Donnie Darko Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Donnie Darko Blu-ray Movie Review

Pssst. . .that's not the Easter bunny.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 17, 2017

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 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Donnie Darko is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with AVC encoded 1080p 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:

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 2.0 and 5.1 stereo mixes (note: in what might be an "oops", only 5.1 mixes are included on this release).

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.

Film grading and restoration was completed at Deluxe Restoration, London. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and light scratches were removed thorugh a combination of digital restoration tools. Additional grading was performed at Deluxe, Culver City, under the supervision of director Richard Kelly and director of photography Steven Poster.

This restoration has been approved by Richard Kelly and Steven Poster.

It's kind of interesting to read our reviews of the previous releases, the first of which came relatively early in the Blu-ray era and the second of which simply ported over the pre-existing transfer, for you can almost sense both Casey and Ben Williams trying to navigate the perilous territory of "how does it look" vs. "how accurate does it look" in their assessments. As both previous reviews mention, Donnie Darko was never an overly sharp or vividly saturated viewing experience, and those tendencies continue on with these presentations. A comparison to some of the screenshots in Casey's Donnie Darko Blu-ray review show that clarity is at least marginally improved throughout this presentation, and I'd actually argue for more than merely "marginally", especially when the film ventures outside into brightly lit environments. The kind of hallucinatory blue ambience that shades some segments (notably the opening) is still very much in evidence, but doesn't mask detail levels to the degree it did in the previous Blu-ray releases. The Arrow version looks slightly darker than the Fox releases, something that may tend to increase the appearance of the grain field. That said, aside from some minor yellow chunkiness in a couple of moments, grain resolves naturally and gives the viewing presentation a nicely organic appearance. I frankly didn't notice any major heterogeneity discrepancies in the Director's Cut presentation, something that may augur well for whatever restorative efforts bridged the divide between the negative and DI elements. Those in the "how does it look" camp may want to downgrade my score by a half point or so, while those in the "how accurate does it look" camp may well want to give these new transfers perfect marks.

Screenshots 1-10 are from the Theatrical Cut, and screenshots 11-18 are from the Director's Cut.

Donnie Darko 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 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One — Theatrical Cut

• Deus ex Machina — The Philosphy of Donnie Darko (1080p; 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 (1080p; 8:43) is a 1996 short by Richard Kelly which presages some of the themes in Donnie Darko.


• Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p; 31:54) feature optional commentary. While ostensibly 1080p, these look like they've been upscaled from video sources.


• Trailer (1080p; 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 (1080i; 52:54) features optional commentary.


• Archive Interviews (1080i; 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 (1080i; 4:48) offers artistic interpretations inspired by Donnie Darko.


• They Made Me Do It II (Too) (1080i; 30:17) is subtitled The Cult of 'Donnie Darko' and examines the film's impact.


• #1 Fan: A Darkomentary (1080i; 13:18) was the winning entry in a contest held at DonnieDarko.com.


• Storyboard Comparisons (1080p; 7:58)


• B Roll Footage (1080i; 4:37)


• Cunning Visions Infomercials (1080i; 5:42) feature optional commentary.


• Music Video (1080i; 3:21) offers the film's melancholic take on Tears for Fears' "Mad World".


• Image Gallery (1080p)


• Director's Cut Trailer (1080p; 00:55)


• TV Spots

  Sacrifice (1080i; 00:32)

  Darker (1080i; 00:32)

  Era (1080i; 00:32)

  Cast (1080i; 00:17)

  Dark (1080i; 00:17)

• Audio Commentary features Richard Kelly and Kevin Smith.

Arrow has packaged this release extremely handsomely, as they tend to do. The slipcase includes two DigiPacks holding the separate Blu-rays (and DVDs). The Theatrical Cut includes a poster in the inside sleeve, while the Director's Cut includes an envelope marked "Roberta Sparrow" which holds several pieces of art printed on cardstock. Finally, a really impressive hardback book with several essays (and an introduction by Jake Gyllenhaal), along with copious illustrations and information about the transfers, is also included.

Donnie Darko Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I've seen Donnie Darko in both of its versions a number of times now, and I'm still not sure what it all "means", if anything. That said, it's still a uniquely compelling, even mesmerizing, viewing (and listening) experience, one which has been very impressively restored by Arrow, which once again proves to be one of the most commendable labels around in terms of packaging and supplementary material. Highly recommended.