HTF BD REVIEW: Donnie Darko - Theatrical & Director's Cut (1 Viewer)

[Michael Osadciw]

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

 

[Gekkou]

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.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

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.

 

[Richard Michael Clark]

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.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

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

 

[David Deeb]

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.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

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.

 

[Gekkou]

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.

 

[DaveF]

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.

 

[TonyD]

Very concise and well written review thanks Michael.

 

[DaveF]

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

 

[cafink]

Exactly, Dave. How much more concise could it be?

 

[DaveF]

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.

 

[TonyD]

You can't see the text of the review, hmm.

 

[cafink]

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.

 

[Richard V]

I don't see a review either, using Google Chrome browser.

 

[Marko Berg]

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 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?

 

[Michael Osadciw]

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.

 

[TonyD]