There’s not much anyone can say about Donnie Darko that hasn’t already been said. Director Richard Kelly’s debut feature, a mind-bending story of time travel, alternate universes, a troubled teen and a giant rabbit, is still the subject of countless fan theories and, despite the film’s initial luke warm reception, has gone on to become a bona fide cult classic. Now, 20 years after its original release, Arrow Video has come up with a full 4K UHD remaster which updates both the theatrical and director’s cuts of the film with a shiny layer of polish.
It hasn’t been possible to check out the theatrical cut yet (more on that shortly…) but the picture quality of the director’s cut is markedly brighter and richer than the previous Blu-ray version. It does still look a bit rough in places, most notably during the opening bike ride scene, but it appears this is due to the original source material rather than any sort of transfer mishap. We’re looking at the best version of the film that technology will currently allow, and fans will certainly be pleased with the effort that has gone into the audio and visual enhancements.
Over on the extras, a lot of bonus content from previous releases have been carried over (going all the way back to the DVD era), with an abundance of archive cast interviews, audio commentaries, featurettes and deleted scenes, but there’s also a brand new 90-minute documentary that goes into exhaustive detail about how the film came to life. Taking the form of “talking heads” interviews with writer/director Richard Kelly, producer Sean McKittrick, editor Sam Bauer and various members of the cast and crew, it covers everything from casting and costume design to the actual production, the film’s critical reception, refinements and eventual mainstream release. Possibly more information than anyone could need, but an enjoyable source of information for anyone with a keen interest in the film itself.
It’s a great package in terms of overall content, and unquestionably contains the definitive versions of the film yet in terms of audio and visual quality. However, an issue with the first disc means that the theatrical cut has an extremely juddery framerate on certain players, making it pretty much unwatchable for many viewers. At the time of writing, Arrow Video has confirmed that an announcement should be made within the next week or so, presumably involving disc replacements, and has removed the item from their online store, but the set is still available elsewhere. If you’re thinking of picking it up right now, be aware that you may well find yourself waiting for a new disc to arrive in the post over the coming weeks… Fingers crossed Arrow will be able to rectify the problem, giving this one of a kind movie the treatment that it very much deserves.
