The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (www.the-usher.com)

"Careful what you wish for Jack"

Riddick

After escaping with their lives from those demonic, bloodthirsty creatures, Riddick (Diesel), Iman (David) and Jack (Griffith) are captured by a lone Merc ship. As there is an extremely large bounty on Riddick's head, this is probably not the best place for him to be at this very moment in time. When he finds out that the ship is ran by a psychotic Merc, who keeps her captors as trophies, Riddick has to use every ounce of his skill to escape and save Iman and Jack.

Having an animated short to accompany a big budget Sci-Fi or fantasy film is becoming the norm at the moment but it this one just another publicity stunt to promote the movie? Yes and No.

Bridging the gap between the events in Pitch Black and what is to come in The Chronicles of Riddick, Dark Fury explains what happened to Riddick, Jack and Iman. The difference with this animated short is that it has a story to tell and really does put the pieces in place for next film. Here we learn how Jack, Iman and Riddick became separated and we see Riddick's new found sense of purpose and guilt for what he has done.

Famed animation director Peter Chung, who worked on MTV's Aeon Flux, The Animatrix and the original Transformers series, brings his own style to the mix and produces another visually stunning 2D animated spectacle. Where traditional animation techniques are falling away in Hollywood in favour of computer-generated graphics, the style is still very prominent within Asian cinema. Here it has a style and look all of its own, feeling more like an animated comic book than a your usual Disney fair.

The shackles of live action have been well and truly removed, giving the animator free-reign to put Riddick in situation that would be extremely expensive to film. The zero gravity fight is a classic example. The whole scope benefits greatly from the animated medium and gives writer David Twohy (the director of Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick) complete freedom to create spaceships, aliens and extreme action sequences that only animation could bring to live.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury is another chapter in the Riddick story and the good news is that is holds up very well. It could have been to be a little longer in duration but it helps the story along extremely well. Catch this before you see The Chronicles of Riddick.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, this is a good transfer, as you'd expect from an animated feature. The picture quality is extremely sharp and the exuberant colours of Peter Chung's animation style really come through. The sound quality is also good but it never really sets the surround sounds speakers ablaze.

BONUS FEATURES

Making Dark Fury: Bridging the gap from Pitch Black to The Chronicles of Riddick (8.32 minutes)
Director Peter Chung, writer/director David Twohy, writer Brett Matthews, executive producer George Zakk and star Vin Diesel talk about creating the animated short film, Dark Fury. They discuss how the story bridges the gap between the events of the first movie and how the sequel begins. The featurette reveals information on the Mercs and new character Tooms, who plays a prominent role in the sequel. You also get to go behind the scenes of how they brought this animated short to life, viewing character and environment designs and how they combined traditional hand drawn animation with computer graphics.

Dark Fury Animatic (32.49 mins)
A very interesting feature that allows you to watch the animated short in various stages of completion. You hear and see the differences between the rough, uncompleted animatics and some previously recorded, unused vocal performances to that of the final film. This is a fascinating insight into the animation process.

Peter Chung - Into the mind of the Animator (5.04 mins)
The director of Dark Fury talks about his influences, interests and what animation means to him. He takes you behind the scenes of the making of the animated short and reveals some secrets as to how it was made.

A view into the Light (5.04 mins)
Director David Twohy and star Vin Diesel talk about the Riddick character and how he has moved on since the events of Pitch Black. They also give us a sneak peek into The Chronicles of Riddick.

Vivendi Games Trailer (1.47 mins)
A preview of the upcoming game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.

Van Helsing Animated Trailer (0.57 mins)
A preview of the animated short "Van Helsing: London Assignment".

OVERALL

This is a nicely packaged presentation, especially when you take into account how short the main feature actually is. Universal have packaged together a good set of bonus features to accompany the animated short with the animatic giving you an insightful look into the animation process. An audio commentary would have added to the value however but you can't have everything. Dark Fury is a very good buy for Riddick fans and a good rent for those of you who want to bridge the gap between the first film and its sequel.

Pitch Black

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2004