Customer Reviews
Stunning - By: A. Lloyd, 07 Oct 2008 
Donnie Darko is by far my favourite film. No other film reaches deep inside of me & carries me away like Donnie Darko does.
Many of my friends hate it because they "don't understand it" or "it doesn't make sense". They just don't get it though. Of course there are flaws but that is why it is one of the greatest films created in recent years. Whatever your thoughts, it makes you think.
The storyline is the most imaginative I have come across, every actor & actress is perfect for their role, every song is beautiful & the camera work is stunning.
I can think of a few words to describe Donnie Darko - dark, upsetting, thought provoking & beautiful.
The scene in the cinema brings tears to my eyes.
If you haven't seen this already then watch it. Don't expect to understand it first time. Infact, don't expect to understand it ever. The film wasn't made to hold your hand at the end & walk you through what has happened then explain the theory like most films do. Your thoughts at the end will probably either be "what?" & "wow!" or "what?" & just "what?". Either way, watch it!
Fan Dabby Dosa! - By: L. Powell, 02 Jun 2008 Donnie Darko- Absolutely fabulous, arrived spick & span. Completely satisfied with this product, would recommend to anyone with a thirst for knowledge!
Donnie Darko Revisited - By: Stalker, 23 Apr 2008 It was interesting to watch the director's cut a few years after I last saw the original. It still seems to me to be a superb combination of growing up in high school black comedy drama & cosmic religious sci-fi. Kelly gives a simply brilliant evocation of school life in the 1980s accompanied by a perfect sound-track of songs from the time. The quasi sci-fi religious plot is a lot harder to come to terms with. The key to unlock the story is reallly in the "Philosophy of Time Travel" extracts that appear in the film (these were absent from the original release). They don't appear for long enough to read so keep the pause button at the ready. A quick search on the internet will also get you the complete text. As to which version of the film is best, I like them both. In truth there's not that much difference between them. I do like the incorporation of pages from the "Philosophy of Time Travel", I just wish they stayed on the screen long enough to read. The extra scenes fit in seamlessly & add to the back story but aren't essential to the plot or characterisation. The added graphics which appear as Donnie's "Terminator" style view of the world are a mixed blessing. I think they attempt to show his developing abilitity to see through & control space-time but perhaps push things a little too much sci-fi.
Plot Details [Spoilers ahoy]: It is apparent that damage has been done to the space-time continuum resulting in a short lived tangential universe that will destroy itself & everything else if Donnie doesn't fix it in 28 days. It's also apparent to do this he must transport the jet engine back through time to the moment when the first one appeared. What isn't reallly explained is why this works. My assumption is that the first engine does the damage, smashing it's way through space-time, it has no reason to be there, creating a paradox that will destroy the universe if it is not put right. Donnie, by transporting back the engine in a controlled way from the tangent universe, cancels the paradox: It now has a reason to be there. Therefore the engine still appears at the same moment but doesn't do the damage to space-time. The tangential universe can roll back to the point the damage was done & continue on its correct path. The only thing that bugs me about the end of the film (and it's still a fault in this Director's cut) is that Donnie never seems to do anything to send the engine back. He seems to be a spectator. If he just raised his hand & concentrated it would be enough. In this cut we see a "Terminator" style view grid with the word "purge" as the tangential universe rolls back but Donnie never actuallly seems to initiate it. In the original film I was never too sure whether the oddly beautiful storm clouds brewing were Donnie opening his time portal or the start of the end of universe. In this Grandma Death tells Donnie "Hurry, there's a storm coming" & this indicates to me it's the start of the end of the universe.
Any time travel movie & particularly one of this complexity will still throw up loads of questions such as why doesn't dead Frank just tell Donnie he has been given these powers & he must send the engine back to save the universe. But then Donnie wouldn't shoot Frank so dead Frank wouldn't exist to tell him! It seems that God sees everything but has to work in subtle ways to maintain & repair the universe. One final note on the religious imagery in the film: Everyone in the tangential universe is trapping Donnie into doing what must be done, particularly dead Frank who is the only one with a good idea of what's going on. Whilst most of the living (with the exception of Grandma Death) don't know they are being manipulated, Donnie does (he can see people's time lines including his own) so perhaps he has a choice not to go through with it. But he does anyway (he has faith), sacrificing himself in a Christ like way to save mankind (Notice "The Last Temptation of Christ" is always showing at the cinema).
Amazing movie ! - By: N. Bruning, 30 Jan 2008 this is one of my favorite movies, it great i would 100% recommend it, & it's one of those movies that after you see you talk about it for days afterwards, & you can see more than once,because theres so much to think about,i had to watch it a couple of times before i reallly understood it, & the 2nd time i saw it i noticed things i hadn't before. Only bad thing about this DVD is that i found the extra features pretty boring
Script writing in reverse - By: Beal324, 23 Dec 2007 Richard Kelley has created a very complex movie in a very innovative but simple way. He has taken a number of unrelated high culture & pop culture references & weaved a script around them. Rather than fit appropriate references into the script, the script has been made to fit the references. The movie has, in effect, been written in reverse.
The references are mostly explicit & they include:
Harvey
Watership Down
The Destructors
Back to the Future
The Killing Moon
Mad World
David Lynch
John Hughes
For example, the lyrics of the Killing Moon & Mad World are so close to the plot (e.g. "fate up against your will, through the thick & thin, he will wait until you give yourself to him") that it's unlikely that he could have chosen the songs AFTER the script had been written. Instead, the plot has been inspired by the lyrics of the songs.
This is part of the reason the movie appears so complicated & has so many levels. Imagine taking some of your favourite songs, movies, books & film directors & then trying to fit them into a coherent story. It's almost impossible but Richard Kelley has succeeded. Throughout the movie, there are constant cross references between these elements, some essential to the plot & others deliberately misleading.
Kelley also shows great ability as a director. The visual style of the movie has an 'other-world' quality that is ideal for the script & is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock.
Also, I've you've ever experienced any kind of mental instability this movie speaks to you like no other. Either by accident or design, he has captured the essence of what it is like to suffer from anxiety - a sense of detachment from yourself, almost a paralllel existence with a feeling of impending disaster.
However, to fully appreciate Donnie Darko, you will have to concentrate & you will have to watch it several times.
