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Pitch Black (Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut)

Pitch Black (Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $13.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Bad Bad Bad !
Review: Nice Special Effects but thats about it! Actors make dumb moves in the movie. And they just have to use the "F" word, to make the movie cool. If you like it when the women is the tough guy, this is for you. The one good guy turns out to be bad!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: No "Aliens," for better or worse
Review: I'd heard, over and over again, how "Pitch Black" was just an "Alien" rip-off. Apparently there's another version of the film going around, since the one I saw was in no way an "Alien" movie. If anything, it owes more to "Jurassic Park," but it's really just another example of a man vs. nature story (flashback to high school English class ...).

Of course, if it really was an "Aliens" retread, it might have packed a few more jolts along the way. Perhaps I'm jaded at this point -- it's certainly possible -- but this film was interesting and involving, but not really scary at all.

But for my money, it WAS interesting. The intertwined moral dilemmas of the survivors, the biology of the raptors, the cosmology of how that unnamed planet got plunged into darkness once every 22 years ... All solid stuff and more thoughtfully assembled than the last two "Alien" films were.

The film was also highlighted by the artistic choices, particularly the use of colored filters during the three suns sequences, the use of Australian actors and writing ("Crikey!") and the star-making performance of Vin Diesel.

Diesel's character slipped once or twice into "ooh, he's SO bad" caricature -- or at least, his dialogue did -- but the moral dilemma he faced and the subtle performance he gave made him a pair of biceps to watch.

A good rental when you've decided that you just can't watch "Aliens" again, but want some smart science fiction survival horror. Not the best of its genre, but a worthwhile entry that doesn't deserve much of the criticism heaped upon it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: VERY SCARY
Review: I watched Pitch Black for something to do to waste time on a Saturday afternoon. I expected cheezy special effects and shallow characters and a really dumb story. Needless to say I was wrong on all counts. Pitch Black uses the power of suggestion to scare a watcher. This is to me very horrifying. The fact that the "creatures" are not seen is very scary. I have to say that the digital special effects were very convincing. I'm not big on computer generated effects but the ones in Pitch Black were realistic enough to NOT be called cheezy. The characters were not "shallow" by any means. Vin Diesel plays an excellent tough guy. I started out hating the characters- by the end of the movie I liked and appreciated them. Lastly, the cinematography and use of color accents is outstanding. In all, Pitch Black is a very well produced and entertaining movie. I highly recommend it to any sci-fi fan.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: not that bad...
Review: okay, but in some funny lookin aliens who are scared of the light,a guy with glowing eyes,a crooked cop, a couple other no name actors with a pretty good script, youve got pitch black.After seeing some of the scariest movies ever, could this one scare me?AHAHAHAHA.no not really.But visually, it is pretty impressive.Its got some real cool parts, and the ending .......good lord its cool.Dont get this movie because its scary, get it because its so darn cool.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A classic B movie
Review: Pitch Black has pretty thin acting but the story line is interesting. The visual effects and the shock value are pretty hard to beat. I had as much fun watching my wife jump off the couch as I did watching the movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Clever Science Fiction With Serious Bite and Complexity
Review: Director David N. Twothy (the Arrival) has undoubtedly surpassed my wildest expectations with this devilishly clever and well polished Science Fiction thriller that resonates with immensely amusing dialogue, sparkles with highly believable characters, reverberates with noteworthy performances from Radha Mitchell (Fry), Cole Hauser (Johns), and the incomparable Van Disel in a star making performance as the irrepressible career criminal Riddick, and ingeniously experiments and rearranges classic SCI/FI formulas and conventions ranging from Alien, Aliens, Terminator, and Star Trek with subtle filmmaking rarities like plot and character development to conceive a Sci-Fi epic that has volatile mix of sophisticated horror, highly modulated thrills and chills, and a uniquely human dimension that is sorely lacking in its peers.

Pitch Black is much deserved respite from the average Sci-Fi onslaught of just recycled story pictures, monster slasher flicks, inane clones and formula hybrids, and technology driven effects pictures with essentially nothing more to provide than it's sophisticated effects. Though Pitch Black contains it's lion share of new age special effects and sounds, Pitch Black instead uses the wildly advanced film-making faculties as icing on top of a well defined story rather than the other way around.

Thankfully, Pitch Black comes packaged with an entire brigade of options ranging from a David N. Twothy commentary track, a making-of Documentary, theatrical trailers, a three-extra minute exclusive un-rated version of the film, a marketing video on the selling of Pitch Black, and more. A Must-Buy for any fan of superior science fiction.

P.S. Certainly has the most charismatic villain since the Terminator.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You're not afraid of the dark, are you?
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pitch Black ...
Review: Great on DVD but where did the 3 minutesof extra footage go. And what is sexy about this film? It was scary, and enjoyable. My family loved it and we did jump several times, and had to rewind for our slower family members who missed some of the subtler humorous or scary elements. A thoughtful horror/sci fi film, a nice change of pace.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Don't Waste Your Money!!
Review: I had a lot of expectations about this movie before seeing it. First off, I never heard anything good nor bad upon watching it. Secondly, the only good scene was when the dude breathes out fire and then you realize all the creatures that surround him. This movie has the worse characters that must have been picked up from the side of the road (the one's you see "will work for food)." About the only good thing was the special effects. I am big on special effects, but this movie is certainly not worth owning for that alone. My advise, rent it like I did and then thank yourself for not wasting your money on purchasing it or seeing it on the big screen.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Cool monster flick
Review: This is a damned good sci-fi horror flick. Okay, it isn't really scary (more tension inducing than terror inducing) and you do have to take it with a grain of salt, but in general, it is a very decent movie for the genre. I would say it is a fair bit like Aliens - same sort of feel, though not so humorous. (Well, they don't have a Hudson, so you know).

The beasts are great - sort of like dragons or basilisks with a bit of Starship Trooper bug thrown in. More straight predators than anything else, but with a genius for seeking out prey. The hardest part of the plot to accept is that anyone makes it out alive. Especially as the beasties dislike for light seems to fade when they get really hungry (see Johns with gun torch scene).

The acting is pretty cool by all actors, but yes, Vin Diesel is great as Riddick with his awesome "shine-job" and Cole Hauser has to come in for a mention with his fantastic portrayal of the morally ambiguous William Johns, bounty hunter. It was Cole Hauser who was the scene stealer in my opinion - Riddick was the central male character so he didn't have to steal scenes - they were already his. Riddick and Johns were excellent characters and both actors gave talented portrayals. I was really surprised to learn that Cole Hauser was 25 in real life - he made me believe his character was a jaded 30 at the very least.

The 3 central characters (Radha Mitchell as Carolyn, Cole Hauser as Johns, and Vin Diesel as Riddick) were used to explore the theme of courage with interesting results. Personally, I would consider all three characters as brave beyond belief but I wonder whether the movie intends me to think that way - after all, all three of them do some questionable things in the name of survival.

The director of this film has a bright future - it was well done and convincing. You could see that some effects were low-budget, but they were used so well that it didn't matter. The opening scenes could be described as awesome - the lighting, Riddick's voice over, the look and feel of the pilots area - all brilliant. All in all, a great movie and definitely worth watching more than once.


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