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Pitch Black (Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut) Customer Reviews (34 - 36 of 69 Reviews)

You're not afraid of the dark, are you?
Ludicrously enjoyable - Pitch Black is an engrossing, well-plotted, well-acted, well-paced hell ride of a movie, with solid characters and fantastic visuals. It also happens to be a very well-made film.

A group crash-land on a planet with three suns and for the first part of the film, everyone is looking for the psycho killer (Vin Diesel in terrific form) convict who escaped in the crash. Then the film suddenly changes pace and the real problems start - a breed of hideous aliens, comprised of mainly razor-like teeth, eating alive anyone who happens to cross their path. The good news? These aliens hate the light and can only survive in the dark. The bad news? The planet is about to go into a solar eclipse, where the planet will become 'Pitch Black' and all hell breaks loose.

But the real essence of this movie is watching it; the effects are incredible; the suspense sometimes unbearable. Fantastic!!

Watch on the big screen if you can, if not buy this (unrated) version now. In fact, stop reading this review right now and start watching a brilliant and exciting sci-fi shocker.

Terrific thriller not big diff between previous DVD version
Watching "Pitch Black" for the first time was like trying a new ice cream flavor; you're not sure until the second or third bite what you really think. The original film got zero publicity and a limited release but served to introduce Vin Diesel to an audience in his first true starring role.

A passenger spacecraft ends up crashing on a desolate planet. The only survivor from the crew co-pilot Carylon Fry (Radha Mitchell) takes command and directs her surviving passengers (including Claudia Black from "Farscape") to find food and water. While there appears to be no indigeous life forms, a human survey team did briefly occupy the planet. Curiously, there's no indication as to where they went or why they left much of their material behind.

Also on the flight is a what appears to be an interstellar police officer (Cole Hauser) escorting a convicted criminal by the name of Riddick (Diesel). Riddick has the unique ability to see better in the dark than the light. While he's no hero, he does make suggestions to the survivors to help their chances for survival. Unfortunately, they're soon to discover that some life form forced the survey team to consider leaving once night arrives.

A suspenseful "B" movie premise that works primarily due to Twohy's sharp, taunt direction and crisp dialogue, "Pitch Black" immediately graps your attention with its inventive visuals and intense performances from the superb Mitchell, Deisel, Hauser and Black. Actally, the entire cast gives strong performances throughout the film and Twohy throws in plenty of unexpected twists and turns to keep the audience on the edge of its seat.

This "new" unrated director's edition was available previously on DVD a couple of years ago. It appears that the transfer here is the same one as before and all the extras are the same with the exception of those created for the sequel "The Chronicles of Riddick". We get a brief introduction by director/screenwriter Twohy that focuses on the sequel and a glimpse at the making of the video game. If you're fan of the original film, be aware that a couple of extra bells and whistles were added to this two disc edition to entice fans of the new Riddick movie and the original audience for "Pitch Black". Unless you want the meager extras about the sequel (some of which will probably be available when the sequel hits DVD anyway), I'd suggest holding on to your money.

The packaging has been revamped to capitalize on the sequel as well with an emphasis more on Riddick than before. "Pitch Black" is a terrific thriller (as is the unexpected minor classic "Below" and "The Arrival" also by Twohy). If you don't have this on DVD yet, by all means purchase it. If you have it already, don't feel the need to upgrade and become a victim of the LOTR double-dip (despite what one reviewer said, New Line has always released the expanded edition six months after the original LOTR films on DVD thus suckering fans into purchasing product twice).

Skin crawling to laugh-out-loud funny... and back again!
One rule: Buy it... don't mess with the rated version... you WANT the Director's cut... the scenes add so much to the depth of the movie.

I won't ramble on about plot, special effects, etc. because those have been addressed before. The first time I watched this movie (original release), I liked it alot. The second, third and fourth times I began to discover so much more of the dialogue and character development that I had missed on the earlier viewings. Now, I get to enjoy the movie with the footage it SHOULD have had for the original release. And the commentary by Vin Diesel, Cole Hauser and David Twohy will have you laughing your as* off! Highly recommended!

Vin Diesel evolves smoothly from evil bad-as* to the emerging anti-hero of the flick and I savored every minute of it (insert primal feminine growl here). The other members of the crew were great... each developing their particular personalities that made this film so intense. Even the unidentified "survivor" who meets with an unhappy surprise sticks in your mind (if I heard correctly, the actor was also Vin's stunt double).

After you enjoy the film, take a trip around the web and read some of the fanfic available. I am simply amazed and impressed at the work of some of the fans. My current fave is "Apprentice" by Ardath Rekha (sp?) at ... Don't go there if you are looking for PG rating, though.

Enough! Get the DVD!!!!

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