Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Donnie Darko 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 1, 2021

Note: Arrow is continuing with its arguably kind of odd decision to market its 4K UHD releases without offering 1080 Blu-ray discs included. This release basically features new 4K UHD versions of the 4K restoration of Donnie Darko that came out on 1080 discs a few years ago, and which I reviewed at the time. Therefore, this review repeats information from that review, where appropriate.

Call me cynical (and get in line, please), but I’ve sometimes wondered if the duration mentioned in the title of Danny Boyle’s post-Apocalyptic thriller 28 Days Later might have been “inspired” by a similar four week timespan mentioned in Donnie Darko, a film which appeared a year before the Boyle effort. Donnie Darko might in fact have been titled 28 Days Later, or frankly even 28 Days Before, given the film’s rather mind boggling take on time travel issues. Certainly one of the most distinctive independent features of the modern film era, Donnie Darko offers an undeniably dense narrative that features Jake Gyllenhaal as an extremely troubled youth who may or may not be experiencing delusional visions and who is convinced the world is coming to an end in, yep, 28 days, due to a warning he receives from a menacing giant rabbit. If that brief overview isn’t enough to pique your interest, Donnie Darko also features a kind of snarky take down of both high school cliques and (just for good measure) motivational speakers of the Tony Robbins variety, along with "little" diversions like, you know, the space time continuum. Bizarrely freewheeling in terms of tone, Donnie Darko is an intentionally hallucinatory viewing experience and is open to any number of interpretations, two things that have no doubt elevated it to the apex of cult viewing offerings. Donnie Darko has received several previous Blu-ray releases including Donnie Darko, Donnie Darko and Donnie Darko (as well as some other retailer or packaging exclusives), none of which received very high marks for video quality in our previous reviews. Now Arrow has assembled a typically handsome package that presents both cuts of the films in new transfers with a host of new (and returning) supplementary material.

My hunch is most coming to this review are going to be more interested in a comparison of video and audio quality and a detailed listing of this edition's supplements than they will be in another plot summary. My colleague Casey Broadwater's Donnie Darko Blu-ray review of the 10th Anniversary Edition provides an excellent overview for those wanting to know more about this film's rather indescribable plot.

Donnie Darko 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from Arrow's previous 1080 Blu-ray release. Per my comments above, this is another Arrow 4K UHD release without any accompanying 1080 discs. Because there are no 1080 discs included with this release, the 2K video score above is intentionally left blank.

Note 2: Several of our members have reported some pretty serious playback issues on the Theatrical Version on certain players. My Oppo 203 encountered no such anomalies, but for those interested, I highly recommend perusing some of the comments in our Forum Thread devoted to the release.

Donnie Darko is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with 2160p transfers in 2.35:1 for both the Theatrical Cut and the Director's Cut. The handsome hardback book included with this release has the following information on the transfers, which has only been slightly amended from the original 1080 verbiage (including the removal of an incorrect assertion that 2.0 audio was also included):

Donnie Darko has been exclusively restored for this release by Arrow Films. Both the theatrical cut and the director's cut versions of the film are presented in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with 5.1 audio.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution on a pin-registered 4K Lasergraphics Director scanner at Deluxe Media, Burbank. Although the original 35mm camera negative served as the primary restoration source for both the theatrical and director's cut versions, a 35mm digital intermediate element was scanned for some sections unique to the Director's Cut.

The film was restored in 4K and graded in 4K HDR/ Dolby Vision and SDR at Silver Salt Restoration, London.

The original 5.1 audio mix was transferred and supplied by Lakeshore Entertainment.

This restoration of Donnie Darko has been approved by Director Richard Kelly and Director of Photography Steven Poster.

Donnie Darko lives up to its kinda sorta title in terms of being a pretty dark film, both literally and figuratively, and that tendency works both for and against this 4K presentation. I was immediately struck by the improvement in shadow detail from the very opening shot of Donnie lying on the dirt road next to his bicycle, where you can make out quite a bit more detail on his pajamas in this version than on Arrow's 1080 release. HDR and/or Dolby Vision allow for some really inviting nuance in highlights, and it seems to have generally improved shadow detail across the board, though my hunch is some viewers may not like the kind of shrouded overall appearance of this presentation. There are also a number of times where the encroaching shadows can at least temporarily mask fine detail; I found some of the interior schoolroom scenes especially notable in that regard, though it's interesting to note that a lot of these scenes tend to be more brownish rather than blackish in overall color temperature. To my eyes this version looks just slightly more blue-green than Arrow's 1080 version, but within the context of the film's obviously at times surreal visuals, the palette is robust and "normal" in appearance. Arrow's previous 1080 release was already pretty grittily grainy, and that aspect is probably only increased with the superior resolution of the 4K version, a roughhewn quality that is probably even further emphasized by how dark things are so much of the time. Grain looked a little more yellow at times in this presentation than on the 1080 version to me, and a few isolated scenes, especially those with brighter skies in the background, can look just slightly noisy.

Donnie Darko 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both versions of Donnie Darko feature a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix (though the mixes are different for the different versions, as the commentary on the Director's Cut gets into). To my ears, there's no significant difference in fidelity or surround activity between these versions and the previously released Fox versions, with really good low frequency response (the opening thunder is nicely evocative, as are many subsequent effects) and a generous supply of immersion both due to those effects and the use of source cues. Dialogue is rendered very cleanly and clearly and is always well prioritized in both versions.

Donnie Darko 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One — Theatrical Cut

• Deus ex Machina — The Philosphy of Donnie Darko (HD; 1:25:23) may not in fact offer any revelatory explanations of the film's rather dense underpinnings, but it does provide a wealth of production data courtesy of a ton of interviews with various personnel.


• The Goodbye Place (HD; 8:43) is a 1996 short by Richard Kelly which presages some of the themes in Donnie Darko.


• Deleted and Extended Scenes (HD; 31:54) feature optional commentary. While ostensibly HD, these look like they've been upscaled from video sources.


• Trailer (HD; 2:28)


• Audio Commentaries

  Commentary by Richard Kelly and Jake Gyllenhaal

  Commentary by Richard Kelly plus Cast and Crew features Sean McKittrick, Drew Barrymore, Jena Malone, Beth Grant, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, Katharine Ross and James Duval

Disc Two - Director's Cut

• Donnie Darko Production Diary (HD; 52:54) features optional commentary.


• Archive Interviews (HD; 14:19) feature Jake Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osbourne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Duval, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Noah Wylie, Katharine Ross, Richard Kelly, Sean McKittrick, Nancy Juvonen, Hunt Lowry, Casey LaScala and Steven Poster.


• They Made Me Do It (HD; 4:48) offers artistic interpretations inspired by Donnie Darko.


• They Made Me Do It II (Too) (HD; 30:17) is subtitled The Cult of 'Donnie Darko' and examines the film's impact.


• #1 Fan: A Darkomentary (HD; 13:18) was the winning entry in a contest held at DonnieDarko.com.


• Storyboard Comparisons (HD; 7:58)


• B Roll Footage (HD; 4:37)


• Cunning Visions Infomercials (HD; 5:42) feature optional commentary.


• Music Video (HD; 3:21) offers the film's melancholic take on Tears for Fears' "Mad World".


• Image Gallery (HD)


• Director's Cut Trailer (HD; 00:55)


• TV Spots

  Sacrifice (HD; 00:32)

  Darker (HD; 00:32)

  Era (HD; 00:32)

  Cast (HD; 00:17)

  Dark (HD; 00:17)

• Audio Commentary features Richard Kelly and Kevin Smith.

While this is another really beautifully packaged release from Arrow, it doesn't contain quite all of the "swag" that the 1080 release of Donnie Darko from 2017 had. This features a nice sturdy slipcase which in this instance holds only one keepcase, which has both 4K UHD discs inside. The discs are unfortunately not labeled to identify which is the Theatrical Cut and which is the Director's Cut, but for future reference, the Theatrical Cut is silkscreened with Jake Gyllenhaal on the front, while the Director's Cut has a certain evil bunny type creature on it. Inside the keepcase is an Arrow promotional piece on cardstock, as well as six double sided collector's postcards. The keepcase's sleeve is reversible, and the slipbox also contains a folder poster. Finally, the gorgeous hardback book from the previous release is ported over to this one.

Donnie Darko 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Donnie Darko has a lot of metaphysical hoohah (a technical term) about the connectivity of "it all", and in that regard it's kind of interesting that the film spends a goodly amount of time on the 1988 presidential election which featured Michael Dukakis, and just as I was preparing to push this review live, a Variety alert came across my news feed that Michael's Oscar winning cousin Olympia has just died at the venerable age of 89. That may be just an irrelevant coincidence, something that Donnie Darko might suggest never really happens, but the fact that a news item like that can refract a viewing experience (or vice versa, as the case may be) probably offers more than enough evidence of just how weirdly provocative this film can be. Arrow's 4K presentation is excellent if different from Arrow's prior 1080 version, and while this release doesn't have quite the non disc swag of Arrow's 1080 version, it offers all of the on disc supplementary material along with a few other "goodies". Highly recommended.