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Pitch Black

 
Movies:

Pitch Black

  • Director: David N. Twohy
  • AMG Rating: starstarstar
  • Genre: Horror
  • Movie Type: Sci-Fi Horror, Creature Film
  • Themes: Evil Aliens, Space Travel
  • Main Cast: Radha Mitchell, Vin Diesel, Cole Hauser, Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald
  • Release Year: 2000
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 107 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: R

Plot

In this science fiction thriller, a spaceship is transporting a disparate group of people to a far-away galactic outpost called New Mecca. Mechanical failures cause the craft to crash-land on an abandoned planet that has three suns and no night. The only member of the crew to survive is junior pilot Carolyn Fry (Radha Mitchell), while the passengers who climb from the wreckage include a police officer (Cole Hauser) and the prisoner he's transporting, Riddick (Vin Diesel). As Fry and the other survivors survey the abandoned dwellings of the desert world while trying to decide what to do next, one of them is killed by a mutant creature living in an abandoned mining site. The vicious and bloodthirsty mutants, who live underground, have killed all previous inhabitants of the planet; they cannot stand sunlight, but research reveals that the planet has a total eclipse every 22 years, and the latest one is due any moment. Pitch Black was directed by David N. Twohy, who also made the sci-fi cult item, The Arrival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Review

Screenwriter and director David Twohy continues his intriguing career of crafting challenging, well-mounted science fiction films via limited means with this somewhat derivative but highly enjoyable action thriller. Most of the casting in Pitch Black is by type and thus instantly forgettable, though given the story's haunted-house horror movie structure, this is probably by design. However, the film is anchored by Radha Mitchell and the strutting, grunting Vin Diesel, relative newcomers who prove their mettle on the big screen with reflective performances marked by detailed, intuitive choices. As he did with Warlock (1988), Disaster in Time (1992), and The Arrival (1996), Twohy takes what was intended to be a straight-to-video genre potboiler and transforms the project into something at least a cut above other examples of its type. Unfortunately, in all of these projects, the writer/director is at times overcome by shoestring budgets that hamstring his creative efforts to impress visually. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Cast

Claudia Black - Shazza; Rhiana Griffith - Jack; John Moore - Zeke; Simon Burke - Owens; Les Chantery - Suleiman; Sam Sari - Hassan; Firass Dirani - Ali; Ric Anderson - Total Stranger; Vic Wilson - Captain; Angela Makin - Dead Crew Member

Credit

Ian Gracie - Art Director, Iain Anderson - Animator, Evan Davies - Animator, Caroline Garrett - Animator, Rod Conder - Boom Operator, Gary Dixon - Boom Operator, Ann Robinson - Casting, Mullinars Consultants - Casting, Davia Clayton - Coordinator, Patrick Ellis - Coordinator, Anna Borghesi - Costume Designer, Kira Bohn - Continuity, Jamie Crooks - First Assistant Director, David N. Twohy - Director, Ian "Thistle" Thorburn - Second Unit Director, Rick Shaine - Editor, Ted Field - Executive Producer, Scott Kroopf - Executive Producer, Anthony Winley - Executive Producer, Shannon Blake Gans - Executive Producer, Antony Hunt - Executive Producer, Roger Lofting - Executive Producer, Scott Pourroy - Executive Producer, Campbell McLean - Location Manager, Graeme Revell - Composer (Music Score), Margaret Stevenson - Makeup, Sue Kelly-Tait - Makeup, Maree McDonald - Makeup, Peter Woodward - Makeup, Jack Wareham - Camera Operator, Graham "Grace" Walker - Production Designer, David Eggby - Cinematographer, Anna Foerster - Cinematographer, Rick Mietkowski - Cinematographer, Brent Coert - Production Manager, Tim Field - Production Manager, Tom Engelman - Producer, Michael Rumpf - Set Designer, Jacinta Leong - Set Designer, Martin Ash - Set Designer, John Cox - Special Effects, Tom Myers - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul "Salty" Brincat - Sound Recordist, Ric Anderson - Stunts, Michelle Comerford - Stunts, Marney Commens - Stunts, Nigel Harbach - Stunts, Peter Jerimijenko - Stunts, Nigel King - Stunts, Debbie Santic - Stunts, Yasca Sinigaglia - Stunts, Wilfred Woodrow - Stunts, Chris Anderson - Stunts Coordinator, Patrick Tatopoulos - Supervisor/Manager, Brian Cox - Special Effects Supervisor, Sue Mackay - Unit Production Manager, Jim Wheat - Screen Story, Ken Wheat - Screen Story, David N. Twohy - Screenwriter, Jim Wheat - Screenwriter, Ken Wheat - Screenwriter, Ian "Thistle" Thorburn - Second Unit Director Of Photography, Eleonore Crompton - Production Assistant, Emily Edwards - Production Assistant, Matthew Francis - Production Assistant, Chris Krumlauf - Production Assistant, Tori Martin - Production Assistant, Meredith Milton - Production Assistant, Charity Hobbs Wood - Production Assistant, Rowena Zande - Production Assistant, Peter Chiang - Visual Effects Supervisor, James LeBrecht - Sound Effects Editor, E. Larry Oatfield - Sound Effects Editor, Sam Hinckley - Sound Effects Editor, Karen Wilson - Sound Effects Editor, Michelle Wright - Executive in Charge of Production, Fiona Searson - Unit Publicist, Patrick Tatopoulos - Creature Design, Magic Camera Co. - Digital Effects, Double Negative Ltd. - Digital Effects, Jeff Sturgill - First Assistant Camera, Chris Bailey - Gaffer, Steve Bruce - Gaffer, Tony Holtham - Gaffer, Benn Hyde - Grip, Leigh Tait - Grip, Dana VanAuken - Grip, David Litchfield - Key Grip, Graham Litchfield - Key Grip, Pat VanAuken - Key Grip, Jose Granell - Model Effects Supervisor, Josh Winget - Music Editor, Michelle Russell - Production Coordinator, Jennifer Cornwell - Production Coordinator, Barrie Hemsley - Production Coordinator, Fay McConkey - Production Coordinator, Beverly Dunn - Properties Master, Jason Baird - Prosthetic Makeup Effects, Michael Semanick - Re-Recording Mixer, Lora Hirschberg - Re-Recording Mixer, Mark Pendergraft - Re-Recording Mixer, Lyn Alice Aronson - Script Supervisor, Jennifer Rees-Brown - Second Assistant Director, Sean Allen Barnes - Still Photographer, Robert Shoup - Supervising Sound Editor, Matthew Holben - Visual Effects Producer, Alex Hope - Visual Effects Producer, Matthew Plummer - Visual Effects Producer, Marilyn McCoppen - ADR Editor, Michele Perrone - ADR Editor, Jim Millet - Assistant Art Director, Tim "Guido" Magaraci - Assistant Chief Lighting Technician, Peter Woodward - Assistant Hair, Mary Works - Assistant Sound Editor, Scott Guitteau - Assistant Sound Editor, Michael Axinn - Assistant Sound Editor, Beau Borders - Assistant Sound Editor, Adam Williams - Best Boy Electric, Rick Johnson - Best Boy Grip, Russ Nordstedt - Best Boy Grip, Belinda Dean - Buyer, Laura Elkington - Buyer, Paul Hurrell - Buyer, Freddy Luis - Casting Assistant, Carrie Campbell - Casting Assistant, Wizzy Ringer - Casting Assistant, Roger Sassen - Chief Lighting Technician, John Rann - Construction Coordinator, Keryn Ribbands - Costumes Supervisor, Karen Wilson - Dialogue Editor, Gloria D'Alessandro - Dialogue Editor, Linda Kay Brown - Dialogue Editor, Andrew Blustain - First Assistant Editor, Dennie Thorpe - Foley Artist, Jana Vance - Foley Artist, Mary Helen Leasman - Foley Editor, Carolyn Nott - Key Hairstylist, Daryl Porter - Leadman, Chris Robson - Production Accountant, Brenda Coxon - Production Accountant, Amy K. Hall - Production Accountant, Jeanne Tuma - Production Accountant, Nick Walker - Scenic Artist, Angella McPherson - Second Second Assistant Director, Scott McMaster - Set Dresser, Rob Wood - Set Dresser, Brian Murray - Storyboard Artist, Jason Brubaker - Storyboard Artist, Tim Lawrence - Storyboard Artist, Jim Bruce - Assistant Editor

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Wikipedia: Pitch Black (film)
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Pitch Black

Theatrical Poster
Directed by David Twohy
Produced by Tom Engelman
Written by Story:
Jim Wheat
Ken Wheat
Screenplay:
Jim Wheat
Ken Wheat
David Twohy
Starring Vin Diesel
Radha Mitchell
Claudia Lee Black
Cole Hauser
Keith David
Lewis Fitz-Gerald
Music by Graeme Revell
Cinematography David Eggby
Editing by Rick Shaine
Distributed by USA Films (USA theatrical)
Universal Studios (all other rights)
Release date(s) February 18, 2000
Running time 109 minutes [Director's Cut] 112 minutes
Language English
Arabic
Budget $23,000,000
Gross revenue $53,187,659
Followed by The Chronicles of Riddick

Pitch Black (also known as The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black) is a 2000 science fiction action movie directed by David Twohy and is recognized as the acting breakthrough of Vin Diesel.

In the film, dangerous criminal Richard B. Riddick (Vin Diesel) is being transported to prison in a cargo spacecraft. When the spaceship is damaged by comet debris and makes an emergency crash landing on an empty desert planet, Riddick escapes. However, when predatory flying alien creatures begin attacking the survivors, Riddick joins forces with the crew to develop a plan to escape the planet.

The film's total budget was estimated to be USD $23 million. It was a sleeper hit, grossing over $53 million worldwide. It has since developed its own cult following, particularly around the anti-hero Riddick. A sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, was released in 2004.

Contents

Plot summary

In the 26th century, the transport ship Hunter/Gratzner, its crew and passangers in cryostatus chambers, passes through a comet's tail while on autopilot; the debris from comet ruptures the hull and kills some of its crew. The remaining crew is awakened, and docking pilot Carolyn Fry, despite nearly dumping the passenger compartment, is able to minimize the damage of a crash landing on a nearby planet, Hades; though many survivor, the ship is a total loss. The survivors find the planet to be nearly desert-like, it's orbit around three suns keeping the surface in perpetual daylight. The survivors learn that one of the passengers is the dangerous criminal Richard B. Riddick has escaped, and is chased by the bounty hunter, William J. Johns before gets away. Meanwhile, one of the other survivors is killed while investigating a nearby cave; when Johns returns with Riddick, he is accused of the survivor's murder, and kept under close guard.

A group of the survivors travel to a nearby abandoned geological research settlement to find a supply of water and a small escape ship they can use to escape the planet, though lacking power cells needed to start it up. They come to learn that the planet has a native species of deadly bat-like creatures that preyed on the former residents of the settlement, but only hunt in complete darkness, staying in the planet's cave systems otherwise. The survivors, discovering a astronomical model of Hades' orbit, realize that the suns will soon become eclipsed from Hades from another planet in the system, plunging the surface into darkness for an unspecified length of time. They quickly race back to the crashed ship to collect the power cells, other supplies, and the other survivors before this occurs.

As they begin the journey back from the crash to the settlement, the eclipse starts, and the creatures begin to emerge from the underground caves and attack the remaining survivors. Riddick reveals that he has had illegal surgery performed on his eyes to give him perfect night vision, and the group finds it necessary to trust him to lead them to safety. When Jack, a young runaway, reveals she is female, forced to hide her gender in order to gain respect, and on her menstrual cycle, Riddick realizes her blood is attracting the creatures. When Johns suggests leaving Jack behind to lure the creatures away, Riddick instead wounds Johns and leaves him as the bait. Soon, the group is whittled down to Riddick, Fry, Jack, and the Muslim Imam; Riddick has the other three wait in a nearby cave with bioluminescent worms that will keep the creatures at bay while he proceeds ahead with the heavy power cells. Concerned, Fry follows Riddick and finds him ready to take the escape craft by himself, but manages to convince him to help rescue Jack and Imam.

Returning to the cave, Riddick and the others proceed back to the ship; Riddick is taken by the creatures, but is saved by Fry's sacrifice. As they prepare to take off, Riddick waits for the last possible minute to kill as many of the creatures as possible in the ship's engine blast. As they are leaving the planet, Jack asks what they should say if they run into bounty hunters or other law enforcers asking where to find Riddick. Riddick responds by saying, "Tell 'em Riddick's dead. He died somewhere on that planet."

Cast

Reception

Pitch Black opened in 1,832 theaters on February 18, 2000, and grossed $11,577,688 over its opening weekend, ranking #3 at the box office. The film has a domestic gross of $39,240,659 and a foreign gross of $13,947,000, giving it a worldwide total of $53,187,659.

On its release, it was met with mainly mixed reviews, and received a 58% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 97 reviews with an average rating of 5.7/10 (with a 36% approval rating from top critics and 82% from the RT community).

Related works

The movie's sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, was released in 2004 and was also directed by David Twohy. A short animated movie, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, directed by Peter Chung, was also released that year. Dark Fury bridges the gap between Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick. In 2000 a prequel to Pitch Black was released named Into Pitch Black, which was supposed to be a Documentary movie. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, a game for the Xbox and the PC, was also released in 2004 to critical acclaim. A remake of Butcher Bay, including a new campaign, was released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on April 7, 2009, under the title The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. As of 2009, two live-action sequels to The Chronicles of Riddick are currently in development with both David Twohy and Vin Diesel attached.

See also

References

External links


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Movies. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pitch Black (film)" Read more