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DVD The Chronicles of Riddick (Theatrical Full Screen Edition)
Bigger isn't always better, but for anyone who enjoyed Pitch Black, a nominal sequel like The Chronicles of Riddick should prove adequately entertaining. Writer-director David Twohy returns with expansive sets, detailed costumes, an army of CGI effects artists, and the star he helped launch--Vin Diesel--bearing his franchise burden quite nicely as he reprises his title role. The Furian renegade Riddick has another bounty on his head, but when he escapes from his mercenary captors, he's plunged into an epic-scale war waged by the Necromongers. A fascist master race led by Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), they're determined to conquer all enemies in their quest for the Underverse, the appeal of which is largely unexplained (since Twohy is presumably reserving details for subsequent "chronicles"). With tissue-thin plotting, scant character development, and skimpy roles that waste the talents of Thandie Newton (as a Necromonger conspirator) and Judi Dench (as a wispy "Elemental" priestess), Twohy's back in the B-movie territory he started in (with The Arrival), brought to vivid life on a vast digital landscape with the conceptual allure of a lavish graphic novel. But does Riddick have leadership skills on his resumé? To get an answer to that question, sci-fi fans will welcome another sequel. --Jeff Shannon
Review(s): DVD The Chronicles of Riddick (Theatrical Full Screen Edition)
From Criminal to King
I didn't think a movie like pitch black would ever have a sequel, but they pulled it off. The Chronicles of Riddick is a sci-fi thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, at first I was like, another stupid sequel, but after I saw it, I was hooked, I must have watched this movie 70 or 80 times since I got it back in September. Vin Diesel delivers an explosive performance as Riddick, awesome fight scenes, a must have for your personal movie library. I'm hoping there will be a part 3: "Riddick Takes Over". But until then I'll continue to watch this one till I learn all the words.
Doesn't Look Clear
I don't know what happened here. Aside from some dumb things, I really thought Pitch did a nice job revamping a tired cliche'. You go out into space and land on a planet you shouldn't be on - mean aliens show up - said aliens eat lots of your friends - You get away and maybe, just maybe take a cat or two other people home with you. Then you do it again in the sequels. Pitch Black did all that well, except the sequel part.
Our man Riddick is running for his life because he's still a wanted man and bounty hunters all over the galaxy want to bring him in. In fact, so many are after him, we only get to meet one of them.
Riddick finds a man from the past who helps him get onto the road toward 1) finding the person who put the bounty on his head (the LAW, maybe???) and 2) going back to jail to find the grown up version of Jack, a young woman who wanted his Predator eyes so badly that she killed some people to get arrested and thereby "EYED." Riddick wants to find her to....what? Say he's sorry? Offer an explanation? Explanation for what? For being a bad guy and it was her fault for idolizing a bad guy?
During the silliness, I will admit that there are some things that I probably missed. But, there are lots of things I didn't!
1) When we have to HEAR Riddick's thoughts, that's when things get hokey. It was like when Leslie Nielsen asked himself questions in "Naked Gun" and we thought it was funny. Vin isn't funny.
2) Why did the cute black chick have uneven makeup? We see her doing her eyes in one scene and then for the rest of the scene she parades around with one eye more made up than the other. If that was on purpose, the idea person behind that should be fired.
3) Riddick should not star in a movie like this. His charm in Pitch was that he was an unknown quantity thrown at us when we viewers were supposed to root for the good guys. But he was so cool, did we have a choice NOT to root for him? Well, in this film, bad guys vs. bad guys goes flat - especially without the aliens.
4) Call me a sentimentalist, but how much cooler would it have been to just write Jack a break and give her the freakin' eyes already?!?! She killed people! She went to jail! Give her the eyes! It wouldn't have taken much away from Riddick either because it's Rid's movie. So, don't even try that excuse.
5) the alien dog cg was really lame. they were so cartoony. and they had Riddick's eyes. Geez....a dog can have the eyes, but Jack can't?? The writer's care more about the dogs??? And the fact that the dogs have eyes means that Jack's excuse that there was no doctor there to EYE her (but he was there for the dogs) is really lame. Plausible, but lame.
6) the tea cup scene was unbelievable and foolish. A sharp tea cup would have been better. But I looked good at that cup. Riddick likes his cups dull.
7) Why did Rid always have to take off his goggles every fifteen minutes? I could buy it in real life, but it's a movie. We don't need so much with the goggles.
8) the escape was so silly. Is this a prison or what? And didn'tt the cops have a big head start?
9) Riddick has like a million bucks on his head. Let's say the year is 2200. And I'm being generous with all the "Next Generation" advancement. But wouldn't a million bucks be pennies by then? "Riddick! I'm after the $75 on your head, pal!"
10) When a movie has silly robot men with their own religion who wear armor that isn't the least bit knife-proof, leave the theatre.
11) And finally, there was nooooooooo reason - NOOOOOOOO REASON why, other than to adhere to hollywood cliche'd garbage for the second Furian to kill himself. I won't say who it is, but it SUCKED! He had a RIDE!!!!! He could have SURVIVED!!!!!!!!!! LAME!!!!!!!
Okay, I'm done. I won't even deal with the over-the-top characters who were lousy but could have been cool - like Diane Wiest the elemental or the far-fetched thing about how Riddick can escape any trap but it never looks cool when he does. Or not confusing like the thing on the rope. This movie has one redeeming quality: Nice planetary CG. Gorgeous scenery, and that's where they put all the money. Heck, I'll throw in an extra star because it's not "Battlefield Earth."
Wow. Remember when Riddick said "Looks clear" in Pitch? That was not only funny as heck, but good writing. You won't find that here.
strong visuals, weak everything else
In this top-heavy and bloated sequel to "Pitch Black," Vin Deisel plays a top-heavy and bloated antihero whose job it is to defeat an army of half-dead warriors bent on taking over the universe.
Owing a major debt to Alien and its cinematic spawn, Pitch Black is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations. As he did with The Arrival, director David Twohy revitalizes a derivative story, allowing you to forgive its flaws and submit to its visceral thrills. Under casual scrutiny, the plot's logic crumbles like a stale cookie, but it's definitely fun while it lasts.
A spaceship crashes on a desert planet scorched under three suns. The mostly doomed survivors include a resourceful captain (Radha Mitchell), a drug-addled cop (Cole Hauser), and a deadly prisoner (Vin Diesel) who quickly escapes. These clashing personalities discover that the planet is plunging into the darkness of an extended eclipse, and it's populated by hordes of ravenous, razor-fanged... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Vin Diesel - Radha Mitchell - Cole Hauser Director(s): David Twohy DVD Release Date: Released the 01 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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As paranoid cop Del Spooner, Will Smith (Independence Day, Men in Black) displays both his trademark quips and some impressive pectoral muscles in I, Robot. Only Spooner suspects that the robots that provide the near future with menial labor are going to turn on mankind--he's just not sure how. When a leading roboticist dies suspiciously, Spooner pursues a trail that may prove his suspicions. Don't expect much of a connection to Isaac Asimov's classic science fiction stories; I, Robot, the action movie, isn't prepared for any ruminations on the significance of artificial intelligence. This likable, efficient movie won't break any new ground, but it does have an idea or two to accompany its jolts and thrills, which puts it ahead of most recent action flicks.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Will Smith - Bridget Moynahan - Bruce Greenwood Director(s): Alex Proyas DVD Release Date: Released the 14 December 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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More than a few critics hailed Spider-Man 2 as "the best superhero movie ever," and there's no compelling reason to argue--thanks to a bigger budget, better special effects, and a dynamic, character-driven plot, it's a notch above Spider-Man in terms of emotional depth and rich comic-book sensibility. Ordinary People Oscar-winner Alvin Sargent received screenplay credit, and celebrated author and comic-book expert Michael Chabon worked on the story, but it's director Sam Raimi's affinity for the material that brings Spidey 2 to vivid life. When a fusion experiment goes terribly wrong, a brilliant physicist (Alfred Molina) is turned into Spidey's newest nemesis, the deranged, mechanically tentacled "Doctor Octopus," obsessed with completing his experiment and... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Sam Raimi DVD Release Date: Released the 30 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In delivering PG-13-rated excitement, Alien vs. Predator is an acceptably average science-fiction action thriller with some noteworthy highlights, even if it squanders its opportunity to intelligently combine two popular and R-rated franchises. Rabid fans can justifiably ask "Is that all there is?" after a decade of development hell and eager anticipation, but we're compensated by reasonably logical connections to the Alien legacy and the still-kicking Predator franchise (which hinted at AVP rivalry at the end of Predator 2); some cleverly claustrophobic sets, tense atmosphere and impressive digital effects; and a climactic AVP smackdown that's not half bad. This disposable junk should've been better, but nobody who's seen Mortal Kombat or... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sanaa Lathan - Raoul Bova - Lance Henriksen - Ewen Bremner Director(s): Paul W.S. Anderson DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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When we met our hero, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) in THE BOURNE IDENTITY,
he was trying not to remember what happened last time and ends up
in a beachhouse. This film, as great as the first one has Bourne
trying to escape the beachhouse when the CIA (led by Joan Allen)
wants him dead, killing his girlfriend (Franka Potente) and taking
harmless Nicky (Julia Stiles) as hostage, leading Bourne many places
(incvluding India, Germany, Moscow, and more). Breathtaking,
entertaining sequel has as much car chases as THE ITALIAN JOB
and still the suspense of Robert Ludlum's book. A sequel
is expected next year, just for your imformation. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Paul Greengrass DVD Release Date: Released the 07 December 2004 Usually ships in 6 to 11 days
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