DONNIE DARKO - Blu-ray review

I am an ardent fan of the ABC science fiction television series "LOST" and its recent metamorphosis into a hardcore time traveling epic has only piqued my interest. Anything intelligent dealing with the subject of time travel is now a target for my must-watch list and the 2001 independent darling "Donnie Darko" has quickly risen up my list of favorite modern science fiction films. Starring a pre-"Brokeback Mountain" Jake Gyllenhaal and featuring an incredibly engrossing story, "Donnie Darko" provides a hard core vision of alternate universes and looping time in a manner that requires repeated viewings and a great deal of thought to fully digest and appreciate.

"Donnie Darko" was released silently and without much fanfare into theaters by New Market films, which is best remembered for distributing the controversial Mel Gibson film "The Passion of the Christ." The film did not make a splash at the box office after its debut at Sundance, but it was a popular choice amongst critics. In the past five years, it has amassed a strong following that has only grown over time and been bolstered in recent times by the Gary Jules cover of the Tears for Fears song "Mad World" that was popularized during the advertising blitz for the Microsoft Xbox 360 title "Gears of War." Where the film failed to generate a profit in cinemas, it has become an important catalog title for Twentieth Century Fox and now makes its Blu-ray debut.

The problem with "Donnie Darko" is that it is not a mainstream film. It requires a ton of thought into understanding everything thrown the viewers' way and a requirement to fully be able to think outside the box to come to terms with what happens in the final few scenes. I'm not insulting the intelligence of the American public, but "Donnie Darko" is a lot like "LOST" in that it isn't a film you can just sit down to enjoy. You must pay complete attention to it and try and remember minor little details. It requires strong comprehension skills and there is no possible way the film can be fully appreciated by just sitting down with a soda, a bag of chips and a desire to kill some time with a casual viewing. This film requires complete attention.

The film features real-life brothers Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Donnie and Elizabeth Darko. Donnie is a troubled youth who is on medication for past problems with overly aggressive behavior and has become a dark sheep among his family. He calls his mother Rose (Mary McDonnell) a bitch after one disagreement over medication and he and his father Eddie (Holmes Osbourne) rarely share a serious moment. He looks after his youngest sister Sam (Daveigh Chase), but shows little restraint in cursing or acting obnoxious against the impressionable young girl. Donnie must attend psychiatric sessions with Doctor Lilian Thurman (Katharine Ross) and he hangs out with other youths that seem destined to become juvenile delinquents and are typically cruel to their fellow students.

Donnie is an intelligent boy and is respected for his intelligence by teachers such as Dr. Monnitoff (Noah Wyle) and Karen Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore). He does not respect other teachers such as the overbearing and simplistic Kitty Farmer (Beth Grant) and motivational speaker and local celebrity Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze). He quickly catches the eye of a new girl in class, Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone), but this makes him a target of class bullies Seth Devlin (Alex Greenwald) and Ricky Danforth (Seth Rogan). Donnie is rebellious and does not fit in with either his family or his peers. Throw in his aggressive behavior and Donnie becomes a tragic figure.

One night Donnie is called out of the house by an eerie voice. He finds himself in a golf course and a six foot rabbit with a horrific mask tells him that the world will end in twenty eight days. While he is talking to the apocalyptic hare, a jet engine crashes into his house where his bed lies and had Donnie not left the house, he would have been killed. This begins a series of events where the rabbit known as Frank haunts Donnie and has him commit all types of heinous acts as Donnie is tormented by his own mental issues and the daydreaming of the rabbit. At this point I will not reveal any more of the story line as it would ruin any enjoyment of the film. This is a movie that excels because of its story and its surprises and I would hate to ruin that.

I found myself enthralled with the twists and turns of "Donnie Darko" and when the final payoff occurred and the whole story fell into place, I found myself greatly impressed. The next day I spent some time on the information highway and found plenty of very good discussion about the film and found more and more depth about the story by Richard Kelly and how well he had used the fictional novel "The Philosophy of Time Travel" to tell the story and use the character and situations contained in the film as elements that were outlined in the chapters of the book. There was a lot of thought put into this film and the director's cut of "Donnie Darko" allows the pieces to masterfully fall into place as little details became important plot points when the film finally reached its end and the haunting Gary Jules song "Mad World."

"Donnie Darko" is an extremely intelligent film and one of the absolute best science fiction films to tackle the concepts of time travel. Richard Kelly deserves a great deal of praise for both writing the film and directing it in a way that does not betray the film's intelligence and requires the viewer to pay attention to fully appreciate the experience. The acting in the film isn't anything overly memorable, but the actors are good enough to not be a distraction and the very deep and involved plot and high intelligence of "Donnie Darko" more than makes up for the shortcomings in acting. This is a good looking film and combines some good humor and even a touch of romance. While this is hardly "American Pie" meets the "Twilight Zone," it is science fiction for audiences that would enjoy both of those films.

Video:

"Donnie Darko" is presented in its 2.35:1 aspect ratio with a clean, but unimpressive looking transfer. The film's low budget underpinnings are a detriment to the high definition transfer as it lacks the clarity and detail that is expected with most Blu-ray releases. The film does have a few good looking moments, but for the most part, "Donnie Darko" is a subpar title on the format. A very thin sheen of grain accompanies most scenes in the film and this further reduces the available level of detail to the point where some scenes almost look as if they were shot with smoke in front of the camera lens. Coloring is good and presents natural looking hues, although the film does look a little bit older than it really is. The transfer is at least clean looking and doesn't show any flaws. The picture is stable and while it looks like a decent DVD release, this is not a title that will impress on Blu-ray.

Audio:

One of the big differences between the original theatrical version of "Donnie Darko" and the three year newer director's cut is the sound design of the film. The film was remastered to bring out more of the sound effects and the musical numbers contained in the film. There are definite differences listening to the two versions and the English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio of the director's cut is the better sounding version of the film. The longer version of the film features some very good audible effects as the rear surrounds really come alive and sound great. The first calling of Donnie by Frank occupies every speaker and sounds truly haunting. The bass response of the .1 LFE channel isn't bad, but doesn't get near as much attention as the rear surrounds. The musical numbers of "Donnie Darko" are important and all sound wonderful with this mix. Dialogue is also very good.

Extras:

The Blu-ray release of "Donnie Darko" is billed as "The Director's Cut" of the film. One of the trends I have liked thus far with Blu-ray is that both the Original Theatrical Version of the film and the extended cuts are typically included and in the case of this film, the secondary version is the 2004 Director's Cut of the Film. The director's cut rings in at 134 minutes, which is twenty one minutes longer than the 113 minute theatrical version. The film contains variance in the musical selections as well as a large number of additional footage. One of the more important inclusions is the graphical overlays that include chapters from the fictional book "The Philosophy of Time Travel" and provides a little more insight into the structure of the film. This is one of the better ‘director's cuts' and my recommended way of watching the film.

"Donnie Darko" includes three commentary tracks on the first disc. The theatrical version allows selection of the Commentary by writer/director Richard Kelly and Jake Gyllenhall as well as the Commentary by Cast and Crew. The longer director's cut allows the viewer to watch the film with the best commentary track of the three, the Commentary by writer/director Richard Kelly and Director Kevin Smith. The longer and newer commentary with Kelly and Smith is very good as the two have a good discussion on the science fiction of the film and the comic book elements and many things are discussed that provides a better appreciation for the film. The other two commentaries aren't bad either and each are quite listenable and informative, but the "Clerks" director and Kelly is easily the most engaging.

The second disc is simply a DVD that is packaged with the Blu-ray and contains the non-commentary bonus features. I imagine the reason for including a second disc is that two versions of the film and two full audio tracks didn't leave enough room and it was cheaper including a DVD platter for the second disc. Five items are included on disc two. The Production Diary with Optional Commentary by Director of Photography Steven Poster (52:54) is the centerpiece of this second disc and is a running video diary that shows some very good footage of the filming of "Donnie Darko." It begins with some location scouting and provides a very nice and candid look at what went into filming many of the scenes in the film. Shot by the DP, I enjoyed the descriptions of many of the camera shots contained in the film.

The remaining items are good, but don't quite stack up to the video diary. They Made Me Do It Too – The Cult of Donnie Darko (28:05) is a little unusual and shows many random clips with fans of the film as they discuss their enjoyment of the film and why they are cult followers of "Donnie Darko." A half an hour of rabid and rabbit fans is long, but different. Storyboard to Screen (7:58) shows footage from the film on the bottom of the screen with storyboards shown above the clip. #1 Fan: A Darkomentary (13:18) is the winning entry where fans of "Donnie Darko" submitted fan made documentaries and the winner was then chosen to be added to the director's cut DVD release. This continues with the fan love of the film and is another unusual but interesting feature. This is about a guy proving he is the biggest fan of the film. Finally, the Director's Cut Theatrical Trailer (1:02) is included.

Closing:

I had never seen "Donnie Darko" before sitting down to watch the Blu-ray re-release of the Director's Cut DVD. I found this to be an incredibly entertaining film that is highly intelligent and cleverly written. As a fan of the television show LOST, I was captivated by the time travel elements and found Richard Kelly's labor of love to be a wonderful entry in the science fiction genre. The Blu-ray release is essentially a recycle of the previous DVD release and the film's limited source materials do not allow the film to take advantage of the visuals that Blu-ray is capable of, but the soundtrack of the director's cut sounds good. To rub salt further into the wounds for those looking to upgrade, most of the supplements are contained on a second disc that happens to be a DVD. While the film is very good, the release is subpar when you consider it is hardly a step up over the director's cut DVD.