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-   -   Donnie Darko (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-reviews-recommendations/188320-donnie-darko.html)

Tony Block 03-20-02 07:35 PM

I saw the wonderful nightmare Lost Highway
 

Originally posted by JaxComet



I guess you've never sat through the awful nightmare known as "Lost Highway" :D

I've sat through the wonderful nightmare Lost Highway on numerous occasions and can't wait for its DVD reg 1 release.

re Donnie Darko

Due to its delayed release, DONNIE DARKO didn't show theatrically in Kansas City till last month. Anyway, I saw it the night it opened in KC, and I liked it so much that I went back and saw it again the next night. Also, the film's ending was much more satisfying for me the second time I saw it. I found the score and the use of the 80s music excellent, and the only thing I'd add about
Spoiler:
Donnie turning back time at the end is that besides his girlfriend, his sister's boyfriend Frank will also be alive, and his English teacher will still have her job. The only downside to the ending I see, besides Donnie's death of course, is that Jim Cunningham and his sickness, (wasn't Patrick Swayze great?), will still be undetected. If you watch the Cunning Visions films in the extras, however, the last one ends by showing Swayze's face with words Jim Cunningham 1944-1988 popping up on the screen.
I thought the cast was excellent, especially Beth Grant as Kitty Fisher.

I also bought the disc last night at BB for $20. It was pretty late when I got home so I just decided to sample the special features before turning in, but I wound up watching all of the extras except for listening to the deleted scenes with the commentary track on. By then it was midnight, but I decided to watch the film anyway, and I thought it held up really well for a third time. At 2:00 AM, I started listening to the Richard Kelly/Jake Gyllenhaal commentary track, which I also found very well-done & entertaining, but, finally, I made myself stop the commentary and go to bed at 2:45 and, suprisingly, wasn't tired when I got up at 7:30 AM for work.

cheers, Tony Block

http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/d/donniedarko.shtml

Deke Rivers 03-21-02 07:13 AM


Originally posted by JaxComet



I guess you've never sat through the awful nightmare known as "Lost Highway" :D

even bad Lynch is better than this mess

highdef 03-21-02 07:15 AM

Sorry that you guys disliked this film so much. In my opinion it was one of the best genre films that I've seen in sometime.
Different strokes as they say...

slackerfreak 03-21-02 01:06 PM

I liked most of the movie but thought they really went out of their way to make the ending more than it should have been. It wasn't nearly as interesting as I hoped it woudl be. With all the build up about time travel there was almost zero exposition or any fleshing out of any points that would really make the end more acceptable. It seemed like a really quick wrap up, a sloppy fix to tie together otherwise unrelated plot threads.

Deke Rivers 03-21-02 05:05 PM


Originally posted by highdef
Sorry that you guys disliked this film so much. In my opinion it was one of the best genre films that I've seen in sometime.
Different strokes as they say...

no problem..its all opinion anyway..I guess I was expecting something more quirky along the lines of Memento..this just seemed liked another teen flick to me

Tony Block 03-21-02 06:28 PM


Originally posted by highdef
Sorry that you guys disliked this film so much. In my opinion it was one of the best genre films that I've seen in sometime.
Different strokes as they say...

Besides MULHOLLAND DR, Donnie Darko was my favorite film last year.

cheers, Tony Block

shrike 03-21-02 10:26 PM

I really liked it. It kept me guessing about where the story was heading which I appreciate. I see so many movies that I can usually tell by the end of the first reel how eveything is going to end up; so I really like it when I have no idea what is going to happen.

Cornfed 03-22-02 01:23 AM

Re: I saw the wonderful nightmare Lost Highway
 

Originally posted by Tony Block

Spoiler:
Donnie turning back time at the end is that besides his girlfriend, his sister's boyfriend Frank will also be alive, and his English teacher will still have her job. The only downside to the ending I see, besides Donnie's death of course, is that Jim Cunningham and his sickness, (wasn't Patrick Swayze great?), will still be undetected.

Spoiler:
The fact that Jim Cunningham doesn't go to jail means that Donnie's gym teacher will be able to take the girls to Star Search. So his mom wouldn't be on the plane that crashes. But do you think his little sister would die too? I wouldn't even be on a plane to participate in Star Search if my brother just died. So Patrick Swayze not getting arrested saved his mom (although mourning for Donnie would probably keep her from flying even if she were the only mother available), but maybe it also killed his dumbass gym teacher.

jr.junior 03-23-02 11:53 PM

3rd worst movie of all-time

Cornfed 03-24-02 12:38 AM


Originally posted by jr.junior
3rd worst movie of all-time
Every other movie is tied for 1st and 2nd place. ;)

Definitely some holes in logic in this one as to be expected with anything about time travel. At times, Jake Gyllenhall's performance made me wonder if he should be a lead in a film.

No doubt a film like this will leave the audience divided, but this film is one that I will revisit more than once. Definitely in my top 10 of 2001.

brez 03-24-02 09:36 AM

I watched Donnie Darko last night. Strange, interesting. I suspect that a second viewing will be better than the first, there is a lot going on. Highly recomended.

Mike

boc4ever 03-24-02 12:39 PM

Re: Re: I saw the wonderful nightmare Lost Highway
 

Originally posted by Cornfed


Spoiler:
The fact that Jim Cunningham doesn't go to jail means that Donnie's gym teacher will be able to take the girls to Star Search. So his mom wouldn't be on the plane that crashes. But do you think his little sister would die too? I wouldn't even be on a plane to participate in Star Search if my brother just died. So Patrick Swayze not getting arrested saved his mom (although mourning for Donnie would probably keep her from flying even if she were the only mother available), but maybe it also killed his dumbass gym teacher.

I thought the same thing about his sister.

Spoiler:
My thought was that the sister may actually survive because the gym teacher didn't seem like the type that would be organized enough to catch the redeye. Although the mourning scenario for the sister is also plausible.

The other part I couldn't figure out was why Frank appeared to Donnie, and what type of manifestation he was? Was he ghost, angel, or devil? Why would he appear to Donnie to prevent his death, knowing that he would eventually kill him? Did Frank encourage Donnie to participate in the destructive activities to put him in a position where he would have no choice but to return and sacrifice himself? There may be multiple interpretations, but I thought you may have some insight. Thanks!

Josh Z 03-25-02 12:42 PM


Originally posted by Deke Rivers
I guess I was expecting something more quirky along the lines of Memento..this just seemed liked another teen flick to me
Just another teen flick with a talking bunny, time travel, and mysterious airplane parts falling from the sky?

Pointyskull 03-25-02 12:51 PM


Originally posted by Deke Rivers

this just seemed liked another teen flick to me

:eek: I don't think we saw the same movie...

boc4ever 03-25-02 01:51 PM


Originally posted by Deke Rivers


..this just seemed liked another teen flick to me

No offense, but I'm interested to hear what you'd consider to be a unique teen flick. IMHO, I wouldn't even consider this to be a "teen flick". It just so happens that it centers around a teen.

highdef 03-25-02 02:53 PM

DARKO RULES! Clearly one of the most inventive thrillers to come around in a long while...and a terrific DVD to boot.

Chili Palmer 03-25-02 10:06 PM

Love this film!!

wildcatkid 03-26-02 01:10 AM

I picked this movie up on a whim today, never having heard anything about it. I was absolutely blown away. Now, I just can't figure out why had never heard anything about it.... Definately in the Top 10 in 2001.

mikeoreva 03-26-02 06:50 PM

feel asleep!!
 
This movie was pretty bad. I fell a sleep.

Its a rental.. thats it.. if even that

Magnepitaph 03-31-02 03:38 PM

Hmmm, does anyone think that this will be double dipped? And ifso, does anyone have specs as to when?

I know Kelly has expressed interest in a director's cut, and I don't want to buy this and have that come out in six months!!! (MEMENTO!!!)

So, do you guys think a doubledip is a possibility in the near future?

Aaron Amos 03-31-02 03:48 PM

How good of a DVD is this movie? Special Features etc?Nudity? Swearing? How good of a plot does it have?Worth a purchase?

Your feelings?

Cornfed 03-31-02 05:06 PM


Originally posted by Aaron Amos
How good of a DVD is this movie? Special Features etc?Nudity? Swearing? How good of a plot does it have?Worth a purchase?

Your feelings?

Oh boy, fella. If you are measuring how good a DVD is based on nudity and swearing, you'll be disappointed by Donnie Darko.

Tony Block 03-31-02 05:59 PM

DONALD DARKO is a wonderful film/DVD!
 

Originally posted by Aaron Amos
How good of a DVD is this movie? Special Features etc?Nudity? Swearing? How good of a plot does it have?Worth a purchase?

Your feelings?

Believe me if you don't like typical Hollywood fare, you'll LOVE Donald Darko!

In addition to a great film, there's two commentary tracks, 20 deleted scenes with optional commmentary, four Cunning Vision infomercials, Cast & crew bios, and a few other extra thingys. This is an excellent DVD and I don't see any double dippin' directors cut DVD down the road, since the studio made a very nice DVD presentation for a film that, unfortunately, got a very limited theatrical release.

cheers, Tony Block

D-Ball 03-31-02 06:10 PM


Originally posted by Aaron Amos
How good of a DVD is this movie? Special Features etc?Nudity? Swearing? How good of a plot does it have?Worth a purchase?

Your feelings?

Is this post really necessary on the second page of a review thread? But to answer your question, it is a great DVD. I bought it sight unseen and am very happy I did.

lkelly 04-01-02 10:41 AM

I wouldn't hold your breath on another DVD version in the near future. I know Richard would like to throw some additional stuff on there (he wanted 2 discs, but they would only budget for 1), and he'd love to do a director's cut, but this won't be happening for a while (if ever). They have about 45 minutes of behind the scenes footage, and it would have been nice if the Sundance Channel's "Anatomy of a Scene" special could have been included, but it just wasn't possible.

I expect that Richard will be pretty busy on "Knowing" and the "House at the End of the Street" script, not to mention any future projects that come about. He's not going to be focusing on Donnie Darko re-edits for a long time.

If you are interested in the movie, go ahead and pick up the current DVD version. Hope you like it!



Originally posted by Magnepitaph
Hmmm, does anyone think that this will be double dipped? And ifso, does anyone have specs as to when?

I know Kelly has expressed interest in a director's cut, and I don't want to buy this and have that come out in six months!!! (MEMENTO!!!)

So, do you guys think a doubledip is a possibility in the near future?



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