Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3401 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-10-04
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Box set, Director's Cut, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 134 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Donnie Darko is a thought-provoking, touching and distinctive offering from relative newcomer, Richard Kelly (II). It's 1988 in small-town America and Donnie, a disturbed teenager on medication and undergoing psychoanalysis for his blackouts and personality disorders, is being visited by a being in a rabbit suit whom he calls Frank. It's this anti-Harvey that saves Donnie from being crushed to death when an airplane engine falls from the sky onto his house. This is the beginning of their escalating relationship, which, as Donnie follows Frank's instructions, becomes increasingly violent and destructive. Added to this is Frank's warning of the impending apocalypse and Donnie's realisation that he can manipulate time, leading to a startling denouement where nearly everything becomes clear.

"Nearly everything", because Donnie Darko is a darkly comic, surreal journey in which themes of space, time and morality are interwoven with a classic coming-of-age story of a teenage boy's struggle to understand the world around him. The film leaves the viewer with more questions than it answers, but then that's part of its charm. Performances are superb: Jake Gyllenhaal underplays the mixed-up kid role superbly and Donnie's episodes of angst positively erupt out of the screen. There are also some starry cameos from Mary McDonnell as Donnie's long-suffering mother, Patrick Swayze as Jim Cunningham, the personal-development guru with a terrible secret, and Noah Wyle and Drew Barrymore as Donnie's progressive teachers. Undoubtedly too abstruse for some tastes, Donnie Darko's balance of outstanding performances with intelligent dialogue and a highly inventive story will reward those looking for something more highbrow than the average teenage romp. --Kristen Bowditch

Special Features
Limited edition 3D lenticular packaging plus brand new DVD special features: All new audio commentary with Richard Kelly & Kevin Smith Director's Cut trailer Donnie Darko production diary featurette with optional commentary by Stephen Poster, Director of Photography

'They Made Me Do It Too - The Cult of Donnie Darko' (UK documentary) 'Mad World' music video 'The Killing Moon' easter egg

plus all the original theatrical cut DVD extras:

TV spots Interviews with cast & crew Original cut trailer B-roll footage 'They Made Me Do It' making of art gallery featurette 'They Made Me Do It' gallery Cunning Visions infomercials x2 Cast & crew filmographies 20 deleted and extended scenes with optional commentary

Synopsis
The writer-director Richard Kelly's own cut of his bold debut film. A social satire, a dark comedy, a science fiction time-travelling fantasy, and a suburban nightmare about an extremely intelligent, depressive, self-destructive, narcoleptic, gun-toting, sex-crazed, teenaged arsonist: Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal). DONNIE DARKO is not your typical teen comedy. But, like GHOST WORLD and RUSHMORE, it uses the trappings of the teen comedy as the entry point for a subversive and trenchant (and also wonderfully entertaining) look at American life. The difference between those films and DONNIE DARKO is that Donnie is an unlikely hero who just might save the world.
It's October 1988, in the Virginia suburb of Middlesex. When Frank, a grotesque giant bunny (possibly imaginary), leads Donnie out of his house minutes before a plane smashes through his roof, he not only saves Donnie's life but also warns Donnie that the world is about to end. Over the next few weeks, Donnie falls in love with Gretchen (Jena Malone) and tries to figure out what his life means. Kelly's film perfectly captures the unease that is quietly scratching under the surface of suburban late 1980s life. Gyllenhaal leads an exceptional cast, bringing Kelly's twisted but humane vision to life. An exceptional performance is given by Mary McDonnell (PASSION FISH) as Donnie's mother.

Customer Reviews

A modern classic.
An extraordinary movie about love, death, madness, time travel and being a teenager, Donnie Darko is one of the most brilliant films to come out of Hollywood in recent years, and is all the more remarkable given the fact that it was made by a first-time director still in his twenties. The film follows the troubled teenaged Donnie and the increasingly bizarre events that seem to be centred on him. One of the central threads of the film is Donnie's series of encounters with a giant bunny rabbit called Frank who, the first time Donnie meets him, tells him that the world is going to end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Due to the massive cult popularity the film attained, Kelly was invited to release his Director's Cut of the movie. In my view, the Director's Cut is definitely superior, with extra scenes that round out the story and some atmospheric visual effects they didn't have the money to do the first time round, but Kelly has emphasised that he sees the two cuts as being different versions of the film, rather than the Director's Cut being the definitive one. The Theatrical Cut presents the story in a more ambiguous way, with the Director's Cut presenting more clearly Kelly's own interpretation of the story (which has lead some fans to prefer the Theatrical Cut.) Apart from the different versions of the film, the only differences between the two DVDs are that the Director's Cut contains a few more extras and a new commentary with Kelly and his friend Kevin Smith. This film is a stunning achievement and is really worth getting slightly obsessed by...

Amazing
The first time I saw this film I was confused.

The second time I saw this film I was absorbed.

The third time I saw this film I began to understand.
By the fourth time the ideas explored in the film had s
eeped into my daily life. Having re-read what I have written it appears that I am obsessed with this film. I'm not. The ideas with in it however are mind boggling.

When you realise that every single tiny action you make effects your entire life, you start looking at things differently. What if I'd crossed the road that just a little earlier, or tripped over that top step...?

Quite apart from the amazingly detailed story line, looking into the film you start to realise just how much effort Richard Kelly went to. The continual appearance of the same fat man that is never explained, one realises that he work for a company trailing the Darko family. Even better, Donnies sisters in the film were played by Jake Gyllenhaal's actual sisters, in order to make their relationship seem more real.

This is an amazing film for those who like to think about films. If you prefer to take a film as 2 hours of enjoyment and then forget it within the hour, choose something lighter.

This is a film made by a man who has a passion for filming, and a narrative from the pen of a true story teller.

great
"In reality, what we have here is an incredibly stupid, laughable quasi-comic apocalyptic story involving a rabbit which saves Donnie's life and then forgets to a month later when time is reversed because Donnie shoots a man dressed a rabbit. That's it. It really is that retarded. As with the aforementioned modern art, people are digging for depth that just isn't there!"
In reply to this comment I would say that to fully understand the film you have to watch it more than once. This quote fully summarises the reason as to why this film was a box office flop, simply because on one watch its impossible to understand.
If you do decide to buy this film be prepared to concentrate while watching it and also prepare yourself to watch it for a second and perhaps a third time.
When you finally understand the film, you will realise how much of a masterpiece it really is. The story is brilliant, the acting superb (with an excellent performance from Jake Gyllenhaal), the soundtrack perfect with some brilliant songs from the 80's and a spot on score from Michael Andrews. I would recommend anyone who is searching for something more intellectually demanding than most of hollywood's films to buy this. It is phenomenal.