You'll Never Guess Who Makes It Out Alive...

Rating: 9/10 (18 February 2000)

I would have to say that this movie is outstanding! The first 45 minutes of this movie are totally gripping. Visually, I have never seen a movie like this before, and that's a very generous compliment.
This movie has outstanding special-effects. Even though this is a sci-fi spectacle.. there are some outstanding performances here. Australian actress Rhada Mitchell commands your attention as the strong but sometimes insecure Second Commander Fry. You may recognize this actress from the movie "High Art", where she also nearly dominated the movie. This movie proves Rhada Mitchell is every bit the leading lady, and I look forward to seeing more from her in the future.
Vin Diesel, under-utilized in "Saving Private Ryan", also proves he has real acting chops with his performance in "Pitch Black", and he has some of the best lines in the movie. I can't quite place the actor, he looks a lot like Matthew McConaughey, but I think his name is Cole Hauser, and he turns in some excellent supporting work in a thankless role where he is primarily the challenger to Second Commander Fry.
Sadly, several of the more interesting characters die as the movie progresses, certainly not the ones I would have picked, and the movie ends cynically and on an unpleasant note designed to keep everything open for a sequel, but overall a fantastic and gritty sci-fi actioner that does not let you down, that does not disappoint, that has the real feel, texture and taste of a possible near-future.
Whoever handled the cinematography here is worthy of an Academy Award, and would be my ideal selection to film adaptions of any books by Bruce Sterling or William Gibson that ever have the fortune to make it to the silver screen. Excluding "The Matrix", also filmed in Australia coincidentally, this is probably the best sci-fi movie made since Robert Zemekis helmed "Contact."