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A transport ship is forced out of the space lanes and into a crash landing on a strange planet with three suns.  One of the passengers is a dangerous criminal named Riddick (Vin Diesel) who gets loose.  While the others worry about survival, rescue, and what to do about Riddick, he is beginning to understand that all is not as it seems on this sun-scorched planet.  There is something going on underground.  Previously a group, probably on mining survey, was on this planet and too many of their belongings have been left behind.  Things are beginning to piece themselves together in a decidedly frightening way.  Riddick will soon be the least of their worries as they discover what happened first hand when a long awaited night falls.

Pitch Black is a well paced, action packed sci-fi horror.  It is more horror than anything, and done well.  It has excellent special effects and creature effects.  The direction is action oriented and well done though some may get a bit queasy in the scenes before and during the crash with the excessive jerking and shaking that brings a lot of chaotic realism to those scenes.  The acting is good in this film overall.  The characters are given the right amount of depth and history to really draw in the audience.  The inclusion of the Muslim family as just normal people and not some sort of gimmick was a nice touch.  The film's dialogue is pretty good with a few choice lines.  The few interior sets are nicely done and the exterior locations despite their empty bleakness are impressive.  The film has an excellent musical score.  Pitch Black is exciting and entertaining.

( Thank you for reading my review.
Bob Male)

All ideas, opinions, and information are from the reviewer and are not representative of any company or group involved with the creators and/or staff of the materials being reviewed.