Blu-ray Movie Reviews

After years of outrunning ruthless bounty hunters, escaped convict Riddick suddenly finds himself caught between opposing forces in a fight for the future of the human race. Now, waging incredible battles on fantastic and deadly worlds, this lone, reluctant hero will emerge as humanity's champion - and the last hope for a universe on the edge of annihilation.

The Chronicles of Riddick is a very solid sci-fi action film with good effects work, great locales, and plenty of action. Twohy has penned other underappreciated gems like Below and Pitch Black, and this film sets up yet another story at the end. Anyone who is into science fiction should not miss this one. I have my fingers crossed that Twohy will be able to bring this character back again in more films!!

The Blu-ray release looks very similar to the previously released HD DVD, which I’ve used for demonstration material many times over. The transfer offers incredible small object detail, black detail, and depth. Even the DVD of this film looked really good back in the day, but the fine detail of this transfer just makes the image look incredible. There is also a complete lack of compression artifacts and haloing, giving the image a stable and crisp look that is almost unrivaled. A solid offering from Universal for this one.

The soundtrack is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio and is pretty similar to the previous DD+ soundtrack on the HD DVD. The mix combines incredible dynamics with an enveloping surround soundstage. Dialogue sounds very clear with no harshness at all. The battle sequences are a real treat, with extremely low and clean bass and plenty of discrete surround effects that draw you in. There are some times when the upper end sounds a bit anemic in comparison to the low end effects but this has always been a rather different sound design than we typically get from a sci-fi action film.

Like Pitch Black, Universal has included both cuts of the film here via seamless branching. You can select which version you want when you load the disc. New to this release is a look at the fighting styles used in the film and an exploration of the mythology of the films and the character Riddick. The unrated cut has a picture-in-picture behind the scenes look with interviews and commentary and all of the extras from the previous releases are included. You get a feature commentary, an intro from the director and a multitude of production features that cover the effects, stunt sequences and general production. This title is also BD-Live enabled.

I really hope we see a continuation of this series at some point. I love the ending of this film and how it sets up for the next film perfectly. This new Blu-ray offers a lot that the previous HD DVD didn’t making it an easy recommendation for fans and previous owners alike.