Donnie Darko ?
 

Which?

both

If youd never seen it before and the SE was cheap, which?

rent it.

I concur.

K

Director's Cut

I own both, but prefer the theatrical version.

Theatrical for first time wathcers, and then DC for a second viewing to see if you put it all together correctly.

both. I like each for different reasons...I thought the original theatrical version was more concise, but that the director's cut flowed better, and the music was better, but at the same time the original music fit better. I dunno...I have both, and I can't choose one over the other.

i agree completely...both are excellent on their own merits

I like them both very much...

SE

Pro-B

i'd say both as well, but believe you should see the theatrical cut first. Thats the movie that became a cult sensation on home viewings. Watch it and if you like it jump in on the DC for a diffrent movie, and some stranger features

The extended version kind of ruined some of the mystery for me. I think it explains too much that was originally left to the imagination.

Neither.

Definitely the theatrical cut.

i own and like both.

Afraid you're flat-out gonna have to buy both...

Much like Apocalypse Now Redux, I'm glad I saw it and own it on DVD, but I'll watch the original 95% of the time. Same for DD. I'm glad I saw the new cut, but I still prefer the theatrical. Probably just because I loved it so much in it's original form and watched it so often, that the DC just doesn't feel right.

Plus, I was soured almost immediately when watching the director's cut. The film opens and instead of hearing The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen, which always set the perfect tone for the film, as far as I'm concerned, we are treated to 'Never tear us apart by INXS. Horrible, horrible change in my opinion that kind of set me up to be unhappy with some other changes. It felt like someone was messing with one of my favorite movies....

I'd recommend the special edition, and I'm one who 99% of the time buys the director's cut over the theatrical cut. This is one of those films for me that no matter how many times I watch it or how many explanations I hear, I just don't "get it". I think Jason Bovberg's review here on DVDTalk pretty well sums up my thoughts.

The director's cut was supposed to unravel the movie a little, but after watching it, I sort of thought, "yeah, I already knew that, but why does..." etc. I'd say that all the scenes that were put into the director's cut to help it make more sense was information already available in the special features on the special edition.

I prefer the Theatrical Donnie Darko DVD over the Director's Cut, mostly because it has better Special Features and cooler box art.

i want NOTHING to do with the Directors Cut.

well if you are a Kevin Smith fan... For some reason he does commentary with the director on the DC.