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Pitch Black (Rated Version)

Pitch Black (Rated Version)

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Vin Diesel good, Pitch Black BAD
Review: Pitch Black was by far the worst movie I've ever seen. Not only were the actors terrible and annoying, but the plot stank. 22 years before they crash landed on the deserted planet, there was an eclipse. Somehow this triggers the girl to think that there will be an eclipse the exact time there one the planet. If there was an earthquake 5 years ago in Cali. that doesn't mean there's one every 5 years. Simply a stupid plot. The only decent thing about the movie was Vin Diesel. Except for the fact that somehow he knows everything about the killer bugs on the planet. PLEASE save your money and get something better than this trash.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pitch Dull......
Review: This is only the second film I have seen that I considered walking out of.

The plot is at best predictable, the characters shallow. The tension is laughable. In fact at one point I even considered this a comedy, a fact supported by the non-existing acting.

Purchase this at your peril....there are a lot better films of the Sci-Fi genre out there....

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: plot what plot
Review: I saw it in the theater and don't remember the plot I normally remember everything. from the trailer I actually looked forward to seeing it. It turned out to be very disapointing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pitch Black
Review: This film is a very pleasant surprise. Not a huge budget for sci-fi, but they made the most with what they had.

It isn't exactly the most original of concepts and borrows heavily from Alien and even 48 Hours. This is a tale of evil monsters both human and alien. The focal character is Riddick, a murderer being transported on a passenger liner. When the liner crashes and Riddick escapes, the survivors fear him at first. However as he states repeatedly, there are much worse things on this planet than him.

The suspense is thick and the acting is good. I really thought that Vin Diesel was great as Riddick. The effects are also excellent, the alien CGI is almost seamless.

If you like science fiction that has good effects but doesn't rely on them solely then this is a film for you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MOVE OVER, ARNOLD
Review: Vin Diesel who plays the anti-hero hero in "Pitch Black" should inherit the muscle man movie roles of the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger, if this movie is any evidence. Actually, Diesel is a much better actor than Arnie, and he is the core of this highly entertaining and frightening science fiction movie.

I was awed by some of the lighting and camera work; scenes shifting from hues of orange to brown to blue and then the eeriness of the eclipse. But, lordy, what creatures. Even though we know they are computer generated, one cannot help but admit they were some of the best monsters since "Aliens". The device of having them in the dark was superb, because not only did we fear the sight of them, but their haunting and frightening screams.

The overall casting was likewise effective, particularly Randha Mitchell as Fry, a complex and well-drawn female character that combined both strength and vulnerability, and an expressive face that worked beautifully for her. Cole Hauser is effectively creepy as the addicted cop, who shifts from his early "hero" role to the true villain of the piece. I also liked Claudia Black's tenacity and guarded sexuality, and Keith David's stereotypical religious leader. Ketih managed to make him convincing.

But, it is Diesel who struts, grunts and muscles his way through the film; he is very good at showing expression with just a little twist of his mouth, and even with the "see in the dark" eyes, his final scene with Mitchell is both touching and unforgettable.

A great movie----let's look for more of David Twohy's brilliant conceptualization and style.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pitch Black
Review: Excellent movie! Spine tingling, edge of your seat action. This movie is worth every penny. Diesel is awesome!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: YOW!
Review: When I rented this film, I did so not expecting to like it. How wrong I was! This film is definitely in the top level of the best sf movies. The plot and script are relatively solid and remain far enough from the edge of comic-book logic to keep me believing in the situation. The monsters are fairly decent, but the best thing going in the film is the main character as portrayed by Vin Deisel, an actor I had never seen. If his performance in this film is any indication of his talent, I'll be happy to see him in another role. All in all, PITCH BLACK was a very pleasant surprise.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not one original thought
Review: The monster from Alien. The action from Aliens. The desert from Stargate. And that's it.

Vin Diesel is not bad, and the monsters look good, but wouldn't have existed without Alien.

Boring.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: better than alien
Review: firstly i must own up that this film nonplused me.i was not waiting such a film.this is better than so-called great matcless alien.needless to say more.a must-see.by the way star of movie is pitch-black-monsters.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Argh!! Could have been 5+ stars, director just went for 3
Review: I saw the movie in the theater, and recently watched it on the special DVD, and I still have the same two thoughts I had when I left the theater - great alien animation, and disappointing. Let's talk about the alien animation - it's gorgeous! Incredible! The aliens are added into the film so seamlessly, you really don't get the idea that it's animation. They look so natural, you'd think the studio had hired real ones. I was blown away by it, and I still am. Speaking of alien animation is a good segue into talking about the filming of the movie, which has moments of real creativity, and real exploration into what can be done with the physical properties of film - overexposure, severe contrast, etc - and the artistic capabilities of film - camera angles, pans and zooms, etc. This is a very creatively filmed movie, with some wonderful bright spots of genius. However, ultimately, the movie is disappointing, and on so many levels. Not disappointing in the way a bad film is disappointing, but in the way that you might be disappointed in an intelligent child who only works hard enough to get Cs.

This is a great film, or, more precisely, should have been a great film. It had so much potential to excel, to go beyond, and to push new boundaries in filmmaking. And occasionally, it succeeds. But mostly, when the movie is ready to do something truly outstanding, it instead makes a half-hearted filming attempt, and moves on to the next really-awesome seeming scene that falls short...it's like that through the whole movie. What I was so excited about when I first saw the movie is that we see right away there's a Muslim guy on the ship, with his sons, on a trip to New Mecca. I thought, this is really cool!, it's our first Muslim in space, but alas, his presence ultimately ends up meaning nothing except for a few lackluster theological discussions in the midst of the mayhem that comes later ("How can you trust your God when your sons have been killed, old man?" is about as far as the Muslim's faith is brought into the story). I mean, really, what's the point of including a Muslim (or any specifically-named religion) into a movie if you aren't going to make explicit use of it - the man's faith had nothing to do with his actions in the movie. I mean, really, it's the same as having a character that you take great pains to declare repeatedly is a great mechanic but never include a scene where he or she needs to fix something. It becomes irrelevant. The writers did make use of the antiquities lover/greedy guy in this movie, though - his actions were consistently in line with someone who has shown himself to be very interested in money, the fine things in life, and his own selfishness. The movie contains a number of other scenes where the dialogue falls short, where the action should have taken a different direction to be a more interesting film, etc.

When I think of this film, and when I watch this film, all I see is a movie that is well-made, perhaps better than a lot of science-fiction movies, which showed so many glimpses of possible genius that didn't materialize, that I am left disappointed at the end. One of the disappointments is that the movie had plenty of possibility to offer some thoughts on the human condition that we, the viewers, would be left thinking about - and that really is the goal of science-fiction. For example, Vin Diesel's "redemption" was not elaborated or developed enough, so that when it happened, it felt very contrived, like the writers came to the end of the script and realized that only a sudden conversion could work, so they hastily wrote one in. Of course, there's always the possibility that Diesel was lying (which would be good writing in this case), but the writing and the filming lead me to believe the intent of the writers was that he was redeemed - which is why it feels so contrived.

Vin Diesel is not a great actor, but he plays his role very well in this movie. Physically he's great, and it is a real treat to watch him, especially in battle with the aliens. In fact, the performances from the actors and actresses overall is quite good. And most of the time the filming is brilliant - lovely use of overexposure on the desert planet, very creatively done. The aliens are an exciting new twist to the science-fiction realm. The filming would have been helped, though, especially in the first half of the film, if it had been filmed slower. Once the aliens show up, the pace goes very quick (which is perfectly as it should be). Greater dramatic counterpoint, and better symbolism of the desert environment would have been achieved if the filming and pacing had been much slower in the beginning. The movie has beautiful pans of the landscape, but they should have been longer.

The DVD version is wonderful - lots of cool extras, including two running audio commentaries by actors, the producer, the sound guy, etc. Like the DVD for Se7en, this commentary offers a lot of good insight from the director about how to make a movie (even if I feel he didn't show the genius that he is apparently able to show). If we keep our eyes on this guy, we might end up witnessing the birth of a new Ridley Scott or perhaps even an Orson Welles.


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