Donnie Darko DVD (1 Viewer)

[MarcoBiscotti]

I own the current R1 edition of Donnie Darko and am very happy with it, in fact it's one of my favorite films of recent years and the DVD holds up excellently imo. However, for fun I've recently been looking into what other regions have to offer and I've got a few questions that I'm hoping that somebody might be able to answer...

To begin, I've noticed what's labeled as a 2-disc "Director's Cut" being offered through Amazon.co.uk in R2. It's scheduled for release on Oct. 4th and I have some questions regarding this issue...

I read an article recently informing that the movie would be recieving a theatrical re-release in select theatres nation wide. I am not 100% certain if this was going to be an extended cut of the film, but I am pretty sure that's what I'd read and believe that a new corresponding edition DVD was to follow.

Now I'm first wondering if anyone knows exactly what's going to be featured on the R2 director's cut set to warrant 2 entire discs, and also, whether this is likely to simply be an early issue of what we are bound to recieve in R1 once Donnie Darko makes it's way back to theatres this fall?

Again, this is one of my favorite flicks of recent years so the idea of a new 2-disc edition intrigues me, but I'd rather not jump the gun if we are expected to recieve something similar in NTSC format.

Lastly and most importantly, is this set which I came accross at Amazon.de -



Listing: http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASI...225909-1882427

I almost fell out of my chair when I came accross this beautiful 2-disc limited edition tin!

Being that I'm a huge fan of the movie, my first instinct was to place an order without question!

Upon realising that I'm nearly broke however, I decided it might be wiser to come here and ask some questions relating first, to see if this would be worth it.

Does anyone, know anything whatsoever, about the above set??

Apparently it's got a DTS track which only seems to be available in Dutch or German and a regular 5.1 English soundtrack as is currently available here in R1.

The Special Features all seem to be identical, but I'm wondering whether they will all be available in English or overdubbed or with forced subtitles or something?

I'd also like to know, what the second disc is composed of, or basically the breakdown of both discs and a confirmation on the special features etc.

This was released several months ago so I'm really hoping that somebody has some knowledge into the specs and details of this set. I've tried searching for online reviews to no avail so if anyone knows of any and can link me, it's be very much appreciated!

If there is a 2-disc SE proposed for R1 release, I might just go ahead and grab this current version now for the tin casing alone and sell the discs to house the eventual R1 DVD's!


Anyways, please post any info regarding the above Dutch and UK sets...

Thanks!!!!

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Okay, so what I know is that the theatrical re-release has been very limited at this point, but it's slowly expanding in the coming months.

The 2 disc release is the theatrical and extended cut, and as of now it's only been announced overseas.

I'm pretty sure we'll get a similar region 1 release after the extended cut has come and gone... whenever that may be.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Thanks Robert, the 2-disc I assume would be the same format on the dutch set as well - theatrical and extended?

Do you know if the exact same extras have been ported over and is the theatrical disc identical to what had previously been available or were there any subtle alterations on the format?

 

[Peter Svensson]

Why not buy the dutch edition with english DTS sound instead?

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Get thee over to the apple.com/trailers site for a look at the trailer for the extended cut. It looks very cool.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

^ thanks for the link, I can't wait!

Stephen, I didn't notice any Dutch version with DTS... is it a 2-disc set?

I really think I might just order this limited tin edition for the cool packaging and wait for a region 1 extended cut and use it to house both discs..

:}

 

[Peter Svensson]

Here´s a link to the Dutch edition with English DTS. It´s a Special Edition, but in reality it´s a vanilla edition.

Dutch edition of Donnie Darko at DVDZONE2

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Thanks, but it seems to be nothing more than the theatrical cut currently available in R1 with the only addition being the DTS track and a ridiculous cover art... Dark, Darker, Darko??

I'm not so much interested in the soundtrack as the R1 Dolby 2.0 sounds perfect already, though a DTS addition would be welcomed... but I wouldn't import this Dutch version on the basis of that alone.

I was just surprised to find that R2 had some 2-disc sets available of the extended cut, and that tin version looks really slick. Again, I might pick that one up and wait to see what R1 gets or what available tracks are featured on the upcoming UK edition...

Thanks though.

 

[Mark_vdH]

I haven't seen the specs (tbc) of the UK set posted yet, co:

http://play.com/play247.asp?page=tit...2&title=168847

Disc 1:

Director's Cut of the film (2 hours and 13 minutes)
All-new Director's Cut specific audio commentary
'Anatomy Of A Scene' documentary from the Sundance Channel
'Donnie Darko Production Diary' documentary
'The Cultural Impact Of Donnie Darko In The UK' featurette
'Mad World' music video
Director's Cut trailer

Disc 2: [seems like the exact previous disc]

Theatrical cut of the film
Audio commentary from writer/director Richard Kelly and star Jake Gyllenhaal
Audio commentary from members of the cast and crew including Richard Kelly, Drew Barrymore, Katherine Ross and Jean Malone
Deleted and extended scenes with optional audio commentary from Richard Kelly
'B-Roll Footage': interviews with principal members of the cast and crew
'The Philosophy Of Time Travel' featurette
Website gallery
Artwork gallery
UK art exhibition
'They Made Me Do It': the making of the art gallery
'Cunning Visions' gallery
TV spots
Filmographies of cast and crew

From that post I'm not sure if this is already clear to you, but just to be certain: the German tin set DOES NOT contain the extended cut.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Thanks a lot Mark!

I really want to pick this up but I think I'll be patient and wait to see what R1 gets after the film's extended theatrical run.

The German tin set is 2-discs though, I guess all the extras were probably ported over to disc 2?

Eitherway, I think I might pick that up just for the packaging and wait to replace the content with whatever eventually comes to North America. Otherwise it's UK all the way!

 

[Chris_Marin]

The final specs for UK release have changed quite a bit:


For the full press release and cover art click here.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Wow, they get the Directors Cut before the US?
Wow.

 

[Chris_Marin]

We now have our full, detailed review of the Donnie Darko Director's Cut DVD here.

 

[Peter Svensson]

Does anyone know if there´s a different transfer and audio soundtrack for the new UK edition? I own the Dutch release with DTS, but I´m wondering if I should upgrade to the R2UK edition? I´m only talking about improvements regarding A/V, extras is not interesting to me.