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HTF BD REVIEW: Donnie Darko - Theatrical & Director's Cut

post #1 of 19
4/2/09 at 8:49pm
Thread Starter 

Blu-ray Disc Review






DONNIE DARKO

Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Film Year: 2001
Theatrical Film Length: 113 minutes
Director’s Cut Length: 134 minutes
Genre: Drama/Thriller/Sci-Fi

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Colour/B&W: Colour

BD Specifications:
Resolution: 1080/24p
Video Codec: AVC @ 18MBPS
Disc Size: BD-50

Audio:
  • English DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio
  • French Dolby Surround (Theatrical Only)

    Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French (Director’s Cut Only)
    Film Rating: Unrated
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Donnie Darko [Blu-ray]
post #2 of 19
4/2/09 at 11:22pm

Re: HTF BD REVIEW: Donnie Darko - Theatrical & Director's Cut

Nice review!

I agree with the PQ rating; it doesn't blow you away but it's faithful to the source. It is worth mentioning, though, that the Director's Cut was sourced from a different master than the Theatrical Cut, and there apparently is some EE on it.

I didn't even see this movie until the BD was released, and I must say it was my best ever blind-buy.
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post #3 of 19
4/3/09 at 4:50am

Re: HTF BD REVIEW: Donnie Darko - Theatrical & Director's Cut

Thanks for the review, Michael. I replaced my SD-DVD copies of both cuts of the film with this BD, and was delighted with the presentation. However, I have not watched the director's cut from this set. I, too, prefer the theatrical cut.
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post #4 of 19
4/9/09 at 2:10am

Re: HTF BD REVIEW: Donnie Darko - Theatrical & Director's Cut

Quote:
Some claim that the Director’s Cut is an inferior version of the film and takes away some of the magic that the theatrical version of the film had. Even more, many claim that it appears that the director probably wasn’t even sure about how the main messages in this film should have been delivered, and that the theatrical version became a very fortunate accident. If it was an accident, it was one of the better accidents to happen.
This is spot on!
The theatrical cut is one of those rare happy accidents brought about by necessity and limitation and is all the better for it.
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post #5 of 19
4/9/09 at 7:46pm

Re: HTF BD REVIEW: Donnie Darko - Theatrical & Director's Cut

Thanks for the review, Michael - Excellent film and a superb soundtrack and score (I love that ambient, slow moving music by Micheal Andrews). I have just ordered from Amazon. Loved the unusual story of your introduction to the film, too - quite peculiar
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post #6 of 19
4/9/09 at 8:41pm

Re: HTF BD REVIEW: Donnie Darko - Theatrical & Director's Cut

Thanks for the review. Been meaning to pick this up.

This is one of my all time favorite films. It is great.

The director's cut, however, needs to be buried. A couple of years ago, I started watching it (after having seen the original 3 times) and I stopped 20 minutes into it. It's terrible. What was he thinking? I'll never go back and finish watching it. It really ruins the charm of the original.
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post #7 of 19
6/23/09 at 3:00am

Re: HTF BD REVIEW: Donnie Darko - Theatrical & Director's Cut

Allow me to resurrect this thread.

I bought this title on Blu-ray last week mainly because it was
one of those films I heard a lot about and never had the opportunity
to see.

So, all I have to say after watching it yesterday is....

I don't get it.

The film was certainly intriguing enough to keep my interest for
two hours (I watched the theatrical cut). However, as the story
became more complex I was hoping that the final few minutes would
make it all sensible. Unfortunately, the final 10 minutes of the film
made it all the more complicated.

While I understand this film has garnered a cult following of sorts,
I certainly would not recommend it.
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post #8 of 19
6/23/09 at 12:41pm

Re: HTF BD REVIEW: Donnie Darko - Theatrical & Director's Cut

That was part of what gave the movie lasting appeal to me; I was wracking my brains for a couple of days trying to figure out how everything fit together. Even now I just have a general idea of it, and just sort of trust that the movie is following its own internal logic. Oddly enough I turned off the commentary after about ten minutes because I was hearing too much, and I didn't want it to lose its mystique. It's definitely one of those films that benefits from repeat viewings. And it's also definitely not for everyone.
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post #9 of 19
10/25/11 at 6:40pm

The review is empty?

 

It's on sale at Best Buy and I'm trying to decide whether to get this, or pay for more the 10th anniversary ed.

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post #10 of 19
10/27/11 at 4:26pm
Very concise and well written review thanks Michael.
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post #11 of 19
10/28/11 at 7:09am

??? You're being facetious, I hope. The review is completely missing for me. There is no text except for the basic disc specs.

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post #12 of 19
10/28/11 at 7:19am
Exactly, Dave. How much more concise could it be?
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post #13 of 19
10/28/11 at 7:27am

Oy...

 

We bought the 2009 release via BB's trade-in sale. :) Maybe watch it this weekend. Hopefully it has the director's cut, which I've not seen.

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post #14 of 19
10/28/11 at 7:44am
You can't see the text of the review, hmm.
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post #15 of 19
10/28/11 at 8:43am
Are you actually seeing a review in this thread? Are you viewing it in an ordinary web browser? As others have said, I see only in information box about the disc, but no actual review.
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post #16 of 19
10/28/11 at 9:44am
I don't see a review either, using Google Chrome browser.
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post #17 of 19
10/30/11 at 2:08pm
No review is visible, I'm using Internet Explorer 9 and Windows 7. I see only basic disc specs in bold typeface, and in the audio section below 'English DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio' I see more specs regarding the French audio and subtitles in a huge font size and that's where it ends for me confused.gif

Not a big deal since I'm familiar with the film's theatrical cut which I own on SD DVD (first US release). I really need to upgrade my copy to Blu-Ray format soon since I love this film, but should I bother with the Director's Cut or just get the same theatrical release (which can be found in a discount bin at a local brick & mortar) on Blu-Ray? Is the Director's Cut really that bad?
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post #18 of 19
10/30/11 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD View Post

Very concise and well written review thanks Michael.

Funny guys!

Gentlemen...there was once a review on here. Unfortunately, when HTF changed over to the new design, some 350+ of my reviews were simply destroyed in the process. In the 'classic days' I formatted my reviews in a way that would look creative and interesting within a forum space - different than anything else at the time. Had any of us known they would not have survived a changeover, I would have kept my formatting simple. I also express regret that I can't at this time correct old reviews on the forum as the hard drive with my original writings has gone missing when I moved houses at about the time of the changeover.

For the question as to which edition to purchase? From what I have heard, the image and sound on both releases are the same. I'm not sure what additional features are included on the 10th Anniversary Edition, but being a movie-only guy, the theatrical cut is the superior film to me if you are planning to watch this film for the first time.

Mike.
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post #19 of 19
10/30/11 at 3:25pm
tongue.gif
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Donnie Darko [Blu-ray]
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