There was a period of time when Vin Diesel was the next big thing. Those days might be past, but the actor has little to complain about. He’s still larger than life, thanks to having starring roles in two prominent Hollywood franchises. The first of these is obviously the Fast & Furious movies, but he’s also well known for playing the antihero Riddick, a warrior in the future who has starred in multiple feature films, the most recent of which hit theaters back in September and is headed onto Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD soon. Universal Studios Home Entertainment is releasing Riddick on January 14, 2014.
Riddick is the fourth movie in the franchise, depending on how you look at it. Two big theatrical releases hit theaters in 2000 and 2004. Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick featured plenty of Diesel planning a hardcore man of action who kills people with cups and gets up to other shenanigans. An additional flick, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury was also made in animated form, with AEon Flux’s Peter Chung on board. Not only will Riddick hit Blu-ray next year, Universal Studios Home Entertainment is also releasing a full collection featuring all of the related movies called Riddick: The Complete Collection. If you are only interested in the most recent feature film, it still might be worth it to purchase the Blu-ray copy, as it will come in an Unrated Edition.
While Riddick shouldn’t be a set that lives or dies by its bonus features, there’s at least one extra that should be exciting for fans. That would be the the "Riddick: Blindsided" featurette that will come with both Blu-ray and DVD copies of the flick. It’s a motion comic, which is pretty cool, but it’s also a comic that will fill fans in on what Riddick has been up to since Chronicles of Riddick was released almost a decade ago. The cast and crew seem heavily invested in the bonus features on the disc, with writer and director David Twohy even presenting a short film about the origins of the latest movie in the franchise. Again, fans will probably purchase this flick regardless of the quality of the extras, but these don’t sound half bad. We’ll let you know how things look when the set is officially released. In the meantime, you can pre-order Riddick over at Amazon or check out the full list of extras, below.
Riddick Blu-ray Exclusive Special Features
- "The Twohy Touch"—In this short film, writer and director David Twohy explains the development of Riddick, the third feature film in his high-concept sci-fi series.
- "Riddickian Tech"—The filmmakers, including Riddick’s amazing effects team, talk about the extraordinary technologies used to create Riddick’s eye-popping sci-fi elements, from the practical effects to the green screen wonders that made it possible to bring this high-intensity, futuristic thriller to the big screen.
- "The World Of Riddick"—interviews with the filmmaking team, including director David Twohy, production designer Joseph C. Nemec III and director of photography David Eggby.
Riddick Special Features on Blu-ray and DVD
- "Vin’s Riddick"—Vin Diesel, his co-stars and the entire filmmaking team provide an inside look at the superstar’s passion for everything from the film’s production and development to his intensive physical training.
- Meet The Mercs—From Karl Urban and Katee Sackhoff to Jordi Mollà, Dave Bautista, Bokeem Woodbine, and Nolan Gerard Funk, this featurette spotlights the dynamic supporting cast of Riddick
- Riddick: Blindsided—A motion comic prequel to Riddick that fills in the gap since 2004’s The Chronicles of Riddick.
