If you're wanting to add an excellent sci-fi psychological thriller to your collection, this is the one to get. All actors did a tremendous job of acting
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This (Disc 1 with the movie) did not play. The player couldn't tell what it was. I do not think it is a Blu-ray disc. The label says it is. Why is disc 2 a DVD? Shouldn't it be a Blu-ray disc as well? I looked around and it looks like it should be. I think something's fishy.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Features Acotrs:Jake Gyllenhaal,Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Beth Grant, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, Katherine Ross, Patrick Swayze & Noah Wyle Running Time:132 Min. Rating:R It begins innocently enough around the Darko’s dining room table, where we find out the older sister (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is rebelliously voting for Dukakis and Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal, Bubble Boy) is off his meds. From here, the film churns forward at a hypnotic pace, revealing facts about its disturbed but endearing title character. On the surface, Donnie is very typical -- he has friends and even is (awkwardly) able to net a girlfriend (Jena Malone), but he’s also "intimidatingly" smart, which gets him in trouble for thinking too much and speaking his mind. But Donnie also has a troubled past of setting fires (thus the meds). And at night, he’s prone to bouts of sleepwalking, lured from bed by a fabulously sinister, six-foot demonic rabbit named Frank (a kind of Harvey possessed) that inspires him to acts of mischief -- like flooding his high school or torching the house of a creepy self-righteous motivational speaker (Patrick Swayze). Interestingly, all of Donnie’s nocturnal activities seem to have a purpose. His first encounter with Frank gets him out of the house to avoid being killed by an airplane engine that falls through his bedroom ceiling. The house fire reveals that the motivational speaker has a dirty little secret. Plus, Frank shows Donnie that he can see into the future, and even perhaps travel there – a lesson that comes in handy later in the film. Donnie Darko -- through all its twists and turns -- will keep you guessing, and talking about what it could all mean well after you watch it. You’ll just have to fill in most of the answers on your own.Hope this helps you decide.Thanks for reading! :)Read full review
Donnie Darko, to say the least, is mind boggling. I somewhat wonder where all this dark energy stems from. Frankly, the culmination of various writers, directors, and producers all having this introspective outlook on life helps them speak miles away from normal thought processes, which they happen to want and catch by putting it down in some sort of satirical film. This film seems to allude the mundane thinkers and screams out to please understand this film the way that I wish you could. Donnie (Jake Gyllenhall) is truly a disturbed individual in this film who is trying to get through life with a big secret. He seems to get stuck right at the reality part of life. Living in an affluent suburb with money doesn't seem to have helped Donnie's coping skills. He becomes very angry and aggressive at the dinner table and gets into a cussing contest with his sister. Nothing seems more disturbing to me than to see this going own under the parents household and it seems that the anger and rebellion has no bounds. Donnie even calls his mother a "B" after shutting the door and walking out of his room. We seldom if ever realize whether Donnie's hallucinations are from schizophrenia, sleep walking, time travelers, or just plain inner fantasy. Donnie seems to not have a grip on his medications or his sleep patterns. We soon also find out that the Middlesex High School seems to be teaming with students more messed up than he is. Perhaps, as a particular spin-off on tripping on LSD or something, we almost have to assume that Donnie feels just as alienated at school as he does at home. Drew Barrymore co-produced this film, and knowing her talent and lifelong experiences, seems to play a large role with the full scope of this film. Drew plays a high school English Literature teacher at Middlesex who seems to be caught up in the same zany mind-games as everyone else brought about at the hands of ultra-conservative people that want to push pure guru love down your throat at same time they are working on breeding tremendous resentment and fear back into you by being super judgmental. I think that Patrick Swayze's character Jim Cunningham (The Love Guru) represents the forces of good (supposedly) trying to shape the minds of the ignorant, yet obviously, our character Donnie Darko had other thoughts on the subject and was seen here as a savior by his classmates as he unearths Jim's hypocritical nature when he sets his house on fire. Donnie sees stuff others don't see, such as a sick looking creature dressed up in a bunny suite that talks to him and tells him the world is going to come to an end in roughly 28 days. Directly after his first encounter with the bunny-spaceman, later that night, an engine from a Jet-Liner crashes into his bedroom ceiling almost surely to have killed him if he had actually been there. Donnie is later found sleeping on the golf-course the next morning. Donnie becomes hypnotized by his therapist and exhibits some very zany thought patterns under hypnosis. Donnie also sees people's aura flowing forward from the chest into other rooms insinuating that he can see the future flow of energy forward in time. I shouldn't really give the ending away, but let me just tell you this is not your average psychological or sci-fi thriller. This has the taste of drama with a twist of a paranoid delusional mystery, mixed with a dash of suspense. Great acting from just about everyone here. I'll give this 4/5 for it's feel.Read full review
Donnie Darko isn't exactly your run-of-the-mill small-town teen. When he's not spending his time going over his inner-demons with his increasingly exasperated councillor (Katharine Ross), he's holding full conversations with a giant rabbit called Frank. It's fair to say that Donnie, much like this movie as a whole, is no stranger to going off the scale on the weird-o-meter. Having escaped death when a mysterious unidentified aeroplane engine crashes into his bedroom, Donnie is instructed by his slightly-sinister bunny buddy that the world will end in 28 days. Obviously that's some pretty handy information to have – but, unfortunately, Frank also tells him to flood his school and burn down the house of sleazy life-preacher Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze). The real question is, are these frighteningly realistic visions simply the product of Donnie's decision to stop taking his medication, or is there a deeper meaning to it all? No prizes for guessing that it starts to look like the latter is the case, when a spot of research on Donnie's part starts to unravel some astonishing information. Frank's advice on the secrets of time travel, for example, seems to carry a little more merit than you'd expect from – well – an imaginary bloke in a rabbit costume. Though at times a little self-indulgent and slow in pace, it's a hugely original movie with a genuinely mind-blowing premise. The special effects are impressive for a film put together on a relatively measly budget, particularly when Donnie begins to see a strange Abyss-style ectoplasm projecting itself out of people's chests, which he believes to be showing him a short distance into the future. The dark satire is also at times extremely funny, and Jake Gyllenhaal is consistently believable in the title role.Read full review
Donnie Darko shines as an indie movie that defies generic Hollywood classifications such as action, horror, sci-fi or comedy. The storyline is very unpredictable, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat for the whole 2 hours. It deals with difficult concepts such as tangent universes, non-linearity of time, manipulated dead (?) etc - which should provide enough food for thought for any sci-fi lovers. The genius of the movie is in the ambiguity of its storyline, something that haunts you for a long time after you've seen the ending. The sound effects, brilliant soundtrack, and great lighting creates an eerie, sinister atmosphere rarely found in a movie. There are so many references to future events scattered throughout the film that you have to watch a few times to catch all the subtle references. Thankfully, this Blu Ray Version comes with both the theatrical release and the Director's Cut of the movie - plus a really cool collection of extras that explains many of the concepts introduced in the movie. One of the strong points of the movie was the acting. Jake gyllenhaal delivered a superb performance as a schizophrenic teenager, and Frank was one of the creepiest villains I have seen in a movie.I will never look at bunny rabbits the same way again !Read full review
This movie was recommended to me and when I watched the film, it was so engaging that I had to watch it again the next day. This blu-ray copy is the third I've bought (the original and directors cut in low def), that is how much I like this movie. It is a labor of love, and features fine performances from some true actors who are in the peak of their craft. It is listed as a comedy, but there is love, drama, mystery, sci-fi themes (time travel) and an impending sense of on-coming tradegy. You will finish this movie with tears, not laughter. Donnie Darko is a gem that has reached its popularity almost completely by word of mouth. The characters dance upon a slippery slope of human foibles while surreal events unsettle and unfold around them. My only complaint about this blu-ray edition is that it doesn't have the "Mad World" music video that is so haunting and beautiful, that it is the only video on my ipodRead full review
Highly recommend this! The Director’s cut is an excellent version!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I'ts a really ausome movie that simpley depicts a time and a place of virtual reality as we lived in the 1980's.And as we seen it in our lifetime.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Honestly, I absolutely loved this movie. It has all the same elements that Donnie Darko had, but the musical score and the story, in my opinion, made me enjoy this more than Donnie! I think people hate this movie simply because it is not so straight forward nor are there any comical moments like there was in Donnie Darko and people were expecting the exact same movie, except about his sister. If you can watch the movie and accept it for not being a copy of Donnie, you WILL enjoy this movie!
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