Director's Cut Was Helpful, But Took Away Greatness

Rating: 9/10 (17 March 2005)

***Review of The Director's Cut***
When I first saw Donnie Darko, I thought it was so amazing, I knew I had to buy it. I also got extremely attached to the songs that would have been on the nonexistent soundtrack (except background songs). The Director's Cut added a lot of extremely useful scenes that helped me grasp some of the mystery of the movie that I didn't yet understand (like Grandma Death's book: WHY the world was coming to an end, I didn't know at first). The movie also added a lot of unimportant scenes and used pictures Donnie's eyes that didn't seem to work and mesh with the film. Frank's voice was initially creepy, but the director's cut made it too echo-y. As I said, I was extremely attached to the songs. When I turned on the first seen and heard not The Killing Moon but some other song (which I grew to like, but not nearly as much) I stared in horror. I thought that The Killing Moon fit so WELL with the first scene. So why was this imposter song here? Well, then Richard Kelly put in The Killing Moon. But he put it where Under the Milky Way should have been, a song I also loved. He put Under the Milky Way on the radio during the car scene. So why not just put The Killing Moon's replacement song on the radio? (I mean, I can't even find The Killing Moon at my library, so what do I do now?!) The Director's Cut still added a lot of great features and useful information, but it is not the perfection I hoped for. It made me wonder if I should have maybe just gotten the original. You can make your decision based on how much you love the musical score. (All 80s music, come on, Tears for Fears? It's unbeatable).