About the movie:
The story is a simple one: a group of people crash-land on a planet by day, but when the night
falls, alien monsters are out to get them. Can they keep the light going and make it to their
spaceship and escape? Can they trust the one man who can lead them: a convicted murderer? And
will they ever see daylight again?
Pitch Black reminded audiences what a scary science fiction movie was really about:
atmosphere, suspense and at least one really compelling character to root for. It's not about
aliens, it's about things that go bump in the night. It's not about FX, it's about
knowing who you can trust, even yourself. It's not about spaceships, it's about reminding us
how vulnerable we are.
Every note this film hit was a good one. The characters, though familiar enough, were compelling.
Some interesting slightly different choices were made by the writers, such as, the requisite holy
man in any scary movie for once was not a Christian, which made for an interesting change of
perspective. The mercenary turned out to be a drug-addicted coward. The captain learned to be
heroic, but still didn't win. The young person obsessed with emulating the vicious anti-hero
was a girl. Some nice tropes turned just enough to refresh them.
Personal:
The star-making turn by Vin Diesel alone would make this film worth seeing,
but the WriterGroupie loved the atmosphere and felt she hadn't seen this basic and effective a
scary science fiction movie since Aliens. She also enjoyed seeing Farscape's
Claudia Black in another kick-ass, take-no-prisoners role.
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Release Date: 2000
Rated: R
Credits:
Story by Jim Wheat & Ken Wheat
Written by Jim Wheat & Ken Wheat and David Twohy
Directed by David Twohy
Starring:
Vin Diesel as Richard Riddick
Radha Mitchell as Carolyn
Cole Hauser as Johns
Claudia Black as Shazza
Rhiana Griffith as Jack
Related Links:
The Official Pitch Black website.
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