Complete credited cast: | |||
Vin Diesel | ... | Richard B. Riddick | |
Radha Mitchell | ... | Carolyn Fry | |
Cole Hauser | ... | William J. Johns | |
Keith David | ... | Abu 'Imam' al-Walid | |
Lewis Fitz-Gerald | ... | Paris P. Ogilvie | |
Claudia Black | ... | Sharon 'Shazza' Montgomery | |
Rhiana Griffith | ... | Jack | |
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John Moore | ... | John 'Zeke' Ezekiel |
Simon Burke | ... | Greg Owens | |
Les Chantery | ... | Suleiman | |
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Sam Sari | ... | Hassan |
Firass Dirani | ... | Ali | |
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Ric Anderson | ... | Total Stranger |
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Vic Wilson | ... | Captain Tom Mitchell |
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Angela Moore | ... | Dead Crew Member |
The space transport vessel "Hunter-Gratzner" carrying 40 people on-board crashes on a desert planet when the ship is struck in a meteor storm. There are only 11 survivors, among them are pilot Carolyn Fry (Who has assumed command after the ship's captain is killed), bounty hunter William J. Johns, religious man Abu Al-Walid, Antiques dealer Paris P. Ogilvie, runaway teenager Jack, settlers John 'Zeke' Ezekiel and his lover Sharon 'Shazza' Montgomery, and Richard B. Riddick, a dangerous escaped convict. Marooned, the survivors discover the barren and hot desert-scape has sunlight from three suns. Not only must they find food and water and worry about Riddick, the survivors find themselves being hunted by the planet's flesh-eating alien inhabitants when the planet is engulfed in darkness, which happens every 22 years, as they emerge from underground to hunt and eat all signs of life. Fry and the survivors find Riddick is their best chance of survival, as Riddick has surgically-enhanced ... Written by Daniel Williamson
Exciting and interesting from the start, I have to say that while I approached this movie with at best limited expectations I came away from it pleasantly surprised. Vin Diesel is not really my cup of tea as an actor, but in fact he put on a very good performance in this futuristic sci-fi drama as Richard Riddick, a convicted murderer who's being transported to prison on a spaceship that crashlands on a strange alien world. Once there, the survivors discover that there are terrifying creatures who come out only in the dark, which at first doesn't seem much of a problem since the planet has three suns and is never dark. They then discover, though, that the planet is about to go into an eclipse, plunging it into complete darkness for an unknown length of time, and releasing the creatures to hunt them down.
Diesel's Riddick ends up as the hero of the movie, because he has surgically enhanced eyesight that allows him to see in the dark, and so he takes on the task of leading the others to safety. This movie is at times frightening, and on the odd occasion graphic, but not gratuitously so. A lot of effort was put by director David Twohy into developing the character of Riddick, and into portraying the change as the others slowly learn to trust him with their lives. I thought it slowed down a bit in the last third or so of the movie, and somehow became less interesting once the creatures were actually released by the eclipse. There seemed to be far more suspense as the survivors tried to figure out some of the mysteries of the planet and as they faced the approaching darkness. Once the darkness came, in some ways the movie became a pretty standard sci-fi monster type of movie. Still, it was a lot better than I had expected it to be. 7/10