Great in almost all aspects...

Rating: 8/10 (24 August 2004)

** HERE BE SPOILERS **
A lonely spaceship carrying cargo and some passengers come off course and crashes upon a desert planet with three suns blazing at it. Eternal day. Naturally, the ship become a total wreck and the struggle firstly to find water and food and then rescue themselves start. In their search they find an abandoned settlement. But where did the settlers go?
Pitch Black is surprisingly good. First, the characters see to be well worked out with deceptive layers and interesting past histories. I could really feel that these were a mix of strangers suddenly forced to cooperate. Most interesting of these are the characters of convict Riddick (Diesel), mercenary Johns (Hauser) and pilot Fry (Mitchell) and the tension and relationship that these evolve between themselves. The actors, those mentioned and the others, perform very well, giving their characters credibility and contributing to the story. Mix in some great cuts and edits from the director/crew and the story is told with humor and suspense. There are some gems to watch out for in the details, both in cinematic aspects and in the dialog. Even the special effects is very good, used well so that the become an integrated part of the story, not standing alone.
Does the movie have any flaw, unfortunately yes. There are some purely scientific aspects that I have questions about, like the formation of the solar system, and the creation (and possible end) of the eclipse. However, even if they are a main part in the background of the story they are not rally important for the story itself. One might just ignore them as cool errors.
So, anyone who like either sci-fi and or thriller should enjoy this one very much.
8/10