The Chronicles of Riddick on Blu-ray Disc Review
By Rachel Cericola
The Film
The first Riddick flick,
Pitch Black, was made on a shoestring budget. The second coming of Vin Diesel's ex-con action hero is
The Chronicles of Riddick, which shows that bigger is not always better.
Riddick is still a wanted man, in more ways than one. A group of bounty hunters want to bring our big boy in. Also, he is recruited to help save the galaxy against a group of interplanetary terrorists called the Necromongers. It sounds like two movies -- two bad ones. The worst part is that the film drags in Thandie Newton and Judi Dench -- who should be stripped of her Dame-ness for portraying some half-wind/half-woman nonsense.
The Picture
You have to hand it to director David Twohy; the guy knows how to spend his money.
Pitch Black had him pinching pennies. For Riddick, he was given $105 million of fun money to play with -- and fun he had. Instead of being captive to one planet, he's created an entire universe here, and the universe has plenty of small details. The 2.40:1 transfer also has plenty of great colors and flesh tones, as well as some deep blacks. Still, we miss being impressed by what Twohy could do with that shoestring.
The Sound
Like
Pitch Black, this film relies on a lot of the sound to keep you entertained. It sure isn't the acting. Universal delivers with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track, which blows action out of the surrounds during the film's many thrill scenes. The bass also has a nice boom, but works nicely with the rest of the roaring sounds.
The Extras
Twohy is quite the Chatty Cathy. Like the Kevin Smith of sci-fi, the director provides commentary for a lot of the extras on this disc. He gives intros for the movie and deleted scenes, commentary, and chats up a storm in a few of the featurettes. Most notable include "The Virtual Guide To The Chronicles Of Riddick," which provides a bit of background, and "Visual Effects Revealed."
Final Thoughts
Normally you couldn't keep us away from a good interplanetary ass-kicking. However, the goofy plot, the waste of good talent, and the acting abilities of Diesel hamper this follow up outing. Still, if you're looking for mindless sci-fi fun to test out your Blu-ray setup or want to continue with the series,
Riddick could be worth a rental.
Where to Buy:
Product Details
- Actors: Vin Diesel, Thandie Newton, Karl Urban, Colm Feore, Linus Roache, Keith David, Judi Dench
- Director: David Twohy
- Audio/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English), DTS 5.1 (Spanish, French)
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
- Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
- Region: A
- Number of Discs: 1
- Rating: PG-13
- Studio: Universal Studios
- Blu-ray Disc Release Date: March 31, 2009
- Run Time: 134 minutes (unrated), 120 minutes (theatrical)
- List Price: $29.98
- Extras:
- Introduction by David Twohy
- Deleted Scenes w/ Commentary by David Twohy
- Virtual Guide to The Chronicles of Riddick
- Toombs' Chase Log
- Visual Effects Revealed
- Creation of New Mecca
- Riddick Rises
- Keep What You Kill
- Feature Commentary with Writer/Director David Twohy and Actors Karl Urban and Alexa Davalos
