CGI back then in late 90's like in Starship Troopers worked WITH natural light and not against it. This contrasts with today's overuse of color grading and tinkering of natural lighting. Thats why it still holds up and in some cases, is more believable.
I saw this movie in the IMAX 7.1 surround sound and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. To this day I use it to test speaker setup and tuning for home theaters.
For being a sci-fi flick from 2000, this movie still holds up extremely well today. The cringe factor is minimal to non-existent (a couple one-liners here and there from Vin), and the creature design alongside the special effects are some of the best looking I've seen in a modern flick. The story was neither terrible nor terribly complicated, the bioraptors are STILL terrifying, and cinematography/color grading for the different light states of the planet really lent themselves to the world building. Still a fav of mine..
One thing that i realised the second time i watched the movie was that the bioraptors were not an indigenous species from that planet but they were introduced somehow into that ecosystem. A planet that would have a large enough ecosystem to support large mammals or reptiles like we see in the skeletons scatered around the planet, would have a very well balanced biosphere with creatures that live in symbiosis, just like planet Earth. Even if an apex predator would evolve on that said planet, it would still find balance within the ecosystem. This is why i am certain the bioraptor species was introduced by some alien species capable of space travel. Another clue that they are not indigenous is that they are nocturnal predators with light sensitive skin. This species would not have evolved naturally on a planet that has constant sunlight for 22 years. I wonder who brought them there and why...
I thought exactly the same, I think it would be almost impossible for those large skeletal creatures to evolve alongside such a voracious and effective predator. The raptor would also be a great extermination tool, release them at nightfall and mop them up in the morning.
Considering that the planetary environment seems to no longer be capable of supporting the old biosphere (no visible water or plant life), it's possible that the bioraptors were indeed native but that some recent solar or orbital event disrupted the balance of the ecosystem.
I always figured they were a bio-weapon created in a lab, and dropped off on that planet for a test, to see how quickly they could conquer it. I even considered the Nercomancers might have created them, for that exact purpose, but abandoned the project. Hence why scientists would have randomly showed up there, to study the planet. Perhaps curious about what wiped out all life on the planet.
"It ain't me, you gotta be worried about..." -- Riddick. This movie was so underrated. The ominous feel of the set up, Then, when it all hits the fans...
A species cannot survive by canibalism, since it takes more energy to bread and grow to adult status, than feeding in general can give you back. Their numbers would rapidly drop by ca 90% in each generation, so this is either a story hole or not the right answer.
Probably just a person who understands basic thermodynamics. Biology, however bizarre on other planets, still has to stick to the laws of physics. But, the raptors could have the ability (or a symbiotic microbe in/on them) that can harness some other form of energy from the planet. We know it's not photosynthesis, because they don't like light, but maybe thermal or chemical energy from the planet core. In any case, this movie is still a fun watch.
They have sunlight sensitivity on a planet where days last for 22 years, they managed to destroy their ecosystem... evolution doesn't breed creatures like these. Invasive species or bioweapon are more plausible explanations.
OK!! So my exploration was based on the belief and understanding that the Bioraptors were the Apex predators on the planet. However, a few of my friends had been wondering how a species like the Bioraptors, that had such an extreme sensitivity to sunlight, could have survived and been able to evolve on a planet that had nonstop sunlight for 22 years. And if you’ll indulge me, I have a few theories. -The first is that the Bioraptors were not actually indigenous to M6-117. Much like the xenomorphs on LV-426 in the alien series, its possible that another species had brought them over from another system. -My second theory is that the Bioraptors might not have been the Apex predators on the planet in the past. In the film, the crew and passengers of the Hunter Gratzner crash, discover large bones and remains of enormous creatures that once lived on M6-117. All life requires water in some shape or form to survive. The crew were able to find water deep under the surface, where the Bioraptors had been living, however the surface of M6-117 was completely bone dry. That’s what happens when a planet receives continuous rays of light and heat from three different Suns for 22 years with only a small interval in-between. I think that this was responsible for drying up any lakes and oceans that may have been on the surface of M6-117, inevitably killing all the fauna and flora that inhabited the near inhospitable surface. -This leads me onto my final theory, which is that the Bioraptors weren’t always photosensitive. I think its possible that the Bioraptors were once surface-dwelling creatures, among much of the diversified life which could have inhabited a more hospitable M6-117. Overtime with the drying up of major oceans and riverbeds, its possible the Bioraptors retreated into the caves, where they eventually evolved into creatures that used echolocation to see through the Pitch-Black environment they’ve had to grow accustomed to over millions of years. These are just some theories so please take them with a grain of a salt. Would love to hear what you guys think :)
Not too familiar with the details in the film.. But, concerning your second point about the water: wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that the planet had been stuck in the exact same cycle for millions of years? Three suns don't just pop up one day, so I think it's reasonable to argue that 22 years of sunlight and small periods of pitch black darkness would have been the planet's normal cycle, for millions or even billions of years. So why would there have been any water at all on its surface? I think this refutes the idea of the larger organisms having died out due to a lack of water, as there wouldn't have been any surface water for millions of years. The bones could not have been laying around for that long either, cause in order to fossilize, carcasses often require water covering the bones with layers of sediment. Also, if exposed to the elements for that long, the bones, fossilized or not, would have withered away. So that's problematic, unless the 22 year period of nonstop sunlight was the first time in the planet's history that the event occured. I'm not sure if this is the case in the movie's explanation since I haven't seen the film in years. To come back to your first point of the Bioraptors having been brought there. Maybe the creatures were introduced the same way foreign species are introduced in new ecosystems in our world, by us. This might happen with ships for example, taking in balast water elsewhere, including whatever lives in those waters, and then dumping the water in a completely new envirenmont: introducing these alien organisms in ecosystems that aren't equipped to deal with the new-comers. But it's difficult to ascribe this type of negligence and ignorance to a civilization capable of space travel. So if brought there, it was probably on purpose, and not some unwanted guest in their drinking supplies. So the question arises: why? Why bring these aggressive organisms there in the first place? To have them kill the indigenous species? Wouldn't there be more effective ways of doing that? And why'd you wanna do that to begin with? Why'd you want to be on that planet anyway, when there's no water, and there's sunlight for 22 years? Sounds kinda odd.. Another problem I have with this is that a species can't be feeding on its own kind exclusively for extended periods of time, because that would lead to extinction. Bigger, stronger individuals would't risk attacking other large individuals, rather; they'd all go after the easiest prey, which are the smaller ones, aka their young. If you're going to feed on the young, then you lose a generation, and you'll probably go extinct, sooner or later. Not a good strategy. Lots of problems with this entire situation. There are so many of them. They'd need some massive food source just to survive, let alone flourish. Food source would have to be gigantic and the number of predators has to be balanced with the number of prey items. One predator for every 25 prey items, or something like that. Again, feeding on one another would slowly but surely result in a reduction of the population, untill they'd eventually die out completely. I don't know, I honestly can't think of a solution to this mess. Maybe they hibernate during the 'daytime' (22 years), and maybe there are other large subterranean communities of species elsewhere on the planet, and they all come out at night and wage these wars on one another over food; killing enough of the other species to ensure survival untill the next night comes? The larger surface creatures would have been uneffected by these subterranean creatures and were (somehow)not in need of water, and they died out relatively recent due to other causes, like diseases. Perhaps their prey is invisible; which is why they lack eyes, but have echolocation? Maybe the planet got hit by comets carrying ice every 10 years, delivering at least some H2O to its surface? Maybe there were geisers on certain parts of the planet's fault lines? Just some thoughts..
I actually really support the idea that the cretures were evolved from some kind of creature that roamed the surface. Since you said they found water deep underground, and most animals go where the water goes, it would make sense to have them have found a water source in the partched planet and stuck to it. It reminds me of a book (fiction though) i read in which it is revealed that the creatures that plague a city at night, killing and eating whomever, are descendents of once lovable creatures that were once seen as pets. They were indiginous to an area of the land that was inhabited by humans, however due to political turmoil they abandoned shop and took off, leaving the creatures without a food source, and closed up the floor chimneys that the creatures used to access the surface. Although in the book they were discribed as ravenous and willing to eat anything- so perhaps the bioraptors weren't previously herbivors, but a low level omnivore or carnivore that, over thousands to millions of years of underground, isolated, and hard cave dwelling evolved into the monsterous forms that are seen in the film. But idk Never watched the movie either Have to now Thanks for the introduction
Bioraptors seem more like invasive species rather than apex predators. If they are causing mass extinction and have to resort to cannibalism for nourishment then that would imply that they were introduced to their environment recently, the local wildlife were not adapted to the bioraptors.
Is it possible that their is a larger subterranean ecosystem we can't see, maybe with more creatures existing lower down, but the Bioraptors living towards the top.
XaeeD: what if one side of the planet was consistently in the dark and the other in daylight, as one day equates to 22 years. One could theorize the living organisms on the planet migrate to keep in the “sweet zone” between total light (+ heat) and pitch black. It would make sense that plants would be able to spread their seeds in this time as well. The bones could be of creatures that were eaten by other predators, or died along the way Main problem this would leave is a sustainable water source. As the oceans would eventually be dried up by the suns
This film friggin freaked me out as a kid when I first watched this film. Love Pitch Black so much. Perfect mix of awesome scifi and lovable creature horror.
Chronicles of Riddick isn't run of the mill. It's widely considered to be the best of the trilogy. It showed more about the Furyans and Riddicks background. What arguments do you have to claim that the subsequent movies after Pitch Black are run of the mill? You didn't even back up your claims with any logical argument The third movie may not be as good as Chronicles in a lot of people's opinion, but it's still a pretty good movie, it's not supposed to be original but a tie-in to the origins of the series, bringing back previous themes in the lore. showing some more of Johns back story, Riddick s sadness about Jackie's death (when that prisoner girl is shot by Santana) and paving the way to the 4th movie about Furya, that Vin Diesel said they're working on
I never knew they were called bioraptors. I have seen Pitch Black perhaps 10 times, Love that movie and Vin Diesel did the role perfect. And the twist in the end, damn... Awesome movie!
Their evolution was actually a testament to what a well balanced ecosystem looks like. So it's a shame that their hive colony was teleported from its home planet to this truly unprepared world as part of a prank between wizards gone horribly wrong.
Even in a triple star system, I don't think a planet can be lighted from all directions, since the planet would have to orbit all 3 stars as a group. I don't think a planet can go inbetween stars. It would get ripped apart. So in effect, it would still have a night side, even with 3 stars. (I have the same problem with Namek from Dragonball Z). However, the eclipse still makes sense. Star and planets could line up at some point.
well, if it does have a dark side than perhaps the surface creatures of the planet migrate to a sweet spot in between the darker and lighter side for the 22 years and that's how the bioraptors have managed to survive for so long and how the creatures they feed on could have survived for so long.
I remember seeing this movie as a 6 year old and being absolutely terrified and fascinated at the same time. I tried seeing it every couple of years until I was old enough to not pee my pants.
So they have a blind spot that you can exploit,but they also have an acute sense of smell?How does that work then?How was Vin able to not be detected by that Bioraptor he was directly in front of if they can smell prey?Forgive me if im missing something I haven't seen this movie in yeeeaars
At the end when he was in its blind spot you can see it was confused. It could smell him but not see him, Gets frustrated and was about to leave when the second Raptor shows up.
Yaldabaoth I have to disagree, its tongue like appendage was searching the air it could smell there was something there hence why it was looking around. But because Riddick was in its blinds spot it could not locate him.
I think the Bioraptors are not actually native to the planet, but come from another world. Yes they are well suited to the total darkness displayed in the film, it is unlikely that they would naturally evolve on a planet that has 22 year days. Also the fact that they caused the total extinction of all life on the planet supports the idea that they are not native, because if they naturally evolved on that world other life forms would have adapted to the Bioraptors with defenses of their own and not gone extinct so suddenly. No species evolves alone after all. The lack of prey and the cannibalism displayed in the film suggests a species that is on its last legs, soon to go extinct in the next few generations.
I've always considered this movie the best in the series because of how... down to earth it is. Everything is very practical and arguably realistic. Johns isn't wearing some futuristic space outfit, for instance. He's wearing what essentially amounts to a modern police uniform. The rest of the characters are similarly dressed, wearing relatively modern outfits. Johns is also carrying a slightly futuristic version of what is essentially a SPAS-12. The ship is very industrial and practical, obviously inspired by Alien. And then the Chronicles of Riddick comes out and we get... necromongers. With their stupid armor and their stupid weapons... and the stupid elementals... and the stupid telepathic bullshit... Here's the part where someone bitches at me about graphic novels and comics and shit... I don't care. Pitch Black was a much better movie than any of the other Riddick films. What they should have done was a prequel... the second movie should have basically been Escape from Butcher Bay.
As I recall Vin diesel owns the rights and it reflected in the budget for pitch black and the success of pitch black shown in the budget for Chronicles. Now maybe your gripe is why he has had such a hard time completing the next one? Personally I've been waiting with bated breath for a conclusion to either pitch black or Chronicles! I guess I rest in that sweet spot that enjoyed both for each of their own merits.
@@augustusmcgovern6084 I don't know, I loved Riddick, alot better than Chronicles, but Pitch Black still has alot of love from me. But I think Riddick went in a good direction.
It makes me think the Bioraptors were not native to the planet. I also wonder if they also ate plants, as they might have devoured those as well. I think the planet did have a large ecosystem with plants that could handle the sun and offer shade to the life, but the raptors came and consumed all, starting with the animals then the plants, then each other.
Ok i was watching this on amazon and the trivia says that the alien creature had 3 stages of evolution 1. the larva form, which you see in the movie they are the blue glowing bugs. 2. the bat form which you see kill one of the kids and the woman when the eclipse happens. 3. the final form or BIORAPTOR which is what we see kill most people. just thought that was interesting i never knew the glowing larva were baby raptors. other than that cool video!
It's interesting to wonder what kind of animal the Bioraptors are. They remind me a lot of the Cliff racers from Morrowind but on steroid's Despite the name they're not related to dinosaurs / lizards, more like an insectoid creature, like the Tyranids in WH40K, since they grow from bugs. They behave pretty much like the Tyranids too, swarming and with its only purpose to consume biomass
Seriously these Riddick movies were pretty great, and they were their own kind of Sci-Fi movies, instead of the many hashes available. I hope more unique movies come out like these.
@@robertharris6092 "I was meant to die in France..." *Pause* "Because it's the city of lights." *Bioraptors fly off in terror as Frenchie spontaneously develops bioluminescence.*
Evolution is pretty random, unless there was already an animal with that trait it's unlikely enough time would have gone by for that type of mutation to occur. It's also unlikely that it would have been beneficial to have a bio luminescent trait on a planet that saw sunlight almost 100% of the time, it would be a trait that wouldn't give it a breeding advantage except during the eclipse. If you look at animals we have that are bio luminescent they are usually ones that live in murky or dark ecological environments like fish or other sea/deep sea animals.
I think the bio-raptors are an introduced/escaped species & they wiped out all other life on the planet, except for what was already glowing when they got there. & the lack of plant life must mean that the entire food chain collapsed, so any pollinators must have also been seen as food.
@@Jim90117it's possible the bioraptors and the glow worms were both introduced havi6come from the same ecosystem. It's also possible there used to be one or two moons that made the M6-117 a mostly dark planet if they were natural to the planet. Due to a war or cataclysmic event, the moons are gone and the atmosphere was stripped.
Now these film makers knew how valuable darkness is if you want your CGI monsters to look good. Not only knew it but made it the core element of the movie. Which is kinda genius actually.
This is my first time watching one of your videos and I loved it! This is the first coverage I have seen of the Pitch Black lifeforms and I can see the hard work you put into it and what a cool fan-base you have; I happily subscribed - keep up the awesome work!
Part of this movie was filmed near where I live. I remember everyone was buzzed because a Hollywood movie was being filmed near us and this was the movie. People were not allowed to go out there for like 2 months during the production out there. I know the scenes that came from us in Queensland but that is for you to figure out :P
If the sound is coming from the center (the mouth), it would reflect off of something directly in front of it (riddick) and to the ears. They would "see" him very easily. Not to mention that the ears care also picking up all the other sounds, like footsteps and clothes, and maybe heartbeats. These guys would see and eat anything around themselves very easily. I never understood the blindspot idea. Oh, and I guess they are attracted to mammalian blood too?
Ok thx that makes sense based on eclipses in general just thought it may last for some weird amount based on planet type or, well, some nonsensical plot device lol
ProToken 420 that would require at least one planet to be blocking the sun at all times. It might last for a day or two depending on orbits but it certainly wouldn't last for another 22 years
Pitch Blach is a classic masterpiece in the sci-fi survival genre. Vin Dieseil announced RIDDICK FURYA we have been waiting since 2019! this will surely be the end of the Saga of the Chronicles of RIDDICK and Vin Diesel has collaborated for 20 years with David Twohy to interpret his best role.
You forgot about their retractable thumb/spear! It's what impales Johns to keep him in place before the fatal bite as well as what shocks the boy into running to his demise in the early part of the film. All good though. Great analysis!
Pitch Black was the best alien inspired movie since the Cameron directed Aliens. And Riddick was a really nice twist adding that movie hero who's not really that much of a hero. Makes the movie less predictable, fresh and original. Too bad later on we got these cheap ass aliens vs predator movies that had no replay value at all. Pitch Black and Event Horizon had that alien feel to it and still were really enjoyable movies. 20 years later still no movie to replicate that alien movie feel.
I very much agree with the theory you posted in the comments that the Biorapters were once surface-dwelling. And I'd like to go a bit further into that, I hope you enjoy reading it if you do! Simply put, there's no situation in nature where a native species rises to wipe out all life. It just doesn't, with the possible exception of us humans, happen. The Biorapters being brought in from elsewhere which would certainly explain their *_massive_* population. Just look at toads in Australia, as an invasive species with no competition due to the ecosystem having never had toads, their numbers have drastically risen to beyond what would normally be the critical mass of the species. What is evident in nature is that the individual size and needs of the species determine the overall group size. Every group of every species except for us because we can farm, have a critical population mass. It is the point where there are too many individuals of the species to where the ecosystem can sustain them and species that overbreed will find themselves starving to death very quickly. Ants for instance are very tiny and thus they form massive colonies that can range from tens of thousands of ants in a single nest, to hundreds of millions of ants in a single nest. The largest land mammals, the elephants form tight family bonds and the largest herd you'll see is 100 maximum. With whales, this number drops down further. Whale pods are at lowest, 4 and at highest, 20. This is because of the difference in feeding needs if readers haven't already guessed. Can you imagine a herd of hundreds of millions of Elephants and how much food it would take to feed them? Even we humans would only form tribes of 50 to 100 people before the advent of agriculture and thus, we could sustain higher populations. For their size and for being active hunters, they should run in packs of 5 - 10 at the very most, most likely with a breeding group that would stay underground. Whether the male or females are the hunters, I'm yet to work out. Some people think they're insects, but all insects have exoskeletons. These guys have soft tissue flesh and inner-bones. Furthermore, they come out during the dark period to actively hunt. This is not a behaviour that a species who from the looks of things, wiped out all other life in a single hunt. The planet they come from most likely has a normal day/night cycle and they're simply nocturnal predators. Likely the dominant species of their home-world, but in much, much, *much* smaller groups. I'll finish up with this, canonically? It's only assumed that the Bioraptors are native. Only due to them being the only life left. :D
You left out something. I got the impression that the bioluminescent slugs were the larva state of the bioraptors. Would make sense for a couple reasons. The luminescence would prevent the adults from feeding on them due to the light sensitivity and since the biorapyirs ate everything else on the planet, it's likely nothing would be left. There's also the ecological imbalance of the species, which may be a sign that the bioraptors are alien to the planet as they exhibit behavior patterns of an excessively invasive species.
The only problem I see is that if the bioraptors have an acute sense of smell, why couldn’t they smell Riddick while he exploited their blind spot. He was face to face with it. Surely it should have smelled him. Everything about this movie invokes such a sense of obscure nostalgia from my childhood. I saw this while I was only 13, and didn’t pay much mind to this genre of film. Just passively watched and listened when it occasionally played on the Sci-Fi channel.
I think you forgot to mention the Bioraptors blade arm that seems to be hidden then shoots out of their wrists to impale their prey. I could be wrong of course. I may remember wrong, but i do recall when we see them (just before we learn their weakness to light) they sorta bring out their hands and we see something that looks like a blade coming out.
"...were seen to go through two stages of life, beginning as infants that then transform into adults over time." Thats so alien and outlandish, I can't believe it!
This movie really freak me out. I watched this as a kid and this movie helped me to fear the dark even more LUL. The last footage in your vid was the thing that haunted me the most. That was too much for a little boy like me. He didn't even dare to turn on the light because he was so scared of seeing monsters that were lurking around him.
Two big issues I see with the blind spot move. 1. Their ears being far to the side like that would not give them a blind spot using echolocation, especially if they're making the sound that would be bouncing off something right in front of them. 2. If they have acute smelling capabilities to track their prey, then it would also be easy for it to tell Riddick is literally right in front of it. I always thought they had very little to no sense of smell and the deals on the ends of their head are just very sensitive eyes. Which is why they have a similar view point to Riddick.
If the echo eminated from the mouth and heard by the ears at the side; standing in front of their face would effectively "blind" them and not make you invisible.
Im fairly certain the bioraptors also have an extendable blade in the forearm of their limb that extends out of the palm. Its only seen very briefly in two scenes. When Wings Hauser is killed and when the first adult bioraptor is fully revealed (I think we see it in Riddick vision).
