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PITCH BLACK review
Hey folks, Harry here and this is a look at a film
that... well... here... Let me tell ya about the deal...
Ok, I went out to Los Angeles to check out the set for
THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS, check
out Rick Baker’s make-up.... Talk with Ron
Howard... Poke my nose into everything I could find.
Well, luckily I had quite a bit of extra time....
Managed to squeeze alot into a simple 3 days in and
out type of thing.
On my first day, a publicist for another film (and
another studio with no ties to this film) told me he
had seen PITCH BLACK, and that I should contact
USA FILMS and get a screening. That... this was my
type of film.
Well... Publicists are hardly ever to be trusted, but...
there really did seem to be some sincerity in his
voice, so I put Moriarty on setting it up. All my
studio contact info was back at Geek Headquarters,
and someone had cut my communication link with
Father Geek. Sigh...
Well, Thursday came along, my last day in Los
Angeles... the tail of a magnificent 3 days... only
some of which I can go into on the site (some of this
was research and development for future cool news)
... But first... First I must talk about PITCH
BLACK.
This movie is everything that Moriarty said yesterday.
It is that visceral thrill, that dirty little Pandora’s box
of coolness waiting to explode. Now... this is a film
that has had middle of the road buzz. The ‘industry
buzz’ was that it is deadweight. A sinker... a bit of
lead.
Yeah, and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT could
only gross a max of $8 million.
The buzz on this FINISHED FILM is so non-existent
that the movie, though completed, is set for a March
2000 release date. Good I say... that’s enough time to
make sure every friggin geek and fan and movie
suave dude and babe reads the writing on this
bathroom wall of a site.
PITCH BLACK is not to be missed.
Moments before screening I asked the dear venerable
Professor, “Who directed this thing?”
“David 2-E,” he said.
I felt the tappets in my head clack and click, and I
pulled up a dossier on David Twohy. He directed
THE ARRIVAL... a film starring Charlie Sheen in
the 90’s that didn’t entirely suck. In fact I liked more
of that movie than I didn’t. It was a fun... middle of
the road good sci-fi film... And in recent years it’s
the best sort of result we get to the low budget and
below radar sci-fi/action/horror film.
THE ARRIVAL, for me, is in the same plane of
existence as THE CUBE, PUPPETMASTERS, PI,
BRIDE OF CHUCKY, RAVENOUS... etc... These
are enjoyable films that some may say suck the shit
from the anus of a tape worm, but others can rave
about. BUT... these are not THE ROAD WARRIOR,
THE THING, THE TERMINATOR... that type of
thing.
And... in a way... I suppose, it’s the reason those
jewels stand out from the quartz. Because... every so
often... You stumble into a theater somewhere in this
planet and get sucker punched in the gut. You double
over and go.... WHAT THE HELL JUST HIT
ME?!?!?!?!
Well the fist that took the air out of me and Moriarty
was PITCH BLACK.
Is it THE TERMINATOR? Is it ALIENS? Is it
ALIEN? Is it THE ROAD WARRIOR or JOHN
CARPENTER’S THE THING?
No.
This is PITCH BLACK. It is also a film that is best if
you not know too much about. You don’t want to
know that Michael Biehn is John Connor’s father.
You don’t want to know that Ripley is the star. Or
that the Feral Kid is the narrator. Not because it
would ruin the film for ya... but because it’s cooler to
not know. To have the film just kick ya in the balls
and for it to somehow produce an instant ejaculation.
I remember... the curtain parted and the USA FILMS
logo fell upon the screen. It wasn’t a real showy flag.
It didn’t wave around nor was it backlit by the sun. It
was just a bunch of red and blue wavy lines, with
ROMAN font text. When I next see that logo... my
hopes will be raised.
Then the film began. A beautiful shot that you’ve
seen about a thousand times. The overhead shot of
big ship of some sort moving while you crane to a
rear shot of it’s fiery engines against the coldness of
space. Only... it’s the beauty of what is before this
ship that gives you pause. You’ll see.
Then... the hammer hits the firing pin hitting the
primer cap which ignites the powder that propels this
so-called bit of Hollywood Lead into a furious thrill
ride that never lets up till it hits you between the eyes,
exiting the back of your skull sucking the brains out
after it as it flattens against the blood splattered wall
behind you.
But unlike a zombie film... you don’t die... You
become one of those reborn zealots that’s hotmail
name becomes Riddick-Rocks@hotmail.com. You
go from Bulletin Board to newsgroup to website
crooning it’s praises.
You begin scribbling fan art, forming your own
PITCH BLACK website and talk about that which
lies just beyond the boundaries of light.... right there
in that deepest darkest bit of night that no widening of
your irises can pierce.
As you walk home... take out the trash at night...
You hear something and turn to look at the dark....
You can’t see what’s there... you hear the sound... but
you can not see it.
“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS MOVIE ABOUT
HARRY?”
Alright... I can feel you getting a bit aggravated. But
I’m only going into this in vaguities. At the films
core it’s a desert island picture with a really really
mean island. In the thirties and forties it’d be
cannibals or Kong. Here... It’s meaner.
The film has a classic blueprint pattern to it, though it
strays FAR from the original engineer’s lines and
hashes. It’s a Crichton formula, though much leaner
and mean than any of his films. Like PREDATOR...
there is a seldom seen thing, but even we don’t get
much of a look.
You see the film, THEY WERE EXPENDABLE?
It’s a bit like that. Or... No... It’s alot like FIVE
CAME BACK from 1939. An excellent tense film
that never ever lets up for air. THOUGH... For you.
For the Sci-Fi/Action/Horror film geek... this film
kicks ass! Like FIVE CAME BACK it stars a bunch
of people that most people didn’t know at the time.
FCB starred Lucille Ball (waaaaaaay before she was
famous), John Carradine, Patric Knowles and a few
others.
Radha Mitchell... the female lead in PITCH BLACK
is... babicious... complicated... driven... feminine....
intelligent.... and is not the damsel in distress... but
isn’t a male character with tits. She is dead on in this
film.
Keith David is one of my ‘lucky charms’ in cool
films. I always love him in movies. No matter if he’s
on screen for a blink of an eye... or it’s just his voice.
But here... he plays a Muslim character with several
children. Keith is not over-acting in this film. He’s a
man of faith, not like Keitel in FROM DUSK TIL
DAWN, but just a believer. Though on an arid dusty
planet without a thought of water, Allah does not
permit the fine wines of another character.
And it is that type of element. Necessity that drives
the film. What do you need to survive... how can you
get it.
Imagine if in ALIENS.... if they didn’t have a remote
drop ship... or... better yet, they just didn’t have
BISHOP... or.... a miraculous sealed up tube that
would protect you en route to the promised land.
Imagine if Ripley, Hudson, Vasquez, Newt, Hicks
and Gorman had to walk from point A to point B. No
weapons... no tank or impenetrable armor... “Lo
while I walk through the valley of death...” and they
definitely fear the evil. Unlike ALIENS... these
characters are not trained for action. They do not
have an endless supply of weapons and armaments
and doodads. They are up shitcreek with monsters
with no paddle or high tech weaponry.
This is the film that you leave... not only referencing
the jewels up above... But names like Val Lewton
and Jacques Tourneur.... Scenes like Marion
clutching a dying torch as thousands of deadly snakes
twist and curl about her very feet.
It’s the type of film that afterwards you are lowering
your voice and repeating key lines of dialogue that
come out of Vin Diesel. Now I know... he has a
reputation for being an asshole or a prima donna... I
don’t give a shit. So did Richard Burton, did that
stop you from watching his best films? I don’t care
who Vin is in the real world, because quite frankly...
Riddick is a cinema god. He does things only movie
gods do. And when he does it... your shoulders
ache... your fingernails get dirty... you begin to feel
mean... like you could kick the shit out of whatever is
in the darkness.
After about 35 minutes of this asswhuppin...
Moriarty turns to me and says, “What the fuck got
into Twohy?”
I don’t know. Sometimes it’s amazing what happens
when you aren’t working with Charlie Sheen. Every
flaw of THE ARRIVAL... is not here. He listened to
his reviews... Studied the history of badass films, and
decided our collective cinematic cracks needed
pounding. And didn’t cast Mr Charles Sheen.
And those things out there in the dark... think Wayne
Barlowe... He might not be in the credits... but I can
see the inspiration that Tatapoulos drew the things in
the dark from.
This is that type of film you get physically active and
vocal in. Hopefully... if USA FILMS lets me... I
want to show this film to about 350 movie fans....
And I’ll run each and everyone of their reviews. This
film is nitro and it will blow your mind.
If you want a peek at what lays in the darkness by the millions, CLICK HERE!!!
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Man I just saw this trailer right after seeing "Supernova's " trailer... both of them look similar in some cases, but Pitch Black's trailer looked so fucking good compared to Supernova, and it didn't have a fucking voice over that gave away the entire movies history! I can't wait for this one, I hope the Chinese or the Village pick it up, but since it is not carried by a major studio, they might pass it on to MULTIPLEXES!!!
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Whats with that soundtrack?!
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Twohy did THE ARRIVAL, right. He also made the first script for Waterwold, the biblical one. Right.
But he made TIMESCAPE, one of the true sci-fi gems of the whole american mambo-jumbo. TIMESCAPE, for god's sake ! The basis for so many movies ! If you haven't seen it, go, go now, run for it !!! -
I just heard of this in the underground. GO to www.raveworld.net/pitchblack/
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This movie gave me a brain hemorrhage when I saw it. As one of the seemingly few who went into the Numb-a-thon with little or no knowledge of the program, it was a very pleasent surprise to be shown this film. It was like getting a sucker punch to the gut, one that made me feel like Edward Norton in Fight Club, doubled over gasping for breath and asking for more.
It is a testament to the power and coolness of this movie that it was shown (if I'm remembering correctly, it's a bit hazy), around three a.m. and yet I was wide awake and totally alert. I think this goes for most of the others in attendance, judging from the highly verbal reacitons to the film.
Pitch Black is badass and knows it. The movie does not shy away or attempt to hide this fact, but revels in it. From Diesel's character to the nasties he has to put down, this movie is blood, teeth and sweat. With some snappy dialogue thrown in to boot.
The story is a little old in the sense that it that it tends to follow the classic archetype of the sci-fi/horror siege film. But both the particulars of the story and its execution will beat your senses bloddy with a dead fish and then stomp on what's left. I want to thank Harry for giving myself and so many others the chance to see this awesome film before hype and overly revealing previews spoiled it.
Bis spater,
Slaanesh -
For some reason, the web designers for Pitch Black's website seem to think that putting a link to your review on their page is going to help them promote their movie.
God help them.
The last time I read something with so many superfluous off-topic references and obvious grammatical errors, I was a student aide in a 6th grade remedial English class.
Six paragraphs into your "review" you suddenly declare that you "must talk about PITCH BLACK," and then you make a snide remark about the Blair Witch Project.
Blah Blah Blah, and then suddenly we read "PITCH BLACK is not to be missed." Apparently you feel that this statement is strong enough to stand on its own so well that you IN NO WAY QUALIFY THIS STATEMENT.
I just have to take your word for it, huh?
Then, you make reference to one of Twohy's earlier films, The Arrival. Need I mention that this movie was such incredibly pointless drivel that my time would have been better spent poking myself in the eye with a pencil because after two hours of THAT I would have at least felt like SOMETHING had been accomplished.
From where I sit, Twohy is lucky he's not living out of a cardboard box after that tripe. He also wrote GI Jane, Waterworld, and Critters 2. Not exactly a solid leg to stand on.
Then you go off on another tangent, comparing The Arrival to other such wastes of celluloid as The Cube, Ravenous, and Bride of Chucky. In the name of all that is holy BRIDE OF CHUCKY?
I think you hit the nail on the head when you mention that some would say these films "suck the shit from the anus of a tape worm." And for the record, tapeworm is ONE WORD.
"Well the fist that took the air out of me and Moriarty was PITCH BLACK. "
That should read "Moriarty and me," I would have thought that you would have learned that in the Thomas Hardy school of Gratuitous Film Criticism.
You mention that we, as an audience, "don't want to know that Michael Biehn is John Connor -
Are you one those guys who has to wash their hand for several minutes after touching someone else's? I've never seen anyone resort to attacking grammar just so they could gain a foothold for whining. There's no point in attacking someone, verbally or physically, just because you don't agree with them. You're not going to make your argument seem intelligent by becomming grammatically anal-retentive. It needs to have some kind of substance as well.
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I am lost what movie are you talking about, or are you just talking about your favorite moves. I had to be just board to death to read all of that. I have never read such crap in my life. You could have shortned it to one paragraph and said the same thing. I sure hope this movie doesn't suck you would look even more dumb, comparing it to movies like alien and TERMINATOR.
sorry man you just told us 'jack' about the movie. -
Please tell me they don't pay you to write this stuff. Based on your review I think that i would rather sit through reruns of A Family Affair than ever see Pitch Black.
I do not mean to be insulting but if you intend to review a movie at least try to work something relavant into the piece before you end it.
I am truly sorry for all those who suffered though this experiment in nonsense. -
just saw the trailer during the Super Bowl and it kicked ass! Great action...the action you can barely see because of the lightning. That's suspense landies and gents...it's what you don't see but you fear...that's why H20 and the Haunting were not scary...they were just 120 min. of crap. "Pitch Black" looks great, and I can't wait to check it out...their website is www.pitchblack.com
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I caught this movie not long ago, and I have to say Harry's not exagerrating to compare it to Alien and Terminator. It's hard to believe but true. I was sitting in the theater, frankly not expecting much, and the first five minutes of the movie just blew us all away. Perhaps the most frenetic, violently vivid interpretations of a spaceship crash I've ever seen-- in the fade-out beat between opening and Act 1, my buddy turned to me with a stunned look, asking, "Who the hell made this picture?" It was just amazing. The movie is well thought out and remarkably intense, keeping the suspense elevated throughout, from one end to the other. I was shocked. What could have been-- and was written to be-- an alien ripoff has ended up as a companion to Alien and a high water mark for science fiction adventure.
There are moments that just impress you with how well somebody was thinking, as when the story calls for a team of survivors to run across a desert carrying equipment and covered in every light-emitting device the can strap on to their bodies or haul by hand, because they know beyond the light are critters who won't stray from the darkness. And then the lights start to *flicker,* of course, and man, this works. *Pitch Black* was not just a surprise, it was a shock.
And though I do this for a living, that's just my humble opinion. -
This movie looks a lot like a remake of Alien only a lot more expensive, and quite frankly, I don't mind at all. I think this movie will be a hit because it has the same sort of element that The Blair Witch Project had. It's what you don't see that can scare you...MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
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Nightbreed, you're a fucking ridiculous moron. Go finish popping your zits and jacking off while thinking about the 15 yr advanced placement lang. arts class at whatever high school is cursed enough to have you smelling up their halls. Get a old who sits ahead of you in your fucking life. His review was fine - in fact very enjoyable. What, are you jealous because you are delivering the newspapers that he is writing columns in rather than pursuing your fantasies of one day becoming some kind of writer? LOL, get a life, retard.
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Musta clicked and dragged by accident up there, so you get to mix and match the sentences that don't make sense, LOL. Damn, I picked the wrong day to flame a flamer.
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I would like to know who plays in the movie Pitch Black? Could you procvide me with the info? It would be a great help.
Thank you,
And
And_44@yahoo.com -
Before I get into the specifics of the subject title, I need to clear something up. NightBreed, is it necessary to go that indepth into Harry's Review? Do you think anybody is going to care if you could actually ejaculate right after getting kicked in the cajones? Whether or not tapeworm is one or two words? Was Harry striving for Grammical success when he wrote this(even if grammical isn't a word)?I agree that the review isn't the best to put up on their site, but this still hasn't been screened to critics yet, right? What are you trying to get at?!? You even said that the reference to Dusk TILL Dawn (notice I used two L's) was not necessary, yet your whole critique was unnecessary. I acknowledge the whole 1st Amendment deal. You're taking it for granted. ANYWAY, ONTO THE SUBJECT MATTER! The trailer was cool and everything, but I don't predict success. I'm predicting a Supernova type success. Why do you think audiences flocked to the Matrix, giving it about 30 million on it's first weekend? I love the website. Harry's Review alone won't make this film a success, just look at the criminally overlooked IRON GIANT! If you want to take action, now's the time! Adios Muchacho!
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PITCH BLACK FUCKING RULED AS SOON AS I GOT OUT OF THE MOVIE I BEAT OFF LIKE A WILD TURKEY ON CRACK IT WAS SO AWESOME IT GAVE ME A MONSTER BONER IT PUTS YOUR BALLS INN YOUR THORT THE WHOLE TIME GREAT MOVIE
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I got to see a sneak preview of this movie just the other night. It ROCKED!! it was so awesome. well acted, well directed. very well done. after the screening the director did a Q & A session with the audience. that was really good too.
overall, this movie was totally great. i love it. it was sort of like a mix between "Starship troopers" and "Lost in Space" (the origional one). I loved it, and not only because Vin Diesel as Riddick was totally HOT! -
Haven't seen the movie yet, but Claudia Black is in it. She plays the Peacekeeper, Erin Sun (or however you spell that) in "Farscape."
(Ignore the previous posting. Too much coffee makes the fingers wander.) -
This is for all you blind-ass fan boys and critics who so over-hyped the sci-fi thriller Pitch Black, that I was actually interested in seeing that thoughtless Aliens rip-off piece of shit. I
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Perhaps Harry built this one up too much, but it's a decent genre flick. John Q. Public voiced his discontent at the screening I attended, but then again he didn't suffer through BABY GENIUSES or WING COMMANDER (or ALIEN 3). Dem's good tentacle, baby.
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Just saw Pitch Black last night, and I must say that I was completely unprepared for the coolness of this movie, despite Harry's stellar review. Riddick is the coolest character I have seen in a long, long time on film, not great, not complex, just unrelentingly cool, everything he does is just cool. And just when you think he is done being so damn cool, he goes and does something even cooler. He even suprases "Mentos Level Coolness"(Mentos was long thought to be the pinnical of coolness). I think that even without the Riddick factor, I still would have liked this movie. Those night time creature thingies really worked for me, they got my blood pumping(so did Fry's skin tight shirt), they made me nervous when the stars peeked around corners; in short, they did their job. The plot worked for me, and most of the characters where interesting enough that they felt more then two dimentional(some just two and a half). In short, great flick, go see it.
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I've learned not to trust Harry's judgement a long time ago, and his laudatory review of this by the numbers horror flick further enforces it. I didn't think it sucked, but I didn't think it was very good either, which for me makes it the worst kind of film going experience, a waste of time. Everything about this movie was thoroughly mediocre. Even Vin Diesel wasn't all that (although he's more interesting an actor than your garden variety action-hero). I was hoping this would be a fun, b-movie ride like Escape From New York or Tremors, but those movies had a wry sense of humor about themselves. They knew they were b-movies and had fun with that. This movie's not viscerally exciting or competent enough to be a good A-movie, or funny and campy enough to be an entertaining B-movie. Like I said, it's a waste of time.
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and I have to say it was pretty good. Was it the greatest since Alien? No. But it was pretty good. Yes, it had it's really dumb stuff in it, but every movie does. I have yet to find one that is free of all complaints. I went to the matinee and paid $4.50, and it was very much worth it. Vin Petrol is really quite good in his role, and I like the twist with the good guy in charge of keeping tabs on Riddick. The editing did kind of get to me though. I am getting sick of the quick edits to save money or cover up the FX/stunts. But all in all, very much worth the time and money. By the way, I liked Event Horizon but feel it fell victim to the cutting room. Maybe we will get a directors cut someday. But I highly doubt it.
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This just arrived here in Singapore simultaneously with the US. What a surprise. On the basis of this review I took my son and two friends to see this. Wow. It blew us all away. My six year old said "this is the best movie I have ever seen" and he has seen a lot of movies. This film is excellent and thoroughly recommended. The script is tight and the timing perfect, the acting top notch (and it is great to get a cast of people you don't know (other than Keith David and Vin Diesel) and for them to pleasantly surprise you), the visual are strong and overall the film is an excellent example of what strong storytelling can give to a smaller budgeted film. If you want to class it under its sci-fi genre, it would rate in my top 5 in the sci-fi genre. Vin Diesel gives a breakout performance.
This film deserves to receive strong support from the public. We need more of these films. I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone and agree with Harry on his review. You go in there not knowing what to expect and get blown away. -
Simply put, PITCH BLACK is a great movie. Sure, it didn't have the most original plot to grace the movie screen, but it DID have its twists. It didn't have big budget actors to draw the masses, but those cast hit their parts dead-on.
And Vin Diesel was a badass.
What no one really seems to have mentioned is the outstanding cinematography of this film. The grand, sweeping shots of a desolate, sun-scorched world; short shots of the hapless wreck crew, foraging for water, and great, kick-ass shots of Riddick (Diesel) in the foreground. This film seemed to be more designed as a thriller than a sci-fi, but it works well in either genre. Sure, it had its flaws: the title COULD have been cooler, SOME people didn't have to die, SOME people should have died, you know, the usual stuff, but on the whole, an enjoyable movie-going experience. Allright, enough of the sugar-coating:
THIS MOVIE ROCKED!!! I HAVEN'T LOVED A MOVIE THIS WAY SINCE THE MATRIX!!! VIN DIESEL IS THE BADDEST MOTHERFUCKER I HAVE SEEN IN A LONG ASS TIME!!!
It looked good, it felt good, it WAS good.
"...didn't know what who it was fuckin' with..."- Riddick
Note: NightBreed, you must live a sad, little life, if you can find the time to correct grammatical errors in an online movie review. Need you be reminded that Harry and the Gang do all this for OUR BENEFIT!?! Get... a... LIFE!!!
Peace, I outta here. -
Saw this yesterday afternoon. I was really looking forward to this one. I'd been reading about it for the last 6 months or so on the various movie sites, and the commercial looked like it was going to kick serious ass.
Alas, it didn't...it was pretty bad.
I think my friend summed it up the best: "That is probably going to be the best bad movie of the year."
It wasn't awful. I'm actually glad I saw it, but the best I can give it is "watchable". That's what it was..just watchable.
The acting was bad, the poor attempt at characterization was worse. These were super flat characters that you didn't really care about when they got killed. They threw in a couple "character surprises" kinda hodge-podge, but in the end, who cared? I sure didn't. I just wanted the friggin night to come so people could commence dying, which didn't actually happen until nearly an hour into the movie (which was only an hour and a half long).
There were also a few really bad inconsistencies. (Where the HELL is that ambient light coming from?!?!)
On a positive note, the CGI affects were top-notch.
I think what would have made this movie much better is if it had TRIED to be cheesy in the first place (Starship Troopers, anyone?). ST rocked, because it was supposed to be cheesy, and it didn't disappoint. It also didn't take itself as seriously as Pitch Black did.
Should you go see it? Sure...if you are a sci-fi action fan, but see it matinee. If you don't like sci-fi, this one sure isn't going to change your mind.
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http://www.udderinsanity.com/news/
Here is a REAL review of Pitch Black, not some orgasming fan-boy rhetoric.
Moo -
Big BIG movies fall back on marquee value stars and directors to carry what is generally big budget, commitee written and demographically driven pap. Small movies from small studios rely on ensemble effort to work. Hats off to everyone involved in Pitch Black! The acting is understated and believable. The ensemble performances work well. The script is both plot and action driven and moves with the speed of a rocket driven freight train. The effects don't draw attention to themselves (a true compliment), so they add to the believability of the story. The cinematography explores interesting camera and lighting effects, enough so that the movie has a unique sense of style. The editing is tight and fuels the story line. In a relatively low budget film like this there's no room for flaws in any department, because there's no marquee loyalty to fall back on. The film lives or dies based on the total group effort and wonderfully, it lives and breathes. This is a perfect "little" sci-fi action movie. What is most amazing is that this film is populated by talented people, in front and behind the camera, who appear to be on nobody's "A" list. Maybe they should be.
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PLEASE tell me how to get more info on Vin Diesel.
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Honestly, I rarely totally disagree with Harry. I can usually at least see where he's coming from, but Pitch Black was HORRIBLE. It would have actually been better to simply have two hours of a pirch black screen. Without even getting into the lack of understanding of science, or the lack of character, there is a total lack of story and directing that could have been done by any first year film student. How Harry can like this film, I don't know. My only guess is he got paid. Or maybe it was the fact that papers across the nation used Harry's quote to promote the movie. I hate to say the phrase sell-out, but that's certainly what it appears to be. I mean there is nothing interesting in this movie except the fact that someone has claimed to like it.
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I agree with Dalek and Mr. Teschmacher, mainly dalek that shit was fucked up when fry died I turned to my friends and said "what the fuck was that!?"
and that cop fucker needed to be shot the instance they crashed. -
I actually really liked the movie while I was watching, it was interesting visually, and although the characters were more like caricatures, I decided to just get over it and enjoy the movie. So I did. Although I have to agree with the people who are in love with Riddick, maybe it's corny but he really WAS cool as hell, pimpish but psychotic. Oh, and whoever was talking about the rain being unrealistic, hello, did you not notice that they found water? Were you sleeping or what?
Anyways, I am not a big sci-fi fan in the first place, so maybe that's why I liked it...in other words I haven't seen enough sci-fi movies to be anoyed or bored by formulaic sci-fi flicks, since I don't really know the formula.
I would recommend seeing this film, unless you are one of those people who expects every movie you see to be the shiznik. Sorry to break it to you, but that isn't going to happen, just take the films for what they are and enjoy yourself. This is my mantra now, since my husband has his bachelor of arts in film and nitpicks every movie like you wouldn't believe.
Yeah, there are definitely movies that are just incredible all around, movies that really have it all, but those are rare. This isn't one of those movies, not by a long shot, but it's fun and entertaining in its own way. The characters are cute, although I honestly didn't give a damn when ANY of them died. The aliens are nothing new, but the shots that are seen through Riddick's eyes are pretty tight, or at least they're nice and shiny! And at least they are TRYING to be creative and shocking with the ending. -
The movie was actually good if you went to it expecting the most god awful crap. I came away pleasantly surprised, and I think Harry didn't say anything about the movie because if you knew anything about it before seeing it you wouldn't be surprised and therefore, would think the movie a piece of crap. It isn't awesome, but its not bad for a movie I thought was going to be an utter piece of crap.
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I had a great time watching Pitch Black...And a good portion of that enjoyment was due to the VERY hot Vin Diesel. I hope to see a whole lot more of him in the near future.
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I submitted numberous comments on Pitch Black, some of which were even insightful and goddamit, my remarks are removed? We get some asshole talking about beating off after seeing Pitch Black and Harry leaves that up? WTF? Just my luck, this will be the only comment of mine that gets up on that lamented msg board of his... Enough ranting... BUT gotta leave with this: "Don't cry for him, don't you dare!" - Riddick
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I submitted numberous comments on Pitch Black, some of which were even insightful and goddamit, my remarks are removed? We get some asshole talking about beating off after seeing Pitch Black and Harry leaves that up? WTF? Just my luck, this will be the only comment of mine that gets up on that lamented msg board of his... Enough ranting... BUT gotta leave with this: "Don't cry for him, don't you dare!" - Riddick
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Vin Diesel was so strong in this! If he was not in Pitch Black, it would not have been that Great!
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Since my friend works at the local theatre I got in free, cause I wasn't about to pay $7 bucks to go see what would end up being a campy sci-fi flick with cheap effects and bad acting.
All I can say is wow. I'm going back tomororw and dishing out the cash to enjoy Pitch Black all over again. The film was far from being the cheesefest I expected from a film I had heard next to nothing about and starred people I knew next to nothing about.
Since I have quite a bit of digital animation experience, the effects were above-par. The aliens looked strongly influenced by the all famous Aliens, but their movements were realistic and scary enough to make me need to clutch my boyfriends arm more than once.
Despite a plot which could have been summarized in less than a sentance, the character development and strength of acting was superb. One of the things I found the most visually pleasing (besides Vin Diesel's - yum!) was the hue and contrast of the terrain. Turning what would be a normal "rocky desert" into something that looked truly offworld and baked to boned under the triple heat of it suns.
In any case I'm very pleased that I wandered into the movie and was treated to such a gem that I think Pitch Black has redeemed my view of the sci-fi genre since that waste of film, Wing Commander.
-Patience -
I have to give this movie a somewhat mixed but positive review. It did have a lot of good things going for it. The Riddick character was cool as hell, a real bad ass. As for the female lead Fry,like Charlie said its good to see a woman played neither as a damsel in distress or a guy with tits. The muslim character was a really pleasant surprise, most sci-fi completely ignores religion as if its just going to go away when we get the warp drive, not likely!(with the notable exception of the third Aliens) Also it was nice to see a devoutly religious character that wasn't either a hypocrite, coward or a monster. The kind of anti-religious propaganda that usually spews out of Hollywood is rivaled only by 1930's Germany. But the problems with this movie almost eclipse(pun) the good. At points the writing really sucks, as if it was being written in 10th grade English Lit. Lines like "Don't you cry for him!Don't you Dare!" and the omnipresent "You're going to stop me?! Don't make me laugh. HA HA". And this may be a small thing but does every movie absolutely HAVE to have a sniveling little geek that nearly gets everybody killed when he panics? That character has popped up in so many movies I've seen that I'm starting to think that Hollywood is writing movies with a computer program, just plug in the character's names and pull the handle and the plot-o-matic spits out another thriller... Also there were some irritatingly obvious plot holes like 'Why don't they just stay in the ship until the eclipse is over?'(At the rate we saw the ringed planet rising into the sky it seemed pretty obvious to me that the eclipse wasn't going to last very long) Also when they are outside trying to make it back to the skiff they alternate between running full tilt as if they had no time (read light) to lose and stopping and having long dialogs about whether they should go back or keep going.
Excuse me but don't choose the story's natural climax to have the characters get all introspective and wishy washy. The ending is really disappointing, the time honored formula of redemption of the bad boy character...ugh, I'm taking a baseball bat to the plot-o-matic. Some suggested better endings: Riddick takes off without them, period. Or he double crosses them and is about to take off without them when the eclipse ends suddenly and blinds him, they then could either leave his ass to die blind and alone in the middle of the desert or take him with them to show that they 'won't stoop to his level'. Bottom line it was worth seeing, kind of a generic sci-fi thriller with enough good stuff thrown into the mix to make it worthwhile. P.S. Vin Diesel rocks! Women love him and men want to be him. Nuff said -
It has been quite a while since I've seen a movie and then jumped back in line when it was over. This movie was worthy of a second viewing in the same day. Now, with out nitpicking too much on some small plot holes and such, it was just a shit load of fun. I would have to honestly say that if someone besides Vin Diesel was in the lead role it may have been just so-so. Not since Blade have I seen someone kick sooooo much ass and keep a straight "whats the BFD" look on their face. Anyway great flick, great cast, great story. See this movie!!!
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People, i'm sorry, but Harry (or whoever wrote the review) couldn't write his way out of a paper bag
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Watching the trailor of it at home, it kinda made me want to see it.. I mean the atmosphere alone of it being dark is enough for people to want to know what lurks in it, and being tickled, i went ahead and saw it with another Muslim friend. As the ship descended down and noticed that Vin Diesel was talking about a Muslim on board! Which undoubtedly shocked me and my friend. What are Muslims doing in a Sci-Fi movie? Aren't they always the bad guys (ie. Terrorist, Hijacker, Fanatical Psychopath)?! I mean knowing how badly Muslims are being portrayed in the media and all the ignorant lies and BS going around about Islam and stereotyping all Muslims as "terrorists or fanatics," for a sec I was really, really upset..then I calmed down and said what the heck, its a movie and they know better than to stereotype the religion, besides, the Muslims will be the first killed anyways. So I watched on, me and my friend going through the suspenseful movie realized that they honored Islam and Muslims pretty well and I gave it a OK rating for its portrayal of Islam. SPOILER ALERT: Im not sure if anyone noticed, but after they crash landed the Imam (Islamic Cleric) was wiping sand over his hands and forearms, which I thought was a great touch, being Muslim it felt like the writer had some Islamic knowledge (for once). Minus the curious idiot kid who after seeing a man disappear down a bloody hole, happenned to get stupid and wander into a dark, dark area by himself with what looked like...a wrench? The Imam seemed pretty calm and cool through the ordeal even after losing both his students or adopted sons or...(what were they?!) whom their names I believe where Sulaimon and Ali (what happenned to character development?) which I thought was pretty saddening and could have used some more elaboration on the boys and the Imam. But that is always the case for movies. END OF SPOILER. The movie over all left me with not a real good feeling because it felt like it was missing a lot of parts, including character development which I hope maybe in the sequel will not be a problem (Yessss i'm gonna see it). Other than its shortcomings I listed, I think overall it was a better than average movie that didnt badly portray Islam unlike movies such as (Delta Force, The Mummy, a recent movie with Denzel Washington, which I cant think of the name, and all those "special force team rescuing hostages from Evil Muslim terrorists" scenario movies. As for the main character, I havent seen such a cool, bad-ass survivalist hero since Rambo. I think he's gonna be the next Sylvestor Stallone!(minus the bad acting, hopefully).
-Wahid (SubmitorJaan@aol.com) -
What is up in the biz nowadays? We finally get a great Sci-Fi/horror flick that utilizes the Digital Realm in a restrained and spectacular way and there are reviewers out there still panning the film? Do these ijits work for Jerry Bruckleheimer and those two choads who made "Star Gate" and "Independence Day"? The aforementioned wealthy Hollywood insiders have been responsible for some the most hacked up crap films ever made. Like the Democratic Party, they have got their power and wealth from underestimating the intelligence of their constituency, and cartoon garbage like "Top Gun", "The Rock" and "Star Gate" were inflicted on us. "Pitch Black" was visually stunning and haunting in the same way "Alien" was lo those many years ago. Excellent film!!
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If you want to read a REAL review of Pitch Black, check out this site - www.movienut.net.
The guy running it gave Pitch Black an honest review, I just found it when I was searching for reviews on this piece of ass movie.
Here is their review - http://www.movienut.net/reviews.html?i=48
Brian -
This movie was a BLAST! If you go see it with a clear head (read: to ENJOY it), you won't be disappointed. If you're one of those "oh man-plot! oh man-acting! oh man-dialogue! where's my latte?" type of people, don't bother wasting your time because you are already predispositioned to no like it. Otherwise, bon appetit!
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Bear in mind, the movie opened on about 1,900 screens it's first weekend and pulled in almost $15 million. That is VERY respectable for a small studio film with no franchise and unknown actors. If it opened on around 2,500 screens it could have made a lot more money. As it is, it's the sleeper genre film of the year thus far. And to think trendy MTV-garbage like Scream 3 opens on over 3,000 screens and plummets 50% in revenue every week after it opens!
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So here's my two cents worth...
PB was a swell movie, though I found myself looking at my watch a couple of times. But the elements man, the elements! This made it up to me and still is. Just saw it last night and walked out thinking that I liked it. Today, I REALLY liked it.
One element...the crash landing. Incredible. You could feel the audience deflating after the ship stopped. Very intense and incredibly shot (they filmed on location, right??)
And the cinematography, very cool. Awful lot like Three Kings (an unfortunately underrated movie).
Anyway, a good flick, definitely, though I could've done with a different ending,that part was the Big Mistake in my book. But hey, my brother loved it, so there ya have it. -
Help! I just saw Pitch Black, or rather,I saw most of it. The film broke right at the end! Fry had just been carried away by the alien, presumably killed, (but who knows?), and Riddick had gone back to the ship, and was about to push the throttles open, and then... Nuthin'! No end, no credits, nuthin'. The manager gave us all a free pass, but I'll probably use it on a different movie, so somebody please tell me what happened next. Thanks.
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Can you say FINE??? This man is GORGEOUS!! Where has he been all my life & why have I never heard anything about him? He is a wonderful actor with great authority. I would love to know more about this sexy man!!
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What a bomb. I enjoyed the popcorn more than the movie. All the characters are ripped out of a cheap comic-book, except for one, and he dies in the opening minutes. The overexposed outdoor scenes are annoying and not convincing, and, is it logical for one of the survivors to jump away from the only light on the planet into darkness inhabited by horrible monsters? Can all these highly trained people be so stupid? They all had survival instincts of Dodos. Also, science fiction fans are not stupid. Wouldn't shiny eyeballs reflect light? Wouldn't all these people get instant sunburns from the three suns? What do all of these millions of creatures eat for 22 years? Did they evolve on a diet of stranded space travelers every two decades? Wouldn't the gravity from the huge planet and close suns rip the planet apart? Finally, there are enough prison-thug worship movies-why do they have to become a staple of Sci-Fi movies? If you want to see a believable survival movie with real characters, see the classic, "Flight of the Phoenix" on video. -
I really enjoyed the movie, I enjoyed it so much I went back the next day and watched it alone.I didn't find it as scary as I did sexy. I had never heard of Vin Diesel before this movie, but let me tell you- He Is Hottt. He has a wonderful voice. Is he really a prima donna?
Presonalities aside - The cast was X-cellent. The Movie kicks ass and I loved it -
Love this movie....
I've been looking for something to supercede my admiration of movies like Alien, Terminator, and so on... this even satisfies me as a Martian Chronicles lover.
Vin Diesel. Let's set the record straight. I'm a guy. I like women. But, he is fantastic. What I was impressed by was how he combines brains and brawn. He possessed an almost Rommelian turn on strategy and tactics. Favorite scene: Was the alien's LAST view of Vin slowly raising his knife. No, my set needed no adjusting! Gutsy blind spot stuff! Sign me up for his army! -
Is nobody else bothered that netman888 took a 6 year old to see this move? What the fuck is wrong with these people? Pitch Black is a pretty average one-watch movie that will date badly - but for chrissakes - 6 YEARS OLD????
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This isn't right at all. Why would sum1 make this drivel? The characters are poorly constructed; the sci fi element is abused to give this travesty of a film any hope of a target audience; there is no fear; no exhiliration and a laziness inherent throughout the film which alienates the audience: you are not drawn into the experience, merely shown a poor pile of pap performances and a predictable plot. Its pants people.
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I really enjoyed this film. The way its made, how all the plot elements are communicated, the bits of the background that are filled in and those that are left blank, it's all pure comic book. Looking at many shots i felt i could see the story board. Riddley is like a much cooler Judge Dredd for most of the film. The whole thing is on a par with some of 2000AD's best: dark, edgey and prepared to embrace a far wider set of influences than comics are ever given credit for.
This story was born to be a comic book. That it has been so effectivly realised in film is stunning. I hope the carefull use of computer graphics is that start of a trend. I never felt that i was watching annimators showing off.
Realism.
I have never seen a realistic sci-fi film. I'm training to be a phycisist; i should know. (2001 comes very close, but even that streches things a little). I think that realism is an unnessesary hurdle, and once you accept that its all about where you draw the line. I am very happy with where Pitch Black draws it. I know that you could never have two rings around a gas giant that are in different planes, but that scene just looked so beautiful.
moth -
This movie goes down as a better than average B movie. It didn't completely blow like, say Bats, but it sure didn't come up completely rocking like Deep Blue Sea. One thing that really bugged me was the completely implausible events that kept happening. Things like how on a planet of thousands of square miles of desert they happen to crash a mile from the abandoned research station. Or how it only gets dark for a short time every twenty-two years, and they happen to show up just hours before nightfall. I really like B horror, so I was able to grit my teeth and keep granting them allowances for these glitches. There were many more than these all the way through it to the end. I really liked the essential concept, and got to feel for the characters, which is the most important thing in these movies for me. If I can get in the hero's shoes and be afraid for him, then I can put up with a lot of rubber monsters. The coming of the planet to produce the eclipse gave me the same shudder of dread for seeing Mr. Death approaching as I got watching the iceberg silently approaching in Titannic. The worst thing about the movie was how they changed the premise once they were actually caught in the dark. I hated when they said that all you basically had to do to keep the beasties at bay was to flic your Bic and hold it above your head. Still, by then I was into the story and the characters enough that I was on the edge of my seat for the duration.
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