Screenwriter David Twohy - see GI Jane and Waterworld - turned his hand to directing with the low-budget sci-fi horror Pitch Black, about extra terrestrial things that go bump in the night. Before Vin Diesel became Vin Diesel, he starred as the archetypal anti-hero in this "mildly exciting" space outing, which would go on to become a cult hit back at the dawn of the new millennium.

Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

David Twohy's introduction to this Special Edition re-release finds him in a dimly lit editing room cutting-and-pasting its sequel, The Chronicles Of Riddick (released on 27th August 2004). He assures us that while shooting Pitch Black in the inhospitable Australian outback, "sequels were not on my mind - survival was on my mind". Still, the sequel seems to be very much on his mind for this DVD - effectively digitised hype.

The 'making of' featurette is barely five minutes long, and plays like an extended trailer - including ominous voiceover - with cast and crew platitudes thrown in. Original artist's impressions and CG snippets of the space beasties provide something approaching behind-the-scenes insight; otherwise this is essentially the black hole of 'making of' featurettes.

View Into The Dark is a similarly short yet long-winded attempt to bridge the gap between Pitch Black and The Chronicles Of Riddick. Vin Diesel explains that both films are concerned with the "dynamic character arc" of Riddick, while Twohy warns you "it's one story that takes multiple films to tell". To cap it off, both men exclaim that The Chronicles Of Riddick is like "nothing you've ever seen before!" Yeah, right. Like we haven't heard that before.

C Is For Cheap

In case you're not up to speed with the movie mythology, The Encyclopaedia Of Riddick should clear a few things up for you. Cole Hauser supplies the foreboding yet dreary voiceover for a montage of clips and visual effects stills. Thankfully it's not the complete A-Z or else we might be subjected to more inanities such as: "In light there's life, and in the dark, you'd better watch your ass." Voltaire couldn't have put it better.

Hauser must've been paid overtime, because he also provides the foreboding yet dreary voiceover for Johns Chase Log. Every other expense was spared for this text-based diary of bounty hunter William J Johns' trek through the galaxy in search of Riddick. Sample: "Damn he can run. I gotta to shoot first... Think gun - then run." It's as if Shakespeare was defrosted from cryogenic sleep but only two of his brain cells survived.

No One Can Hear You Scream

The feature commentaries are the only worthwhile offerings on this disc. The better of the two teams Twohy, Diesel, and Hauser - although Hauser seems to be asleep for most of it, waking up every now and then to remark on how "handsome" he looks and how "talented" he is. Meanwhile Diesel offers a few funny anecdotes and even reveals a struggle with claustrophobia - admitting to having "lost it" while blindfolded and chained inside a cryo-chamber for "longer than I thought was necessary".

The second track, featuring visual effects supervisor Peter Chiang, offers a much more technical explanation of all the model and visual effects shots, but it can be very dense and jargon-heavy at times. Occasionally it's downright boring, as when Chiang talks about Riddick's point-of-view shots: "There's a purplish tint which is based on the colour of the pigment redoxin." So now you know.

The Game Is On is another advertisement masquerading as a featurette, this time for the video game The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. The same goes for Dark Fury: Advancing The Arc, plugging the feature-length animation spin-off. And in case there were any doubts left about the purpose of this DVD re-issue, you'll also find the opening ten minutes of The Chronicles Of Riddick. Kerching.

EXTRA FEATURES