Riddick Trilogy Pitch Black The Chronicles of Riddick Dark Fury The Chronicles of Riddick DVD with Vin Diesel, Cole Hauser, Radha Mitchell (Unrated) +Movie Reviews +Used DVD available for Swap

The Unrated Versions

Joshua Koppel | Chicago, IL United States | 09/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Here are the unrated versions of all of the Riddick tales. We get Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, and The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, a short animated film. But will all of the movies and all of the extras, we are still missing the half-hour promotion feature where we see Riddick's past. Originally he was a government assassin who was trained a bit too well. When the government was done with him they tried to eliminate him. Riddick survived and trumped up charges were invented sending him on the run. But that original story is missing from this collection.

Pitch Black. Riddick is one of a handful of survivors who crash on a bright and arid world. But once in a while, the three suns are completely blocked and true darkness covers the land. It is in this darkness that the remaining life on the planet comes out of hiding and goes hunting. Riddick must fight the dark, hold tr group together, and somehow escape the planet.

Dark Fury. Having escaped at the end of the first movie, Riddick and company are picked up by a bounty hunter who has a different idea of what to do with dangerous men. Now Riddick is faced with killers, monsters, and a captain who seems to worship the skill of killing and survival. This film is short and animated but uses the voices of actors from the other movies.

The Chronicles of Riddick. Here old acquaintances try to enlist Riddick's help in stopping a force known as the Necromongers. It is their sworn duty to purge the flawed life of our universe so that they can be born in perfection in the underverse. This time Riddick is faced with his past, unstoppable armies, weapons of mass destruction and possibly the fate of the whole world.

A nice collection of some interesting films. Packed in a nice small package this is not just a bundle but an original collection. Plenty of action and tough guys for any appetite. See the full range of the Richard P. Riddick stories from the starkness of Pitch Black to the visually overwhelming Chronicles of Riddick. Check it out."

Good purchase for the casual fan.

John S. Milas | Illinois | 06/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a huge sci-fi fan and was interested in the Riddick movies upon seeing them. I told myself that I wouldn't buy any of them unless they came out all together in a box set. Well, here it is for $14 (WalMart) I couldn't go wrong. All three movies on two discs. If you're hardcore about these movies you might want to stick with the original single DVDs because I think they have DTS and animated menus. The Pitch Black movie on this collection didn't even have scene select, but the chapter button did work, so you can skip during the movie, you just can't select a spot ahead of time.

Anyway, Pitch Black and TCOR are Unrated, but I didn't really notice too much in the 3 extra minutes of Pitch Black. I noticed some, but nothing really substantial that changes the movie's overall tone at all. I was satisfied with The Tremors Attack Pack Franchise Collection even if it was a little condensed in some areas, so naturally I was pleased with this collection and its price. I recommend this series to all sci-fi fans looking for a good old fashioned epic series."

Great bargain. Great collection.

Sinless Knight | Virginia Beach, VA, USA | 07/08/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Having already owned the three Riddick films on dvd, I stumbled upon this collection and discovered that it contained all three films in a nifty bundle. So instead of having all three films in separate dvd cases, you get them all in one with this here. I went ahead & purchased this and sold the three separate Riddick films that I had prior. Afterall, what have I got to lose?

Granted there are some missing effects from the menu screens (noticeably on COR) the movies themselves are all kept intact in high quality as seen in their originals (which is excellent), along with the full director's cut versions of both PB and CoR. Some may be wondering why PB & Dark Fury are on the same disc this time around. Well for one, Dark Fury's a short enough movie to fit onto the same disc as PB without sacrificing much of anything, it's actually better this way. Now you won't have to switch inbetween disc to watch (granted you already owned both PB & DF prior, if not, please excuse this). Afterall, PB and DF interlace with each other. It would only make sense for them both to be on the same disc. You definitely get alot for this collection's small retail price. You're getting three films which could run you at $30.00+, for under twenty bucks. 400+ minutes of nonstop sci-fi action.

All in all, to those of whom already own all three films, there really isn't anything new here to see with the exception of the gnarly dvd packaging, along with the films being in a single dvd case on two discs (no new features that weren't already found in the originals) as opposed to three. However, to those who don't already own the Riddick films (or to those who simply owned the prior films on vhs), now's your chance to PICK THIS UP! The price alone justifies the purchase, and this collection serves as a great intermission into the Riddick universe."

BE WARNED!!!

jcmarkel | York, PA | 06/03/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I already owned the Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick DVDs and was looking to purchase Dark Fury to complete my collection. Instead of buying Dark Fury I thought I would buy this set and sell my other 2 DVD's. However, after puchasing the set I noticed that all 3 movies were condensed onto 2 discs, eliminating the DTS soundtrack, interactive menus as well as a few special features found on my original DVD's. I couldn't find much info on this prior to my purchase so I'm posting this for people in a similar situation. It's a good purchase for bargain hunters though."

Blu-Ray shines as best offering yet.

SRFireside | Houston, TX United States | 04/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I think this movie has gotten a bad rap by most reviewers. Maybe they are expecting too much or maybe they just don't understand what's being done here. Chronicles of Riddick (CoR) is an entertaining movie with just little bit of subtle sophistication and even a misunderstood pedigree. It's essentially an action/adventure kind of science fiction that doesn't go too terribly deep, but deep enough to get the story across and end up being an enjoyable experience.

I don't know if this was where the director was going, but I saw a lot of elements you would see in one of those classic 50's space operas. If you have seen any of the classic Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon serials you might get what I'm saying. The movie gives you the impression of being on a grand scale without actually being on that level. The plot itself is rather simplistic and that's why it works. The beauty is in the subtle complexities most probably won't even notice. The side plots in this movie don't seem to fit right, but by the end they show as being essential.

On a less glamorous note certain things that lend themselves to that 50's matinee style of Sci-Fi do seem cheesy like how stuff is named. You have villains called Necromongers. You have planets with names like Crematoria and races with names like Furyans. Names like that kinda kill the whole Riddick coolness. Riddick himself, on the other hand, is still the ultimate coolness he was in Pitch Black. I have to hand it Vin Diesel. He definitely has this character down. While Pitch Black did a decent job giving this anti-hero some development this movie further expands on it. You get a little more into his motivations and drives in this movie, which are mostly personal. I do believe this is the best anti-hero character I have seen in science fiction.

The action on this movie is sweet, but in the first few scenes it does go by VERY fast. After a while the action settles to a better pace, which will delight the bruisers in the crowd. The imagery is definitely worth watching and the set design is awesome. There is this medieval style to the Necromongers that give it both a familiar and unfamiliar vibe to them. Locations like Crematoria (I hate that name) are both fascinating concepts and nice looking design-wise. You get to see a lot of different types of special effects here and generally they look very solid. The computer-generated effects aren't in any way top notch, though they are several degrees better than movies like Van Helsing.

They have released a theatrical cut and an "unrated" director's cut. Supposedly some of the content that would have given the movie an R rating was put in the director's cut, but to be honest I didn't see anything that would have changed the rating in my eyes. I guess the MPAA are very picky about some things. What are the differences? Well for one there are about 14 more minutes added to the movie. Some of it just little details. Some of it totally new content that changes some scenes (and the storyline) completely. Some of it useless. The biggest and best change is the addition of a sort of Furyan destiny laid out in front of Riddick. Not awesome, but it is interesting.

The sad thing is some good stuff that was in the theatrical version is lost. One in particular is the big Necromonger (sigh...) fight scene in Crematoria (ugh...). The theatrical version was a shorter and apparently the sound editing would have been horrible if cut with the same audio. The result was a music only scene that I call the "ballet of death" that to me carried a higher sensory impact that the uncut, full audio, fight. I suppose less is more for me. Another cut I would have liked to see stay was Riddick's "back of the bus" monologue, which was replaced by a completely useless (although sexually suggestive) scene with one of the mercs.

Previous releases of this movie only gave you one option in regards to which version of the movie you wanted to see, including the HD-DVD release. This Blu-Ray release gives you both versions of the movie. That in of itself is a big bonus for a guy like me who sees good stuff from both versions. The good times don't stop there. The video is a VC-1 codec taken directly from the digital master (same as the HD-DVD release). I'm not going to say it's the absolute best transfer out there, but it is really nice and definitely is head and tails above any Riddick DVD release. The audio, on the other hand, gets the full praise with DTS-HD 5.1 lossless surround sound. Not even the HD-DVD had that. You also get DTS 5.1 surround in French and Spanish (subtitles in all three languages).

The extras are a mix of content that was available in the DVDs and HD-DVD along with a little more (I did say this was the best release to date, didn't I?). Here's the breakdown (all in 480p standard definition):

Intro by David Twohy - Just an explanation of the transfer of the Director's cut. It almost sounds like an apology to those who may notice the cuts in editing. Same intro as in the Extended Cut DVD and HD-DVD.

Director's Commentary - Actually pretty informative as David doesn't seem to shy away from share all the details in making the film. Same commentary from DVD and HD-DVD (essentially the previous releases).

Virtual Guide to Chronicles of Riddick - A few entries on the Riddick universe as told by the characters in the movie. Same feature from previous releases.

Toombs Chase Log - A personal log chronicling Toombs' hunting of Riddick up until the start of the movie as told by Tombs himself. Same featurette from the previous releases.

Visual Effects Revealed - A short featurette on the special effects of the movie. I believe this is brand new, but it's pretty brief (about six minutes) so not much of a new bonus.

Creation of New Mecca - A look at the various set pieces from the movie. Same as the HD-DVD and it seems this featurette replaces Riddick's Worlds from the DVD. Alas... no more 360 degree views of the more impressive sets.

Vin Diesel's Guided Tour - Vin walks you around the sets showing you behind the scenes work on the movie. Same as in the previous releases.

Riddick Rises - A discussion of the Riddick character by Director David Twohy and Vin Diesel. The two people who effectively created the character give more background info on our favorite anti-hero.

Keep What You Kill - Very cool analysis of the Necromongers and their culture as well as film details like costumes and props and such. Same featurette as in the HD-DVD.

Complete Chronicles - A U-Control feature with picture in picture narrative of Riddick. Includes both video footage and text trivia. This is aBlu-Ray exclusive.

Chronicles Compendium - Another Blu-Ray exclusive that is also a U-Control picture in picture feature that delves into pretty much all the other things in the Riddick universe that Complete Chronicles doesn't cover. In the same format as Complete Chronicles as well.

Anatomy of a Fight - Yet another U-Control feature exclusive to Blu-Ray. This one focuses on Riddick's combat strategies and methods.

Deleted Scenes - Same as all previous releases. Some are alternate scenes. Some would have been nice to have added to the Director's Cut. Some definitely best left off the movie. Commentary by Twohy also available.

BDLive enabled - Of course this is a Blu-Ray exclusive. If you want to share Riddick comments and stuff that's what BDLive is all about.

Chronicles of Riddick is a good solid story with the look of an epic film but with the sensibilities of a good old 50's Sci-Fi adventure. If you are into action then you should be happy with this movie. This current release by far offers the most from any previous release with both versions of the movie, lossless audio, and a few extra features not previously available. If you have a Blu-Ray player this is the version to get."

Search - Riddick Trilogy (Pitch Black/ The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury/ The Chronicles of Riddick) on DVD

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