“Is there a problem with Earth’s gravitational pull in the future? Why is everything so heavy?”
–Dr. Emmett Brown
Here’s what I remember from 2001, the heinous atrocity of 9/11 and Richard Kelly’s impressive psychotic coming-of-age fairy tale, Donnie Darko. What you truly have here is an investigation of time travel and sacrificial significance. I mean, sort of, right?
Set during the 1980s presidential election between Bush and Dukakis, DD presents itself as a clusterfuck of genres, an amalgam of anxiety ridden martyrdom that finally forms a head.
Darko, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is a troubled teen that is plagued by visions of a six-foot-tall rabbit named Frank. Oh, I should probably mention now that Donnie is told the world is going to end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Kinda important, I guess. SO WAS SEEING THIS BACK IN 2001!! For shame!
The main challenge of a film done in this nature is it’s instability. Is Donnie’s world (the film) all a hallucination/altered reality, or merely just a random reality among multiple universes. Is it both?
One thing is for sure, whatever is happening to Donnie, it’s unwittingly causing a series of events in which the closet people in his life perish. Donnie must “airbend” between time travel and self sacrifice, to protect the ones he loves.
Oh. Drew Barrymore lives here, as well as playing the role of executive producer.
Now let’s finally get into the dang box set, which proudly boosts 4 discs. After securing the rights, Arrow has included both the theatrical and director’s cuts of the film.
And both versions went through 4K restorations. It’s absolutely permissible for me to say that it looks gorgeous. Better then gorgeous.
Besides the gorgeous LE package art by Candice Tripp, the main bonus feature is Deus Ex Machina: The Philosophy of Donnie Darko, it’s an 85 minute making of documentary which includes tons of interviews and breakdowns. Also included is The Goodnight Place, 1996 short film directed by Kelly that illustrates the many themes that would later make their way into Donnie Darko. Included are also commentary tracks, deleted and extended scenes, as well as a slew of other goodies sure to fill any Blu collector’s belly.
WAKE UP, FAITHFUL READER.
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