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

"You're not affraid of the dark are you?"

Riddick

After five years in a self-imposed exile, Riddick (Diesel) is forced out of isolation when a team of mercenaries, lead by old foe Toombs (Chinlund), come looking for him. After easily dealing with the hired help, Riddick steals their ship and heads back to civilization to find out why Iman (David), the only man who knew where he was, portrayed him. When he arrives on Helion Prime, he finds that the planet is on the verge of invasion by the Necromongers, an army like no one has ever seen who take over planets and destroys them, if they don't covert to their cause.

Escaping from a planet of monsters in his previous adventure, Riddick now takes on a whole army, as his story continues.

The problem is that we don't really learn anything more about him. Pitch Black was a Sci-Fi sleeper hit that introduced the world to the very cool anti-hero and launched Vin Diesel's leading man career. It was a low budget, high concept piece that was very good science fiction.For the sequel writer/director David Twohy leaves the monsters behind and takes the character in a different direction. This is a change from your usual sequel path and a welcome one but the problem is that he doesn't really know where it is going.

The second adventure doesn't really advance the character of Riddick as much as it should do. Here Twohy had the chance to tell you more about the character's backstory like where did he come from, why does he have such a murderous disposition and is he finally feeling any guilt for his actions. Instead all we find out is that he is a Furian, with no explanation as to what these people are or where they came from. This is just one of the many large plot holes that have no explanation.

The performances are fine however. Vin Diesel gets back into his best role with ease, finding again that menace and darkness that made the character so memoriable in the first place. This is the role that was made for him to play and he is what makes Riddick such a watchable anti-hero. Karl Urban continues his run of bringing good, strong, attention grabbing characters to the screen. As Vaako he exudes a dark foreboding presence, even if the character does have a silly mullet. Colm Feore always plays the bad guy with skill, making him instantly dislikeable and always memorable. Nick Chinlund also excels in the bad guy stakes as Toombs, the mercenary with a grudge against Riddick after their first meeting in the animated sequel/prequel Dark Fury. Alexa Davalos proves again she is a young actress to watch as she demonstrates that she is extremely good at action (Anyone who has seen the Angel TV series will already know that).

Thandie Newton and Dame Judi Dench don't fair so well however as each of them has very underdeveloped characters. Newton's Dame Vaako motivation for power is never really explained and goes against the Necromonger religion and the brainwashing that each new disciple goes through. Judi Dench's Aereon is even more lacking, as you don't even know why the character is there, other than to provide narration. She might be elemental but that seems to be her only purpose.

The Chronicles of Riddick is a visually stunning piece of science fiction but with today's modern computer technology, that is only to be expected. What the film is is a wasted opportunity that has a very incomprehensible story in parts that needs much more backstory and character development to improve its clarity. The Riddick character is a good one that could have had many stories to tell but after this outing it looks like we won't get to see any of them, however dark it gets.

The Director's Cut

While not the great improvement that fans might have been wishing for, this version of 'The Chronicles of Riddick' addresses some of the shortcomings that came with the theatrical release. The film now includes more of the Furyan backstory allowing us an insight into Riddick's people and background. We also see more of Kyra, as the extra 14 minutes of footage add more character development and explanation to the story.

This version still suffers from the problem that this story is part of a collection of adventures as it leaves many plot points unresolved, as writer/director David Twohy and actor Vin Diesel expected the movie to do better than it did. This assumption affects the movie tremendously and makes you think the filmmakers and studio had the word franchise in mind and never thought that the movie might not do well at the box office. The director's cut is a better version of the movie but only just.

While it does answer some of the criticisms labelled at the original release, it only just manages to take this from a very average movie to one that is more watchable.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack, this is an excellent transfer, as you'd except from a modern film. Director David Twohy's science fiction world is vividly realised with a marvellous DVD transfer. The picture quality is first rate, crystal clear throughout and the sound quality is equally as good, especially during the energetic action sequences.

BONUS FEATURES

2-Disc Director's Cut version

Disc 1

Introduction by David Twohy (0.47 mins)
The writer/director provides a foreword before the start of the movie. Audio

Commentary with writer/director David Twohy and actors Karl Urban and Alexa Davalos
The writer/director, and the actors playing Vaako and Kyra come together to talk about 'The Chronicles of Riddick'. With David Twohy and Alexa Davalos in London and Karl Urban in New Zealand, the trio still manage to provide an informative track for the movie. The director does do most of the talking, as the trio regale us with stories about casting, the characters, the plot and how they decided to make this sequel very different from 'Pitch Black'. The trio also talk about the new added scenes that appear in the director's cut, as well as the different ending to the movie. This is a decent commentary that fans should enjoy but David Twohy does have the tendency to dominate the proceedings.

Deleted Scenes (8.04 mins)
With optional commentary by director David Twohy these deleted scenes entitled 'Aereon and Iman on Helion', 'Original Planet UV 6' and 'Toombs demise' are scenes that didn't make it into the director's cut of the movie.

Riddick Insider: Facts on Demand
As you watch the movie, interesting titbits about the production of the movie, the cast, the characters and the world that Riddick inhabits are shown on screen.

Disc 2

Virtual Guide to the Chronicles of Riddick (7.40 mins)
Toombs, Dame Vaako, the Lord Marshal, Kyra, Imam and Aereon inform you about the Conquest Icon, Crematoria, Elementals, Helion Prime, Planet U.V.6, The Lord Marshal, the Necromongers, the Necropolis, New Mecca and the Quasi-Deads.

Toombs' chase Log (9.58 mins)
Mercenary Tombs details his 92 day pursuit of Riddick, revealing how he got his crew together and the clues he uncovered to track the most wanted man in the Universe down.

Visual Effects Revealed (6.02 mins)
Writer/Director David Twohy, visual effects supervisor Peter Chiang and Rhythm and Hues digital effects team members Sean McPherson, Mike O'Neal and Mike Wassell reveal the secrets of bring the world of Riddick to life on the silver the screen. This short featurette details how the Crematoria, Hellhounds and Elemental effects where produced.

Riddick's Worlds

Vin Diesel's Guided Tour (3.11 mins)
Riddick himself, Vin Diesel takes you on a guided tour of the sets for New Mecca, Crematoria, the Basilica, the Quasi-grotto and UV Planet.

Interactive 360o View of the Sets
Take an interactive tour of the Basilica Centre Floor, Helion Fountain Square, Crematoria Main Hanger, The Lord Marshall's Throne, Imam's Living Room, Quasi-grotto, Planet U.V.6 and the Slam Centre.

Creation of New Mecca (11.13 mins)
Writer/director David Twohy, producers Scott Kroopf and George Zakk, production designer Holger Gross, production illustrator Jim Martin, prop master Tom Tomlinson, visual effects supervisor Ian Hunter, costume designer Ellen Mirojnick and stars Vin Diesel, Judi Dench and Keith David take you behind the scenes of Helion Prime. Here we see the design of the planet and how its look, people and costumes were influenced and designed. We also see how the special effects for the siege of Helion were created, highlighting the weapons and the spaceship crash.

Riddick Rises (13.27 mins)
Writer/director David Twohy, producers Scott Kroopf and George Zakk, production designer Holger Gross, production illustrator Jim Martin, supervising art director Kevin Ishioka, stunt coordinator Bob Brown and stars Vin Diesel, Nick Chinlund and Alexa Davalos talk about continuing the story of Riddick. The featurette looks into the character, revealing how he has changed since 'Pitch Black' and the characters he interacts with, namely Kyra and Toombs.

Keep what you Kill (17.31 mins)
Writer/director David Twohy, producers Scott Kroopf and George Zakk, production designer Holger Gross, costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, makeup designer Ve Neil and stars Vin Diesel, Colm Feore, Linus Roache, Karl Urban and Thandie Newton talk about the Necromongers. Covering the Lord Marshal, The Purifier, Vaako and Dame Vaako, the featurette looks into there design, costumes and characters. The Necromongers themselves are also looked into, specialising in there ships and weapons.

Interactive Production Calendar (30.56 mins)
From May 12th 2003 until May 3rd 2004, you can look at snippets from the total ninety days that 'The Chronicles of Riddick' was in production. With behind the scenes footage and shot featurettes into what was going on during that day, you can watch the film progress through its production. This offers a fascinating insight into the production of a major Hollywood movie.

Trailers
Watch the trailers for 'The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black', 'The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury', 'Van Helsing' and 'The Bourne Supremacy'

OVERALL

After the lacklustre release of the theatrical cut, 'The Chronicles of Riddick' finally gets the DVD release with the Director's Cut. As well as all the features from the single-disc release we also have a good commentary track and featurettes that was sadly missing from that version. For fans, this should be the one that they purchase as it is a better version of the movie and the extras are comprehensive.

DVD

Single Disc Version (Theatrical Cut)

Riddick Insider: Facts on Demand
As you watch the movie, interesting titbits about the production of the movie, the cast, the characters and the world that Riddick inhabits are shown on screen.

Riddick's Worlds

Vin Diesel's Guided Tour (3.11 mins)
Riddick himself, Vin Diesel takes you on a guided tour of the sets for New Mecca, Crematoria, the Basilica, the Quasi-grotto and UV Planet.

DVD ROM
Place the DVD in your PCs DVD ROM player to open up more information about the Chronicles of Riddick.

Trailers
Watch previews of The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black SE, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, Van Helsing, The Bourne Supremacy and Billy Elliot: The Musical

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
Place the DVD in your X-Box console and you will be able to play a complete level of the highly acclaimed game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay.

OVERALL

A film that was a bit lacklustre receives a very average DVD release. While the North American release also included a director's cut of the film that had an extra 15 minutes worth of footage, the Region 2 release has the same extras but without the extended scenes. The inclusion of the director's cut would have appeased European fans for the uninspiring extras, that does not even include a commentary track or a decent making of documentary.

DVD

Pitch Black

The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury

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2004