The Chronicles of Riddick DVD review
by Doc on Nov.14, 2004, under Movies, Video/DVD
The Chronicles of Riddick DVD will be released Tuesday, but I was fortunate to get an advanced review copy. I had not seen the movie during its theatrical release, so I didn’t know what to expect. I was relatively pleased.
![](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002VEUV2.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg)
Riddick (Vin Diesel), the anti-hero from Pitch Black, has been in hiding on a frozen planet for five years, but a mercenary named Toombs (Nick Chinlund) tracks him down, apparently with information provided by Imam (played by Keith David, reprising his Pitch Black role) – a deleted scene adds a little sense to this. Riddick escapes again and travels to Helion Prime to see Imam and meets Aereon (Judi Dench), an Air Elemental who hints at Riddick’s past – we learn he is one of the last of the Furions, a warrior race that was practically wiped out, and he may be the only one who can stop the Necromongers – who choose that point to land on Helion Prime.
Along the way, after being captured by Toombs and taken to the Triple-Max Slam (prison) Crematoria, Riddick crosses paths with Kyra (who changed her name from Jack in Pitch Black, along with an actress change, Alexa Davalos), who herself has been a prisoner after joining a Merc group.
Plot/Story: As I said, the basic plot isn’t that unusual – I’ve seen it a number of times before – Krull and Battle Beyond the Stars just offhand. The execution of it is decent, but average. 2 out of our 0-5 scale.
Character: We find out a bit more about Riddick here – the aforementioned Furions, more of which you find out from the deleted scenes. We learn more of the backstory to this “universe”, which is always a plus to me – I like large, well thought out universes. Kyra’s character certainly has changed, becoming a tough girl that could even give Riddick a challenge. For this type of movie, not bad. 4/5
Visuals/Effects: Often dark, but with some stunning shots. I especially liked the sunrise effect on Crematoria, along with the heat wave. 4/5
DVD Extras: This is the “Unrated Director’s Cut”, which seems to be synonymous nowadays with any extended version. David Twohy gives a brief intro explaining the new scenes being spliced in and the possibility of a noticeable cut, but I didn’t notice any specifically. Also, when you load the DVD, you get an initial menu with only two choices – “Convert” and “Fight”, with no explanation. As far as I can tell, both lead to the main menu and submenus, but with a different visual interface.
The few deleted scenes add a little backstory. There is a small encyclopedia with narration from several characters, including a few entries that give different viewpoints. There is a short behind-the-scenes feature with Vin Diesel showing the sets (he seems very different out of character), and a “bounty hunter log” of Toombs gearing up for his hunt for Riddick, plus the usual director’s commentary track. Probably par for DVDs of this type. 3/5
Overall: I was pleasantly surprised, given that I expected this to be simply an action-flick vehicle for the star. The backstory could use some more work, but perhaps that is for another story… 3/5
Total: 3.2 out of 5 stars. Enjoyable for a sci-fi action flick.