Music Album
Director: David Twohy
Starring: Vin
Diesel, Radha Mitchell
Review by: Werdna Elbee
It's nice to see the Australians getting stuck into movie making. After showing what their film crews can do for blockbusters like Star Wars and The Matrix, they were allowed to room to make a film all by themselves. They have done a remarkably good job too.
Far off into the future a passenger spacecraft, with 40 cryogenically frozen people on board, crashes onto a harsh desert planet which has 3 suns putting putting it in eternal daytime. Only a fraction of the passengers survive, and must work together to find a way to live and get off the planet. Things get worse however when they discover that dangerous creatures reside underground, hiding away from the bright sunlight, and there is to be a solar eclipse very, very soon.
The survivors are a mismatched crew as expected, and none of them are particularly likable. It seems as if they done this on purpose though, so we won't be able to tell who will last the full 104 minutes of this film due to a gruesome death. The closest thing for the viewers to root for in Pitch Black are the two main Anti-heroes, pilot Fry (Radha Mitchell) and escaped convict Riddick (Vin Diesel). A lot of the cast do seem like food right from the start, but it doesn't always pan out the way you believe it should and there are some interesting surprises as the film goes on.
The cast aren't big stars, and the only names you are likely to recognise are Claudia Black, from TV's Farscape, and Vin Diesel, the much publicised action man for the 21st century cinema. It's a tough act for Diesel to live up to, but the gravelly voice, imposing figure and screen presence he has, I foresee him to be as big as anyone in Hollywood. Really this film, as good as it is, ends up being a stage for Diesel to show what he can do.
With the cast and plot solid, the only thing left to review are the special effects. You will be able to tell that they have had to stick to a tight budget to make this film, but have done very well with any limitations they may have had. The space bits and the ship crashing look competently made, although they do fall short of spectacular and that's the quality we are all used to now. The creatures do look impressive especially when flying around in groups, and the crew have obviously adapted techniques used in the first Alien film to use the darkness to hide any effects limitations their budget had enforced. Pitch Black focuses more on the creating an atmosphere and they have done superlative work on that alone.
Pitch Black gained quite a good cult following when it was released in America, but the number of viewers didn't justify it being bought by cinemas in the rest of the world. DVD and video is really the only way for everyone to get to see it, which is a shame as it is a sight to behold on the big screen. Don't let that put you off, it still looks very good on TV and has great atmosphere when you watch it when the lights are off. This is a good, solid film and a worth edition to any video collection.