Post by: Perd Hapley on April 26, 2008, 09:44:14 PM
Sad waste of cash. While I liked Pitch Black better the second time around, the Dark Fury anime short was just worthless. But worst of all was the director's cut of The Chronicles of Riddick. They didn't ruin it, but they did change a few things, while putting in a lot of hoky Furyan mythology.
Pitch Black: It ain't no Citizen Kane, but for a Vin Diesel vs. the creatures movie, it's got a surprising amount of charcter development. If you like Vin D, and I guess I do, it's probably worth buying, but in a format with CHAPTER SELECTIONS. That's right, campers, the "Franchise Collection" does not let you pick a scene from the menu, you can only start the film at the beginning and then skip forth and back.
Dark Fury: Mercifully short, but not short enough. Riddick and his friends run into trouble of a most IQ-lowering type. Riddick wastes the bad guys. Not worth your time, trust me.
The Chronicles of Riddick: This was my first taste of Riddick, from a yard-sale VHS tape. I even missed the first two scenes when I first viewed it. Didn't find them till I rewound the tape. Again, it ain't Citizen Kane, but Riddick is cool, as always. And what can I say about the Necromongers? They are just the best sci-fi bad guys out there. OK, I'm no sci-fi maven, but I really like the Necros. They're scary, they're eloquent, they're baroque (OK, so their aesthetic is actually more classical, but you know what I mean), and the Lord Marshall is the only guy bad enough to give Riddick a serious challenge.
For the director's cut, they added a lot of silly stuff that didn't really add to the movie, just made it cheesier. Although the female Merc sexually molesting Riddick was actually pretty hot.
But even that part was put in to replace a narration from Riddick that I really liked. And then they added some dumb scene where Riddick's Furyan spirit guide helps to send a shock wave of "Furyan energy" through the advancing Necromonger horde. Spare me. And again, no scene selections. Also, I just don't know how you do commentary on a Riddick film without Riddick himself. On the bright side, though, Alexa Davalos's voice is just maddenly...sexy.
I think I'll just get rid of these DVDs, and try to find the original C of R on DVD sometime.
And now, Manedwolf. I know you love to hate The C of R. And I can understand that, sort of. You saw Pitch Black first, and you were hoping for a very similar film. And you watch effects too closely for your own good. Well, I function without that baggage, so I was capable of appreciating the sequel on its own merits. Come on, man, you gotta love the Necromongers.
I hear there are two more Riddick films coming out. I hope one of them is a prequel that shows us what Riddick was up to all those years, to get such a bad reputation.
Post by: Manedwolf on April 26, 2008, 09:59:16 PM
It actually, I think, would have made a better movie than Chronicles. In the very first scene, he dispatches a towering Yeti-like alien thing in an absolutely ruthless, efficient style in a fight, with his night-vision view and all, and the ending...is incredibly stylish, how someone gets their due end. He doesn't kill. He lets their own pride cause their downfall. The writing was excellent. Plus the voices were people like Vin Diesel, of course, and Ron Perlman.
(Intro movie) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy3JrRtEQvI ... with Riddick cooly intimidating officers on the transport. "Statistically, landings are the most dangerous." ...He gets the best lines.
Also, going into the prison. They did a fantastic job of making you feel like you were really going into prison, complete with all the shouting from the cellblocks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBKjV0aWKAI
I did like the spaceships in all the movies, they had a utilitarian stylishness to them. I just felt that Chronicles went way overboard in greenscreen CG, whereas Pitch Black was a lot more "real" in its gritty minimalism and immediacy.
The necromongers, of course, were the Goths to beat all Goths.
Post by: LadySmith on April 27, 2008, 12:48:16 AM
It took a few viewings for Chronicles to grow on me. Liked the Riddick vs. mercs and the prison scenes, liked those weird dog/cat critters, but didn't care much for the Elemental and superpowers stuff.
I like The Borg better than Necromongers.
However, my favorite bad guys are still zombies.
Post by: Sindawe on April 27, 2008, 03:35:53 AM
Post by: gunsmith on April 27, 2008, 05:19:59 AM
Pitch Black was pretty good, the rest was a snore fest.
Post by: Perd Hapley on April 27, 2008, 05:26:44 AM
Post by: Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas on April 27, 2008, 05:32:17 AM
Quote
Although the female Merc sexually molesting Riddick was actually pretty hot.
Isn't anything like Myra Breckinridge, is it?
Post by: RevDisk on April 27, 2008, 06:53:22 AM
Pitch Black was of course excellent. Chronicles was eh the first time I saw it, but it grew on me. Dark Fury was so so. It was just explaining a bit of back story.
I still think Toombs and Riddick previously served together. Every scene where they talked to each other, NCO talking to a PFC sprung to mind. No way a merc would live that long without Riddick having a specific reason NOT to kill him.
Post by: Mabs2 on April 27, 2008, 08:36:10 AM
Pitch Black is the only movie I've seen, really enjoyed it.
Post by: Manedwolf on April 27, 2008, 08:39:11 AM
I still think Toombs and Riddick previously served together. Every scene where they talked to each other, NCO talking to a PFC sprung to mind. No way a merc would live that long without Riddick having a specific reason NOT to kill him.
I think it's more that he's written as a character that I can empathize with. Riddick doesn't try to save the hopelessly stupid and full-of-themselves sorts from their own hubris, nor does he feel the need to eliminate them, because he knows they'll do it to themselves. He tries to vaguely warn them once or twice that they're being foolish, but if they don't want to listen, well...he just sits back and watches them do themselves in, as a spectator.
If they take the first bit of advice that they're setting themselves up for a fall, good. If they don't want to listen...just be an audience, watch them screw themselves over and end up ruined or dead. For entertainment.
I can understand that.
Post by: Perd Hapley on April 27, 2008, 10:20:32 AM
But going back to Johns, there's a scene early in Pitch Black, where Johns seems to beat Riddick pretty easily, hand-to-hand. And this is a guy who can kill those nocturnal monster things, and plows through better armed, more heavily-armored Necros, even when they dog-pile him. So why did Johns beat him so easily? Was that just something that helped the plot, or was there a better reason?
Post by: Mabs2 on April 27, 2008, 12:16:05 PM
Post by: Perd Hapley on April 27, 2008, 02:30:58 PM
Quote
Although the female Merc sexually molesting Riddick was actually pretty hot.
Isn't anything like Myra Breckinridge, is it? Yikes! Sometimes the internet tells you about things you just didn't need to know.
The merc chick just jumps on Riddick while he's tied to a chair, and then (of all things) smells him. When she takes of his goggles and finds that he is awake (duh) she loses her nerve and decides to leave him alone.
Post by: roo_ster on April 27, 2008, 03:31:49 PM
Post by: LadySmith on April 27, 2008, 10:17:11 PM
The only thing with Vin Diesel that I have seen is The Pacifier. Somehow, I find myself rather reluctant to afflict myself with another performance.
I've never seen The Pacifier, but from what I remember of the ads, I don't blame you a bit.Wait...what the heck were you doing watching The Pacifier for anyway?!?
Please watch Pitch Black, followed by Knockaround Guys, to rinse The Pacifier from your brain and to get an idea as to why Vin Diesel was ever considered cool.
Post by: roo_ster on April 28, 2008, 05:35:52 AM
The only thing with Vin Diesel that I have seen is The Pacifier. Somehow, I find myself rather reluctant to afflict myself with another performance.
I've never seen The Pacifier, but from what I remember of the ads, I don't blame you a bit.Wait...what the heck were you doing watching The Pacifier for anyway?!?
Please watch Pitch Black, followed by Knockaround Guys, to rinse The Pacifier from your brain and to get an idea as to why Vin Diesel was ever considered cool.
I blame my wife.
She is a connoisseur of cheese...in movies. The cheesier the better. The Pacifier, Enchanted, George of the Jungle...you get the idea.
It could be worse. She despises chick-flick tear-jearkers and man-hating grrl-powr cinemuck. She goes to the movies to be entertained and walk out happy in a good mood. She has no use for artsy, "serious" movies that make you want to cut your wrists in despair.
Post by: Jamisjockey on April 28, 2008, 06:53:14 AM
The only thing with Vin Diesel that I have seen is The Pacifier. Somehow, I find myself rather reluctant to afflict myself with another performance.
Vin Diesel is a good action star. Anything with lots of *expletive deleted*it blowing up, and limited dialog, is right up his alley.
I saw enough of the Pacifier to know I'd never watch the rest.
Post by: Manedwolf on April 28, 2008, 06:56:56 AM
The only thing with Vin Diesel that I have seen is The Pacifier. Somehow, I find myself rather reluctant to afflict myself with another performance.
Vin Diesel is a good action star. Anything with lots of *expletive deleted*it blowing up, and limited dialog, is right up his alley.
I saw enough of the Pacifier to know I'd never watch the rest.
Actually a good narrator, too. The narration he did on prison life for that Butcher Bay game was extremely well done.
Post by: K Frame on April 28, 2008, 07:01:00 AM
God knows that's why I love them!
Post by: Manedwolf on April 28, 2008, 07:04:29 AM
Your wife should love the Mummy movies, then, Fruser.
God knows that's why I love them!
God knows that's why I love them!
I am still shocked they actually gave the main character a pair of 11mm French Ordnance revolvers instead of the usual Hollywood errors in firearms.
There's a fourth coming out, by the way. Same actors, with an undead Asian emperor.
Terracotta warrior fight!
Post by: roo_ster on April 28, 2008, 07:31:29 AM
Your wife should love the Mummy movies, then, Fruser.
God knows that's why I love them!
God knows that's why I love them!
"The Mummy" I & II were the first DVDs
She appreciates the cheese & I appreciate the hardware and cheesecake.
Post by: Perd Hapley on April 28, 2008, 12:23:50 PM
So far, The Pacifier is the only Vin Diesel film in which his character directs a musical production. But I hear the next Riddick film will feature something called Underverse: The Musical. Should be fabulous.
Post by: Manedwolf on April 28, 2008, 12:25:46 PM
jfruser,
So far, The Pacifier is the only Vin Diesel film in which his character directs a musical production. But I hear the next Riddick film will feature something called Underverse: The Musical. Should be fabulous.
So far, The Pacifier is the only Vin Diesel film in which his character directs a musical production. But I hear the next Riddick film will feature something called Underverse: The Musical. Should be fabulous.
I have to admit that underverse thing made me snicker, since at the time, I had just been watching Venture Bros, with Baron Werner Ãœnderbheit, the ruler of a dystopian, dark and vaguely Teutonic "Ãœnderland", which appears to border Michigan.
Post by: Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas on April 28, 2008, 12:44:57 PM
Quote
Although the female Merc sexually molesting Riddick was actually pretty hot.
Isn't anything like Myra Breckinridge, is it? Glad to see they weren't imitating that bit of insanity.
Post by: Perd Hapley on April 28, 2008, 02:25:35 PM
Post by: Sindawe on April 28, 2008, 04:32:18 PM
Quote
Pitch Black was pretty good, the rest was a snore fest.
Convert now, or fall forever.
Vin Diesel has a pretty fair range as an actor, and does well in venues that suit his skills, like the Riddick series or the first XXX. He also did a pretty good job dying in the rain in some little village in France.
Post by: The Annoyed Man on April 28, 2008, 09:02:43 PM
Post by: Perd Hapley on May 05, 2008, 09:24:53 AM
Post by: BlueStarLizzard on May 06, 2008, 07:31:52 AM
it was actually intresting compared to most si-fi these days. which is usually ripped off from star wars (which is ripped off of dune). i was sad when it did so badly and the trilogy was not completed.
as for vin deisal. i wish he would go back to the action movies. type casting really isn't so bad, if the type your cast as is the type your good at.
Post by: Manedwolf on May 06, 2008, 07:36:11 AM
i really liked cronicles of riddick.
it was actually intresting compared to most si-fi these days. which is usually ripped off from star wars (which is ripped off of dune). i was sad when it did so badly and the trilogy was not completed.
it was actually intresting compared to most si-fi these days. which is usually ripped off from star wars (which is ripped off of dune). i was sad when it did so badly and the trilogy was not completed.
No, Star Wars was a mishmash of human mythology from Arthurian to Greek to old Kurosawa movies, with a heavy dose of the Campbellian archetype. Dune was just a rather boring mess.
Post by: BlueStarLizzard on May 06, 2008, 07:42:43 AM
why do you think hans solo mentions smuggling spice in IV ?
Post by: Manedwolf on May 06, 2008, 07:51:44 AM
Post by: Perd Hapley on May 06, 2008, 12:05:32 PM
Post by: K Frame on May 06, 2008, 02:52:06 PM
Mle 1886 Lebels, too.
Stuff the French Foreign Legion actually would have been toting around in Africa in the 1920s.
Someone did some serious work on the firearms side of things.
The only real issue I saw was in the opening battle scene in which Madis were carrying Mauser rifles that wouldn't be adopted, or even developed, until the 1930s.