Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut (DVD, 2005)

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! :)

For anyone who enjoyed the theatrical release of Donnie Darko but was left feeling a bit...well...in the dark, you will adore this version. The director's cut contains additional footage and deleted scenes (as one would expect) and the director's audio commentary (joined by Kevin Smith of "Clerks" fame) is really a treat.

If there is anything less than highly favorable that I'd say about this version is that it doesn't include the theatrical release as well. It would be nice to have both versions to do a closer comparison for anyone who hasn't seen the original in some time. (I fall into that category.)

Apart from that, kudos for a great film, and a lot of entertaining extras.

4.5 of 5 stars.

After reading about this film on Wikepedia and watching it, it's much better explained with Richard Kelly's version than the studio release. There are the clips of Donnie reconciling with everyone around him before he decides to save the world by giving up his life. There are the excerpts from 'Grandma Death's' book that serve to give the viewer insight into who Donnie really is, according to the film story plot, why he can walk through a police line with impunity and why he can get away with flooding the school and burning down Jim Cunningham's (Patrick Swaize) house. Perhaps with the theatrical being such a big cult hit, Kelly was able to release his version, (lucky for us) and it seems the director's cut clears up a lot of questions a casual viewer might have. I think the fact this film has so many notable cast mambers speaks a lot for the director and his vision. I would highly recommend 'Donnie Darko: the Director's Cut' for any Darko fan.

This is a dark (no pun intended) and mysterious tale about a family in the 70's. The family is somewhat strange, but the main character (Donnie) is somewhat at odds with the world around him. This is exacerbated by the appearance of a devilish man-sized rabbit with a message about the world ending. This obsesses Donnie and gets him to thinking about time travel. The sub plots involve several other characters - his english teacher and a self-help guru. All the sub-plots intertwine into an engrossing movie which bears repeated viewings. That's why I decided to own it. Plus the bonus disk with the directors cut has several additional insights as well as commentary and "making of" featurette diary which some will find interesting.

The film is one of the biggest cult films in recent ages. Director's cut is the way to go for any good and willing collector of DVDs or even an appreciator of good film. This is jam packed with bonus material as well as the very stylish white anatomic cover of Donnie Darko. Highly recommended to get the director's cut, because the single widescreen disc just doesn't cut it.