The Chronicles of Riddick - Arrow Blu-ray Limited Edition

Taking place five years after the events of the first movie, the sequel to 'Pitch Black' is a bit more effective, with a somewhat complicated storyline that's more intriguing. Granted, director David Twohy borrows rather blatantly from other, better-told stories, both in thematic design and plot device. But he manages and balances the entire thing fairly well, connecting all the dots so that we don't lose perspective and bringing it to a satisfying conclusion. Or at least, the best he can, given the course of the narrative. He establishes a clearer sense of the popular Riddick character, revealing a few secrets of his mysterious origins, while also providing him with a purpose and direction for his unresolved, Freudian angst.

Vin Diesel returns to the shaved-head, muscle-bound, spooky-eyed role that launched his career and is reunited with co-star Keith David as the Muslim holy man. He also bumps into an older version of Jack, who now goes by the name of Kyra (Alexa Davalos), on a blackened prison planet that incinerates in daylight, yet has enough atmosphere for a small band of inmates to run 10 miles during an escape. These are minor subplots that function rather well with each other and set the path for Riddick's journey of self-discovery, one which seems vaguely similar to the Biblical Moses. There aren't any grand moments of exodus in 'Chronicles,' but we do see the storyline unfold to a final confrontation with a very Pharaoh-like religious leader known only as Lord Marshal (Colm Feore).

The faith in question is one that worships death with a strong affinity for a highly gloomy interior design. It seems they even hired the same architect as David Lynch's 'Dune.' Riddick takes personal beef with the head honcho of the doomsday cult as they pillage and destroy planets while on pilgrimage to their promised land, "Underverse." Another minor subplot, which surprisingly doesn't distract too much, has the beautiful Thandie Newton playing a Lady Macbeth figure to an ambitious but annoyingly insecure commander (Karl Urban). Award-winning actress Judi Dench, who has had the pleasure of playing Lady Macbeth on stage, is also amongst the cast as a strange creature made from one of the natural elements. 'The Chronicles of Riddick' is a fun sci-fi actioner that's arguably more satisfying than its predecessor.

Read Our 2011 Review Here

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

The Chronicles of Riddick destroys its way to 1080p HD Blu-ray via Arrow. The three Blu-ray Discs are housed inside a hard blue plastic case with a hard cardboard sleeve. There is an amazing booklet included here. The artwork has new colored illustrations of Riddick on different planets that look incredible. There is no insert for a digital code. 

The Chronicles of Riddick delivers a brand new 1080p HD image. This is the best the film has looked on Blu-ray since it came out in 2007. According to the Arrow Booklet, The Chronicles of Riddick was exclusively restored at Arrow with a theatrical cut and a director's cut. The original Super 35 camera negative was scanned in 4K, SDR, and HDR10 where additional 2K master files were sourced for certain segments in the director's cut. The director of the film supervised the restoration process.

While some don't have access to 4K players at the moment, the question would be - Is the 1080p Blu-ray image good enough or on par with that glorious 4K picture? The answer is, Yes. This is an amazingly beautiful-looking 1080p transfer that is a giant uptick from the previous Blu-ray release. Right away, the new color grading and color palette dazzle with brighter colors that have a warmer glow. The golden amber filters are more vibrant and the purple light effects on the UV planet and on the ships look impressive with bolder purples. The greenish blues that are showcased at the beginning of the film pop a bit more as well. And the primary colors when they do show up look great. That being said, the 4K image with Dolby Vision or HDR10 does enhance these elements, especially in the darker sequences a lot better. The black levels are inky and the skin tones reciprocate the filtered lighting very well. 

The detail has that grainy look that is reminiscent of how Zack Snyder's 300 looked, which is a good thing. The practical effects here look amazing with the costumes and some background sets. These are the items that have excellent detail with closeups that reveal individual hairs on the actor's faces, metallic textures, facial pores, and more. The rampant CGI looks a little worse for the wear since this film utilized the technology from the early 2000s. There's not a big upgrade in the detail with the CGI effects, but from time to time, they are somewhat noticeable. There's a bigger difference in the 4K version in this area, especially during the bigger action sequences. Still, this 1080p HD image looks amazing and everyone should be satisfied with this new transfer that has virtually no problems with it. 

This release comes with a new Dolby Atmos track along with a DTS-HD 5.1 audio option. The Dolby Atmos track is the way to go, but it's only available on the Theatrical Cut. The Director's Cut maxes out with teh still very good DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix. Back to the Atmos mix, this audio track is booming from the start. The sound effects are boisterous, loud, and full of immersive noises. The futuristic sounds of travel and weaponry are intense and provide different levels of nuanced sounds in every speaker. The action beats transition smoothly with hard-hitting explosions and blasts. Screams, yells, and footsteps can be heard easily traversing the soundscape. The height speakers bring the aerial assaults from above along with the weather and other ghastly noises. The dynamic range is wide as the low end of the bass has a big rumble to it that never crosses into rocky territory. Dialogue is clean, clear, and easily heard. The score offers up those enhanced suspenseful crescendos and themes that allow the story to breathe. This is a wonderful Dolby Atmos track without any issues.

There are over 285 minutes worth of new and archival bonus features, plus audio commentaries. Unfortunately, Vin Diesel is nowhere to be seen in the new extras. These are all worth the time to watch whether or not anyone is a fan of the franchise.

Disc One: Theatrical Cut (HD, 119 Minutes)

• Ambition on Another Scale (HD, 74 Minutes.) - An excellent feature-length documentary about the making of the movie. There are a ton of great new interviews with some of the actors and crew from the film. They talk about the characters, the visual effects, the story, and almost everything else. Sadly, Vin Diesel is nowhere to be found here with new interviews.
• Realizing Riddick (HD, 14 Mins.) - A brand new interview with David Twohy who discusses making the movie and its impact years later.
• Back to Black (HD, 11 Mins.) - Another new interview with the storyboard artist Brian Murray who talks about how much artwork went into the film.
• Chronicles of a Cult Celebrity (HD, 11 Mins.) - An awesome new interview with actor Keith David who fondly remembers working on this film.
• Trailers (HD, 4 Mins.) - A couple of trailers from the film.

Disc Two: Director's Cut (HD, 134 Mins.)

• Audio Commentary #1 - Vin Diesel and David Twohy offer up a good commentary track as they outline production, the character, and working together. This is NOT a new commentary track, but nevertheless, is an informative one.
• Audio Commentary #2 - Karl Urban, Alexa Davelos, and David Twohy bring forth another fun commentary track from years ago where everyone discusses working together, anecdotes from the set, and the tone of the film.
• Intro by David Twohy (HD, 1 Min.) - The director introduces the movie.
• Creation of New Mecca (HD, 11 Mins.) - A vintage extra that showcases the world of Helion Prime.
• Riddick Rises (HD, 14 Mins.) - Another archival segment that studies the Crematoria planet.
• Keep What You Will (HD, 18 Mins.) - Yet another vintage extra that discusses the Necromongers and how they were conceived.
• Visual Effects Revealed (HD, 6 Mins.) - The visual effects of the film are discussed here.
• Interactive Production Calendar (HD, 25 Mins.) - A fun series of short films about the movie's production that outlines various aspects of the shoot.
• Production Vignettes (HD, 34 Mins.) - These are pictures in pictures and extras about the making of the movie.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 8 Mins.) - There are three deleted scenes in total, of which have optional commentary from the director.
• Virtual Guide to Chronicles of Riddick (HD, 8 Mins.) - This is a great entrance point where a few animated sequences introduce the different planets and worlds of the film with some of the actors reading the lines.

Disc Three: Theatrical Cut Open Matte Version (HD, 119 Mins.)

• Escape From Butcher Ray (HD, 24 Mins.) - This is a great bonus feature showcasing all of the cut scenes from the 2004 video game where Vin Diesel did the voice work.
• The Lowdown (HD, 22 Mins.) - This is the vintage TV special that promoted the movie before it was released with a ton of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews added in.
• Booklet - A great-looking booklet that features essays, information about the movie, the characters, the planets, and tech specs.

The Chronicles of Riddick goes the distance and utilizes the bigger, stronger, and faster motif in this sequel when compared to its low-key original film. It's a blast to watch still, warts and all. And it's easy to see why Vin Diesel is such a leading man in the action genre even when things get sillier. The new 1080p HD picture from Arrow Video looks impressive and the best it's looked on Blu-ray since 2007. The Dolby Atmos audio track allows the film to breathe fire into every speaker and the 285 minutes worth of bonus features are well worth the watch too. Even for those who don't have a 4K player yet, this Blu-ray is Highly Recommended!