MovieChat Forums > Donnie Darko (2001) Discussion > Director's Cut is not good.

Director's Cut is not good.

posted 9 years ago by matthew-vaughn-141-344338
26 replies | jump to latest

I haven't seen this film in years, but have watched the theatrical version many times. I love the film, but I think that might be an accident. The director seemed to have a vision for the story that he ultimately didn't get to flesh out properly. I think the theatrical version is so much better for it. It is a much better film with a little ambiguity and less-is-more approach.

I also noticed that the car scene at the end was really poorly done. It just looks very cheap and contrived to me now, I'm not sure if there were significant editing differences. It's a shame because it's the climax of the film. A lot of the special effects look quite dated now as well, like the thorax worm bubble things. I also thought some of the physics and philosophy was a tad shallow and pseudo-intellectual. One example I can remember is when Donnie was talking to his science teacher about travelling backward in time faster than the speed of light, and the science teacher just agrees that it is possible. I think most physicists would agree that time travel is only theoretically possible going forwards in time, and travelling faster than the speed of light is not possible at all.

Anyway, it's still a good film with a great atmosphere and killer soundtrack, and really excellent acting all round.

[–] mockinggay 9 years ago

Too bad I just got the director's cut on blu-ray :(

But it also includes the theatrical :D

[–] king_of_bob 9 years ago

The directors cut is good if you can't suss out the meaning of the theatrical cut. It's a lot easier for the audience to digest. But I also feel like the theatrical version is superior.

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[–] leathercharm 9 years ago

I agree. I only just recently watched the Directors Cut of the movie and found it lacking. The original mystery which is present in the theatrical cut was replaced by the little chapter cards. Which among other changes also ruined the flow that the original had.

Donnie Darko is one movie where ambiguity works so much better than the exposition chapter cards that kinda reminded me of tarot cards or the signs of the zodiac. Or similar to Thirteen Ghosts with the whole Angry Princess, The Jackyl, blah blah blah zodiac cheesiness.

The theatrical cut is far superior IMO. But as an addition to a collection the Directors cut has a place in that some people may find new or different things to discuss due to more information presented in the movie.

People never do evil so completely & cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction

[–] doubl3 9 years ago

It's good, it's just not AS good, in my opinion. Right from the very first song in the movie it got me feeling the movie just wasnt right. Some additions are kind of cool, but overall the theatrical is better. I like the voiceovers at the end, for one thing, which aren't in the director's cut.

[–] Jetfire1959 8 years ago

I like the voiceovers at the end, for one thing, which aren't in the director's cut.

That is one of my gripes about the DC. The voice overs added a lot to the story ending. Especially the police radio dispatcher saying "All units should now be back on base frequency". (or something to that affect)In my mind it means that everything is back to normal.

I don't even know enough to know how much I don't know. Ya know?

[–] emvan 9 years ago

The cuts are very different. If you dig ambiguity, it's there beautifully in the original cut. But it was never intended. It just so happens that what Kelly came up with for the story he wanted to tell works as ambiguity when you cut out some pieces.

Like a lot of sci-fi films, the science is invented and unreal. It's what you'd call science fantasy. But the science in the DC has astonishing internal consistency; I don't think there's an sf film that can match its invented science for the combination of complexity and consistency. For most such films, the more you work through the time paradoxes and the invented mechanisms surrounding them, the flimsier they seem, but for DD as presented in the DC, the closer you look, the more sense they make.

And philosophically, it's also amazingly deep. How many other films are about the contrast between a literal lack of free will (as claimed by scientific materialists) and a lack of effective free will, in a world where we truly have it, because of a forced moral choice? None.

How many films are there where a character has just witnessed the death of his girlfriend and has just shot and killed his sister's boyfriend, and because these things have happened, can honestly tell a bystander to "go home and tell your parents that everything's going to be alright"? And where he delivers this message in a voice choked with grief, because he knows he must sacrifice himself to save the world and, incidentally, erase those two deaths? But you can only fully understand the situation in the DC.

Prepare your minds for a new scale of physical, scientific values, gentlemen.

[–] Drew_Darko 9 years ago

I don't mind the director's cut, but I really hate that he changed the music. I have watched the theatrical cut so many times that the songs are ingrained in my brain, so whenever I watch the director's cut (which is not that often) the music is so jarring.

[–] johnm-dalton 8 years ago

You're so right.

I loved Donnie Darko and had seen it several times in the theater (it was somehow perfect viewing in the wake of 9/11) and on DVD.

I was very excited when the Director's Cut was released in theaters. As soon as I realized they switched out the first song, I said "No". Then the rest was like watching a slow motion accident unfold.

I don't think Kelley understood that part of what made the movie great WAS the ambiguity. Look, the events in the movie will never make sense, completely. Trying to explain them was a big waste and completely messed with the delicate balance of the film.

I'm glad people can still watch the theatrical, because it's superior in every way.

[–] MAK_CDN 8 years ago

I agree. The theatrical release was much better than the directors cut.

[–] jpowell180 8 years ago

Agreed, the theatrical cut is so much better; the soundtrack works so well, and when the soundtrack of a beloved film is messed with, it's just very off-putting.

I can't stand theatrical revisionism; just because the director wants to go back and change a famous film doesn't mean they should - key examples would be the Director's Cut of this film, and of course the Original Star Wars Trilogy.

Imagine if Leonardo Da Vinci somehow came back to life, and decided to make changes to the Mona Lisa - he may have the "right" to do it since it was his creation, but he would still be basically spitting on every fan of that painting.