Stranded spaceship survivors seek shelter from swarming somnambulistic snapper-heads...

Rating: Null/10 (4 May 2003)

This is one kick-ass movie that really creeped me out in a variety of ways.

I saw this on TV (thankfully in letterboxed formant), and really wish I could have seen the theatrical release. I'll bet it really rocks on the big screen.
This movie is rich with atmosphere (even though that waste-land of a planet they're on isn't...). The Australian filming location is great in conveying a "barren planet" look and feel to the story. The special effects are above average, and those flying critters ("snapper-heads", for lack of a better name) are really creepy.
Vin Diesel is awesome as Riddick - a mysterious convicted felon who some time back, in prison, had his eyeballs surgically altered so he can see in the dark. You want to think of him as the "bad" guy - but the film goes on to show that "the Devil is not as black as he is sometimes painted".

I like the way the film conveys the fundamental horror of being stranded on a bizarre planet with numerous menaces lurking around every corner, impeding your already slim chances at any sort of survival or rescue. This movie really keeps you on the edge of your seat til the very end.
Oh sure, you have to suspend your disbelief here and there. Some of the plot elements just seem a little too contrived and convenient. Nevertheless, it is still absorbing viewing, and the ending is decidedly not a real happy one (the crewmember you'd most like to see get rescued... well, I won't give it away with a spoiler here, so just go see it. Share the pain.)
BTW: The plot of this movie is similar to "Red Planet" (2000) with Val Kilmer. See them both, and compare...