The Chronicles of Riddick

By ChroniclesMonger

HUGE

I first saw the original theatrical production of 'Chronicles of Riddick' when it came out in summer of 2004, and was impressed so much with it that I bought the DVD version when it came out afterwards. Even now, I still play the DVD versions of both Chronicles of Riddick and Pitch Black occasionally because I still enjoy both of them so much; especially Chronicles.

There is no question in my mind that 'Chronicles' will in due time became one of science-fiction marquee cult classics in the same genre and honorable mention as other notables as 'Blade Runner', and the first installment of 'Alien'. This movie has so much to offer in terms of complexity of plot, depth of story line, ultra sophisticated (and expensive) cinema graphics, exquisite sound track (especially in the DVD version), side plots (classic palace intrigue set in a 26th century sci-fi scenario), and the most excellent and superb acting that I have ever seen in a science fiction movie ever in my entire life, that I am completely surprised that this movie never won any awards for acting alone, not to metion everything else!

As far as I know, 'Chronicles II' is due to debut sometime in 2008, with a third and final installment scheduled to make its appearance sometime aftwards. Hopefully we won't have to wait for too long for the final installment in this series. This movie has proven to be so popular that not only did it pay for itself with proceeds from the box office alone, in spite of being one of the most expensive sci-fi movies ever made (over $100 million), but it continues to excel in DVD and HD DVD sales globally. The series beginning with Pitch Black has turned into a cash cow for UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, and David Twohy is not only a highly successful director with few peers, but a marketing genius. I wouldn't surprised if they bought the rights to 'Chronicles I' and remade the film with some if not all of the material from the DVD version, and added some new material, or rearranged the sequence of events in the old material, and changed some of the script to make it more appealing to more audiences.

Thing I would like to see changed would be (1) added the missing 14 to 15 minutes of footage missing from the theatrical production into the remake, (2) finish the uncompleted sequence where Judy Dench as Aereon holds audience with the leaders of Helion Prime in their Assembly Hall and highlight her mission to find a solution to the impending disaster that the oncoming Necromonger Armada poses, (3) change the conversation in the Imam's house back to the theatrical production version where the role of 'Furyans' as a solution is again brought up by Aereon, (4) rearrange the sequence of scenes where Dame Vaaco begins a conversation with Aereon on Riddick and where he's from, and continues with Lord Vaaco and DaVaaco carrying on the same conversation in the 'Quasi-Dead' grotto after a time sequence skip, (5) in the flashback to Riddick, instead of using the scene where he's chained to the wall, use the one in the theatrical version where he's seen alone thinking by himself about! what he intends to do after he lands on Crematoria, (6) switch back to Vaaco where he's having his little exchange with the Purifier on board his frigate, (7) then land on Crematoria, and there are other little scenes that can be left in or fitted differently to give this movie a more pleasant and consistent feel so that the audience that think thru the movie, rather than be bombarded with action after action sequence with no respite between them. I think it would easily go to 2 hrs 15 minutes or even 2 hrs 30 minutes, but it would be worth it in a remake.

There's more that can be done to make this movie an excellent first episode fit for a true cult classic, and I'm sure it will be one day.

Until then, remember, 'You keep what you kill'.