Product Details

• Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Mark Anderson, Merribelle Anderson
• Directors: Dee Austin Robertson, Richard Kelly
• Writers: Dee Austin Robertson, Richard Kelly, Raymond Mansfield, Todd Berger
• Producers: Aaron Ryder, Adam Fields
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: February 15, 2005
• Run Time: 133 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (241 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0006GAOBI
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #3,240 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

  #2 in	Movies & TV > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Time Travel
  #10 in	Movies & TV > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Time Travel

• For more information about "Donnie Darko - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

DVD features

With an additional 20 minutes of material added to the original theatrical edition (including scenes not included in the augmented version previously released on DVD), Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut has a slower, more reflective pace than its first edit, and many more moments of emotional and tonal complexity. The film also has a fuller soundtrack (INXS' "Never Tear Us Apart" is featured prominently in writer-director Richard Kelly's mysterious opening) and new, startling special effects that underscore Donnie's ambiguous experience of time travel and cross-dimensional encounters with Frank, the 6-foot provocateur in a terrifying bunny costume. (Of course, new f/x or not, Donnie could still be a paranoid schizophrenic immersed in violent delusions.) Purists might find some of these changes to Kelly's 2001 cult hit about a troubled teen (Jake Gyllenhaal) trapped in alternative, apocalyptic destinies troubling. But overall the film is an even more haunting experience, impossible to shake.

An audio commentary track features a conversation between Kelly and Kevin Smith (Clerks) outlining the former's reasons for making a director's cut. Kelly says his intention was to amplify a science fiction and comic book element in Donnie Darko, re-design the sound (actually, Kelly claims, there never was a sound design for the original release), and purchase rights to various songs (including Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart") that were lost between the film's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and the film's theatrical release. Kelly says he also wanted to give something new to the film's fans as thanks for their crucial, early support. Other features in this two-disc set include a highly entertaining production diary (including video of pre-production locations research) as well as a short film about the meaning of "Donnie Darko" as understood by some of the movie's British fans. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

During the presidential election of 1988, a teenager named Donnie Darko sleepwalks out of his house one night, and sees a giant, demonic-looking rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds. He returns home the next morning to find that a jet engine has crashed through his bedroom. As he tries to figure out why he survived and tries to deal with people in his town, like the school bully, his conservative health teacher, and a self-help guru, Frank continues to turn up in Donnie's mind, causing him to commit acts of vandalism and worse. The new Director?s Cut includes a production diary of the film (with optional commentary by Director of Photography Steven Poster), a story-board to screen featurette, the Director?s cut theatrical trailer, They Made Me Do It Too ? The Cult of Donnie Darko and the #1 Fan: A Darkomentary.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes less is a lot more ..., February 20, 2005

By	m-chan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Donnie Darko - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)

My rating and the following refers specifically to the Director's Cut. I would rate the original theatrical release five stars.

This director's cut brought to mind William Faulkner's line about writers often having to "kill their darlings" in order to meet the demands of a work's wholeness and integrity. Evidently, Richard Kelly was forced to kill his darlings with the theatrical release, and the result was close to perfection, if not perfection itself. The film's emotional force was stunning; its mysteries challenging; its pace so good that hitting pause to get more popcorn was impossible to do; its soundtrack (to my mind) a tour de force. It worked terrifically as a film experience, being a beautiful "whole" work of art. Extras that included Roberta Sparrow's book were great ... who really wanted to read the book during the movie anyways? (Which we can now do in the DC.)

Which does not mean a director's cut had no hope of working. Or even, maybe, revisions to the soundtrack (although I really think that was touchy business better left untouched). There were some good scenes deleted from the original, mainly between family members, and they didn't seem major pace-cutters. Fortunately, we do get those scenes here, but we also get the overwhelming force of the director's enthusiasm ... and WAY too much embedded detail of his personal vision.

On the upside, there's a nifty freedom to that enthusiasm which translates well into the Darko world IF you are also enthusiastic and into "playing" with Darko. In other words, if you love Donnie Darko already, you may find this cut a lot of fun. The pacing's completely blown, and the ending comes across flat compared to the original. (Kelly gets too detailed and baroque at the end, thus the impact of the "Mad World" music montage--don't want to include spoilers--and last scene is severely undermined.) Yet it's great to have more Darko, however we have to get it. And I don't regret buying this.

But if you've never seen the original DVD release, I cannot recommend this DVD set to you over that one. You will probably wonder why a cult ever built up around this film ... what anyone saw in it. You'll be missing that visceral power and compelling wonder that makes movies great and leaves you wanting to see a movie again ... immediately, if possible.

Donnie Darko was a little miracle of a film that cast a huge shadow. The director's cut joins many other films that try for bigness and achieve little ... unless, of course, in Darko's case, you've already seen the light and are into shadow-play.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The question isn't whether or not the movie's good, it's whether or not to watch the director's cut or the original, June 8, 2006

By	Panda Opa - See all my reviews

This review is from: Donnie Darko - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)

Donnie Darko is a very good movie. Yeah it gets a little to complicated for itself at times, but it's entertaining the entire way through. A very good film with a very good cast. Almost nothing wrong with it. But...

The Director's Cut: Alright, this version of the film has been criticized by many fans and critics. Often seen as making the film, simple and cheap. I myself do not enjoy it quite as much as the original, for the above reasons. But by no means does the Director's Cut make it a bad movie. I mean heck, I own it. The specials on the dvd are also pretty good.

I still suggest to you that you watch the original first, but if you don't, I wouldn't worry about it. The whole, "The Director's Cut is the Worst movie Ever", isn't true. I hope you enjoy this very good movie.

Rating: 4 Stars

I hope this was helpful, thanks for your time.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The End of the World, August 15, 2005

By	Goatface Killah - See all my reviews

This review is from: Donnie Darko - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)

Funny, sad, and mind-blowing, 'Donnie Darko' is, quite simply, an excellent movie. The plot is complex and engaging, with Jake Gyllenhaal as the protagonist, followed up by a cast that doesn't leave Jake holding up the movie.

Depending on what version of the film you see, the plot can be simple, or very hard to understand. I saw the original version on television and it was easy to comprehend. However, I had a lot of questions about little plot strings that weren't tied up. Just the other day I saw the director's cut. I spent the rest of the night explaining things to the people who watched it with me while simultaneously figuring it out myself.

But, let me explain first. In the original version of the movie the plot line goes like this. Donnie Darko is introduced as the protagonist. He smokes, sees a therapist, and is rude to his parents. Then comes the fateful night of October 2nd.

Donnie is asleep when he hears a voice that tells him to follow it. Donnie gets up and walks out of the house and onto a golf course where a human sized, demented bunny rabbit called Frank tells him the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds. At the same time as this encounter a jet engine falls through Donnie's room, which would have crushed him had he not gone out to the golf course. For the next 28 days Donnie goes on certain missions by the bidding of Frank, gets a girlfriend, and finds out about time travel. I wont tell the ending for the sake of preserving it.

In the director's cut there are a few differences. The beginning is the same. However, this time the end of the world mentioned by Frank really comes into play. It is explained (and this is explained only in the director's cut) that Donnie is in a tangent universe separate from the primary universe, and it will collapse after a few weeks, creating a black hole in the primary universe destroying all of existence.

Donnie goes through the same adventures with a few differences here and there from the original version with the same ending result, only it is much clearer why he does what he does.

I highly recommend this movie to those intelects who like to think about the plot, and to those who like dark comedy, and also to anyone and everyone, for this is truly not a film to be missed.