Tour de Force - Heart stopping action

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2000)

The one thing you'll have to remember when seeing any kind of film, is just what kind of film you are seeing!
This is a Science fiction / Horror movie, and my review is based on it being this genre. So Expect some of the characters to be a little one dimensional, and the script to contain a contradiction or two.
All that aside "Pitch Black" is a very good movie!
If you liked Alien (the first) you'll love Pitch Black. A cargo ship carrying 40 passengers crashes to a desert planet. In the crash a killer in the same weight class as Hannibal (if not in sophistication then certainly in blood lust) escapes. We soon see that he is the least of the survivors concern.
The characters work well together. Our heroine seems a fragile little woman, but her dark side is exposed in the beginning of the movie. The killer is frightening, but his polished roughness brings to mind a feline, or almost feminine quality.
The most refreshing about the movie is the lack of heroes. All characters have their heroic moments, but at the end there is not one individual who saved the day (and goes to sleep to awake in Alien # ?).
All survivors are flawed and have failed in critical moments, which makes you love them even more!
The script does lack a little originality, (you can't help to think about alien) and there are some Discrepancies which are just a little to big to swallow, so all in all I'll give it a 9/10
My recommendation is : Rent it, steal, or go see it in a movie theater, if you like science fiction/horror movies!