The directors cut is strangely inferior. The original song choices Kelly wanted to make are worse as well.
is there a difference in the soundtracks? i never noticed a change of songs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donnie_Darko_(soundtrack)
Wanted INXS instead of Echo and the Bunnymen for the opening sequence…..very peculiar.
good info robaldo
this was a standout song 4 me in the great slow motion school hallway scene
really 80’s :O)
here is the scene!
hahaha this brings back memories!~
i think i have it on videotape somewhere…
cellar door
I liked the parts that explained the physics of the ‘Tangent universe’. When I first saw it I liked it but I felt it didn’t make a lot of sense. I thought he had just randomly gone back in time and realized all the horrible things that happened to his loved ones were because he survived. All the parts about the physics explain what’s going on better.
The director’s cut is bloated; the physics of wormholes is overplayed, the chapter headings are distracting, and the music choices are poorly conceived. The original version is fantastic, though. Best life-sized bunny-buddy movie since “Harvey.”
yeah i’m remembering how much it blew me away 10 years ago. i don’t think i wanna see this director’s cut
I didn’t think much of the director’s cut
i wonder how the genius who made the original can do this?
The error might be in thinking that Richard Kelly is a genius. Judging by the rest of his output, I’d be willing to say that Donnie Darko was a bit of a fluke; a great fluke, but a fluke none the less.
I liked the original, but after listening to some of Kelly’s remarks in the commentary, I have no desire to see the director’s cut. This was one of those situations where the director’s intentions and ideas of the film actually diminish the film—at least imo. Had I not turned off the commentary, he might have convinced me that the film was actually terrible. :)
Btw, I loved the scene where Kelly uses “Head Over Heels.” That one really took me back and it was also the most John Hughes moment of the film. (I think of this film as a John Hughes sci-fi.) Gyllenhaal and Jenna Malone are great in this. (What happened to Jenna Malone?)
she’s in sucker punch :/
How was she? (I think she’s also in The United States of Leland, which has a good cast.)
ahh you’d have to ask someone who’s seen it. i wondered too so i looked her up on imdb. she has 3 more films in post-production :O i guess she’s doing alright
A John Hughes sci-fi? Come on, Jazz. It’s far better that that phrase would indicate.
The error might be in thinking that Richard Kelly is a genius. Judging by the rest of his output, I’d be willing to say that Donnie Darko was a bit of a fluke; a great fluke, but a fluke none the less.
Agree on his output since the first cut of DD (including the director’s cut and the DOMINO script, for what it’s worth)…which leads us to the question I’ve been dying to get to the bottom of: Who was responsible for steering the original theatrical release of DONNIE DARKO into such a successful structure?
Who was advising Kelly during the editing process that ultimately made the first cut as popularly affecting as it is? Did someone else direct the DONNIE DARKO most folks know and love?
Edit: John Hughes sci-fi…that’s good. And the film is very knowingly playing on that nostalgia for 80s cinema: the ET bike scene, the ABYSS special effects, and, yes, Hughes).
@Z
I take it you don’t think much of Hughes. Personally, I like him, and the description was meant as something positive. He may not be a great director, but he’s solid. Plus, the he’s a filmmaker from my generation for sure, so he definitely has a place in my heart.
I saw this film back when it came out, and thought that while good, it was overrated in the same way that Boondock Saints was-a decent indie movie that people who haven’t seen other great movies make out to be better than they really were.
I do also remember watching all of the deleated scenes and thinking that the film could have been much better if all of these scenes were incorporated, and I remember wondering why they weren’t.
When the director’s cut came out, I scooped it up on DVD, but I have yet to get around to watching it.
I know Kelly probably had a lot of ideas to enhance the film, but this seems to be his biggest shortcoming as a director and creator: the need to self-edit. It’s one reason why Southland Tales was such a mess. He had to load up on the ideas that didn’t come out in the film.
I am not a huge fan of Donnie Darko, but it stands up on its own without the additional explanation of the science of wormholes and time travel. The book was fine, but he needs to reel it in.
The Box was terrible. I’m not quite sure what he would do from here, but his options seem limited. There are plenty of examples of filmmakers who achieve a cult following in their first film and never meet the success of their first few films. I guess Kelly is one of those directors. The phrase he should live by is “leave well enough alone”.
has anyone seen the notorious sequel, s.darko?
i forgot there was a sequel thanks ruby i look forward 2 watching that now :O)
^ I’ve heard that if you like the original, beware of the sequel. Richard Kelly wasn’t involved. It takes place farther if the future and brings in a lot of different characters.
yes s darko is his little sister samantha and her involvement in the original film was mainly being a dancer and getting teased from donnie so it is probably way different
pretty sure it went straight to video?
I have seen S. Darko. It would be a horrible mistake to look forward to it.
haha about what i expected, thx :)
I’ve posted this before, but I met Kelly at a screening of ‘Donnie Darko’ around the time of its release. He took questions, and spoke to the audience about the film. When I brought up the film’s interesting representation of time and its relationship to the principal female characters specifically (Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, the old woman). He nodded his head, said he found my observation interesting, and then basically shrugged it off. He followed up with, “But what’s REALLY cool is that its like the start of a super hero story!!!” At that point, I started to get the distinct impression that the film turned out MUCH better than it should have. After seeing the didactic director’s cut (FAR too obsessed with the functions of time travel over characters), I believe my feeling was right.
yes johnny i read your previous post when searching the forum before creating this topic…
so now i have noticed donnie darko had 2 editors and just one of them (sam bauer) continued working with richard kelly on the next 2 films he directed so that makes me wonder did he have creative differences with the other one (eric strand)
is eric strand the man responsible 4 the successful structure ben simington talks about?
nathan m when i watched the box at the cinema i did not know who directed it (because i never really knew who directed donnie darko) and i remember saying 2 myself at particular moments “what genius directed this” so yes my opinion is richard kelly is a genius even if he collaborates with genius editors
like2sleep
i watched donnie darko nearly 10 years ago when it was a new film
i remember the directors cut being praised about a year ago here from brett (sadly not a member anymore) who never watched the original
i watched the directors cut the other day and the most noticeable difference is the changed ending losing its effectiveness which was what made the original so brilliant
i wonder how the genius who made the original can do this? surely he knew the awesome effect was lost in his new cut
the start of the film seems swifter in the directors cut though i can’t remember the start of the original so well and the addition of the chapters must be new because i don’t remember the nuisance of them being unreadable because they disappear so fast
has anyone else seen the directors cut and believe it is amazing?
i recommend watching the original before the directors cut