I'm not the hugest fan of Vin Diesel. I'm not quite sure what it is about him...but it just seems that no matter what movie he is in, he is just the same person in different clothing no...yes, matter what movie he is in...
I do like 3 movies he has been in and the best out of those potentially has to be the sleeper sci-fi/horror hit Pitch Black. Arrow recently released this movie as limited edition Blu-Rays and UHDs, so let's have a look and see how it has turned out.
Set in the distant future, the commercial transport vessel "Hunter-Gratzner" crashes while stuck in a meteor storm, and its crew of 40 ( are marooned on a desert planet full of bloodthirsty creatures that only come out to feast at night. But then, the 11 survivors learn that a month-long eclipse is about to occur, an occurrence that happens here every 22 years. The team finds that Riddick, an extremely dangerous criminal with surgically enhanced eyes to allow him to see in the dark, is their best hope if they want to survive.
I really like this movie and consider this a classic that is really a must-watch. From the character of Richard B. Riddick (which is also what introduced us to Vin Diesel), the other characters as well as the atmosphere and story in general just work making it superb entertainment for the horror/sci-fi fans.
So what about the disc? Well...this is an AWESOME edition of the movie! Arrow has done a superb 4kUHD disc, with breathtaking visuals of amazing audio. This is a brand new 4K restoration of the Theatrical and Director's cuts of the film, approved by director David Twohy. Along with 2 versions of this movie is a HUGE amount of extras!! There are 2 audio commentaries, interviews with cast and crew, behind the scenes featurettes, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (Animated Story), Slam City (Motion Comic), Into Pitch Black (A non-canon TV special giving alternate glimpses into the film), Trailers, Image galleries and so very much more.
The disc case has some awesome artwork on it too, with a reversible sleeve that depicts Riddick in "night" and "day". There was originally going to be a slipcase with this movie, but sadly this was scrapped after a bunch of materials got damaged.
The first run of this edition also has a collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by Simon Ward on the film’s creature designs (including a new interview with creature designer Patrick Tatopoulos), original production notes and information from the film’s official website, and an archive interview with Vin Diesel from Starlog magazine.
If you are a Vin Diesel fan, or like Horror/Sci-Fi this is definitely worth picking up. It's great having the 2 versions of the movie there, and then there's a huge wealth of extras that not only go behind the scenes but also expand the RiddickVerse ready for when you see the next movie, The Chronicles of Riddick. Speaking of which, I seriously hope that there are plans for the other Riddick movies and that they are able to do as good a job on them as they did with this because then you'd have an amazing set for collectors (All it would need is some way of being able to play Escape From Butcher Bay on top of that!!).
Pitch Black is rated 15 and available on Blu-ray and UHD in all good stores or you can order it directly from Arrow HERE.