MovieChat Forums > Riddick (2013) Discussion > Eye Shine Issue

Eye Shine Issue

posted 8 years ago by ferencegrizzal
5 replies | jump to latest

So in this film there is a quick POV shot of Riddick looking over the grasslands watching the incoming thunderstorms. In this shot he removes his goggles. The serious problem is that when he has his goggles on his sight is standard color how you and me would see but when he removes them he starts to see with his eyes shine and everything becomes the purple haze.

This seems wrong. I was under the impression that the eyeshine was a permanent enhancement that doesn't simply turn off when he wears something to dim his sight. throughout previous films he is seen putting his hand up to block light even when he is wearing his goggles implying that he is still sensitive.

did anyone else notice this? what do you think?

the only other time this occurs is in the video games, where you can turn on the eyeshine. but that doesn't count because it's basically used in the same manor as night vision goggles.

[–] ttaskmaster 8 years ago

According to scientists - Many animals can see colours and have fairly 'normal' vision, especially during daytime, albeit not quite as we see them. The eyeshine (from the tapetum lucidum) mainly kicks in when it'd darker.

However, with Riddick, we don't actually see what he sees when his goggles are on. We only get the purple haze at salient points in the story, really.
I think the surgical shine job is permanent, but is effectively like walking around with night vision goggles on - You can see fine at night, but normal daylight is blinding enough that you'd need the sunnies... and very bright light would cut through that, requiring the use of a handy sunshade.

Make sense?

As for the video games, that's just a game mechanic, because it'd be *beep* if you had to try and play the whole thing with purple vision!!

[–] EllysettaErimeaFeyreisa 8 years ago

"The video game, Escape from Butcher Bay (which serves as a prequel to Pitch Black), clarifies that Riddick's eyeshine is more than just something he picked up in a prison. After helping a character called "Pope Joe" retrieve his "blessed voice box", a radio that picks up religious programming (including a Necromonger Talk Show), Riddick goes into a den to get stitches for an injury. After he is finished receiving stitches, Joe tells him how to escape, and, perhaps coincidentally, warns Riddick not to "trust [his] eyes"; at that moment, a ghostly voice informs Riddick that he has "been blind for far too long..." and that he is to receive a gift. It is at this moment that Riddick receives his eyeshine. The mysterious voice belongs to a character named "Shirah", who appears to serve as a sort of spiritual guide to Riddick, helping him awaken the Furyan abilities that lie dormant within him. In the Chronicles of Riddick film, Jack/Kyra angrily tells Riddick that when she was sent to prison, she found out that it is impossible to find anyone who can perform a "surgical shine job" at any price, and accuses him of lying about how he received his night vision."
Listen carefully to the description Vaako gives about the Furyan he saw fight and die.

[–] ferencegrizzal 8 years ago

this history lesson is much appreciated but it doesn't answer my question. The eyeshine cannot be turned on or off yet the POV shot implies that it can

[–] ttaskmaster 8 years ago

If it was permanent, you as a viewer would have serious trouble making visual sense of the images presented to you. Therefore, for the benefit of all non-Furyans watching this movie, it switches back and forth.

[–] carmer1986 7 years ago

The second Riddick film had the same issue, even when Riddick wasn't wearing his goggles like with the Riddick-Lord Marshal fight during the climax of the film.