The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

Director:

David Twohy

Writers (WGA):

Jim Wheat (characters) &
Ken Wheat (characters) ...

Release Date:

11 June 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

All the power in the universe can't change destiny

Plot:

5 years after Pitch Black, the wanted criminal Riddick arrives on a planet called Helion Prime, and finds himself up against an invading empire called the Necromongers, an army that plans to convert or kill all humans in the universe.

Plot Keywords:

Warrior | Planet | Necromongers | Prison Planet | Leader

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Vin Diesel	...	Riddick
Colm Feore	...	Lord Marshal
Thandie Newton	...	Dame Vaako
Judi Dench	...	Aereon
Karl Urban	...	Vaako
Alexa Davalos	...	Kyra
Linus Roache	...	Purifier
Yorick van Wageningen	...	The Guv
Nick Chinlund	...	Toombs
Keith David	...	Imam
Mark Gibbon	...	Irgun
Roger R. Cross	...	Toal
Terry Chen	...	Merc Pilot
Christina Cox	...	Eve Logan
Nigel Vonas	...	Merc

Also Known As:

Pitch Black 2 (USA) (working title)
Pitch Black 2: Chronicles of Riddick (USA) (working title)
Riddick (USA) (working title)
The Chronicles of Riddick: The Director's Cut (USA) (director's cut)
La batalla de Riddick (Argentina) (Chile) [es]
Riddick - Chroniken eines Kriegers (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Хроники Риддика (Russia) [ru]
A Batalha de Riddick (Brazil) [pt]
Kroniki Riddicka (Poland) (promotional title) [pl]
Las crónicas de Riddick (Spain) [es]
Les chroniques de Riddick (France) [fr]
Riddick günlükleri (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Riddicki kroonika (Estonia) [et]
Riddickin aikakirja (Finland) [fi]
Ta hronika tou Skotous (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some language. (edited for re-rating)

Runtime:

119 min | USA:134 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIA | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:18SG | New Zealand:M (director's cut) | South Korea:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) (original rating) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Canada:18A (Manitoba) (director's cut) | New Zealand:R13 (original rating) | Germany:16 (director's cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (edited for re-rating) (certificate #39510) | USA:R (original rating) | USA:Unrated (director's cut)

Filming Locations:

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Judi Dench's dress was made from crushed Swarovski crystal.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Imam is talking to Riddick about him leaving Jack, the reflection of the Camera lights is visible on his glasses.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Aereon: They are an army unlike any other... crusading across the stars toward a place called UnderVerse, their promised land - a constellation of dark new worlds. Necromongers, they're called. And if they cannot convert you, they will kill you. Leading them, the Lord Marshal. He alone has made a pilgrimage to the gates of the UnderVerse...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Tattooist (2007)

Soundtrack:

Getting Away With Murder

A matter of taste

Just had fun watching TCOR and am pretty happy about it. Good action, great visual stuff. A worthy successor to Pitch Black, though the two films are hardly related. Vin Diesel does a good and convincing job at playing an action antihero. As usual, Judy Dench adds to the film, even though her role is small here. The story is pure pulp SF and is short and predictable but is refreshingly dark and (mostly) unsentimental. It actually also has some interesting bits and nice side stories as a (smallish) bonus. Bits and pieces have been copied from Dune, without the film being a Dune copy. Compared to Dune, TCOR has more action and fewer Lynch oddities & boring bits. In my book, both films are good, about equally so.

Reading some of the other reviews, it seems that people are fairly polarized in their opinions of this film. Like most pulp science fiction, it takes a different sort of suspension of belief from that which makes usual films work. However, the action makes it a fair bit easier, and I found it a lot more engrossing and convincing than any of the five (ridiculous but entertaining) Star Wars films, the uniformly unwatchable Star Trek stuff, or, for that matter, most blockbusting light entertainments. But that is just me. If you hate Dune, exaggerated action scenes, or (minor) plot inconsistencies, then you probably won't like this film. Otherwise, chances are good that you will.