I’ve seen all three but don’t remember the second very well, but I don’t think the film’s ever elaborate on the apparently heinous crimes that make Riddick an infamous fugitive.
Is this revealed somewhere? He certain commits a few murders, that could be argued as some sort of self defense maybe. But he has tons of chances to rape women/girls/people and he never does, even though the characters act like this is a possibility.
Interstellar jaywalking.
It turns out there’s actually a Riddick Wiki, and his backstory is fairly extensive. What landed him in jail as an adult?[
](Richard B. Riddick | Riddick Wiki | Fandom)
From there it’s a series of killings and escapes and more killings and long story short: the Company put a bounty on his head.
Whistleblowing, apparently. According to this, he was a soldier who was assigned to security duty on some planet, and objected to how things were being done there. Rather than fix the problem, they decided to make him disappear.
Huh now I’m wondering why he never tells that to any of the characters in the movies, the wiki doesn’t say where that info comes from either.
The third movie BTW is way better than the second, aside from the annoyance I mentioned.
EDIT:Ok apparently it was included in the special edition of the first movie DVD :mad: Kinda essential material to understanding the movie.
No it isn’t. The movie is about monsters that live in the dark. No need for any back story on any character. Riddick is painted as deliberately ambiguously dangerous.
Ya gotta remember that Vin Diesel and David Twohy love the shit outta Riddick. They’ve spent a lot of time developing the character and the universe he lives in, and feel no need to lay all their cards on the table at once. They are both wisely trying to play the long game with the Riddick franchise, including developing it into a bona fide franchise.
I think knowing Riddick is NOT the dangerous psycho others think he is, but a guy framed by a corrupt corp changes how you view the movie.
Honestly I was very intrigued by the background universe the first movie presented, the idea of a sorta hard scifi/no aliens future setting where islam is the predominant religion was original and refreshing in the cinematic scifi world.
The second movie was pretty bizarre and didn’t really fit with the first one, it introduced weird fantasy elements(necromongers?! Underverse?!) that didn’t feel like they fit. The third wisely rejected them and was almost a remake of Pitch Black.
But not for the better. You’re supposed to decide for yourself, even well into the second movie, if he’s genuinely a good guy or not. His mysterious past should only be revealed piecemeal.
They fit because Riddick is essentially a Robert E. Howard character - Conan in space - and Howard stories need bizarre religious cults.
Sure and I can appreciate intentional ambiguity, but not when the creators go and spoil it by giving vital plot info in bonus materials. I guess I feel if it is intentional then fine, but if I need to read a prequel comic that was only included in limited edition boxes of Fakey Flakes cereal to find out that the main character used to be a wedding planner then it is annoying.
Oh and before someone points it out, yes I know aliens were in Pitch Black, I meant to type intelligent aliens.
Travelling at an excess rate of awesome.
I didn’t really like the 2nd movie at all. Riddick is small scale (in a good way), IMO, not “epic”. He fits in stories with mercenaries and bounty hunters and thugs, not kings and conquerors. The character works best when he’s on the run, one man against many.
I liked the 1st and 3rd movies, and I look forward to more. Small budgets should actually help the movies stay small scale, It hink.
Agreed… Perhaps it was the purer and more primal story, perhaps it was because Vin Diesel invested nearly his entire life savings into it, and thus had to get it right.
I always thought he stole a loaf of bread.
Different guy.
He appeared in a couple of Fast & Furious films. There’s no prison rough enough for that crime.
Seriously?! What a total let-down. The guy’s supposed to be a murdering, raping criminal. You know, like an actual anti-hero.
Clearly, I needed to just stick with Pitch Black and then stick my fingers in my ears and sing “la la la la la la la” until the rest of it went away. :mad: