A Few Words About A few words about…™ Pitch Black — in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

David Twohy's now twenty year-old Pitch Black, which introduced Vin Diesel as Richard Riddick has apparently
been "re-mastered" in 4k, and I'm not quite certain what that means.

It was shot on film, S35, and has a very particular look to it.

This is where it gets interesting for me.

The odd colored and bleached "look" of the film is so unique that normally I'd be
wondering how accurate a new 4k release might be, as I have zero concept of what
the film actually looked like in 2000.

But here's where Arrow's secret weapon comes into play.

With 4k scans performed at Universal, the post for Arrow's release was led by James
White, who is one of a small number of people doing this that I'd trust. Those folks can
be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Which means that I'm looking at all of these strange colors and densities, and just have
a feeling that all's well.

Both versions of the film are included on the disc, in Dolby Vision. Audio is 5.1,
and among other things - loud.

The 4k Blu is relatively highly resolved, but don't expect a large format look here.
It's quite nice.

Is it a great film? Not really. Interesting? Certainly.

That "look" will carry it along, while sterring clear of Mr. Riddick. Alternate title: The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black, not to be confused with The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004), or simply Riddick (2013).

Image – 5

Audio – 5

Pass / Fail – Pass

Recommended

RAH

Buy on Amazon to support HTF

 

[Johnny Angell]

Is it a great film? Not really. Interesting? Certainly.

No, not a great film, but IMHO, a good film, an entertaining film.

 

[sbjork]

I did see Pitch Black theatrically in 2000 -- twice -- and while I am usually skeptical of people making definitive statements about decades-old memories, David Eggby's highly stylized bleach bypass cinematography has always been one of the film's strongest points. He succeeded in making the already otherworldly Australian wilderness look truly alien. I have wanted this movie on UHD for a long time as I felt it would be an interesting candidate for HDR, and the disc delivered in spades. Gorgeous transfer, and the HDR really aids the intended look for the film. It helps the contrast & black levels during the night time scenes in the second half as well, but for a movie titled Pitch Black it is the daylight scenes in the first half which really soar.

 

[Robert Harris]

I did see Pitch Black theatrically in 2000 -- twice -- and while I am usually skeptical of people making definitive statements about decades-old memories, David Eggby's highly stylized bleach bypass cinematography has always been one of the film's strongest points. He succeeded in making the already otherworldly Australian wilderness look truly alien. I have wanted this movie on UHD for a long time as I felt it would be an interesting candidate for HDR, and the disc delivered in spades. Gorgeous transfer, and the HDR really aids the intended look for the film. It helps the contrast & black levels during the night time scenes in the second half as well, but for a movie titled Pitch Black it is the daylight scenes in the first half which really soar.

You can thank James White and his team.

 

[Sam Posten]

Mr. RAH did you listen to the xtra on the disk about the bleach process and history of the film's look? It's fascinating!

 

[Robert Harris]

Mr. RAH did you listen to the xtra on the disk about the bleach process and history of the film's look? It's fascinating!

Haven't had time. Will do so.

 

[sbjork]

Mr. RAH did you listen to the xtra on the disk about the bleach process and history of the film's look? It's fascinating!

The new interview with David Twohy is also well worth the time. He covers a lot of what he added when he rewrote Jim & Ken Wheat's original script, including much of the details about the planets ecosystem & solar system, as well as the character of Riddick.

 

[Sam Posten]

The new interview with David Twohy is also well worth the time. He covers a lot of what he added when he rewrote Jim & Ken Wheat's original script, including much of the details about the planets ecosystem & solar system, as well as the character of Riddick.

and the metamorphosis of Jack

 

[Tino]

I’ve been raving about this film since it’s been released about how great it looks. Glad you agree RAH.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Mr. RAH did you listen to the xtra on the disk about the bleach process and history of the film's look? It's fascinating!

I am not big on extras, but thought that piece was very interesting.

 

[Vincent_P]

It was especially interesting that they applied the bleach-bypass process to the negative for those scenes, when it's usually only done to dupes or prints.

Vincent

 

[sbjork]

It was especially interesting that they applied the bleach-bypass process to the negative for those scenes, when it's usually only done to dupes or prints.

Vincent

David Eggby apparently did not want to take a chance on anyone second-guessing him later!

 

[Vincent_P]

David Eggby apparently did not want to take a chance on anyone second-guessing him later!

Much like how Gordon Willis exposed the GODFATHER negatives so they could never be "brightened up" later!

Vincent

 

[Vincent_P]

It made sense to apply it to the negative in this case, since only certain scenes utilized the bleach-bypass process. If they had done that in the print stage, they'd literally have to splice those individual scenes into the each print, or break the film up into more reels than usual (although I suppose they could have done it at the IP stage and then only had to splice that element together).

Vincent