{"id":29498,"date":"2024-09-18T01:11:37","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T08:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=29498"},"modified":"2024-09-18T01:11:37","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T08:11:37","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-and-blu-ray-review-the-chronicles-of-riddick-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=29498","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! 4K Ultra HD Review (and Blu-ray): THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK (2004)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This film is available from Arrow Video in a \u201cLimited\nEdition\u201d 4K Ultra HD set or a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray set.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back in the late 1990s, Vin Diesel was just getting his\nstart in Hollywood. His acting credits included a supporting role in Saving\nPrivate Ryan<\/em>, as well as the voice of The Iron Giant<\/em> (which is a\ncult hit now, but was a box-office flop during its original theatrical run).\nThe $23 million dollar science-fiction\/horror film Pitch Black<\/em> in 2000\nmarked his first starring role. It was a remarkably effective sci-fi horror\npicture that may have been a modest financial success, but it really got him\nnoticed by the studios. The Fast and the Furious<\/em> followed and was a\nmonster hit, suggesting the actor was about to become a superstar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, he chose to reteam with Pitch Black<\/em>\nco-writer\/director David Twohy on a big-budget sequel The Chronicles of\nRiddick<\/em> was bankrolled by Universal Pictures for somewhere between $105 and\n$120 million (depending on the source). Unfortunately, it didn\u2019t perform as\nexpected and likely lost money after marketing fees, etc. The movie also\nreceived mixed-negative notices from the press. But over the years, the picture\nhas earned a bigger and bigger following (as well as a second sequel in 2013).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shockingly, it has now been 20 years since the original\nrelease of The Chronicles of Riddick<\/em>. Arrow Video is celebrating the\nanniversary with two new \u201cLimited Edition\u201d packages of the movie. Each edition\nis three discs and contains the theatrical cut (in the original 2.35:1 and\n1.85:1 aspect ratios), as well as the director\u2019s cut which runs an extra 15\nminutes. All versions of the films are presented either in 4K Ultra HD or on\nBlu-ray (you\u2019ll have to pick one specific format as the other isn\u2019t\nincluded). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this release, Arrow Video has restored the picture by\nscanning the original Super 35mm camera negative. As you might already have\nguessed, the 4K Ultra HD version looks fantastic, and the Blu-ray edition from\nthe same restoration is very strong as well, certainly bettering the previous\n2009 Blu-ray release of the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While the original was a claustrophobic monster movie, this\nepic broadens the scope and universe surrounding the title character. Riddick\n(Vin Diesel) is a criminal-turned-reluctant-hero who has spent his time since\nthe events of the last picture hiding in isolation. That hasn\u2019t meant that\nothers aren\u2019t still trying to hunt him down. Mercenary Toombs (Nick Chinlund)\nand his team are hunting the main character for a cash payday. A faraway planet\ncalled Helium Prime is on the verge of being invaded by a strange force known\nas the Necromongers. Lord Marshal (Colm Feore) is the leader determined to take\nover and execute anyone who refuses to be converted to his belief system. His\nstaff includes Commander Vaako (Karl Urban) and his scheming wife Dame Vaako\n(Thandie Newton) as well as an advisor\/holy spokesman for the group called The\nPurifier (Linus Roache). Elemental being and prisoner Aereon (Judi Dench)\ncontacts Riddick and asks him to use his deadly fighting skills to help\nhumanity survive the onslaught. The lead ultimately agrees and in the process\nencounters Abu Imam (Keith David) and Jack\/Kyra (Alexa Davalos) from the\nprevious film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yes, it has been 20 years and some of the digital effects,\ninvolving wide shots of Helium Prime, have aged. The film is also hard-boiled\nand while some performances are excellent, a few are clunky. There\u2019s a lot\ngoing on between the heroes, villains (who are also plotting political moves\nagainst one another), mercenaries and others. We also learn much more about\nRiddick and where he comes from. The screenplay even sends its lead to a prison\nplanet for a good portion of the running time, where he encounters other\nconvicts and warders. It\u2019s all a bit overstuffed. Additionally, the film has an\namusing habit of having characters scream the lead\u2019s name repeatedly (I\nwouldn\u2019t advise a \u201cRiddick!\u201d drinking game to anyone who isn\u2019t prepared to pass\nout an hour into the movie).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is overly busy and too serious for its own good, I still enjoyed the picture. The sets and production design are phenomenal and the movie does have an epic feel. There are some impressive visual effects, like those on the prison planet exteriors. And anything practical in the film is wonderful to look at, from the Lord Marshal\u2019s battle mask to the main hall of his palace.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Feore is an entertaining villain and some of the new\ncharacters are compelling as well. Roache in particular makes a strong\nimpression. His antagonist has an interesting history that is slowly revealed,\nmaking for one of the most memorable characters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Riddick doesn\u2019t exactly emote in this story, but he does get\nin a couple of amusing one-liners (a funny one involves a reference to a\nviolent act while drinking tea). And there\u2019s a lot of great action sequences,\nincluding an escape from a scorching volcano-planet. Anyone who can\u2019t find\nshade is turned to dust by the heat, putting a nifty spin on the original\npicture\u2019s horror-in-darkness set-up. The final battle includes some fun\ndouble-crosses as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it\u2019s a busy but fun science-fiction action pic. The\ndirector\u2019s cut is definitely superior to the theatrical edition. It\u2019s 134\nminutes (which isn\u2019t exceedingly long), feels less choppy and still allows more\ntime to develop some of the characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As mentioned, the image quality on the 4K Ultra HD version\nis seemingly perfect. There is a hint of film grain here and there, with an\nincredibly clear and detailed picture. The Blu-ray version is almost as\nimpressive and will certainly wow fans of the movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This set\u2019s extra features are also incredible. The movie has\nbeen released on Blu-ray and DVD before and seemingly all pre-existing bonuses\nfrom the earlier \u201cdirector\u2019s cut\u201d release are included. You\u2019ll get a commentary\nwith Twohy and Diesel, and a second track with Twohy and co-stars Urban and\nDavelos. There are trailers, as well as archival featurettes on visual effects,\nthe creation of Helion Prime, the prison planet too, as well as the design of\nthe Necromongers and their baroque-inspired backdrops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are also production videos and vignettes, deleted\nscenes (with director commentary) that include the fate of one seemingly\nabandoned character. Animated shorts on the various worlds in the film are also\nincluded. And the third disc with the open matte 1.85:1 theatrical edition\ncomes with cut scenes from a tie-in Riddick video game and a television special\npromoting the film\u2019s release in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As if that wasn\u2019t enough, there are notable new bonuses.\nThey\u2019re present on the first disc. This includes a 74-minute retrospective\ndocumentary on the feature. Twohy takes part, along with co-stars Keith David\nand Linus Roache, in addition to the storyboard artist and members of the\nvisual effects team. It\u2019s an excellent feature that, along with a new interview\nwith Twohy, goes into more detail about how he became attached to the original Pitch\nBlack<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Producers at Polygram had an original script with a great\nconcept, but didn\u2019t care for its execution. Twohy rewrote it, focusing on the\ncharacters and transforming each traditional role into something different than\naudiences were anticipating. He believes this is what made the picture\neffective and this reviewer would agree. Made by Polygram, the company went\nbankrupt just at the end of production and Universal were impressed enough to\npick up the film and distribute it (rather than the movie being sold and sent\ndirect-to-disc).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diesel loved the character, so he and Twohy were excited by\nworld-building potential in this follow-up. The filmmaker talks about working\nwith the same effects as in his previous films, making communication easier.\nGigantic sets were built and lit in Vancouver, Canada with the moviemaker\nnoting they were so enormous that one studio-related headache was the cost of\nlighting the sets. Apparently, the production company was using more power than\nall but the 5-largest cities in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The modelmakers and visual effects team share some fun\nstories in the doc and in separate new interviews about building these worlds\nand trying to make them different from famous science-fiction pictures. One\namusing bit involves the shooting of a stunt involving Riddick running from a\nNecromonger ship. The aircraft ends up crashing behind and flipping over the\ncharacter as he dives to the ground. The knightly face on the spaceship is that\nof director Twohy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These new bits also feature discussions of the film\u2019s\nlasting legacy. While they admit it didn\u2019t set the box-office on fire, they\nwere generally pleased with the final product and were disappointed by the\nreturns. Personally, I think that while the original was a perfect little\nsci-fi\/horror gem that did reasonable business (about $53 million worldwide at\nthe box office), the property wasn\u2019t ubiquitous at the time. General audiences\nstill weren\u2019t all that familiar with Pitch Black<\/em>, at least not enough to\nsupport a mega-budgeted follow-up. Still, if a studio is willing to pay for the\nproduction, one can\u2019t blame anyone involved for going ahead and making the\nmovie. It seems that many are still hoping for another return of the character\n(since the lower-budgeted follow-up Riddick <\/em>in 2013).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sets also contain booklets with new writing on the movie\nand a reversible sleeve for the set containing new and original art for the\nmovie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the end, the old bonuses are enlightening and the new\nretrospective material is even more engaging and fun to listen to. The movie\nitself isn\u2019t perfect and could have done with fewer characters and more humor,\nbut there is plenty to like, including wonderful visuals, a few strong\nperformances and some entertaining action. The Chronicles of Riddick<\/em> is\na wonderful 4K Ultra HD release (and the Blu-ray is excellent as well) that\noffers a notable upgrade in picture quality. It has certainly made me curious\nabout revisiting 2013\u2019s Riddick<\/em> and seeing how it holds up. Pitch\nBlack<\/em> is also currently available in 4K Ultra HD. Perhaps a 4K Ultra HD of\nthat title is in the pipeline too?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This film is available from Arrow Video in a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD set or a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray set. Back in the late 1990s, Vin Diesel was just getting his start in Hollywood. His acting credits included a supporting role in Saving Private Ryan, as well as the voice of The Iron Giant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":29500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[153,300,697,1836,3067,4626,7314,7810,11109,11457,11552,12464,16143,17032,17775,18035,19800,20269,20270,20271,20272,23798],"class_list":["post-29498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-153","tag-4k-ultra-hd","tag-action","tag-arrow-video","tag-blu-ray","tag-colm-feore","tag-fantasy","tag-franchise","tag-judi-dench","tag-karl-urban","tag-keith-david","tag-linus-roache","tag-pitch-black","tag-riddick","tag-science-fiction","tag-sequel","tag-thandie-newton","tag-the-chronicles-of-riddick","tag-the-chronicles-of-riddick-4k-ultra-hd","tag-the-chronicles-of-riddick-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-the-chronicles-of-riddick-review","tag-vin-diesel"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}