Arrow Video
4K UHD Release: September 17, 2024
Video: 2.40:1 (both cuts) and 1.78:1 (theatrical only)/2160p (HDR10/Dolby Vision)/Color
Audio: English Dolby Atmos (theatrical only) and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (both cuts)
Subtitles: English SDH
Run Time: 119:07 (theatrical cut), 134:05 (unrated extended cut)
Director: David Twohy
Riddick (Vin Diesel) is an intergalactic fugitive whose dark past catches up with him when he is lured out of hiding by Imam (Keith David), another survivor of the planet of horrors they barely escaped from five years earlier. Now out of the shadows, Riddick is identified by an ethereal emissary (Judi Dench) as the descendant of an ancient race of warriors who may be the universe's last hope against the Necromongers, an evil army of fanatics intent on bending the world to their will. With enemies closing in on all sides, including the ruthless Lord Marshal (Colm Feore) and his scheming lieutenant Vaako (Karl Urban), Riddick finds himself a reluctant savior of the cosmos, with only his razor-sharp wits and cunning killer instinct standing in the way of total annihilation. (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
After spending the late-’80s and ‘90s working on modestly budgeted genre fodder, including Mick Garris’ Critters 2 (1988), Steve Miner’s Warlock (1989), and his directorial debut The Grand Tour (aka: Timescape, 1992), David Twohy had some high-profile writing gigs on Andrew Davis’ The Fugitive (1993) and Kevin Reynolds’ Waterworld (1995). He was rewarded with the money to write and direct The Arrival (1996), a film that was unfortunately relegated to the unenviable position of an Independence Day (1996) counter-programmer. Finally, in early 2000, Twohy scored a sleeper hit in the high concept sci-fi-horror-action hybrid Pitch Black. The budget was still modest, but the return was good and, along with Ben Younger’s Boiler Room (2000), it helped turn the relatively unknown Vin Diesel into a major movie star.
Pitch Black had a lot in common with Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979). Obviously, many modern sci-fi/horror films owe a debt to Scott and his collaborators, but Twohy was definitely aiming to evoke memories of Alien. The gold standard of sci-fi/horror sequel is, of course, James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), which expanded on the hinted mythology of Scott’s film and broadened the scope of the conflict to include military intervention. One might assume that, when handed a bigger budget, this is where Twohy would have taken Pitch Black: Part 2. Instead, he went even bigger, taking the relatively self-contained, character-driven ideas of Jim & Ken Wheat’s original screenplay and blowing them up to the scale of Star Wars. Their ambition was rewarded with mediocre box office (a borderline flop) and reviews that ranged from vaguely disappointed to utterly appalled.
Like any truly ambitious genre picture, Chronicles of Riddick’s reputation had improved over the decades. Revisiting it almost 20 years after originally seeing it, I find that, while some of its shortcomings have aged more poorly than expected, its successes are worth celebrating. Its greatest success is that it doesn’t try to emulate Aliens or even Star Wars for that matter; instead, it combines aspects of older sci-fi and fantasy tales. Specifically, Chronicles of Riddick answers the question: what would happen if Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian found himself in Frank Herbert’s Dune? As long as it’s sincerely sticking to these ideas, it is a visually and conceptually compelling film that surrounds its understated, grunting protagonist with dazzling, Giger-esque sets, weird, unexplained technologies, and a spectacularly melodramatic cast, including Karl Urban, Judi Dench, Keith David, and a show-stealing Thandiwe Newton. Conversely, whenever it wanders away from pulp fantasy and back into familiar space fugitive on a hostile planet territory, it flounders, leaving its middle section saggy and detached from the rest of the film.
Given the film’s age, it’s not really fair to criticize its special effects too harshly, but it is fair to note that Twohy is over reliant on CG at a time when the technology still only worked as augmentation, not the centerpoint. On the other hand, the miniatures might not appear ‘realistic,’ but they have an artisanal quality that matches the set and production design, all but ensuring that Twohy gets away with a few ropey/dated CG FX elsewhere. My lasting problem with the film isn’t its lack of narrative focus, because I see that as a side effect of its ambition. No, my problem is with the coverage during the action scenes. It’s clear that coordinator Bradley James Allan – a gifted martial artist, former member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, and the white guy Chan fights in Gorgeous (1999) – and the rest of the stunties put in the work, staging creative fight sequences befitting borderline superheroic characters, but their effort is constantly undermined by odd camera placement and overly aggressive editing. It doesn’t ruin the film, but it’s certainly frustrating.
It’s probably worth noting that The Chronicles of Riddick wasn’t just a box office disappointment, but that, like Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions (both 2003), it was designed to be a multimedia roll-out, including action figures, a video game, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004), and a straight-to-DVD animated prequel short from Aeon Flux creator Peter Chung (who, for the record, also worked on the Animatrix [2003]). The game was a hit and garnered a sequel, but wasn’t enough to save the franchise. Twohy was eventually able to make a third Riddick movie, the not-so-creatively titled Riddick (2013), off the back of the massive success of the Fast & Furious series. The rumor is that the series rights were given to Diesel as a reward for his Tokyo Drift (2006) cameo and that Riddick was independently produced with the actor mortgaging his house to get it finished.
Video
As a major studio release, The Chronicles of Riddick had a wide release on theatrical and director’s cut DVD, Blu-ray, and even HD-DVD. For its 4K UHD debut, the original Super 35 camera negative was scanned in 4K/16-bit by NBC Universal. The footage was restored and graded in 4K and given its HDR10/Dolby Vision upgrades by Silver Salt Restoration in London. Twohy himself reportedly approved the transfer and grading. I’ve included screencaps from Arrow’s same-day Blu-ray release for illustrative purposes. Though I don’t have the older Universal Blu-ray for a direct comparison, these are 1080p versions of what readers can expect from the 4K restoration. Viewers may notice dips in resolution when it comes to those dated digital effects, but the fine detail, textures, and Super 35 grain levels all look great. Everything is sharp, but not too sharp and the HDR10/Dolby Vision upgrade makes a big difference during overly dark shots, as seen during the Necromonger raid on New Mecca, which looked muddy and confusing even during the film’s original theatrical release.
There was no Super35 negative available for the additional director’s cut sequences. For those inserts, Arrow cut in footage from the 2K digital master files and upconverted it. The original release Chronicles of Riddick director’s cut DVD (and I assume original Blu-ray) had really obvious splices, something that Twohy apparently wanted to happen (at least according to the intro included with this disc). The good news is that the 4K remastered transfer is about as close to seamless as the disc’s producers could manage, given the 2K inserts. If I really, really focus during the few scenes I know were added, I can make out minor differences in things, like grain size and edge softness, but the richer color grade and HDR boost cover most of these issues. For a breakdown of the differences between the cuts, see this Movie-Censorship post.
I looked into it and couldn’t find a satisfying reason as to why Arrow included a third disc with the theatrical cut in 1.78:1. It’s definitely not the intended aspect ratio and, as far as I can tell, there was no special IMAX version of the film released. Whatever the reason, it looks fine.
Audio
The theatrical cut is presented in its original 5.1 and uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio, alongside a new Dolby Atmos remix completed at Deluxe Audio London. The director’s cut includes only the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, which is, frankly, more than enough. The early 2000s were sort of a peak era for busy multi-channel sound design (modern blockbusters seem to be mixed with a 3.1 home soundbar in mind), so there's a bevy of directional cues, environmental ambiences, and a wide dynamic range. This is the first movie I’ve reviewed in a while that I had to turn down, instead of turn up. That’s not saying too much, considering that I mostly review 30 to 60 year-old mono mixes these days, but it was still pretty impressive.
Extras
Disc 1 (theatrical cut 4K UHD, 2024 Arrow exclusive extras)
Ambition on Another Scale: Chronicling a Blockbuster Sequel (73:48, HD) – A brand new retrospective documentary from director Naomi Holwill that includes interviews with David Twohy, cast members Keith David and Linus Roache, miniature effects artist Ian Hunter, storyboard artist Brian Murray, and concept artist Matt Codd. There isn’t a whole lot of information here that can’t be gleaned from the previous Blu-ray, but it’s a concise, complete, and entertaining look at both Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick. The time away from the two films’ release helps give the interviews a more honest tone as well, since no one is afraid of offending studio execs.
Realizing Riddick (13:49, HD) – Twohy expands upon his discussion from the documentary.
Back to Black (10:42, HD) – Brian Murray looks back on his wider career and delves a bit further into pre-production and design.
Chronicles of a Cult Film Celebrity (10:17, HD) – Kieth David closes out disc 1 talking about his work, science fiction, and the Riddick movies.
Theatrical teaser and trailer
Disc 2 (Director’s cut 4K UHD and archival extras)
Commentary with director/writer David Twohy and actors Karl Urban and Alexa Davalos – This is the original commentary recorded for the first DVD release in 2005.
Commentary with director/writer David Twohy and actor/producer Vin Diesel – The second track was recorded and released in 2009 as part of a BD-Live streaming feature. I’m not sure if it’s still available for people that own the Universal Blu-ray.
Director’s cut introduction by Twohy (0:47, SD)
Featurettes and interviews – Some of these were part of the old disc’s picture-in-picture U-Control option:
Creation of New Mecca (11:10, SD) – A look at the larger universe and characters developed for the film, focusing on Helion Prime and New Mecca.
Riddick Rises (13:25, SD) – More on the expansion of the story after Pitch Black with emphasis on Riddick himself and the planet Crematoria.
Keep What You Kill (17:28, SD) – An exploration of the Necromongers, their goals, their aesthetic, and the Underverse.
Visual Effects Revealed (6:02, SD) – A post-production and digital/miniature/practical effects featurette.
Interactive production calendar behind-the-scenes footage (24:38, SD) – A collection of 33 clips and brief interviews.
Four production vignettes (33:59, SD) – These were PiP U-Control bits, as indicated by the menu (I think the production calendar is, too, but don’t quote me).
Virtual Guide to The Chronicles of Riddick (7:42, SD) – Thirteen semi-animated segments describing the Riddick universe, read by the cast in character.
Toombs’ Chase Log (9:59, SD) – Actor Nick Chilund narrates this virtual journal made to look like a video game menu screen.
Vin Diesel's Guided Tour (3:11, SD) – The actor admires empty sets, apparently without any kind of script.
Riddick’s Worlds clips (2:00, SD) – Eight very short and silent set wraparound animations.
On-set interviews (21:57, SD) – Eight interviews with Twohy, producer Scott Kroopf, and the cast.
Promotional interviews (22:02, SD) – Six more cast & crew interviews.
Three deleted scenes with optional Twohy commentary (7:43, SD)
Disc 3 (theatrical cut, 1.78:1)
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay video game cutscene compilation (33:42, SD) – The original Chronicles of Riddick DVD did come with an XBox demo of the game, but this is the first time that the cutscenes have been included with a home video release.
The Lowdown (22:04, SD) – A 2004 TV special/promotional piece.
The images on this page are taken from the remastered BD – not the 4K UHD – and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.
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