the first appearance of Richard B. Riddick (on UHD and Blu

UHD Pitch Black 00

Artistic note: (3/5)

Synopsis

When a spaceship is hit by a meteorite and crashes on an unknown planet, only a few passengers survive. The members of this small motley crew quickly discover that time is running out for them: a very long eclipse is about to plunge the planet into total darkness, giving way at the same time to bloodthirsty nocturnal creatures. As the death toll mounts, they are forced to turn to Riddick, savage killer escaped from prison, to guide them through the darkness.

• Original title: Pitch Black
• Media tested: UHD
• Genre: science fiction, horror
• Year: 2000
• Director: David Twohy
• Cast: Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Claudia Black, Rhiana Griffith, John Moore, Simon Burke, Les Chantery, Sam Sari, Firass Dirani
• Duration: 1 h 48 min 06 (cinema version) – 1 h 51 min 45 (Director’s Cut)
• Video format: 16:9
• Cinema format: 2.39/1 (HDR 10, Dolby Vision)
• Subtitling: French, English
• Soundtracks: DTS-HD MA 5.1 English, French
• Bonus: Limited SteelBook combo with the UHD of the film in cinema version and version Director’s Cut and the Blu-ray of the film in cinema version
• Bonus in VOST on the Blu-ray: audio commentary by Vin Diesel, Cole Hauser and David Twohy (2000) – audio commentary by David Twohy, Tom Engelman and Peter Chiang (2000) – introduction by David Twohy (2004, 2 mn 25 ) – Making of period (4 mn 45) – Johns’s Pursuit NotebookDiary of the bounty hunter (2004, 7 mn 12) – darkfury : the development of history (2004, 1 mn 30) – Visual Encyclopedia of the Chronicles of RiddickCole Hauser guides us in the universe of Riddick (2004, 2 mn 18) – An overview of riddick chronicles (2004, 4 mn 07) – The “Pitch Black” evenings of Raveworld (2000, 20 mn 38) – Enter the gamevideo game demo “The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay” (2004, 1 min 49) – trailers (7 min 41)
• Publisher: L’Atelier d’images

Art commentary

Pitch Black by David Twohy, released in 2000, was the first opus of the trilogy The Chronicles of Riddick whose central character is Richard B. Riddick, a nyctalope criminal played by Vin Diesel. The original idea for a world populated by creatures that can’t stand sunlight came from producer David Madden, but the final plot was co-written by the director and Jim and Ken Wheat. This first Riddick adventure combines two genres, science fiction and horror, an effective combination that led in 1979 to AlienRidley Scott’s masterpiece that easily surpasses David Twohy’s film! Pitch Black, an American-Australian co-production, was shot in Australia – notably in Coober Pedy – some desert sites of which serve as sets for the planet of the three suns and the creatures were created by Patrick Tatopoulos and manufactured by John Cox. This survival proceeds according to the classic stereotype of the handful of humans seeking to escape from a hostile environment and brooding on the idea of the psychopathic extraterrestrial. Contrary to Alienthe predatory monster is not single but multiple as in Aliens (1986). Anthropophagous, it only perceives movement and, like a vampire, cannot stand the light of day when, of course, the scenario has provided for an eclipse… Directed in a fairly classic way but with professionalism by David Twohy (The Arrival1996), Pitch Black nevertheless has a sufficiently captivating suspense and enough successful special effects and sets to convince. The photography makes extensive use of colorful effects and sharp lighting to evoke this inhospitable planet. Vin Diesel, in his first big role in the cinema, plays the silent and muscular protagonist with an imperturbable coolness and not very sympathetic at first glance: a register that suits him perfectly. The other actors, notably Keith David as an empathetic religious Muslim, a character that has become rare in cinema, interpret the various character samples in a rather pessimistic context which increases, rather than annihilates, the frictions inherent in human nature. The film skilfully casts doubt on Riddick’s intentions: will he cooperate with the rest of the group or annihilate them? That’s the whole point of Pitch Blackin addition to the fight for survival: a fairly basic action film but very entertaining and well highlighted by its recent 4K restoration.

For fans, a cult version, numbered and limited to 1000 copies, is available exclusively from the publisher The Image Workshop. It includes, in addition to the collector’s edition bonuses, the front/back film poster, the film’s press kit (36 pages) and the Blu-ray version of the film. Director’s Cut with unpublished exclusive 2022 supplements from L’Atelier d’images in VF: In the middle of darkness by Julien Dupuy, film journalist (34 min 58), sequence analysis by Julien Dupuy (12 min 00) and unpublished 2020 supplements from Arrow Video in VOST: At nightfallbehind the scenes of the film (23 mn 51) – Jackie’s Journeyinterview with Rhiana Griffith (12 min 02) – Shazza’s Last Standinterview with Claudia Black (7 min 14) – Cryonicsinterview with Peter Chiang (13 mins) – Non-bleaching treatmentinterview with David Eggby (10 min 44) – The original soundinterview with Graeme Revell (11 min 28)

UHD Pitch Black

Technical Comment

Image : UHD copy, new restored 4K Master, excellent definition and very nice sharpness on the faces, homogeneous and variable silver texture according to the shots (shooting in Super 35mm with Panavision cameras, Master Format 2020 4K), very well cleaned image practically flawless, superb mastery of contrasts in HDR with deep blacks, detail in low light, calibration favoring warm or cold sequences without great variety of hues, colorimetry with colors (orange, yellow, blue) well nuanced in HDR, flawless compression

His : 5.1 English mix, clear and balanced dialogues, very good dynamics on the action sequences and the effective music of Graeme Revell, ample spatialization using surrounds with precision for spectacular scenes (crash, winds, creatures), occasionally energetic LFE; VF 5.1, clear and dynamic, neat dubbing, spatialization close to the original

Our opinion

Image : (4.5/5)
Sound mixes: (4/5)
Bonuses: (3.5/5)
Packaging: (3.5/5)

IMDb :

Combo Collector UHD/Blu-ray available from the publisher

https://latelierdimages.fr/produit/pitch-black-steelbook-combo-4k-blu-ray/