The Chronicles of Riddick (Steelbook) (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet)

Sometimes Bad Is Really, Really Good
My mind hasn't been boggled in a while -> The very first StarWars did me in, and then various parts of The Lord of the Ring years later. Other than that I'm not one who stares at the screen in awe of special effects. In fact, the bore me very quickly. What I likes about the original Riddick film, Pitch Black, was that, outside of the Alien knockoff monsters, there was very little in the way of large scale special effects. In many ways, it was an intimate thriller rather than a vast drama.

So I really wasn't prepared for what appeared on this screen as the film unrolled. It sneaks up on you as it opens with Riddick's attempted capture by Toombs, a bounty hunter. The irritated (and very hairy) Riddick sets out to find out who put the bounty on his head and discovers that he is being recruited to stop the conquest of space by the Necromongers. These latter are truly the knights of total badness. Their goal is entropy - the total destruction of life and rebirth onto...

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...

Critics and boring people SHOULD NOT SEE IT
The Chronicles of Riddick is the continuing story of Riddick (Vin Diesel), the bald-headed, night seeing convict who escaped from prison and was ultimately so tough that he could beat up aliens with just a knife. Given that the first movie was called Pitch Black, Riddick's peculiar eyes lent him a particular advantage - both against his captors and the aliens that inhabited the planet.

On the surface, one could summarize Pitch Black as an Aliens knockoff. But it was so much more than that. Just as Aliens was more than about soldiers blowing up aliens, Pitch Black was about how people hide behind who they really are and that people don't change - they just reveal their true natures. The movie was also noteworthy for being a science fiction film that portrayed Muslim beliefs in a positive light and as the dominant religion.

Keeping those elements in mind, the Chronicles of Riddick (TCOR) is the logical extension of the first movie, even though it doesn't involve many aliens or all...

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