Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004)
Starring: (voices) Vin Diesel, Nick Chinlund, Keith David
Directed by: Peter Chung
Written by: David Twohy (story) Brett Mathews (screenplay)
Produced by: Jae Y. Moh, John Kafka
Running Time: 102 minutes
Rating: not rated

I can’t say that I mind the new trend of releasing an OVA (original video animation) with your big budget film. We got a sweet deal with last year’s Animatrix, released with the two Matrix sequels, Van Helsing had an OVA (which I haven’t seen) and now we get Dark Fury, on the heels of the Chronicles of Riddick.

The gang who brought us Chronicles of Riddick (the movie) had the presence of mind to snatch one of the hottest and most innovative animation directors around for this gig. Peter Chung is the mind behind MTV’s brilliant Aeon Flux animated series (and soon to be motion picture), the guy who helmed Matriculated on the aforementioned Animatrix, and the perfect choice to bring Riddick to life in the animated world. If you’re familiar with Chung’s overly sinewy heroes and heroines, then you’ll realize why that style works so well with Vin Diesel as the model.

Dark Fury basically picks up right after Riddick’s first appearance in Pitch Black and answers some questions about what the cast did before the Chronicles of Riddick movie. Riddick and the survivors of Pitch Black get caught on a bounty hunter ship and must face mercenaries and a seriously freaky chick who takes art appreciation to a new level.

There’s plenty of good one-liners here, some familiar characters and some new things you won’t see anywhere else. The action scenes are very good, much better than anything you’ll see outside of Japan. This is a tight animated short. If there’s anything I can complain about it is the fact that it’s only 35 minutes in length, but they pack a lot in for that length of time.

The extras on this DVD will double your viewing time though. There is a behind-the-scenes featurette that has interviews with Vin Diesel, David Twohy (the director of the Chronicles of Riddick) and Peter Chung, plus some footage from all three incarnations of Riddick. There’s also a great interview that focuses on Peter Chung alone, a teaser for Chronicles of Riddick and a version of the animated short that has moving storyboards that run the full length of the original.

You should be able to get this DVD for around ten bones and it’s well worth that. If you enjoy animation as much as the Beefboy, then you should check this out.

I give this DVD a 7, out of 10.

Dig it!
-The Beefboy

If you're interested in getting a copy of Dark Fury you'll find a great deal at the link below.