Before he starting wittering on about ‘Faaaaamily’ whilst driving high performance cars at high speed in ever more gravity defyingly ludicrous stunts Vin Diesel had appeared in a low budget sci-fi film ‘Pitch Black’. It was a move away from his previous oeuvre having appeared in Spielberg’s ‘Saving Private Ryan’, voiced The Iron Giant and starred in a little seen but decent con man drama ‘Boiler Room’ Pitch Black would see him star as Richard Riddick a prisoner on a transport ship that crashes leaving its crew on a desolate and inhumane landscape inhabited by vicious creatures that came out during an eclipse ( rumours that the film was originally set in Barnsley remain unfounded) and Riddick with his light sensitive eyes was the only one who could guide the team to safety through the darkness. Released in 2000 the film did decent business earning $53m off in a film that belied its low budget. Directed and co-written by David Twohy who as writer had written The Fugitive, Waterworld and GI Jane and the films moderate success and the audiences fascination for Riddick himself saw that there was potential in further films which would continue with The Chronicles of Riddick
Pitch Black set the path for Diesel’s future career. He followed that first film up the following year with The Fast and the Furious, xXx and A Man Apart which all set him up as an action star and Twohy persuaded the studio to do a sequel with Diesel front and centre. He got a far bigger budget with the studio stumping up $115m having seen his script that the first film greatly expanded with a massive bit of world building.
It was an ambitious sequel that saw Riddick (Diesel) as an intergalactic fugitive whose dark past catches up with him when he is lured out of hiding by Imam (Keith David), another survivor of the planet of horrors they barely escaped from five years earlier. Now out of the shadows, Riddick is identified by an ethereal emissary (Academy Award winner Dame Judi Dench) as the descendant of an ancient race of warriors who may be the universe’s last hope against the Necromongers, an evil army of fanatics intent on bending the world to their will. As enemies close in on all sides, including the ruthless Lord Marshal (Colm Feore) and his scheming lieutenant Vaako (Karl Urban), Riddick finds himself a reluctant saviour of the cosmos, with only his razor-sharp wits and cunning killer instinct standing in the way of total annihilation.
With huge sets built in Vancouver that saw them require so much lighting that the consequential drain on the cities energy sources drew attention to the production for city officials. The sumptuous sets designed by Holger Gross were brilliantly photographed by the late High Johnson whose first two films as DoP were White Squall and G I Jane for Ridley Scott and The Chronicles of Riddick would be his third films in only eight that he would work on as cinematographer before he passed away in 2015.
The extravagant sets, stunning costumes and several inspired set pieces most notably one where Riddick and his team have to escape a rising sun whose rays were so powerful that they would disintegrate humans exposed to them. The film boasted an impressive cast too with Diesel having begged Judi Dench to take a role and who eventually relented, enjoyed the experience but was the first to admit she had no idea what the film and its mythology were about.
The Chronicles of Riddick fared badly a the box office earning only $115m and yet over the years it has garnered avid fandom gaining cult appeal and so the release of the film restored in 4K on a limited edition release will delight fans because this three disc release has been lavished with extras all of which are densely detailed as follows:
- Brand new 4K restorations by Arrow Films of the Theatrical and Director’s Cuts of the film, approved by David Twohy
• Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio on both cuts, plus remixed Dolby Atmos for the Theatrical Cut
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on both cuts
• Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford
• Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Walter Chaw, original production notes and the ‘Chronicles Compendium’, an overview of the characters and planets featured in the film
DISC ONE
- 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of the Theatrical Cut from the original negative
• Ambition on Another Scale: Chronicling a Blockbuster Sequel, a brand-new feature-length documentary on the film, featuring interviews with interviews with writer-director David Twohy, actors Keith David and Linus Roache, storyboard artist Brian Murray, concept artist Matt Codd, miniature effects artist Ian Hunter and digital matte artist Dylan Cole
• Realizing Riddick, a new interview with Twohy on the creation of the character
• Back to Black, a new interview with Murray on his continuing work within the Riddick saga
• Chronicles of a Cult Film Icon, a new interview with David on the role of Imam
• Theatrical trailers
DISC TWO
- 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of the Director’s Cut
• Archive audio commentary by David Twohy and Vin Diesel
• Archive audio commentary by Twohy and co-stars Karl Urban and Alexa Davelos
• Archive introduction by Twohy
• Creation of New Mecca, an archive featurette focusing on the world and characters of Helion Prime
• Riddick Rises, an archive featurette focusing on the prison planet of Crematoria
• Keep What You Kill, an archive featurette focusing on the world of the Necromongers
• Visual Effects Revealed, an archive featurette focusing on the VFX
• Interactive Production Calendar, a series of short, candid videos filmed throughout shooting
• Production Vignettes, a series of short behind-the-scenes segments
• Three deleted scenes
• Virtual Guide to the Chronicles of Riddick, a series of short animated segments explaining the world of the film
• Toombs’ Chase Log, a short film narrated by Nick Chinlund in character
• A guided tour of the set by Vin Diesel, along with 360-degree panoramic views of eight sets from the film
• On-set interviews with Twohy, Diesel, Dench, Urban, Colm Feore, Alexa Davelos, Thandie Newton and producer Scott Kroopf
• Promotional interviews with Twohy, Diesel, Newton, Urban, Davelos and Feore
• Easter egg
DISC THREE (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE)
- 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of the Theatrical Cut in the alternate 1.78:1 aspect ratio
• Escape from Butcher Bay, a compilation of cutscenes from the acclaimed tie-in video game
• The Lowdown, a television special produced to promote the film’s original release
It’s difficult to select any of these bonus features over the others but it is worth highlighting the archive commentary by Twohy and Diesel that contains a load of insights. Diesel’s behind the scenes set introduction gives a sense of the how huge the production was and the Ambition on Another Scale documentary is excellent. There is also the two cuts of the film the that include the original theatrical cut and the Directors which adds about seven more minutes of footage
For fans the limited edition is a must and for those interested in the technical and creative side of such a sci –fi epic this is a worthwhile investment. That Diesel is now a bona fide action star due to the Fast and Furious franchise and he is a producer in his own right that gave him the clout to push for a third film in 2013, But that must have been a hard sell after the box office failure of the Chronicles of Riddick and yet he got it albeit with a greatly reduced budget which paid off in the end making back two and a half times its cost. So a fourth film is now in production and before that lands it is this first sequel that is well worth a visit.
related feature : Diesel, Johnson & Statham fighting terms …..
related feature : Charlotte Kirk talks fighting, swearing and a red hot iron in her new film, ‘Duchess’ !
Here’s The Chronicles of Riddick trailer…….
The Chronicles of Riddick – 4K UHD Limited Edition is released on 16th September
The post The Chronicles of Riddick – 4K UHD LIMITED EDITION appeared first on Any Good Films.
from Any Good Films https://ift.tt/CjAnGRN
