Product Details

• Actors: Vin Diesel, Judi Dench, Colm Feore, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser
• Directors: David Twohy, Peter Chung
• Writers: David Twohy, Brett Matthews, Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat
• Producers: Camille Brown, David Womark
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: May 30, 2006
• Run Time: 281 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000EQHXN2
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,382 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Pitch Black
Owing a major debt to Alien and its cinematic spawn, Pitch Black is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations. As he did with The Arrival, director David Twohy revitalizes a derivative story, allowing you to forgive its flaws and submit to its visceral thrills. Under casual scrutiny, the plot's logic crumbles like a stale cookie, but it's definitely fun while it lasts.

A spaceship crashes on a desert planet scorched under three suns. The mostly doomed survivors include a resourceful captain (Radha Mitchell), a drug-addled cop (Cole Hauser), and a deadly prisoner (Vin Diesel) who quickly escapes. These clashing personalities discover that the planet is plunging into the darkness of an extended eclipse, and it's populated by hordes of ravenous, razor-fanged beasties that only come out at night. The body count rises, and Pitch Black settles into familiar sci-fi territory.

What sets the movie apart is Twohy's developing visual style, suggesting that this veteran of B-movie schlock may advance to the big leagues. Like the makers of The Blair Witch Project, Twohy understands the frightening power of suggestion; his hungry monsters are better heard than seen (although once seen, they're chillingly effective), and Pitch Black gets full value from moments of genuine panic. Best of all, Twohy's got a well-matched cast, with Mitchell (so memorable with Ally Sheedy in High Art) and Diesel (Pvt. Caparzo from Saving Private Ryan) being the standouts. The latter makes the most of his muscle-man role, and his character's development is one more reason this movie works better than it should. --Jeff Shannon

Dark Fury - The Chronicles of Riddick (Animated)
Taking a page from The Animatrix, Dark Fury is part of a new trend of bridging theatrical sequels. As an official product of a franchise, the 35-minute anime benefits from having the original actors voice the characters, including Vin Diesel as Riddick. This story opens with the new action hero and the two other survivors of Pitch Black already caught by a giant spaceship filled with dread. The sinewy leader has a unique--and creepy--jail for master villains and she has her sights set on Riddick. The film--indeed the series--is indebted to animator Peter Chung, who brings his techno style from his Aeon Flux series. His smooth animation for Riddick doesn't reinvent the character as much as give him a new, appealing fluidity. As anime goes, there's nothing really new here--plenty of action, cool killers, and dramatic spurts of blood--but it's a building block for how this genre might enliven movie series and sequels in the future. --Doug Thomas

Product Description
Journey to a remote, hostile planet with a group of marooned passengers who learn that escaped convict Riddick isn't the only thing they have to fear in Pitch Black. Then, see him battle ruthless soldiers of fortune and vicious creatures in renowned animator Peter Chung's The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury. And finally, Riddick finds himself humanity's unlikely champion in the special effects-fueled The Chronicles of Riddick. Join Riddick in three times the action, three times the adrenaline and three times the adventure as the Riddick Trilogy makes complete one of the greatest sci-fi epics of all time!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Unrated Versions, September 8, 2006

By	Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Here are the unrated versions of all of the Riddick tales. We get Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, and The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, a short animated film. But will all of the movies and all of the extras, we are still missing the half-hour promotion feature where we see Riddick's past. Originally he was a government assassin who was trained a bit too well. When the government was done with him they tried to eliminate him. Riddick survived and trumped up charges were invented sending him on the run. But that original story is missing from this collection.

Pitch Black. Riddick is one of a handful of survivors who crash on a bright and arid world. But once in a while, the three suns are completely blocked and true darkness covers the land. It is in this darkness that the remaining life on the planet comes out of hiding and goes hunting. Riddick must fight the dark, hold tr group together, and somehow escape the planet.

Dark Fury. Having escaped at the end of the first movie, Riddick and company are picked up by a bounty hunter who has a different idea of what to do with dangerous men. Now Riddick is faced with killers, monsters, and a captain who seems to worship the skill of killing and survival. This film is short and animated but uses the voices of actors from the other movies.

The Chronicles of Riddick. Here old acquaintances try to enlist Riddick's help in stopping a force known as the Necromongers. It is their sworn duty to purge the flawed life of our universe so that they can be born in perfection in the underverse. This time Riddick is faced with his past, unstoppable armies, weapons of mass destruction and possibly the fate of the whole world.

A nice collection of some interesting films. Packed in a nice small package this is not just a bundle but an original collection. Plenty of action and tough guys for any appetite. See the full range of the Richard P. Riddick stories from the starkness of Pitch Black to the visually overwhelming Chronicles of Riddick. Check it out.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good purchase for the casual fan., June 4, 2006

By	John S. Milas (Illinois) - See all my reviews

I'm a huge sci-fi fan and was interested in the Riddick movies upon seeing them. I told myself that I wouldn't buy any of them unless they came out all together in a box set. Well, here it is for $14 (WalMart) I couldn't go wrong. All three movies on two discs. If you're hardcore about these movies you might want to stick with the original single DVDs because I think they have DTS and animated menus. The Pitch Black movie on this collection didn't even have scene select, but the chapter button did work, so you can skip during the movie, you just can't select a spot ahead of time.

Anyway, Pitch Black and TCOR are Unrated, but I didn't really notice too much in the 3 extra minutes of Pitch Black. I noticed some, but nothing really substantial that changes the movie's overall tone at all. I was satisfied with The Tremors Attack Pack Franchise Collection even if it was a little condensed in some areas, so naturally I was pleased with this collection and its price. I recommend this series to all sci-fi fans looking for a good old fashioned epic series.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great bargain. Great collection., July 8, 2006

By	Sinless Knight "S. Knight" (Virginia Beach, VA, USA) - See all my reviews

Having already owned the three Riddick films on dvd, I stumbled upon this collection and discovered that it contained all three films in a nifty bundle. So instead of having all three films in separate dvd cases, you get them all in one with this here. I went ahead & purchased this and sold the three separate Riddick films that I had prior. Afterall, what have I got to lose?

Granted there are some missing effects from the menu screens (noticeably on COR) the movies themselves are all kept intact in high quality as seen in their originals (which is excellent), along with the full director's cut versions of both PB and CoR. Some may be wondering why PB & Dark Fury are on the same disc this time around. Well for one, Dark Fury's a short enough movie to fit onto the same disc as PB without sacrificing much of anything, it's actually better this way. Now you won't have to switch inbetween disc to watch (granted you already owned both PB & DF prior, if not, please excuse this). Afterall, PB and DF interlace with each other. It would only make sense for them both to be on the same disc. You definitely get alot for this collection's small retail price. You're getting three films which could run you at $30.00+, for under twenty bucks. 400+ minutes of nonstop sci-fi action.

All in all, to those of whom already own all three films, there really isn't anything new here to see with the exception of the gnarly dvd packaging, along with the films being in a single dvd case on two discs (no new features that weren't already found in the originals) as opposed to three. However, to those who don't already own the Riddick films (or to those who simply owned the prior films on vhs), now's your chance to PICK THIS UP! The price alone justifies the purchase, and this collection serves as a great intermission into the Riddick universe.