Article: PITCH BLACK (2000) Genre: Sci-fi/Horror Director: David Twohy Starring: Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell

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From the opening minute PITCH BLACK is a film that drops you free falling in to the damn action.

The opening crash sequence is a great thrill with the best of these kinds of "OPENING BOOMS" as I will call it...but the thrills keep coming.  The film is able to balance world building, character development, one-liners, interpersonal character conflict and popcorn fun.

We hear Riddick in an opening voice over that quickly sets up both 1) character and 2) world.  From this point on action begins with death, chaos and survival choices that place the audience in the best frame of mind possible.  This frame of mind is something like "damn!  what would I do in this situation?!"  

That is truly the reason the film works, we need not overcomplicate matters but here are some other fun things I love.


PITCH BLACK places you in the character's situation with the very worst kind of danger on all sides around you!  It's not just the damn aliens but the people too, great for multi-layered danger.

Part of the reason why the screenplay is so much damn fun is due to these strange and unlikely characters coming together to survive.  It seems we love to watch this happen as the audience.   We learned from a more recent mega successful film (again) "Guardians of the Galaxy," that we really love seeing different, maybe strange and sometimes combative people come together to GET SOMETHING DONE.  The more challenging it is, I mean both the objective and the team work, often the better.  

If Han Solo swooping in to help Luke Skywalker blow the Death Star in a last second unlikely team-work moment (for the ages) is not proof that we love a group of "different types" of people coming together to achieve a goal even when it SEEMS impossible...what THE HELL is?


Why do "different people coming together to win the day" work?  Good question.  

I will say only one reason why I personally seem to love it...watching people with different view-points decide to put things aside to win the day is a great wish fulfillment idea.  Anyone can achieve anything if we can only put our meaningless differences aside.  This does not need to be a big idea but even a small one...two friends disagree on an argument but decide to remain friends.  It is nice to imagine this type of cooperation, team-work, collaboration, betterment etc. can happen in our own lives...but especially if it can happen for people who are going to be eaten by fucking aliens.


PITCH BLACK rides the idea of unlikely people coming together to the furthest degree of any movie I have ever seen (that I can remember currently).  The reason why PITCH BLACK rides this so far is that is not nearly until the (SPOILERS) end that the characters come together at all many films give this up very early.  The dangerous killer, the pilot, the selfish bounty hunter, muslims (muslims) and an innocent kid must work together to survive in the worst situation imaginable.  The situation is...try like fucking hell not to get eaten by the creatures in the dark that you cannot see who are just waiting for your torch/light to die so they can eat you.

The fun ride should not to be over explained but simply enjoyed.





PITCH BLACK
BOX OFFICE (from BOX OFFICE MOJO)