definatly better than the first one however, at least you could watch it a second time without being bored because you knew the entire plot. Still, it tended to drag. I think Twohy went for two hours without first wondering how he was going to do it and make it stay interesting. Make sure you rent this movie first before committing to buying, unless you saw and liked the original.
12 fab sci-fi action
It took me several veiwings to get into this movie but once I had seen it a couple of times I loved it. I thought it was clever and well thought out. A good mix of action and story (which you have to follow closely). Great acting from Judy Dench, Thandie Newton, Karl Urban (a kiwi like me) and of course Vin. I can't wait for the follow up - you keep what you kill!
13 What was Dame Judi thinking???
I bought The Chronicles of Riddick on DVD for my brother for Christmas, but due to a mix-up he already had it, and I never achieved a chance to return it upon my return from Canada. So, I finally pulled it out and watched it yesterday evening. Here are my thoughts.
Dame Judi: You're an Oscar-winner, your talents were wasted here.
Vin Diesel: Perhaps you should have insisted on a more thoughtful plot? The plot in this movie tried to portray itself as clever, but with exchanges like "How did you know that's what they did?" "Because that was my plan." you can't expect me to take the plot seriously, can you? Vin, it's a space opera, they're all about timing, and this movie had none, and tried to cover it up with "cleverness". Next time, check out Star Trek II for timing lessons and a more appropriate mix of action, contemplation, big ideas, and personal sacrifice.
Thandie Newton: Finally, I am convinced that you can act. Well, your tongue can, at least, in a non-speaking role.
Karl Urban: My comment is similar to that for Judi. After The Lord of the Rings, I expected better, at least in terms of movie selections.
Nice special effects were wasted on a poorly scripted and directed movie about a man who brings down a galactic jihad. This DVD is going out for resale.
14 One word: Wow.
The Chronicles of Riddick (Director's Cut) is one of the coolest sci-fi movies I've ever seen. The effects, especially, are simply amazing and one has to wonder how they manage to do that with computers. The fact that it is based of a video game is also pretty cool, and you really have to pay attention if you're going to understand this movie at all. It also helps to look through all of the extra features on the DVD. The acting is amazing, the music is outstanding, and the storyline is one so unique that it has to come from a video game. Where else would someone get the idea to have an escaped convict thrown into the middle of a battle over the universe? The Necromongers were so detailed and their religion was so eccentric ("You keep what you kill") and they set the mood for the whole movie. Great movie for anybody who loves video games or sci-fi.
15 GREAT MOVIE
this is one of the freatest movies ever. I loves it, plus riddick has a great character put on him. Do you know the gayies person is his name is Pari AKA Paripooranan or the_Saskwatch. Ye so go buy dis movie and props to u saskwatch And saskwatch please clean up after you shave your legs its like a jungle in here. Ye more more more more money more money
16 READ MY REVIEW. NONE OF THE OTHERS.
I'm sick of that 3.5 star rating. And I hate it when people give this movie a bad review. TCOR is NOT BAD! PUH-LEASE STOP GIVING IT A BAD REVIEW! In this companion to PITCH BLACK, an escaped convict finds him self in the battle for the human race.
A lot of ppl think that this is one of those movies where some guy goes "Oh, I hate you! BAM BAM BAM!" and kills somebody. Well hello hello! None of that happens in this movie.
I didn't like PITCH BLACK, but this movie makes up for it. With realistic s/fx, mind blowing backgrounds, you'll have one hell of a damn fun time!
UPDATE:
so far, 0 of 4 people found it helpful. Dammit, I wrote you an amusing review, so why can't you people find it as helpful as it REALLY is?
17 The Director's version butchers the movie
The Theatrical version is actually better than the director's version. The story is told in a much better manner.
Even the director's version is missing some material. Like at the very end of the movie, the Theatrical version has a slightly longer ending because you'll hear a narrator's voice explaining the conclusion of the movie. In the director's version, the narrator's voice is cut from the ending.
The Theatrical version has a few other pieces that are not shown in the director's version.
You're better off with the Full-Screen Theatrical version.
18 Here it is, the 227th review...and a question.
OK, with so many reviews, why write another one, right?
I just watched the DVD of this film (with the director's cut put back in) and as much as I enjoyed it, I have one question (actually one problem) concerning the DVD version:
With the Director's desire to put so much back into the movie, why did he take things out that were in the theatrical version?
I first saw this movie, like most people do, in the theater and I must admit I enjoyed it very, very much. I enjoyed it so much in fact, that I remember aspects and scenes from it even now. Sad indeed when I realized that some of these scenes were not on this DVD.
For example: there was a scene just after the mercs go deep underground on Crematorium (am I spelling that right?). They witness for the first time (as do we) what happens in the main office of the slam everytime the sun rises and outside temperature quickly rises to 700¡. Everything in the office rattles and the thermometer gauge rises higher and higher. (You can still see a bit of this scene in the Special Effects featurette ...along with a terrific scene of the super heated atmosphere exploding around the gate that Riddick, Kyra and company later escape through on their run to the hanger)
Remembering that scene makes me wonder what else was deleted from the film that I so much enjoyed in the theater AND therefore compells me to ask the question: would it have been so terrible to leave in everything that was in the original theatrical version while adding the additional 15 minutes to this DVD version?
To this question I suspect that there won't be an answer forthcoming (except maybe, the standard, "creative license" one) Oh well.
All in all I am still pleased with the film; the stuff the director put back in should be considered icing on the cake (the additional scenes of the woman (apparition?) from Furya were a very nice touch)...
Thanks for listening to another critique....
19 VIN WEASEL
This movie had decent special FX,
but bored the hell out of me! The
only good movie Vinny was ever in
was, Saving Ryans Privates. Does
Vinny have down syndrome? It sure
looks like it!
20 riddickulous!
The idea that Diesl is a Furian, was totally unbelievable! The film would have done a lot better if the character Riddick remained a Bad MoFo killer/humanitarian kicking butt and taking names! Vin has got charisma coming out of the ying yang - Plus he's like Arnold Schwartzenegger that can act. That why people go to see his films. I don't think he actually made a "really" good flick since Saving Private Ryan and Pitch Black. Sorry mate, but you know I'm right. I think Pacifier is probably the kind of Genre that he should stick too, until he can find one with a good script and a good action genre (together).
Acting - 3
Action - 3.5
Believability - 2
Time given to go pee pee - 4(not good)
First date movie - 2
Total - 3
21 hm
I would say that the only thing less interesting than the movie itself were the special features included in the disk.
Ok, there were definitely some cool action scenes. However, there was little to no character development. The story and subplots seemed to have been ripped off from a bunch of other stories (including the prophecy and the killing of the sons--read mythology much?). The motivations of the characters seemed somewhat random and irrelevant.
This dvd was given to me as a gift. I would have never purchased it myself (had I seen the movie). I think this movie is worth watching once, and that's about it. No point to owning it.
22 ACTION ACTION ACTION
stand alone heros are what the world wants. riddick has a lot of personality that most stupid people don't get, he loves jack as a father-figure but has been used by too meny people to just let things go. as with imam, he had to get riddick to help them the only way he saw to do that was to get killed by the bad guys. if you are smart enough to reed between the lines you will see a lot of depth that some rewiewres don't see
23 Great Movie if you give it the effort
The plot has been told to death in these reviews, so I'll skip the obvious. The effects are better than I was expecting, with production design by Doug Chiang (Star Wars Ep.1). The scope and even the story itself borrows from Lynch's Dune and general audiences had much the same to say about that great movie. Give it a chance, it is a good movie that may challenge some viewers. I really didn't "get it" till it was almost over. After renting it, I immediately went out and bought it.
24 Chronicles Doesn't Stop For Anybody
1st off, this is the sequel to the sleeper, cult hit Pitch Black. HOW this is a sequel, I'm not entirely sure, other than a handful of familiar characters. Pitch Black seemed very low budget and gave NO inkling as to what shows up in Chronicles Of Riddick. That's not to say it's a bad movie, it's actually very good. The special effects are top-notch and the artists who designed EVERYTHING are excellent. Chronicles is an exciting, action-packed sci-fi flick that gives us fans a reason to love sci-fi in general.
Ok, so we visit Riddick several years later. He's still on the run and he ends up 'employed' to fight against the Necromongers. The who? A race who wants to take over the universe. They are like Star Trek TNG's Borg except they are all about death as opposed to cybernetics. Did I mention they look very cool? They are creepy looking, their religion is creepy, and their spaceships are creepy.
Vin Diesel is in top shape, even more bad than he was in the 1st flick and get this, he has super powers! (not that we had ANY clue in Pitch Black, right?) Alexa Dvalos plays Jack, now known as Kyra, and is quite a fighter herself. There is a bit of an emotional story between the two. Riddick apparently dropped her off (she was just a kid in Pitch Black) to be raised by other people and ended up becoming a fighting convict. There is tension over the fact that Riddick left her and it helps make the movie deeper.
Thandi Newton plays a pretty small role, which is a bummer. Most people will most likely remember her from Mission Impossible2. Judi Dench and Nick Chinlund (Con Air) also show up.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The scope of it is awesome and the CGI used is perfect. It's a pure action, popcorn, great sci-fi flick all around. The biggest problem I have with it is the notion of it being a Pitch Black Sequel. This movie could have been called something entirely different and been just as cool. Or better.
It's worth checking out.
25 Sci-Fi Lover
I loved this movie. But this statement means little unless you know what other (similar/related) movies I have also loved:
Aliens 1, 2 and 4
Pitch black
Speed
Terminator 1 and 2
Predator 1 and 2
Alien versus Predator
Underworld
Pirates of the Carribean.
Tomorrow Never Dies
All the Star Wars 1,2,4,5 and 6
Bladerunner
Basically this film is a logical extension of Pitch Black with more money spent on production values and a strong supporting cast. It is to Pitch Black what Aliens was to Alien. While Alien/Pitch Black may be purer pieces of art, the sequels are actually fun action movies. Vin Diesel gives a true performance and is breathtaking throughout. Alexa Davalos and Thandie Newton gave superb performances and Judi Dench was excellent, as ever. I bought the DVD immediately after seeing this movie and it holds pride of place in my DVD collection. I can only assume that those who scored this movie so low are either not serious fans of the genre or couldn't follow the rollercoaster of a story.
26 chronicles of riddick
Along with Pitch black and now the Chronicles of Riddick are excellent movies with a much more of a plot then Matrix had. I hope to see their will be another movie in the making.
27 Woa! Great Sci-Fi Movie!
Starwars EP1 and EP2, eat your heart out... This movie rocked, and it rocked hard. I wasnt really a Vin Deisel fan before seeing this the other night. Great flic for those looking for epic space quest films!
28 Turn your brain off and have fun.
The Chronicles of Riddick (David Twohy, 2004)
You can't go into a film with a name like The Chronicles of Riddick and not know it's going to be cheesy as all get-out. If you take it in that light, it's not a bad movie at all. If you go in expecting Pitch Black, however, you're in for quite a disappointment.
All the things Twohy did wrong about Pitch Black are still here (especially the confusing rapid-fire camera-angle cutting combined with lack of storyline; the same technique used to confuse and annoy the viewer during Pitch Black's crash-landing makes an appearance at the beginning of this film, as well. In Twohy's defense, he does a much better job of it about two-thirds of the way through this film), but a lot of what was right about the first film is missing. Some of that has to do with the scope of the picture; it's much easier to build complex characters when your whole cast is seven people. Riddick has a cast of thousands, and it shows; very few characters here are more than cardboard, including some of the main characters. Judi Dench is utterly wasted here (more for lack of screen time than anything inherent in her character), and Karl Urban, as the necromonger (I mean, come on, the movie has a race called necromongers. Cheese city!) sent to kill Riddick, could have had a wonderful part. Instead, he's played as two-dimensionally as possible. Etc.
Still, if you're looking for a turn-your-brain-off action flick, you could do worse. And did you ever think you'd see Vin Diesel with hair, much less dreadlocks? **
29 My Speech Impaired Child Writes Better Dialogue
I am giving this two stars instead of one beacuse Judi Dench is in this. She can belch with dignity and class, which is what she practically did in this movie.
Thandie Newton is a beautful woman but she should never be allowed to open her mouth to speak when the writers are so inept. The movie is full of contrived cleverness and weak attemts at wit. It is cliche and my teenagers were laughing at it, mocking scenes. "Oh, here's the sexy prisoner! She can't fight, but she can sure talk tuff and hide blades on her body!"
As much as I hated the movie, the director's note and additional information made it interesting in how they shot it and how they created affects. Still, save your money and buy HellBoy, instead.
30 A Mediocre Sci-Fi Epic
Vin Diesel returns as the character Riddick introduced in the earlier sci-fi film "Pitch Black". The film is grand in terms of concept and special effects, but its script and direction is less than stellar.
Unfortunately, Riddick's character is one-dimensional: there's no change or revelation in his character which is the basis for solving any sort of mystery or riddle. This is the typical theme structure of an epic narrative/movie. The film's epic status attempts are evident in the plot structure. Our hero is an outcast or in the shadows; people come to him as their last hope to save the world; he has to face an unknown threat alone; he overcomes the threat because of some revelation/transformation and becomes a changed man. The film's plot fails to carry such a theme because Riddick doesn't change as a character and doesn't really seem to be challenged too much. The film actually follows more a comic-book structure where the protagonist is simply an out-of-the-box perfect superhero who goes into a grand finale with an arch-villain and wins.
In short, the film has an interesting story line and great special effects but fails to live up to its potential. The plot is weak and supports only an incomplete theme that's based on a one-dimensional character.
31 What's wrong with some escapism?
I saw this movie in the theater and again on DVD. Lemme tell ya... The unrated director's cut is much better than what was shown in the theater.
The theater version had unexplained plot devices, character and plot references that were never completely explained or left out as if the viewer would just automatically understand them. I left the theater appreciating the action and effects but generally wanting to thwap David Twohy soundly around the head for the editing.
The fact that Riddick is an unrepented killer and the movie was rated PG-13 should have told me something. It seems like studio interference created a movie that was dumbed-down and edited to market to a broader audience, forgetting that most action and sci-fi fans make their initial opinion of a movie by the rating alone. In short, if it's rated R, it's worth more investigation. If it's PG-13, you may as well wait for video.
So when I heard the Unrated Director's cut was being released on DVD, I was fairly non-plussed. I mean, they were only adding a few minutes to the overall length of the movie. How much could they reveal that would actually make the movie make sense?
Was I wrong. Those few minutes (and some judicious changes to existing scenes) made a world of difference. Many of my issues with the first movie were resolved.
I admit, it's not art. It may not even appeal to everyone. It's a bit of escapism, but now it's decently-done escapism.
Do you need to see Pitch Black before seeing this movie? Not entirely, but it's a heck of a lot easier to understand some of the inter-relationships if you do. (The whole thing with Imam and Jack/Kyra is lost without PB.)
Do you need to see Dark Fury before seeing this movie? No, not at all. But it's some nice escapism too.
For the ladies in the group that just want some nice eye-candy, it's got that. For those that like explosions and vivid action sequences, it's got that too.
If you want to see this movie, see the director's cut. Anything else is just not good enough.
And definitely, definitely watch this one in the dark. Some of the visuals just aren't done justice if the lights are on.
32 pure escapist Sci-fi fun
I stayed away from the theatrical release of Chronicles of Riddick. At the time the reviews made it clear the studio executives ruined a good premise by hacking it down to appeal to a teenaged audience. However, I picked up the "unrated directors cut" hoping that it would be good, and I was right!
Maybe it was my lowered expectations, but I thought this movie was awesome. For me, this was the best epic, pure escapist Sci-fi I've seen since "Empire Strikes Back". The visuals and sound was top notch. The concept of a marauding army of half-deads converting and killing whole planets is straight out of "Heavy Metal". Riddick was exactly as I remembered him - hard core. As in Pitch Black, it becomes clear in the end there is a heart beneath the cold-blooded exterior. I've read a lot of the reviews here, so I won't repeat what's already written. I will say that if you grew up loving "Heavy Metal", "Conan the Barbarian" or other escapist "B movies", you'll get a huge kick out of this film. I know I did.
33 "What's my one liner again" Vin probably responded,
This movie provides some sparse exciting scenes. There isn't too much dialogue, but I guess there really isn't much to chat about. Vin (Riddick) knocks off cheesy one liners and is pretty much be all and end all hero. Go figure.
Nothing will or should surprise you in this film. It is as straight forward as a film can get. Vin should've died multiple times in this flick, but with plot holes and unrealistic actions, the man walks away with maybe a kitten's scratch.
I paid $3.20 for the rental and I feel a little cheated. For an action film with not much script, it is amazing how it can drag along. Anyway, if you don't mind paint by the numbers movies, then by all means, Chronicles of Riddick should suit your fancy.
34 If it weren't for Vin Diesel.....
This movie is set supposedly five years after Pitch Black. Now, the wanted criminal Riddick (Diesel) arrives on a planet called New Mecca, and finds himself up against an invading empire called the Necromongers, an army that plans to convert or kill all humans in the universe.
All in all, this is a drab, dull effort that basically has only a couple of redeeming features; one of them, of course, is Diesel. Without Vin Diesel, this would have been a colossal mess. Apart from that, the only other credit are the special effects and the slightly average fight scenes. But apart from that, it's well, downhill. Overall, a silly plot and some watered-down dialogue drag this film down and put a worse name of Pitch Black that was a good sci-fi thriller. The Chronicles of Riddick had potential. None of it shows.
35 I hope theres a third one
Seeing Pitch black helps but is not needed, this is a stand alone film. I also suggest seeing the animated film Dark Fury if you want some more backstory.
I loved the movie. I found the plot very easy to understand. You MUST see this film in the unrated directors cut, it is MUCH better then the theatrical version and the plot is much clearer.
The plot, action, acting and above all costumes are all top notch. My only complaint is that I wanted there to be more space battles. If you haven't seen it you should do so and if you only saw the theatrical edition at the movies, then do yourself a favor and get the directors cut and see it how it was meant to be seen.
36 "It's just the animal in me."
I'm not quite sure whether The Chronicles of Riddick was supposed to be a prequel or a sequel to the fabulous Pitch Black - I think it was a sequel. Whatever the case, this viewer was scratching his head in wonderment at how a promisingly successful science fiction franchise could become such a shapeless, uninteresting mess.
Pitch Black was a wonderfully original, imaginative and stylish, with the sexy Vin stealing the show with his slick beefiness and polished athleticism. However, there's nothing subtle or stylish about The Chronicles of Riddick: overblown, and bloated with vast, gaudy special effects, costumes and sets, the movie is pretty much a convoluted headache from beginning to end.
The movie begins when Riddick (Diesel) is trying to escape from a cold artic-like planet. There's some kind of bounty placed on his head, but he manages to flee in a slick looking spaceship and ends up on New Mecca finding solace with holy man Imam (Keith David). Enter an embarrassed looking Judi Dench, playing a kind of strange and wispy, translucent wind being, who convinces Riddick that he's the only one who can ultimately destroy the Necromancers, an evil army of half human, vampire-like, ghost beings.
Suddenly the Necromongers invade and destroy the planet and try to convert the surviving humans, whom they call "breeders" to their religion, which is worshipping something called the "underverse." Riddick is caught by some bounty hunters and sent to a sun-baked planet called Crematora where he rescues Kyra (Alexa Davalos), and some fellow prisoners.
Everything is big, cluttered and noisy in this film, from the crab-like industrialized spaceships that spew some kind of black exhaust, to the spectacular skylines of the alien planets, and the metallic goth-like sets, that are obviously modeled on Ancient Egyptian and roman architecture. But the expensive and exciting effects can't make up for the dreadful script and the absolutely atrocious acting from all involved.
Perhaps only Thandie Newton rises above the fray - playing with decided camp - a Lady Macbeth-like villainness intent on obtaining absolute power though her Necromancer boyfriend Vaako (Karl Urban). In one unintentionally funny scene, Thandie seductively tongues Vaako all over the face - it's supposed to be erotic, but comes across as quite revolting.
Obviously made for fifteen-year-old boys, The Chronicles of Riddick steers clear of any violence or profanity. Most of the action takes place on the prison planet of Crematoria with Riddick spending the majority of the time in bondage, his sweaty arms stretched out in a Crucifixion-like pose. There's lots of fight scenes, which are so badly edited, overly frenetic, and excessively choreographed that they make your head swim; director David Twohy inexplicably shakes his camera around furiously during every fight, rendering much the action completely unwatchable.
As Riddick, Vin looks fabulous, but he can't act, and the lines he is forced to spew belittle the seriousness of the story and ultimately make a mockery of his character. One wonders why the fabulous, iconographic Ms. Dench decided to do this film - rumor has it that Judy and Vin are good friends. If this is the case, lets hope that she can finally steer him the direction of better quality material than this, but judging from his career of late, I very seriously doubt this will be the case. Mike Leonard February 05.
37 Not Bad, but not Great either!
The Chronicles of Riddick, brings back to the screen the story of the Furian fugitive as he tries to avoid bounty hunters while at the same time trying to prevent a new enemy, the Necromongers, from taking over the Underverse. It is an action-packed adventure with significant improvements compared to the prequel, Pitch Black:
1) Vin Diezel talks much more in this movie; he has way more lines.
2) There are better special effects, and
3) Overall, it's a better plot.
Nevertheless:
1) There are still multiple gaps in the plot; though Dark Fury- The Chronicles of Riddick is the missing link between the two movies, there is very little information given about the Elementals and the mysterious religion of the Necromongers, thus leaving the audience in the dark.
2) Riddick, surprisingly, gets his butt kicked left and right in Pitch Black by the "jock" bounty hunter, but in Chronicles there is this transformation that takes place and he becomes next to invincible.
3) Another setback is in relation to the acting (or lack of it), which is just average, and at times below average.
In conclusion, the film will provide an evening's entertainment, though it's no masterpiece...
38 A popcorn flick that requires really good popcorn.
As an action movie, The Chronicles of Riddick was mediocre, barely standing out from the sea of action flicks to come before it.
As a sci-fi flick, it was without merit or draw. Many of the concepts behind it were stale at best.
And as a film, it wasn't worth the ticket price.
If you liked Pitch Black, you'll probably be dissapointed with The Chronicles of Riddick. It sheds everything that made Pitch Black memorable and fun in trade of cheesy one-liners and eye-rolling action scenes. Rent this one.
39 blow my head off
RIDDICK OK ................. PITCH BLACK................
WHAT HAPPENED THIS MOVIE IS LIKE WELL.....CRAPPPPPPPPP!
I MEAN VINNIE COME ON JUST LET THE GUY FIGHT IN MOVIES DONT LET HIM TALK.IF U HAD A APE WITH A MENTAL PROBLEM AND GAVE HIM SILVER EYES U HAVE RIDDICK. PITCH BLACK WAS GOOD IT WAS A SIMPLE MOVIE AND A SIMPLE STORY THATS RARE THESE DAYS.RIDDICK
TRYS TO BE STAR WARS AND STAR TREK AND A MOVIE TO LOL.
OK KIDDIES
PROS VINNIE GETS HIS ,,, KICKED
THATS IT
CONS
THE VILLIANS ARE ABOUT AS SCARY AS MY 3 YEAR OLD
MONEY IS A WONDERFUL THING KEEP IT
THE DIRECTOR MUST HAVE BEEN ON A BAD TRIP MAKING THIS MOVIE
IT SHOULD HAVEBEEN CALLED RIDDSTARWARSSTARTREKBULL,,,,
IF U WANT TO BUY THIS MOVIE YOUR BETTER OFF COMING OVER MY HOUSE
[...]
40 Sweet Movie
Directors cuts, hehe, have a habit of making good films great. Please let the same people responsible for this continue the series in the same fashion.
The directors cut for me really does rock harder than the original, i think if u have the right people doing the job u should just trust your initial judgement and let them make a cool movie. This is a lavish production, the plot has a good mix of stuff going on and the characters are suitably iconic and hard-assed.
The visuals in this flick are superb and the conquest of the planet looks way cool. If u don't see this cut of the film you are missing out on kick ass sci-fi that is both visually and plot wise, intriguing.
41 Not PITCH BLACK, but a decent movie all it's own.
While this is supposed to be a sequel to PITCH BLACK, it really doesn't have that feel to it. I liked this movie, not as well as PITCH BLACK (which may someday hit "classic" status), but as a movie in it's own right. The sets and special effects were extremely effective and well done.
I loved Diesel in PITCH BLACK. Then xXx came along and I was very disappointed in the movie and his performance. Same for A MAN APART. It seemed for a bit that unless he was a supporting actor (KNOCKAROUND GUYS, BOILER ROOM, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) the movies weren't really good. Maybe it was just bad choices on his part, or producers rushing to cash in on what they saw in PITCH BLACK. I don't know.
At least with CHRONICLES you get an idea of what Diesel can do when given the opportunity and a decent script. The storyline was good, Judy Dench was great (as usual), and Diesel was perfect. I wish they'd used the original girl instead of bringing in someone so pretty. I liked the original. She'd have been just fine.
Like STAR WARS you get a better image of this movie on the big screen. Still, it's worth owning, worth seeing, worth writing a review about.
42 Tied with White Chicks for worst Movie of 2004
How many science fiction and fantasy cliches can you put in a movie? Just watch Riddick and start counting. I seriously think this should have been a parody of sci-fi and fantasy because this movie is THAT BAD. Pitch Black was great but for this "sequel" they basically rewrote the Riddick character to fit into this jumbled mess of a movie. The acting was laughable. The story was ridiculous and it stole from movies like Star Wars, Star Trek, LOTR, Escape from New York, forget about it. I don't want to continue listing because I think you should get the point. Don't waste any $$$ or time on tis steaming pile of crap. You might as well call Vin Diesel's career dead or on the same level as Seagal and Van Damme. Straight to cable and DVD.
43 ** NOT HALF BAD ... PLEASANTLY SURPRISED **
Lets face it ... Vin Diesel is not much of an actor ... while I think he is attractive to look at, I don't expect much from him other than a good action flick. That being said, this movie was interesting. The set and costume designs were beautiful, grand and vast. The story line was interesting; and the acting was ok. Better than I expected. This is worth being in your collection and if other "chronicles" will be brought to the big screen, all the better to start your collection off right!
44 Boring stupid long 1.5 stars
(...) Back then riddick
was cool mysterious. Now he just (...). Its the kind of movie you
watch to see what will happen next but you can't wait for it to end cause its so boring.This movie is plagued with cheesy story line terrible fight scenes you could fall a sleep to. The acting isnt that good either.
45 Review of the Director's Cut
Well, I didn't see the theatrical release, which many have complained about. But I did just see the Director's Cut, and with whatever they fixed or added in, I thought it a fairly easy movie to understand and enjoy. Sure, there were a lot of questions not answered, but I had a MUCH harder time muddling through the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and I wasn't begging this one to "end already!" like I did with those. Riddick was intriguing, the sets, costumes and effects were awesome. The atmosphere - while not as dark and creepy as Pitch Black - still drew me in with its alienness. The ending really did make me want to see what happens next (a sequel, hopefully). Standing on its own, I think it's solid sci-fi, and better than 80% of the other sci-fi we get offered. Wish there had been some romance between Riddick and Kyra. Their chemistry was really interesting. One of the reviews said there was sex? I must have missed it. Aside from that, far from disappointing.
46 I wanted so much to like it!
But when it was done, all I wanted to do was re-write it. Fix it, make it better. It was, to be honest, awful. Absolutely nothing like Pitch Black, which was a solid Sci-Fi movie; this was a sort of sci-fi-fnatasy-horror-mix, and a badly done one. It could have been so good, if only the'd done a bit more reasoning and a bit less wandering around.
Riddick is living alone on an ice world when bounty hunters chase him down - blah, blah - the plot gets complicated (unnecessarily so) from there on out. Oh, I SO want to fix this movie. It really had so much potential and it wasted all of it. Just, someone, give me a budget and I swear I'll make it all better...
It makes me angry just thinking about it. Grrrr. If Vin Deisel were here I'd yell at him.
47 Stupid - Funny - Cool
This movie had alot of Cool effects. It had a touch of Goth with a touch of nuts in space. In my life I would of never of thought to use Living dead people(thingys..?) as cell phones, Or using monkeys in green fish bowls as detectors. (lol) The FX was way cool. This movie in years will be right up thier with "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians" BTW has better dialoge than Riddeck. But for those lookin for a touch of *Way beyond normal Sci-Fi* I would say "knock yourself out".
48 Deep Dark Hero Stuff
Nope, this is not your standard sequel to a successful movie. The Chronicles of Riddick is based on the characters from Pitch Black, but the story is not really building on the events of Pitch Black.
In addition, the pace and the setup of the Chronicles are a bit different than in Pitch Black. This time it's all about Riddick (or should we say Vin?) and the movie is more action oriented. There are quite many physical fight scenes and an intense race against time (the rising sun).
While some reviewers complain about a missing plot, this is not really true. The plot is simple, straight forward and perfectly in line with the theme of the movie: fallen soon-to-be hero fights back. The scenes (locations) are spectacular, the CG is impressive and even the acting is solid. The outdoor (and brief outer space) scenes with the Necromonger ships and the Necromonger invasion to Helion Prime is rendered beautifully and do a good job of visualizing the colossal power of this Son-of-Borg species. The three pictured planet (UV something, Helios Prime and Crematoria) look all very different and still fit the general tone of the movie very well.
Some complains that apply to almost all sci-fi movies apply here as well. The villains have been seen before (as mentioned above: the Borg) and, although I think the plot is appropriate for a move of this kind, it still is way too simple and constructed (Riddick after a series of surprising turns: "It was my plan") and how come he always shows up at the right place at the right time? But hey, it's an entertaining movie and not a documentary.
If you take the move for what it is, it's well worth the money. I certainly enjoyed watching it.
49 What are you talking about??
I dont understand what most people are talking about. Sure its not the same as pitch black, but just because its different doesnt mean its bad. If anyone who is an anime and manga fan should definitly check out the movie. The fight scences rocked and the settings of the movie really show its dedication to art. If you like your action fluid and up-close, definitly watch it.
50 RIDDICK IS RIDICULOUS
THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK (Universal) is the follow up to the superior "Pitch Black." While watching this seemingly endless mess, I realized "Riddick" must be short for "ridiculous." Vin Diesel's back as the interplanetary anti-hero. Dame Judy Dench was somehow talked into taking part as well. Huge scenes with lots of action and inventive CGI effects are meaningless when the plot (and I use the word loosely) is undecipherable, the characters unbelievable and the set-ups are often not paid off.
A waste of good pixels.
51 Disappointing but enlightening...
I am an avid fan of the movie Pitch Black based solely on one reason: Riddick. When I first saw Pitch Black I fell in love with the character of Riddick. Strong, deadly: the typical "bad guy" that girls fall for. I bought Chronicles of Riddick expecting to find my "bad boy". Instead, I found the New Riddick. Riddick evolved from a bad boy to a good-hearted boy who can still kick the living crap out of people. There was only one good death scene where Riddick kills someone with a tin cup.
I loved Jack, oh excuse me Kyra, in this film. She was beautiful, seductive, and powerful.
Although disappointed with Riddick's new self, I was enlightened by the information presented within the movie. It explained a lot of the things that previously puzzled me about Riddick and his strength.
This movie is necessary for the Riddick or Pitch Black fan. You can watch it stand-alone, but I wouldn't recommend it. I seriously hope that they come out with more Riddick movies.
52 Epic Sci-fi at it's finest
It takes a lot of work to make a film; it takes even more work to make a good film, one that has a decent storyline and enough memorable lines and events, even characters, and it takes an incredible amount of dedication and sheer talent to create something that transcends the film, it's series, and grabs a person in a way that leaves an indelible mark on their soul. Never, in my life, would I have expected this to have come in the form of an action film, but it has. The Chronicles of Riddick is a masterpiece. The sets, the art, the soundtrack, the lines, the characters, even the concepts, are so detailed, so elegant and masterful, that it blows away almost every other competitor completely. It's storyline is so fulfilling, so rich and delicious, that it allows the film to pull free from it's action-packed, gritty, and violent roots to become something not unlike Frank Herbert's own Dune. A masterwork, at the very least.
Vin Diesel shines in The Chronicles of Riddick, far outdoing his performance in what amount to lesser films, such as Rob Cohen's The Fast and the Furious, and even Chronicle's sequel, Pitch Black. He plays an endlessly astounding and incredibly enigmatic convict, a "Furian" known only as Riddick, whose major talent seems to be for attracting trouble, and flawlessly avoiding it. Co-starring in the film is the amazing Colm Feore, a powerful, moving speaker who plays the endlessly powerful "Lord Marshall," leader of the evil, destructive, and hell-bent faction known as the Necromongers, men and women who "convert those they do not kill."
If you're a fan of science fiction, action films, or even if you just need a good film to watch, I definitely recommend The Chronicles of Riddick. If any film is worth watching, renting, even owning, this one is.
53 Rent before you Buy
What a bad movie. Pitch Black was great but this mess doesn't even come close. The only reason I'm giving it two stars is because I didn't watch the entire movie. I fell asleep half way thru this bomb and didn't want to waste another 3 bucks renting this a 2nd day to finish it.
54 Too bad these Chronicles aren't over yet
Schwarzenegger wanna-be Vin Diesel reprises his role as Richard Riddick; the character whom he played in Pitch Black which actually wasn't too bad. The Chronicles of Riddick however, find Diesel and writer/director David Twohy in the center of a glorified B-movie with A plus special effects, and the character development of Diesel's Riddick, which really attempted to go somewhere in Pitch Black, gets thrown out the window here. Riddick finds himself with a massive bounty on his head, and he is also thrown into a full scale war with a fascist master race bent on, what else, domination of the universe. Colm Feore provides an antagonistical villain, while Lord of the Rings' Karl Urban is given a meaty role, and Thandie Newton and Judi Dench are wasted in their roles. The CGI effects are spectacular, but Diesel proves to be the biggest special effect of them all; flexing his way towards a forseeable conclusion that leaves the door open for another "Chronicle". This is the franchise that Diesel chose over his profitable XXX film, and even though I don't expect much from anything with Vin Diesel as the main attraction, I did expect something more from David Twohy. If you want mindless action and CGI, check this out, but if you wan't a movie with brains you should avoid this.
55 Who Cares Now (Chronicles is a Greek Tragedy on Roids)
!!SPOILER!!
They took a good premise a good movie and ruined it all in the last five minuites. Vin might as well forget about a third Riddick cause the character has lost his edge and now leads an army of idiots. Yeah sure I had no problem with the death of the Holy Man but why would you kill Jack(Kyra). Throughout the movie it seemed like the could have taken the Riddick character to another level but it seemed throughout the movie that Vin was fighting the character trying to make him something he shouldn't be.
However I kind of liked that whole thing it served the story well but not the character of Riddick. I loved the relationship between Riddick and Kyra throughout the movie it is the one thing that I can say was done well. The problem I do have is they killed Kyra(Jack) in such a way that it was overshadowed by Riddick's assention to lord of the Necro's.
In the end they took Riddick the ultimate Anti-Hero one of the great movie characters and made him a useless Tragic Hero almost Greek Tragedy type of hero. Point being if you liked Pitch Black at all don't and I repeat don't watch this movie. Well I guess I'll just watch Batman if I want to see a Tragic Hero who ultimatly is useless.
56 Great Movie, DVD ads/promos troublesome
I actually love this movie mostly because of the story backdrop and special effects. The special effects is just insanely great. They put a lot of effort into the sets and CG effects. They pulled it off really well in a big way.
And the wierd medieval allure of the necromongers and mysterious magical-like technology and culture really add substance to the universe. The movie creators did an outstanding job. I hope they can make more movies, and even consider using their magic to make some Dune flicks. :-)
I am not a big fan of Vin Diesel roles, but it works well for the Riddick character. It seems the character and Vin Diesel were made for each other. Nick Chinlund as the mercenary Tombs was done really well. If only a slight small complaint, I wish there was more engagement in to the universe, and I felt there was a too much emphasis and spotlight in such these characters.
My biggest complaint though is not much with the movie itself (4 stars), but rather with the annoying DVD media (1 star). For one they included this demo of video game. On an X-Box, we COULD NOT WATCH THE MOVIE, but the video game worked. :-\ However, on the Sony Playstation 2, we were able to actually WATCH the movie. What I really despise about many DVD movies, is that they FORCE you to watch commercials, and this DVD is no exception.
I would recommend if you have a DVD burner, to burn this movie without the fluff, and watch the copy. We should be able to simply watch movies we pay for, without the promos and commercials.
Conclusion, great movie with great special effects and universe backdrop, e.g. Necromongers. DVD media with its promos and adverts is really lammo.
57 A piece you will have
David Twohy (writer of Pitch Black, G.I. Jane, Waterworld, The Fugitive, Warlock and Critters 2) is done a huge injustice with this movie. I personally went and saw this movie at the movie theatres, and left the theatre thinking this movie was ok, it was good, but a lot of people will not like it. However, when I watched the uncut version that recently came out on DVD, the whole story, plot, and a whole missing dimension of the movie was cut out.
The Chronicles of Riddick is about Riddick's past, his race, where he came from, and why there is no one left of his race. Every scene that referred to this was cut out of the theatrical version. That definitely took away from the whole depth of the movie. The theatrical version was an action packed, ok story, nice characters movie, but nothing special, just an upgrade from XXX.
The Directors cut of Chronicles of Riddick reminded me of a combination between Mad Max and Conan. Now I am definitely not saying Chronicles of Riddick belongs in the same breath as those all time classics. What I am saying is story line wise, and action wise, yes it can be mentioned in that breath. Now that I have seen what Twohy intended, I think Chronicles of Riddick is the Science Fiction version of Conan, made for the year 2000.
Keith David (the Holy Man in both Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick) over hears that a race of beings are coming to wipe out his planet, and informs his government of a man who can help stop them (this is emphasized in the deleted scenes). The movie starts fast and furious as a group of Merc's is trying to capture Riddick, lead by Nick Chinlund (Training Day, Con-Air, Eraser) as Toombs. Riddick dismantles this group of Merc's and heads for the land of Mecca, where he left Jack and Keith David from the first Pitch Black movie.
Chronicles of Riddick takes off as the Necromongers land on Keith David's planet, shortly after Riddick arrives, and starts to take over New Mecca. Colm Feore (Storm of the Century, Paycheck, The Sum of All Fears, Pearl Harbor) leads the group of Necromongers, and is some sort of all powerful shape shifter.
The movie as a whole is very entertaining. I feel if the director's cut were released to theatres, this movie could have done a lot better. It is really too bad the depth of this movie could not be seen without the DVD version. The ending of this movie has a very strong Conan feel, almost referencing to it. Definitely a movie worth watching, at least once.
Grade: B+
58 You keep what you kill
Even if I have to apologize to my Friends and Favorites, and my family, I have to admit that I really liked this movie. It's a Sci-Fi movie with a "Mad Maxx" appeal that, while changing many things, left Riddick from `Pitch Black' to be just Riddick. They did not change his attitude or soften him up or bring him out of his original character, which was very pleasing to `Pitch Black' fans like myself.
First off, let me say that when playing the DVD, the first selection to come up is Convert or Fight, and no explanation of the choices. This confused me at first, so I will mention off the bat that they are simply different menu formats, that each menu has the very same options, simply different background visuals. Select either one and continue with the movie.
Chronicles Of Riddick takes place after Riddick's escape from the planet of monsters on Pitch Black, starting out with his recapture after being in hiding for many years. Now we are going to get a glimpse of just what is going on in the universe during the futuristic time frame of `Pitch Black'.
A large sect of religious fanatics called Necromongers are moving from planet to planet, converting others to their faith and killing those who will not convert. Necromongers are half-dead beings from many different original planets, kind of like Star Trek's Borgs except they do not loose their individuality when they are converted. Some are made into "Lensors", very cool effect of once-humans with these round blue shields over their faces, under which their faces look a little skeletal and decomposed.
Riddick gets caught up with the Necromongers after he is taken to the prison planet of Crematoria, where daylight, rather than nightfall, is the killer. Here he finds a grown up Jack (the girl from Pitch Black), now using her real name of Kyra. The girl Jack was a strong addition to Pitch Black, the adult Kyra is rather whiney and annoying, and my one complaint would be that they should have done better with Jack's development. He has to escape Crematoria and help Jack off the planet also.
Truthfully, the entire plot is Riddick running from people who want to capture him, but it's still a good movie made interesting with the addition of the half-dead race. The Lady Vaako of the Necromongers is a very `Cleopatra' type of character, with her own Marc Anthony in the form of Vaako, one of the Lord Marshal's fiercest warriors.
In some of the scenes the Necromongers almost come across like Televangelists, wanting converts so badly, and desiring entire populations to kneel before them. Just a funny comparison to mull over while you watch. There is also an Elemental in the movie, a race of beings who can phase in and out of dimensions, whose job it seems to be not to inform the Necromongers but to distract them from Riddick, at least that is the feeling that I got.
The special effects of this movie make up for the slower parts about three quarters of the way through the movie, stunning visuals of cities that are half gothic and half futuristic, great flight scenes (including a cool shot of the underbelly of one of the ships), the sunrise over the planet Crematoria is spectacular (but not quite as good as the nightfall effect in Pitch Black), the power going out all over the city, the half metal-half squishy mind readers, and that is barely skimming the effects.
The costume and set designs are visually stunning, well made without going too far over the top, and the editing is not as choppy as David Twohy warns us about at the beginning of the Director's Cut.
My one other problem is that with a loss of midrange hearing, I had to use the English Subtitles to hear some of the conversations, so if you are slightly hard of hearing you will want to use that feature. The battles are rapid and a bit confusing during the use of strobe lighting, but that is what the slow-mo button is for. ;-)
All in all, this is a pleasing sci-fi adventure movie, not to be confused with a work of art or a lesson in any socially redeeming values. It is good old-fashioned fun and a relief to us sci-fi fans who tire of critics blathering on about how sci-fi and fantasy are not worthy forms of entertainment. These are the same critics who thought The English Patient was a good movie. (gag)
As the Necromongers say, "Humans are an unguided mistake."
Enjoy the movie!
59 Lame
This was an absolute waste of film and time. Vin Deisel is one of the most talentless hacks in modern film making, the man has an ego the size of a semi and demands more money than he is worth. And not to mention this is one of the worse films I've ever had the displeasure to see. Once it was over I wished that I had that hour and a half that I wasted back. The movie attemtped to take Dune and bring it to a 21st century hip audience and in doing so totally ruined any element of a respectable plot or storyline. Pitch Black was a pretty decent movie, not the best film but certainly not the piece of trash this film is. The plot is almost non existant and the pieces of it that you do pick up on are few and far between, hands down one of the most scatter brained storylines I've ever seen. Vin Diesel's acting is its usual minimal macho bad guy stereotype and the supporting cast isnt able to save this sinking ship at all. Anyways, I think I've made my point. Dont go see this film unless your a sci-fi addict and dont care about plot nor acting just mindless eye candy.
60 A supreme Sci-Fi adventure!
The Chronicles of Riddick was a great movie, with great action, and great effects. Riddick is an awesome dude, who is an escaped convict on the run from some intergalactic army. He kicks so much ass in this movie, and NEVER gets romantic. This movie has a lot of cool stuff, including a planet, where in the daytime, it gets so hot, that anyone who sets foot on it will burn up and die. There is also a man who is half-dead, and he can reach into people, and rip their souls out, how freakin' cool is that! The Chronicles of Riddick is an exciting, intense, and awesome ride. If you are a fan of Science Fiction movies, BUY THIS NOW!
61 hey hey this movie is terrible!!! burn your copies!!!
[...] Pitch Black is an awesome movie so i was hoping this would be good. I am man enough to admit that i've seen many a vin diesel film, and although he isn't exactly charlton heston, he "throws beat downs" like nobodys business. He did so, oh so well in pitch black. But this... boy oh boy, what the fu*k happened. thats what i wanna know. I was hoping it would be good cause pitch black has that scifi cult quality to it and people actually like it. this is just a lump of garbage i would rather not see again. It pains me to say it but i think i'd rather watch a marathon of martha stewart's living. It hurts me to rag on this film, but i couldn't bring myself to enjoy it. Vin is his usual ass whooping self but everyone else sucked. the acting was how shall i say... subpar? Not to mention the plot... or the lack thereof. I don't understand why they didn't just leave it how it was with pitch black, and maybe a sequel? not a prequel. if you want a good vin diesel film, watch pitch black, or boiler room. THAT my friends, is a quality movie, and one of three films ben affleck is in that are good. those movies being dogma, boiler room, and good will hunting... and jay and silent bob strike back if you count that.
62 are you afraid of the dark?
this movie kicks ass.vin diesel just turned to my top 3 favorite action guy.i wish i could see in the dark.but no light that would suck.i havent seen the theatrical version but i saw the unrated so i think its in there i just dont dont know what parts were added.pitch black was cool to.but that was slow action.the chronicles of riddick was fast paced.its at#49 on the top 50 movies 0f 2004. it should.have been in the top 10.this movie is cool.a must see action adventure
63 Sci-Fi or Video Game?
I'm guessing that you need to have seen "Pitch Black" to fully appreciate this movie. Without the benefit of this preparatory stage, I can only comment on the movie on its own merit, and have to echo the sentiments of the Quasi-deads with their strong recommendation to "Kill the Riddick". Unfortunately, I would then have to keep it, and the video club might have a say in that unpleasant matter.
My first impression of Riddick from the opening chapters was a grunting, groaning behemoth, looking as abominable as any snowman, uttering guttural, disjointed sentences while casually killing and thrashing clueless mercenary bounty hunters.
And that was the good part.
Cleaned up and shiny headed, Riddick (Vin Diesel) flexes his vein-popping muscles, and utters guttural, disjointed sentences while giving the camera glowering looks through his smoky eyes, alternately taking off and putting back on his dark goggles.
More video game than serious movie, Riddick tracks down his old friend Imam (Keith David), and meets Aereon (Judi Dench, in a step down role) a gliding "air elemental", who identifies him as the only one who can stop the "Necromongers". Right on cue, the dreaded Necromongers arrive in a blaze of destruction, and somewhat improbably, Riddick gets taken prisoner by the bounty hunter Toombs, whom he tossed aside at the beginning of the movie. Toombs has a new crew of misfits, with a passing resemblance to the cast of "Police Academy", and takes Riddick to a prison on a hot planet named Crematoria (yeah, right).
In the hot seat, he tames savage beasts (probably by matching intelligence levels), and reunites with "Jack" from movie one, who has become "Kyra" in movie two. The "humans in cages" scene brings to mind the original "Planet of the Apes" movies, except the apes were smarter and better looking.
Anyway, Riddick's job is to save the Universe, so the furious Furyan has to match muscles with the Lord Marshall (Colm Feore)before the Necromongers take everybody to "a ravishing ever-new place called Under-Verse" (I'm not making this up)
There's also a little story involving Vaako (Karl Urban) and Dame Vaako (Thandie Newton, channeling her inner Eartha Kitt), which takes up a lot of time, but really doesn't go anywhere important.
Other than the special effects, there's nothing really much else to see - after all, if you've seen one "holy half-dead who's seen the Under-Verse", you've probably seen them all. The supposed love/lust scenes don't work, and the puns and one-liners would make James Bond blush.
The closed-captioning sums it all up in three phrases:
"Amplified breathing"
"Electronics screeching"
"High pitched whining"
I gave it three stars because of the special effects, the audacity of the Director, and the concept that I get to keep what I kill.
Amanda Richards, December 25, 2004
64 Tries too hard. . .
.. to be an epic sci-fi movie. I had mixed feelings about this movie. On the one hand, it's great to see Riddick again but I preferred the Riddick from "Pitch Black", rather than his incarnation of "super hero called in to save the universe" In "Pitch Black", he was the ultimate bad ass, but still a human being, albeit a deeply flawed one. In this movie, he has almost super-human powers it seems, able to mow down dozens of Necromongers at a time. As for the look of the movie, a bigger budget doesn't necessarily mean a better movie. Everything is on a grand scale and some of scenary is awesome (but some isn't so great). Also, the two other surviving characters from "Pitch Black" are killed off in this installment, one early on, the other at the end (boo!) All in all, Twohy should have taken much more time to tell us this story (2 hours plus a few minutes just isn't enough), too much is crammed in. And of course, the end leaves us open for (surprise) another sequel! Imagine that!
65 Epic, under-rated Sci-fi.
4.5 stars. It has been a long time since I've seen a Science Fiction film as ambitious and pumped with adrenaline as this one. The huge sets and spectacular special effects are glorious, and the cast contains some interesting and highly memorable characters. Although, this film is certainly not for everyone. Those who expect perfection will be summarily disappointed; but those who don't mind the occasional flaw as long as the story moves forward at a brisk and entertaining pace should be enthralled. I love reading epic Sci-fi novels that encompass multi-culture conflicts on a variety of planets host to a multitude of characters whose presence lingers on long after the final page is turned. That is what has been accomplished here: the ultimate in Space Opera laced with fantastic action sequences and a lead character you just can't take your eyes off of. There are many film influences apparently "borrowed" for this story, such as "Dune," "Star Trek," "Conan the Barbarian," and even a few excellent ideas practically stolen from the animated film "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within." The integration of all these sources should collide but they instead merge into an intoxicating brew of dazzling visuals and non-stop action sequences. There is a scene in this film that I want to relate, in part, due to the fact it reminded me of another great scene from "The Pianist" which won the Oscar for Best Director for Roman Polanski. In "The Pianist" there is a scene where a tank fires a shell into the vacinity of the main character and explodes; all of a sudden the sound cuts out except for a high-pitched tone and muffled footfalls leaving the viewer with an unprecedented feeling of being in same room. In "The Chronicles of Riddick" director David Twohy uses a similar idea as an explosion hits and the entire battle is silenced, the score is absent, and all that can be heard is the muffled sound of armored soldiers crashing against the rocks. It was another remarkable sample taken and seamlessly woven into the framework of this wholly under-rated film. To get more background information on a couple of the characters in this film, especially Riddick, it is a good idea to check out the film "Pitch Black" first. Both films are worth owning, this sequel starting up the story five years after "Pitch Black" ends. This is a thoroughly entertaining film filled with fine action sequences, superb special effects, and an epic tale that spans three planets and all the space between. Highly recommended.
66 Unrated edition...a disappointment. Go with the theatrical.
I liked the movie...when I saw it in the theater. I was incredibly disappointed with the Unrated Edition. I might have liked it better if I hadn't seen the original.
The unrated Edition changes the movie too much. Some of the new footage makes some things make more sense, but it also changes the story too much in my mind. Some new footage makes the scenes too long and extremely dull. It's like listening to someone talk a lot and say nothing.
They may have added footage, but they have taken a lot out as well. They have taken out some of the great one-liners. They have rearraged some of the dialogue. Once again changing the movie too much.
If you really enjoyed the theatrical version, don't get the unrated version. If you haven't seen the original, this one might be enjoyable for you.
67 I'm not afraid of the dark -- just this sequel.
You know, when you hear they're making a sequel to a movie like Pitch Black (which I loved), your first reaction is, "Cool!" and then you think, "I hope they don't screw it up." Well, they screwed it up.
"Pitch Black" had a simple plot, believable characters, and an element of tension that never let up. This movie had cool costumes, nice scenery, a simple plot made needlessly confusing in an effort to be "important," one-dimensional, stereotypical characters and really, really bad names for things. And Vin Diesel, of course.
Once again, he's our anti-hero Riddick, pursued by bounty hunters then enlisted to take on the evil invading "Necromongers." The Necromongers capture him, realize he's dangerous and, naturally, have to take him into the heart of their flagship to have a closer look. Yeah, that's what I'd do with a dangerous enemy if I were a one-dimensional comic book villain. Not.
They have to bring him into their ship to be examined by some kind of giant beetle-like creatures whose purpose is never explained and which you barely get a clear look at (because when you can see them clearly, they probably look a lot like big fake rubbery giant beetles). The bugs declare Riddick dangerous indeed and, since they can communicate in that annoying hissy echo-whisper voice the movies use to indicate that evil creatures are speaking telepathically, they insist that he must be destroyed!
But, before that edict can be carried out, Riddick somehow escapes and gets whisked away by the bounty hunters again. This time, they take him to the prison world "Crematoria" for the sole purpose of having him get sweaty during some "Pitch Black" style cross-country racing against time. (This was the best part of the movie, by the way. Too bad about the other 9 hours worth of misery.) Only this time, the enemy is the sun. Seems the planet's surface heats up to 700 degrees in the daylight, immolating anyone who doesn't happen to be standing in the shade or just inside the mouth of a cave. Apparently, convection doesn't work on this planet.
Finally, Riddick has to get back for his eventual showdown with the bad guys. I won't tell you how that turns out because you'll need a reason to stay awake once the interesting bits on "Crematoria" are over with. That and the fascinating action sequences where the camera wobbles around and everything gets blurry so you have to really pay attention to tell what's going on. Man I loved those.
I could complain more (about the campy-vampy ambitious chick, for example, or Judy Dench's weird character who seemed to be there only to add the illusion of class to the film), but I've already wasted enough time on this movie. I'm going to watch "Pitch Black" again to remind myself how much I really liked it, and try to forget I ever saw this mess.
68 Entertaining!
"Anger is a gift!" in the words of RATM. Sometimes you feel like crushing and slashing anything in your path. What! Someone cut me off on the highway. While I ought to! Are holiday shoppers pushing and shoving their way to the front of the check out line without conscience? Right in front of you! Can you believe the madness?
"The Chronicles of Riddick" continues the story of a Furian boldly named Riddick (Vin Diesel). Riddick from "Pitch Black" fame emerges from hiding due to an aggressive, money hungry bounty hunter Toombs (Nick Chinlund). Riddick slashes his way back into the limelight on the planet Helion Prime. He confronts a world conquering Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), a Necromonger, who is trying to assimilate planets into his Underverse way of life. The Necromongers are "Death from above" brainwashed assimilated, conquered planet members. (What's that?)
Riddick jumps to the forefront to help save the world from being conquered. With his night vision sight and unfazed confidence, Riddick fights his way to the final showdown. (Sight unseen)
This movie has awesome special effects and fight scenes. The very hot, hot Crematoria planet jail escape is like putting your hand in a freezer for an hour, then in a butane blue torch flame.
I will patiently wait in line to purchase this DVD as pure entertainment. Enough said!
69 Good Ideas & Action, But Not What It Could Have Been
Going for a vastly more grand scale than either "Pitch Black" or "Dark Fury". "Chronicles Of Riddick" hinges the fate of the universe on resisting the advances of a huge militaristic/twisted religious sect called the Necromongers who are overrunning entire planets, with a survivor from the first film, now politically influential, attempting to recruit Riddick to help with the battle. Some have complained of a relative lack of story here; Ill take the opposite track and submit that there's a LOT of story, it just gets swamped by the constant rocket-fast pace. I mean, what we have here is a story that should have been about 4-and-a-half hours, but running somewhere around two hours (and to think that the theatrical movie was actually 16 minutes shorter than the DVD!) it's got more angles packed in more tightly than "Star Wars Episode 1", to the point where the story actually does get in danger of disappearing from sight. This is one you're really going to have to pay attention to in order to make sense of. It's packed with some of the best and most dynamic action scenes ever (although sometimes of tenuous believability), but if the characters and multiple plotlines had been given proper screentime to develop, not only would they themselves have added to the movie but the action scenes themselves would have been more potent. The tenuous believability is also a hampering effect at times. Occasionally the movie straddles (thankfully briefly) the line of camp, which was definately Not the case with the first two. It's like it's so big it just got away from the filmmakers a couple of times there.
This isn't a bad movie by any means though, it's just not as great as it should have been. If giving it three stars seems like it's a putdown it's not; when stuck between giving a movie 3 or 4 stars I think what I'd give it on a tenpoint scale (an extremely inexact science, because I think movies are hard to quantify with a numerical value) and this is a good 6.5 to 7. Some reviewers I've noticed (not a criticism, just an observation) will say a movie is pretty terrible and then still give it 3 or even 4 stars; I guess it all depends on how good you think an 'average' movie is what would be signified by each rating. In my view, based on everything I've seen in my life from the worst to the best, the 'average' movie (2.5 stars or 5 Of 10) is still pretty watchable, and I place "Chronicles Of Riddick" well above average. It's just not as great as it could have been, or as great as "Pitch Black" or "Dark Fury".
I hope there's a sequel (before this came out I think I heard some where they wanted to do Three more after this) because, without giving anything away, it's wide open for sequelization, (having had a terrific twist ending that opens u a universe of possibilities) and could build on the strengths of all the films so far, including this one, and sidestep the slips in this one, perhaps with a longer running time. If it's not financially feasible to do another mega-budget live-action one like this there are a number of less expensive routes they could take: original novels; animated features (actually I want more Dark Fury-type animated entries regardless); comic books; etc. The series is too good to end on a slightly off-kilter note.
70 Rich dialogue in the tradition of High School Confidential!
If you take only one thing away from watching this movie, it should be that Vin Diesel thinks rather highly of himself.
If you take two things away from watching this movie, the second might be that Thandie Newton's performance (She's so Goth, she's dead!) is the kind of acting that a drag queen would be proud to make part of a stage show, a la Joan Crawford at her most flamboyant.
If you take three things away from this movie, third should be that the filmmakers ought to have decided exactly what "The Underverse" is, and what capabilities it gives the bad guys. They should have decided exactly what a lot of stuff was, and why, upon reflection.
The fourth thing would be that dialogue again, which tries for hip and hard-boiled and lands somewhere southeast of 50's Juvie dramas, which is to say it achieves unintentional hilarity at times. A sample: "It's been a long time since I smelled beautiful," Vin tells Thandie while she prances around him.
Fifth would maybe be that Judi Dench plays a gaseous human about as well as can be played (except for the classic Japanese horror film The Human Vapor, or by Brando), not that she looks like she's enjoying the experience.
Sixth would be that the main baddie should have quit fooling around and just offed Vin when he had the chance, because, after all, Vin probably screenplay approval and didn't want to see himself die after he had worked so hard to make himself seem like the baddest dude in the galaxy.
A fun movie for a variety of legitimate AND silly reasons, lots of action, lots of FX, lots of 'splosions, very little sense is made of any of it. Watch it with some drunk friends and have your own MST3K riffing party.
P.S. The extra "unrated" footage ain't much, unless you like seeing Thandie lick Karl Urban's ear.
P.P.S. Seventh would be to watch C of R again, and count how many times Vin puts on or takes off his goggles.
71 Not Pitch Black But Still Enjoyable
True this movie is nothing like Pitch Black and the director might have gotten carried away with the whole idea of making this an epic movie on the scale of Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, but who can't help but love the character Riddick. For me the character alone is able to carry the movie with his rough-smooth voice and his kick butt action. Yes this is not a GREAT movie but it is very good and deserved better attention than it received. Perhaps it would of done better had they released the directors cut, which makes things more understandable. *shrugs* What do I know? Just my own opinions.
72 Dull & Confusing mess
Vin Diesel's follow-up to the successfull "Pitch Black" is an enormous let-down. A confusing story, a dreadful script and a ridiculous lack of action combined to bore me, which is too bad because this film could have been so much better with a little more directorial effort. After Diesel's action-packed "XXX" I really expected a high intensity shoot-em-up, blow-em-up sci-fi extravaganza, and yes some of the special effects are quite impressive, but the film as a whole just falls flat.
73 Poor Film!
Sigh. Another stand-alone hero movie where the guy sounds like he has a bad cold, with one-dimensional villains, loads of FX ... need I say more? Highly visual story telling, and if you can appreciate good cimeophotography (excuse my spelling) then this film should impress you. If you prefer a human connection to the character, however, as well as a story that's believable, with memorable scenes and likable supporting characters, stay clear.
74 bored to tears
The very sequel I thought couldnt possibly suck,blows big time. highly dissapointing,the effects are video gameish in spots and thats not good for about 140 million budget. just think about how many cool small budget "pitch black" type sequels we could have enjoyed with that 140 million,but this guy had to go all lord of the rings on us.
75 Wow, what a letdown!
First, let me say I REALLY liked Pitch Black. Great movie. This sequel, on the other hand, was horrid. The graphics were pretty decent, and there was a lot of action.....however, the plot, if you could call it that was weak. Necromongers? Underverse? You have got to be kidding me. I put this in the category of sequels that should never have been made, alongside Speed 2, and Mad Max:beyond the thunderdome. All three of these were movies I enjoyed, followed by sequels that were a real letdown.
76 Awesome Sci-fi fun!
I usually try not to read movie reviews until after I see a movie. I did this when I saw Riddick in the theatres and had an extremely fun time watching it! Loved the story, action and Vin kicked butt!
It reminded me of classics like Dune or Bladerunner and has me wanting a follow-up BAD.
Then, I read alot of the negative reviews and think, "Were these people watching the same movie as I did??" Chronicles of Riddick is definately underrated and I can't see why. But it's a Sci-fi romp that I'm glad to have in my DVD collection.
77 An action Sci Fi movie at its best ... non stop visuals ....
Even though it would be best that the viewer see 'Dark Fury' and animated film, with Van Diesel as the voice of Riddick, to give you an insight into the background of 'Riddick' the dark character, it is not critical however to enjoy the live movie 'The Chronicals ....'
To say that the movie is 'action packed' would not do it justice since many of the so called action packed flicks that I have seen recently only displsy action at the box office ticket counter! Same thing with 'special effects' .... trust me ... you havent seen special effects until you pop this DVD into the player.
I understand that Van Diesel was very much involved in the creative process of this movie and most certainly it's his acting that makes it both believable and work. Unfortunately I can't say that I'm an 'aficionado' of the series or the genre and I was lucky enough to have my son with me when we watched to film to explain some of the undercurrents ..... The DVD itself has numerous bonus tracks for those of you that have to see this film 'cold' ..... The extra tracks are superb and you'll be able to call yourself a Riddick 'expert' in a flash .....
Since it's not the kind of movie that spoon feeds the viewer, slapping you in the face with the obvious, I have a fear that it may be a while till the next of this series is cut. Too bad cause I think that this is a must have DVD .....
78 Great Addition to Sci-Fi
I really enjoyed the director's cut of the movie. I like the extended scenes in the movie and the deleted scenes. But what I thought made this a really choice DVD is the "Riddick Insider". After you watch the movie a couple of times and catch things you did not see the first five times, turn on the Riddick Insider and get more, secrets from the set, story background and character explanation. I have never seen Pitch Black and even after Riddick I don't want to becasue I can tell this is a great movie unto itself. I especially loved the character developemnt or should I say we see more of the characters mentally and emotionally. This is a definitie buy, can't wait for the sequel to Riddick. P.S. Read the book, too. (E. - Who promotes literacy while watching violent movies)
79 Action Packed!
Being a Linus Roache fan I was hoping for more of the British thespian in this offering. Judy Dench another Brit's talents were not used to full potential either.
I am giving this a 5 star rating because of the nonstop action. It would be hard pressed to find special effect any better. The computer graphics are the best.
I must say Vin does his role as Riddick quite well. He has this movie franchise down to a science. Riddick in this movie as you could predict gets his way in this one. However I felt a little flat on Riddick bridging the cultures. Riddick does have those senses, (let alone those eyes) to be persuasive. There are a few tense moments on his female killer cohort to put you at the end of your seat. As a rule I am not into Sci-Fi much but this movie was so futuristic it could make me wanting more. This is definately a good VS evil movie. If we get that way in future as we colonize space type dimensions, leave me home. It made the future look so bleak, and violent. Although with military gear going more high tech, than from actual brawn one can see the future in this movie today. Some of the battleship used looked alot like star wars, with a cross with the space shuttle.
I really think that Hollywood sometimes influences some breakthroughs in military technology. There is even a show called Tactical To Practical on cable. I do feel as we keep screwing with Biosphere 1, (the earth) we will colonize space. There will battles there as well up in space. I only hope by then we'll learned our lessons here to make a better Biosphere 2, and beyond. In this movie to there was even obligatory sci-fi brand of erotica.
If not but for the grapics, let alone the action packed scenes --- I recommend this one!
80 One star only because I like Vin Diesel.
Can talented people make bad movies?
Yes, they can and here they prove it.
Can good action stars make lousy science fiction movies?
I wish it was not so, but Vin, oh Vin, how COULD you?
Can great sets, fantastic special effects and marvelous actors create a dead-dog of a movie?
Unfortunatelly, here they can and they do.
After the first 10 minutes of this thing I was ready to go to sleep. It did not get much better afterwards. I guess making good movies is not that easy.
Perhaps the main problem here is the fact that special effects do not constitute a motion picture. They are an addition, sometimes a welcome one, but not the purpose of the movie.
How I wish Vin Diesel would come back to Earth and do something action-packed in this world!
81 Riddick Rocks
This is a great science-fantasy adventure movie. Its fast paced and
full of excitement. Vin Diesel is a kick [...] anti-hero, just think
Conan the Barbarian in space and you get the idea. Karl Urban
shows more of his potential as lord Vago. The movie is over the top and reminds me of a story from Heavy Metal magazine. I heard the movie did not fare very well in theatres but hopefully strong DVD sales will prompt a sequel.
82 good plot, well filmed, imaginative
The rating would be more a 4.5. This is a science-fiction movie with a good story, and without holes in the plot. The story is quite imaginative and you want to know what's coming next. The pace of the movie is very good with great action scenes intermingled with slow scenes where the story and the characters are developed. Most of the cast goes quite well. The hero is not the boring Mr.Clean, Nice Guy that we are all so tired off. Definately worth seeing.
83 Pure Entertainment
I am among those who The Chronicles of Riddick so I jumped at the chance to have the director's cut of the film, which includes 15 additional minutes. The new footage may not be noticed by everyone but it does make a subtle difference. For example, Kyra (Riddick's love interest) in introduced by a short sequence of her arrival at the planet prison Cremitoria. The scene helps the viewer to connect later references to her before Riddick ends up at the prison.
The reviews here are sharply divided into those who like the film and those who don't see anything good in it. The story is similar to other plot lines: an unscrupulous militaristic master race is taking over world after world and stripping it of resources. They are also a group that forces the conquered people to become one of them. This sounds something like a cross between Independence Day and Star Trek. The Chronicles of Riddick has some very impressive special effects. The Necromongers travel in space ships with anthropomorphic figures that lend them a coldness befitting military conquerors. The ghost-like quality of Judi Dench's character is very well done as are the lightening quick movements of the Lord Marshall. Calling this a realization of a lavish graphic novel is close to the mark.
The performances are good: Vin Diesel does a fine job as the Furian anti-hero; Colm Feore (as he is usually cast) makes a fine villain. It was interesting for me to see Karl Urban as Vaako out of his Lord of the Rings makeup and Thandie Newton was a nice addition as his ambitious wife. Judi Dench may be thought wasted in Riddick but must we compare her performance in this film to something like Shakespeare in Love? Judging by what she said about making the film, Ms Dench had a lot of fun. And, yes, Vin Diesel does wear goggles, but the reason he wears them is part of his character not just a mindless prop. In other supporting roles, Nick Chinlund, who plays the leader of the mercenaries that capture Riddick, does a great job as the indecisive and sleazy Toombs.
I don't think critics care much for movie that just seeks to entertain. So I can recommend this movie for the wild ride that it is - just plain fun.
84 The Light Of Day
The action/thriller Pitch Black is an example of a good film, made ten times better, thanks to the single performance of a breakout character. Riddick (Vin Diesel) is one of the best anti-heroes created for the silver screen in the past decade. Despite my enthusiasm, for one reason or another, I missed seeing the character's return in The Chronicles Of Riddick in theaters. Recently, I had the chance to finally see the film in its much touted unrated director's cut format.
Five years have passed since the events of Pitch Black. Riddick (Diesel), the escaped convict with the ability to see in the dark finds himself caught in the middle of a galactic war. The two opposing forces, with the key figure being the Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), the leader of a sect called the Necromongers waging the "10th Crusade". Helping Riddick is Aereon (Judi Dench), the Ambassador of the opposing "Elemental" race. The Ambassador also aides Riddick in discovering the secrets of his origin. He also finds Kyra (Alexa Davalos), who has grown into a young woman since he last saw her as a girl in the first movie. After Riddick and Kyra are captured, he works to free them from a subterranean prison, ending up on board the Necromonger flagship, where he gets his chance to face off against the Lord Marshal in a battle over the future of the galaxy.
Directed once again by David Twohy, the film is ok as an action film, pushing all the right buttons but fallng short of the mark set by Pitch Black. Part of the reason I liked Riddick in that first film, had to do with both his enigmatic presence and his lone wolf qualities. Part of that appeal is stripped away as we learn more about him. Anytme a genre film introduces the audience to waring races, in order for the plot to work, I have to care about the good guys. I didn't. The script, co-written by Twohy, falls into "copy" what's come before mode--with similarities to The Matrix and Dune (any incarnation) springing to mind first. The "epic" battle between Riddick and Lord Marshall is fairly typical and kind of a cheat. The film is saved by Diesel, who does another fine job, depite a weak script.
The unrated director's cut inserts 15 minutes of additional footage from the original theatrical version. Since I didn't see that cut, I can't say which works best. I wish both versions were on one release. The new scences are discussed in the audio commentary track with Twohy and cast members Karl Urban & Alexa Davalos--but it still would have been nicer to choose between the cuts myself. The track serves its purpose no more no less. Additional deleted scenes that were wisely snipped are here for you to see. The trivia subtitle track offers a few nice nuggets of information. "Riddick's World" includes a 360 degree view of eight of the film's locations. Gamers can play the first level of the X-BOX video game. The chase log and a virtual guide further explain the rather messy plot of the film--A rather ho hum visual effects featurette tops off the disc.
I was disappointed...Clearly Twohy hopes the Riddick franchise will continue. If it does--I hope the next one is better.
85 Goggles, goggles
I like Vin Diesel. I think he is funny, not yet an actor, and with the kind of movies he gets, he wont ever be. The Chronicles of Riddick is what I call a "giggling movie". You just keep giggling, somewhat in embarrassment that you are watching such a silly movie being an adult yourself and somewhat enjoying the bad acting all around (Oh, my, the Lady Vaako wants to be mephistophelian, and she is only silly, silly, silly) and the statues, and the fights, and the incomprehensible story. Did anybody really understand what was going on? And why didnt someone give Riddick a comfortable pair of goggles, so he didnt have to be puting and taking them away three times a minute. Ayway, it was nice for a nothing-to-do afternoon at home.
86 Are you afraid of the Dark?
Well, no, not really, I'm not. But Riddick's enemies---and by Furia, he has a passle of them in "The Chronicles of Riddick", David Twohy's follow-up to the rousing monster-mash "Pitch Black"---should be. Oh yes indeed.
Riddick (good old shaven-pated Vin Diesel doing his raspy, surly, growly thang), if you remember, is that amoral piece of space-trash, former Level 3 Max-Lockup prisoner, that intergalactic rogue who was all in it for himself, Devil take the hindmost, lead, follow, or get out of the way. Oh, and he had those funky eyes (chiefly covered up by his hip goggles) that fixed the old boy up with nightvision. So when the Going gets Dark, Riddick gets Going.
Boy does he ever: he slices, he dices, he does double flips, he twists and leaps and hurdles, he kicks and tears and shoves blades in just about every possible spot you'd think to shove a blade. So yeah, if I'm facing down Riddick, I'm afraid of the Dark.
It's a few years after the fun wholesome family carnage in "Pitch Black". Riddick has been camped out on the amusingly named UV-6, presumably chasing Taun-Tauns and making snow-angels. Bad boy bounty hunter Toombs shows up, Riddick does his thing, and ends up heading across the galaxy to Helion Prime, to find out exactly why somebody from his past put a very big bounty on his shiny bald head.
Riddick hooks up briefly with his old space-traveling Muslim pal Imam (Keith David, who looks like he's channeling up Malcolm X), and then gets a way impressive introduction to the Galaxy's latest Axis of Evil (they even bring their own Axis): the Necromongers. Convert or Kill, and Keep what you Kill: that's the Necromonger way.
The Necromongers are real party-poopers, by the way. They introduce themselves by crashing their huge phallus-shaped spaceships into your planet, kill or convert everybody, give boring speeches about "verses" (yeah, the Helion Prime people were scared, but when Linus Roache's Necromonger Purifier starts babbling about "other verses" you could see their eyes glaze over...mine did....zzzz...shut up or kill me), then burn the planet to the ground. Their leader, the Lord Marshall (Colm Feore), is also big into boring speeches and zig-zagging around his helpless victims. Show-off.
Not even the hotty Lady Macbeth-like Necromonger princess Dame Vaako (Thandie Newton) has much fun: she works hard at giving her lover/pawn Lord Vaako Karl Urban a spine, and puts her eye-makeup on with a Bic lighter. Blegh.
Can't an old space pirate just find a little hooch and a place to flop? Well, you know what happens when you get between a rogue like Riddick and a hot meal: Riddick does what he does best, which is thrash.
Frankly, I saw "Chronicles" after about a case of very good Laphroaig, and it made no sense; after I sobered up, I saw it again. It still makes no sense. But frankly, that's all good: all I wanted was a movie in which Riddick would snarl, slaughter some foolish mortals, rinse, repeat. I got it!
And the movie is indeed a pretty thing: stuff blows up, Riddick and his buddies run across the prison-planet Crematoria from a really ambitious sun, there are gunfights and massacres and guttings galore, Twohy shows off all the eye-candy at his disposal, and Judy Dench floats around a lot. I still have no idea what she was doing, but hey: the point is, it all looks pretty. It has lots of slaughter. Alexa Davalos (Kyra/Jack) is cute and deadly, always a nice combo. Diesel's goggles alone should win an Oscar: the man takes them off, shoves them back on, takes them off, and not once does he have to clean 'em! I want a pair.
87 Dune-like scale with amazing camera work
Never liked any Vin Disel movies. Pitch Black being "ok."
Chronicles of Riddick is amazing. Epic, stylistic, dark and fast paced. Probably too fast paced for most individuals who are giving it poor reviews. Lots of characters with strong dialog who are only given short amounts of screen time (lord Marshal, the purifier, the elemental etc) - its a tough balancing act but rewards the viewer if Chronicles of Riddick is watched a few times. Arguably the best set design of any recent movie with camera work that boggles the mind. Every scene is a well framed (rule of thirds) post card or poster - its thats cinematic. The director/writer has an amazing eye for detail - if given half a chance, he could become the next Ridley Scott (Bladerunner, BlackHawk Down, Gladiator) or David Fincher (Seven, Game, FightClub). He has that much vision imo.
Some moments (out running the solar heat) beg belief and will be looked down upon, but its galactic fiction, emphasis on "fiction." So cut it some slack. Its not trying to be the next 2001 A Space Odyssey. If Lord of the Rings can get away with cheesy giant spiders and trees that talk and look like the Muppet's, Riddick can have its moments of "oh come on, how did he do that!"
All these flashing images of heroic (though the Riddick character is still a true anti-hero) battling and rumbling sounds require a top grade home theater system. If your speakers, receiver, and TV are garbage, you wont get an ounce of enjoyment from Chronicles of Riddick. Dont sell yourself short - if you dont have the gear to appreciate Chronicles of Riddick, go to a friends house who does.
Only buy the "Unrated Directors Cut" widescreen version. The theater rated version leaves out plot details about Riddicks home world that are vital to understanding his motivations and powers.
88 The touching story of a boy and his goggles
Chronicles Of Riddick picks up 5 years after the events of Pitch Black. Riddick (Vin Diesel) had taken Imam (Keith David) and Jack (Alexa Davalos, a different actress than the first film) to the planet of Helion Prime, or more specifically the city of New Mecca. After depositing them there, Riddick decides it is best for everyone if he goes into a self imposed exile so that no one will bother the other survivors of the Pitch Black incident.
What fun would that be for a whole film though? Riddick can only stay in hiding for so long. The universe is being threatened by an army of conquerors called the Necromongers, a religious cult that view death as extension of life into another universe. With Helios Prime seemingly next on the list of targeted planets, it is Imam who suggests that they find Riddick and hope that he can come up with a way to stop the army.
Did the plot synopsis seem muddled? Trust me, that is a somewhat streamlined version of the actual plot. Pitch Black had a sense of taking two genres, sci-fi and horror, and turning them on their ear by mixing them into the same film in a whole new way. Chronicles seems to have taken the lesson that if you can mix two seemingly different stories and combine them successfully, than certainly more is better.
There are so many different ideas running through this movie that it boggles the mind. The subplot with the Air Elemental never went anywhere, and all of her contributions to the plot could have easily been handled by other characters. You also had the seemingly very deep back story of the Necromongers being mentioned while also trying to learn about Riddick's people, the Furions. I love it when a film gives us backstory, but when you have so many backstories happening all at once, you end up shortchanging them and the audience.
It has been said this was envisioned as the first film in a proposed trilogy. I feel some of these ideas would have panned out over the space of three films, but when you aren't guaranteed the opportunity to do those next two films, this was a lot of needless background to saddle us with. It distracted us to much from the portions of this film that were important to making just this one film a good film. This film truly was it's own worst enemy in that it was overly ambitious in it's storytelling.
Then there are numerous little annoyances of many, many plot holes, but by far the two biggest nitpicky problems had to be the names of everything and Riddick's goggles. Necromongers? Furia? Underverse? Puh-lease. And Riddick's goggles...why they didn't get star billing will be a mystery for years. Never have I seen a prop so overused in my life. Their on. Their off. Their on. Their pushed up. For crying out loud they got multiple close ups when he was standing under the waterfall!
The biggest gripe of the entire film though has to be...is this the same Riddick as was in the first film? You see some hints of it, but overall this seems like a much, much softer version of the character. He has to many connections, to many feelings of obligation. Things that the Riddick of the first film wouldn't have cared about. While all characters should of course grow, this seemed like a very radical detour.
As for the DVD, it also suffers in a lot of ways. On my player I couldn't chapter skip the previews and had to fast forward through them instead. While not a huge annoyance, it would become very tiresome with multiple viewings. The DVD takes any and every chance to advertise the animated prequel DVD and the video game that was released. You are told in numerous places how these two items each contain more answers to some of the things that went on in the movie. As with most DVDs you get deleted scenes, a couple of featurettes and multiple commentaries
I realize this review comes off a little haphazardly, but when reviewing this disjointed of a movie, it's difficult not to get off track yourself!
2 out of 5 stars for the film
3 out of 5 for the DVD and it's extras
89 NOW THIS IS A MOVIE - WORTH SEEING AGAIN
Action - in all its glory. Color, Weirderness - strong characters.
Why did we have to lose Riddick's friend. Riddick was back full force with his intimadations and strange powers.
This is definitely a keeper.
Definitely Recommended [director's cut version] Wow!
90 Like Dinner with an Ex-Girlfriend
This movie was just ok for me. I watched it by myself and my wife asked me if she should watch it? I told her not necessarily. It was great, and it wasn't terrible, I liked it but didn't love it. I don't need to see it again. Thandie Newton was probably the best actor in the film as far as performance and Judi Dench well, that is a given.
Judi Dench's character had some really cool visual effect going on when she walked, Another good thing about this movie. I have seen worse sci-fi films, Battlefield Earth comes to mind. it is Triple X is outer space.
91 ..
This movie was a bit boring...or maybe its sci-fi isnt just my type of movie.
92 Boring.....
This movie had a LOT of useless BORING scenes that were too long. I didn't see the Theatrical version so I don't know if that would have made a difference in what I thought of the film. I don't think I would have liked it much better anyway. There was some cool moves from Riddick and a few nice action scenes, and I do mean a few. The story just seemed scattered. The way they (the bad guys) talked made me so disinterested in the story that I found myself fast fowarding through most of the beginning (which is mostly talking) and other parts that had losts of talking. But don't think Im one of those guys that can't sit still during a movie that has more then just explosions and girls- I definitely have a better attention span than that. This movie was filled with Too much Useless chatter...with little payoff (action, effects, kung fu, SOMETHING). IF YOUR GOING TO SEE THIS MOVIE THOUGH, GET THE THEATRICAL VERSION. BTW Pitch Black was an awesome movie.
93 Great movie despite its flaws
This is an interesting followup to the Pitch Black movie. A movie that was probably designed to be standalone, but generated such a cult following of the classic antihero Riddick, that producers were screaming for a followup. Though it definitely suffers from plot oriented flaws,, it seems to survive all of them and end up being a highly enjoyable movie.
Goths are conquering the universe. Well not technically speaking, but a group called the Necromongers, a strange theocracy are going planet to planet and forcing others to either submit to their ideals and join them, or die. They are preparing to go and conquer their version of the holy lands called the "underverse". Their leader"the grand marshal" has been there and returned something not quite human. There is a rumor that a Furion will defeat them. But that seems unlikely since the Necromongers killed them all off.
This is where Riddick enters. He has been on remote planets to escape from bounty hunters. When a group of hunters finally catch up with him he returns to civilization to figure out how they found him so easily. So he goes to find the one person he told where he was going, a familar face from the last movie. Then he discovers that it is more than just law departments looking for him. He is apparently a child of destiney, though this is a destiney that he wants no part of.
This was a highly enjoyable movie. It suffered from some flaws that slowed it down a bit. The bad guys get little explanation, they are shown as fanatics, highly organized, possibly brainwashed, and high tech. The Lord Marshal is shown to be supernatural in some way, but his character unfortunately doesn't get much screen time.
A lot of characters aren't developed as they should be, making them seem more like plot devices than people.
The plot seems pretty thin, but it feels as though there is going to be a sequel. It is practically implied in the name, chronicles of riddick.
But overall the movie succedes in being a good action film, and science fiction. The special effects and cinematography are all top notch. The action sequences are well filmed and exciting. Plus Vin Diesel is in top form as Riddick. Who is offically in the ranks of classic anti heroes(ie: snake plisken, Han Solo, Leon the Professional, Frank Castle, and Blade). The humor is dark and the characters gritty and mostly believable. In short, watch it, you won't be moved, but you will enjoy the ride.
94 One of the worst movies I've ever seen...
Don't believe the pos
