Pitch Black - Planet der Finsternis

The opening scene of this movie is pretty incredible. I've seen a number of sci-fi movies with great special effects but my roommate and I looked at each other after the opening sequence and he said plainly, "sensory overload." The plot of the movie is pretty simple but the nice thing about this sci-fi movie is that it lets the audience figure out most of the technology for themselves instead of wasting time to "subtly" explain it. The creatures in this movie are also very interesting. You don't get a really good look at them until about two thirds of the way through. Overall, a very entertaining movie.

I will admit, I was already a fan of Serenity, Riddick Chronicles and all that, so I did go into this film with a bit of predetermined anticipation. On the flip side, I'm not always that much of a Vin Deisel fan, in that he is somewhat mono-dimensional in his range of characters, but for the embodiment of Riddick, he does fit perfectly. As for the story and how it plays out, the pace is good, not too encumbered with gratuitous special effects and all that, but where it does fit, the CGI is well done and appropriate.

The one really glaring technical defect in this story is how everyone just gets out and starts walking around, breathing in the air without the slightest concern for differences in the atmosphere, microbes and so on, but this is a common flaw that is often somehow glossed over in many such stories, so I can't harp on that detail too much.

As for Radha Mitchell, she is smokin' hot here, not in a ridiculous or frivolous way, but as her tough, seasoned interplanetary merchant marine ship's captain character "Fry", she nails it perfectly. If anything, she very much reminds me of Andrea Osvart (see her as the Hungarian assassin "Gilda" in the film "Two Tigers").

Now, if these two ladies ever appeared together in a film, I would drop everything and go check that out in a heartbeat . . . but I digress.

In any case, I have no trouble with granting 8 stars to "Pitch Black".

Pitch Black is a survival story. It's about how to survive in an hostile, alien world against even more hostile enemies. The task gets even more difficult when the nearest enemies can be found within your own surviving group.

The plot of Pitch Black is quite usual and has been seen several times before in different variations. But what makes this movie shine above others, is it's well-written characters.

The group consists of very different people with few more interesting than the others: Jack, a boy with a secret; Fry, a pilot having hard time with her own conscience; Johns, a bounty- hunter with a drug-habit; Imam, a holy man facing the fact that God is sometimes cruel and Riddick, a convict and a murderer learning to value others, not only himself. Characters start to live in the movie. They aren't only paper like in many other movies of this genre. You start to care for the characters, especially for Riddick though that feels quite odd. He is supposed to be the bad guy. In this movie, the line between light and pitch black is very thin. All characters are familiar with both.

Other thing that works in this movie is the casting. Rarely do actors fit to their roles this well. Radha Mitchell is suitable for Fry. Cole Hauser brings the right amount of cruelness and sense of responsibility for Johns. But the most impressive work is done by Vin Diesel. He does great job as Riddick. In his hands Riddick is quite creepy, definitely very dangerous and also deep character, just as he is supposed to be.

So, how do you survive in Pitch Black? Keep your friends close and enemies even closer.

The 2000's great times for movies, the CGI is opening the possibility for new ideas, combine that with some great actors and you get Pitch Black a Great movie for the time.

The Director did a great job I could not find any mistakes so he gets a 10⭐ The actors did a nice job, maybe some improvements here and there but nothing major they get a 8⭐ The story is unique and fresh for the time with allot of focus on the surviving element and the unknown situation, maroon on a random planet with a convict on the lose is a fresh idea for the time and it gets a 9⭐ The effects are in the early stages, the CGI was just starting to make waves so from a modern standard it gets a 4⭐

This is a Sunday night movie with friends and family with some heavy popcorn and juice!!!

ENJOY!!!!

I remembered this as a tight, well made and exciting little sci-fi film, but either I've become more judgmental twenty three years ago or this just hasn't aged well. Actually, it's just the first third or that is a problem. The beginning has quite a bit of poor acting and preposterous behavior from the survivors of a crashed space ship on an unknown planet. They adjust to the monstrous crash they've just been through, which is well done, and new surroundings astoundingly rapidly. They barely seem shook up and are not remotely believable. However, it gets better and the last two thirds are still pretty exciting. I kind of remembered the final scenes, but not the actual ending, so I was a little surprised, which is always good. Bottom line, this is a pretty good sorta Grade B type movie that gave the world Vin Diesel for better or worse. There was a terrible sequel to this, with Judi Dench no less, and another that I don't think I saw. The director hasn't made a film since Riddick 13 years ago and is now making two more. This character is this guy's directing career!