Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut

Kelly may have made the film somewhat simpler with this cut but the DVD menu designers seem intent to muddy the waters with an oblique lay out that may leave you scratching your head cartoonishly.

Not that there’s a great selection of extras on this single disc release. The 2:35:1 anamorphic transfer is lovely, however. This version may have been put together with leftovers from the editing suite bins but you’d never know it. The film looks better than ever and a new sound mix for this cut (which puts dread very much to the fore) is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital and 5.1 DTS Surround – INXS never sounded better.

Rounding out the slim package however is an all-new commentary with Kelly and (since the director was worried about long silences) sweary autuer Kevin Smith. What could have become an exercise in back slapping actually works very well since Smith is a genuine fan of the film yet isn’t arrogant enough to assume that he understands it fully. Even so, at times he seems to know the film better than Kelly. "Obviously you’re confused about your own movie," Smith says at one point, which is borne out by Kelly’s increasing swithering about which cut of the film he actually prefers.