Author Topic: Riddick, Riddick, and more Riddick (Read 4491 times)

Perd Hapley · « **on:** April 26, 2008, 09:44:14 PM »

I found the "Riddick Trilogy: Franchise Collection" at Target the other day. $9.99 shocked

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. sad

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. Huh?

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. cheesy

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.

Manedwolf · « **Reply #1 on:** April 26, 2008, 09:59:16 PM »

There's also the game Escape from Butcher Bay, which was surprisingly good. You can watch the intro and all on YouTube.

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.

LadySmith · « **Reply #2 on:** April 27, 2008, 12:48:16 AM »

Enjoyed Pitch Black. I love humans vs. monsters movies without any stupid romance thrown in (such as The Thing with Kurt Russell).
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.

Sindawe · « **Reply #3 on:** April 27, 2008, 03:35:53 AM »

Frankly, I like the director's cut over the cinema version of The Chronicles of Riddick. To my eyes the additional scenes give more depth to the setting. My only complaint is whomever decided that Rhiana Griffith was not pretty enough to reprise her role as Jack is an idiot.

gunsmith · « **Reply #4 on:** April 27, 2008, 05:19:59 AM »

Chronicles of ridiculous.
Pitch Black was pretty good, the rest was a snore fest.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #5 on:** April 27, 2008, 05:26:44 AM »

gunsmith, you WILL be converted. angry

Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas · « **Reply #6 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?

RevDisk · « **Reply #7 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.

Mabs2 · « **Reply #8 on:** April 27, 2008, 08:36:10 AM »

I guess I need to brush up on this stuff.
Pitch Black is the only movie I've seen, really enjoyed it.

Manedwolf · « **Reply #9 on:** April 27, 2008, 08:39:11 AM »

Quote from: RevDisk on April 27, 2008, 05:53:22 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.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #10 on:** April 27, 2008, 10:20:32 AM »

Riddick let him live the first time, because the plot worked better that way. And I think Riddick enjoys toying with Mercs more than killing them. Otherwise, he would have killed Johns early-on in the first movie. But how much do we know about Riddick, anyway? Will he kill someone just for grins? That's why I would like to see a prequel. Thanks for the Butcher Bay suggestion, though, MW, I'll check those out.

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?

Mabs2 · « **Reply #11 on:** April 27, 2008, 12:16:05 PM »

Maybe he was constipated...could happen to anyone.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #12 on:** April 27, 2008, 02:30:58 PM »

Quote from: Geronimo45 on April 27, 2008, 04:32:17 AM

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. undecided

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.

roo_ster · « **Reply #13 on:** April 27, 2008, 03:31:49 PM »