RIDDICK: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION [2000 / 2004 / 2013 / 2014] [Blu-ray + Digital HD ULTRAVIOLET] [USA Release] The Scariest Thriller in Years! Survival Is His Revenge!
Vin Diesel stars as the ultimate anti-hero in one of the most action-packed sci-fi epics of all time! Journey to a remote, hostile planet with a group of marooned passengers who we learn that escaped convict "Riddick" isn't the only thing they have to fear in ‘Pitch Black’ [2000]. Riddick then finds himself humanity's unlikely champion for a universe on the edge of annihilation in ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’ [2004] And in the latest chapter, ‘RIDDICK’ [2013] he is forced to work with mercenaries who want his head in order to escape a sun-scorched planet facing a deadly storm. All 3 Blu-ray discs include the Unrated Director's Cut and the Theatrical Version.
FILM FACT: Awards and Nominations: Pitch Black: 2000 Saturn Award: Nominated: Best Science Fiction Film for Pitch Black. 2001 Australian Cinematographers Society Award: Won: Cinematographer of the Year for David Eggby. Won: Golden Tripod David Eggby. 2001 Bram Stoker Award: Nominated: Best Screenplay David Twohy, Jim Wheat and Ken Wheat. 2001 International Horror Guild Award: Nominated: Best Movie Pitch Black.
Pitch Black Cast: Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Claudia Black, Rhiana Griffith, John Moore, Simon Burke, Les Chantery, Sam Sari, Firass Dirani, Ric Anderson, Vic Wilson, Angela Moore, Peter Chiang (uncredited) and Ken Twohy (uncredited)
Director: David Twohy
Producers: Scott Kroopf, Ted Field, Tom Engelman and Tony Winley
Screenplay: David Twohy (screenplay), Jim Wheat (story/ screenplay), Ken Wheat (story/ screenplay) and
Composer: Graeme Revell
Cinematography: David Eggby, A.C.S. (Director of Photography)
* * * * *
The Chronicles of Riddick Cast: Vin Diesel, Colm Feore, Thandie Newton, Dame Judi Dench, Karl Urban, Alexa Davalos, Linus Roache, Yorick van Wageningen, Nick Chinlund, Keith David, Mark Gibbon, Roger R. Cross, Terry Chen, Christina Cox, Nigel Vonas, Shawn Reis, Fabian Gujral, Ty Olsson, Peter Williams, Darcy Laurie, John Mann, Adrien Dorval, Alexander Kalugin, Douglas H. Arthurs, Vitaly Kravchenko, Ron Selmour, Raoul Ganeev, Mark Acheson, Shohan Felber, Ben Cotton, Kim Hawthorne, Alexis Llewellyn, Charles Zuckermann, Andy Thompson, Cedric De Souza, Ahmad Sharmrou, Stefano DiMatteo, Mina E. Mina, John Prowse, Lorena Gale, Christopher Heyerdahl, Rob Daly, Michasha Armstrong, Aaron Douglas, Colin Corrigan, Kristin Lehman (director's cut) and Aaron Atkins (uncredited)
Director: David Twohy
Producers: Camille Brown (director's cut), David Womark, George Zakk, Scott Kroopf, Ted Field, Tom Engelman, Vin Diesel and Wendy Williams
Screenplay: David Twohy (written), Jim Wheat (characters) and Ken Wheat (characters)
Composer: Graeme Revell
Cinematography: Hugh Johnson (Director of Photography)
* * * * *
RIDDICK Cast: Vin Diesel, Jordi Mollà, Matt Nable, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Bokeem Woodbine, Raoul Max Trujillo, Conrad Pla, Danny Blanco Hall, Noah Dalton Danby, Neil Napier, Nolan Gerard Funk, Karl Urban, Andreas Apergis, Keri Lynn Hilson, Charlie Marie Dupont, Jan Gerste, Antoinette Kalaj, Alexandra Sokolovskaya and Lani Minella (uncredited)
Director: David Twohy
Producers: Camille Brown, George Zakk, Jimmy Finkl, Luis David Ortiz, Mike Drake, Mike Weber, Samantha Vincent, T.J. Mancini, Ted Field, Thyrale Thai and Vin Diesel
Screenplay: David Twohy (written), Jim Wheat (based on characters created) and Ken Wheat (based on characters created)
Composer: Graeme Revell
Cinematography: David Eggby, A.C.S. (Director of Photography)
* * * * *
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio,
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
French: 5.1 DTS-HD Audio
Spanish: 5.1 DTS-HD Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 and 2.40:1
Running Time: 756 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 3
Studio: Universal Pictures
Andrew's Blu-ray Review: Nearly a decade after the release of ‘Pitch Black’ and ‘The Chronicles of Riddick,’ director David Twohy and star Vin Diesel are back with a new off-world adventure for the popular antihero “Riddick.” ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’ the second sequel to ‘Pitch Black’ returns to the moderate budget filmmaking that made that film successful ‘RIDDICK’ is definitely a film shot to please long-time fans, like me of this franchise series. The smaller story allows Riddick to refocus on its shadowy protagonist, with stunning special effects. ‘RIDDICK’ is totally brilliant and a good science fiction film with decent re-boot for the series.
With this third and final episode of this franchise, is ‘RIDDICK’ which is largely dialogue-free and sees Riddick and the jackal adapting to the landscape and hidden dangers of the unnamed planet. There are plenty of venomous mud creatures and alien vultures waiting for a meal, and Riddick must pass through a dangerous cave environment to reach a less dangerous area of the planet. There's fun to be had watching Riddick and the pup cut down these voiceless alien antagonists, and the filmmakers play the man-and-his-dog relationship perfectly. The jackal is impressively rendered via CGI and there are some solid bits of action and humour that follow. Things slow to a grind when Riddick activates the beacon, and he spends a good thirty minutes off screen while the hunters take centre stage.
Several years after the events in ‘The Chronicles of Riddick,’ Riddick has grown bored with leading the Necromonger fleet. Riddick hasn't adopted most Necromonger customs, angering Commander Vaako [Karl Urban], who agrees to transport Riddick to lost planet Furya if he gives up his position as Lord Marshall. Siberius Vaako's aide, Krone [Andreas Apergis], betrays Riddick and leaves him to die on a barren, sun-baked hostile planet that Riddick dubs "Not Furya." Out of practice and overly civilised, Riddick must quickly regain his survivalist instinct as the planet is host to a number of hostile creatures. He adopts an abandoned jackal pup that becomes his trusty sidekick and sets out to find a way off the surface. When Riddick stumbles onto a mercenary outpost, he activates an emergency beacon that attracts two groups of bounty hunters hoping to collect on Riddick's head.
The first group to arrive is a ragtag band of killers led by the totally unhinged Santana [Jordi Mollà], who is furious when a more professional outfit, led by the Boss, Colonel R. "Boss" Johns [Matthew Nable], lands at his camp. Riddick quickly pits the two groups against one another, and Santana realises that Riddick intends to use one of their ships as his taxi off the hostile planet. Riddick turns into a largely unseen puppet master during this section and drops the relatively docile attitude from earlier scenes as he picks off Santana's men one by one and one of Riddick's biggest issues is pacing. The plot is a thinly type alien western, that at times is slightly sluggish around its halfway point, and I found my attention drifting as the bounty hunters bickered among themselves. Since the only supporting characters with any real personality are Santana [Jordi Mollà], Colonel R. "Boss" Johns [Matthew Nable] and the fierce female warrior Dahl [Katee Sackhoff], this gets pretty boring in a hurry. Viewers know from an earlier scene that a dangerous storm is coming to awaken the planet's dormant native creatures, but the film sometimes lacks a sense of urgency in these particular moments. But Riddick knows that shit is about to hit the fan, but no one else can see it coming.
Things pick up considerably at the climax of the film, when Riddick and company must fight to survive the Pitch Black-esque killers that roam the night. As a whole, ‘RIDDICK' is decently entertaining B-movie type escapism. The creatures are fierce, and the action is totally awesome. The environment is purposely ugly, and the lack of changing scenery gives a desolate place that no one would want to live on and it is amazing that anything can survive, but having Riddick by your side, makes things more bearable. Time has made Vin Diesel no less effective as Riddick, and it's nice to see the actor given a chance to play alongside a friendly CGI character. I wish David Twohy's script had given Vin Diesel more scope. The supporting cast is OK at delivering some awkward lines, and especially Jordi Mollà's performance is perfectly terrible. ‘RIDDICK' further explores the mythology hinted at in previous films, and the Director's Cut adds more to the cliff-hanger, that hints at future events. ‘RIDDICK' overall, despite giving the impression of being a B-grade type science fiction, I really enjoyed Riddick's return to the screen and I hope there are more in the near future, as I love these types of sci-fi films and I especially cannot see enough of seeing Vin Diesel in action, as he is THE ultimate macho muscular man that I really like to see in films, but only this genre and not his other film franchise which he has been churning out like sausage machine with no substance, that are so boring, it makes you want yawn!
Blu-ray Image Quality – The RIDDICK: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION Blu-ray discs have a very competent 2.35:1 and 2.40:1 aspect ratios and an even more awesome is the 1080p transfer. All 3 RIDDICK films were shot digitally and it retains all the characteristics that you come to expect with these films, both good and bad, especially of digital photography. Detail is very good, and black levels are more than adequate. Though the HD source causes a bit of smearing, there is plenty of texture to be found in the costumes, sets and weapons. I noticed absolutely no issues with noise reduction, aliasing or compression artefacts.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack with all 3 RIDDICK films are so appropriately immersive, and the shrieks of incoming aliens sear through the surround speakers. Ambient effects waft through the sound field and dialogue is perfectly audible at all times. Music, effects and dialogue are nicely layered, and the subwoofer supports the frequent, directionally oriented action effects like gunfire and thunder.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras: Because there are far too many extras to go into more detail, it is best if you want to know more in depth information, then it is best to check out other web sites for more details on what each extra contains.
DISC 1: Pitch Black:
Digital Copy of Pitch Black: Unrated Version
An Introduction by David Twohy
The Game Is On
The Johns Chase Log
The Making of Pitch Black:
The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury – Advancing the Arc
The Chronicles of Riddick Visual Encyclopaedia
A View into the Dark
Audio Commentary with Vin Diesel, Cole Hauser and Director David Twohy
Audio Commentary with Director David Twohy, Producer Tom Engelman and Visual Effects Supervisor Peter Chiang
From Pitch Black to Chronicles of Riddick: Bridging the Gap
Peter Chung: The Mind of an Animator
Into the Light
Animatic to Animation
* * * * *
DISC 2: The Chronicles of Riddick:
Digital Copy of The Chronicles of Riddick: Unrated Version
Introduction by David Twohy
Deleted Scenes with Audio 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
Audio Commentary with Writer-Director David Twohy and Actors Karl Urban and Alexa Davalos
* * * * *
DISC 3: RIDDICK:
Digital Copy of Riddick: Unrated Director's Cut
The Twohy Touch
Riddickian Tech
Vin's Riddick
Meet the Mercs
World of Riddick
Riddick: Blindsided
Finally, I am a massive Vin Diesel fan, and I have an awesome admiration for the films ‘Pitch Black’ and ‘The Chronicles of Riddick.’ As to the latest offering of ‘RIDDICK,’ this was more of a psychological outing which I really enjoyed and gave much more depth to the character and what makes RIDDICK tick and I really thought it was a brilliant well thought out film and it was such a shame it has taken well over ten years to bring it to the screen. On top of that, you have a wealth of Special Features and Extras that will keep you very happy for fans of these brilliant action packed well thought out films. All in all, the conclusion is simple. With a $90,000,000 take on a $40,000,000 budget, the series is still very much alive, and I am really looking hopefully forward to even more RIDDICK franchise films. And if you are definite a fan of this series like me, you should definitely own this Blu-ray ‘RIDDICK: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION’ and you will not be at all disappointed, in fact you will be stunned with such an awesome package. And as to ALL you fans out there who are still not sure whether to purchase this ultimate package, then you will be missing out on a great deal if you do not add this to your Blu-ray Collection like I have done and I am so proud and honoured to have this in my Blu-ray Collection. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
