A good prequel.

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2006)

I'll begin with a brief outline of the general storyline.
A transport ship, known as the Hunter-Gratzner, while travelling through space, is hit by a sudden meteor shower, and is forced to crash-land upon a desert planet. A scorching-hot planet with three suns, no water and no apparent wildlife. Just barren rock for miles, and eternal light. The few survivors from the crash (a group of Muslim pilgrims on Hajj, a jump-pilot, a mercenary,a band of settlers, an alcoholic entrepreneur and an escaped convict) salvage what they can from the ship, now damaged beyond repair. During their explorations of their surroundings, they discover the planet is scheduled for an eclipse, where an orbiting planet crosses in front of the suns, casting the world into pitch-darkness. I won't spoil the rest for you.
The surprising thing about this film is that it was produced under quite a tight budget and schedule, yet it yielded extremely good results publicly. Scoring no marks for unpredictability, yet 10/10 for originality, this movie introduced the deep and mysterious character of Riddick, and acts to fill in the background and history of this certain individual. Unlike its unplanned and extremely overrated sequel, this film earned Vin Diesel the reputation he deserves, along with its Director David Twohy.
8/10 in my opinion.