Donnie Darko - 4K remaster (Arrow)

[GasmaskAvenger]

Originally Posted by xxnomad

just waiting for it to go live on amazon before i pull the trigger...

I'm waiting for it (and Guyver) to go live on Zavvi since they never do holding charges prior to your orders from them shipping.

[rapta]

According to Ant Nield (in a post on the Criterion Forum) this Donnie Darko set has been in the works for a while now. So Metrodome must have just let it go at some point and Arrow picked up the license. I thought it sounded a bit unlikely they'd be able to figure out a 4K restoration and all those extras in just a few months after Metrodome folded. Explains why it's been OOP for a while now too.

Doesn't mean we won't see ex-Metrodome titles popping up though, as apparently they were just letting licenses expires. Fingers still crossed for Slacker and Chopper then...

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by Rottweiler30

nah. Love the film but really getting tired of rebuying titles. Current UK disc will do fine.

The current release looks pretty bad. This film deserves much better. Have to say that 27.99 is really too expensive but I will still buy it.

[MechaGodzilla]

Duuuuude...

[The Fallen Deity]

Originally Posted by FatalSpiderbite

This set would have been perfection if they had included CDs of the score and the soundtrack which are both excellent.

Only if The Killing Moon is included or GTFO.

I still hate the fact that it was replaced by Never Tear Us Apart in the director's cut. The song itself isn't a bad but I prefer The Killing Moon and it suits the scene better imo.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

The current release looks pretty bad. This film deserves much better. Have to say that 27.99 is really too expensive but I will still buy it.

If I truly believed this would never come out in a cheaper version I'd buy it now, but the description makes it sound like all we'll lose is the booklet. I'll really regret it if the cheap release is of the director's cut only, but I'm willing to take the risk!!

[GasmaskAvenger]

I'm going for the Limited Edition because I never owned this film on DVD (despite enjoying it considerably) and held off getting it on blu-ray in case of a scenario like this.

So Arrow has my money lined up for this bad boy.

[fuzzymctiger]

Originally Posted by rapta

I'm wondering what else Arrow - or other labels for that matter - managed to snap up from Metrodome now. I would especially love to see Richard Linklater's Slacker and Andrew Dominik's Chopper, if those were still with Metrodome, and I'm pretty certain Black Christmas would be perfect for Arrow Video. Na Hong-jin's The Chaser would be welcome from anyone who was interested in it (still hoping The Wailing has got a UK distributor).

Chopper needs a blu ray release badly, shame he's not alive anymore as I'm sure Read would have loved to contribute to some special features, as he loved the film and Banner's performance.

With Black Christmas getting a new scan in the US, maybe Arrow could get on that as well?

[DavidGallow]

Originally Posted by fuzzymctiger

Chopper needs a blu ray release badly, shame he's not alive anymore as I'm sure Read would have loved to contribute to some special features, as he loved the film and Banner's performance.

He might have played Bruce Banner later, but Eric's name is Bana

[fuzzymctiger]

Originally Posted by DavidGallow

He might have played Bruce Banner later, but Eric's name is Bana

Silly me

[rezpekt]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Why do a 4K remaster then just release it on 1080p Blu-ray? Where's the UHD release

Because it costs extra money, market is small, especially in the UK, and business is still business. Doesn't help that Sony -- "the Blu-ray company" -- is actively not supporting the new format.

[ThisKid]

Originally Posted by rezpekt

Because it costs extra money, market is small, especially in the UK, and business is still business. Doesn't help that Sony -- "the Blu-ray company" -- is actively not supporting the new format.

I can see why. Their first batch of 4K titles were utter garbage.

In seriousness, though, Sony f****d up here. They have the technology. They have the money. And they have the fans. And to full on slap them all in the face by neglecting to include a key feature into buying the new system is just stupid. No, scratch that. Sheer and utter incompetence. Get your s*** together Sony. First their 4K titles (WHO THE F*** PUTS SMURFS 2 AS THEIR FIRST BATCH!?!?!?), then their "Choice Collection" (If they're your choice, then why'd hell did you put them on BD-R!?!?!?), and now this. At least Adam Sandler's doing stuff for Netflix, or otherwise Sony will be bankrupt overnight!

[HotRats]

I've already bought it four times on blu - two American, one British and one German. One more time won't make much difference as all the others apart from the German have had poor picture quality. One thing to look out for is the Production Diary as the Metrodome UK edition used a shorter version than the US or German.

[Rottweiler30]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

The current release looks pretty bad. This film deserves much better. Have to say that 27.99 is really too expensive but I will still buy it.

Whilst it's true it only got 2.5 for picture quality here, the reviewer also says it's about as good as the film could look and that it was never a pretty film. By this logic he should have given a higher score. The comments are more telling than the score.

It's actually the review of the US disc but I believe the UK disc is the same.

[Pyoko]

Originally Posted by Rottweiler30

Whilst it's true it only got 2.5 for picture quality here, the reviewer also says it's about as good as the film could look and that it was never a pretty film.

Nearly every time words to that effect have been uttered regarding early Blu-ray releases they've been proven wrong by subsequent transfers. I'm sure Donnie Darko is no exception. Doubly so because Arrow know what they're doing and a new 4K transfer costs a lot of money, so if there wasn't a significant improvement they probably wouldn't do it.

I am not so crazy about the film that I would pay that much, but this is a pretty cool acquisition by Arrow.

[cherbert]

What is the general consensus about the Directors Cut version? I remember loving the original and seeing the Directors Cut years later and being bored to tears by it.

[Strangerbyday]

Just stuck an order in with Arrow, used points from the last sale & only paid £11.14 for it.

[The Fallen Deity]

Originally Posted by cherbert

What is the general consensus about the Directors Cut version? I remember loving the original and seeing the Directors Cut years later and being bored to tears by it.

The general consensus by most people who've seen both versions is that the director's cut is inferior mainly due to the fact that the plot is essentially spoon fed to the audience and the questionable soundtrack changes.

[fuzzymctiger]

Originally Posted by cherbert

What is the general consensus about the Directors Cut version? I remember loving the original and seeing the Directors Cut years later and being bored to tears by it.

It was the way I was introduced to the film, and I still quite like it. Looking back, I can admit the theatrical version is a more succinct better version of the film with a better soundtrack, however the added scenes and effects of the Directors Cut are still pretty good, and honestly the meaning of the film is impossible to derive from the theatrical cut, where as extra scenes and inter-titles from the Time Travel book in the Directors cut enable someone to actually work it all out.

In the end, it's down to whether you want an ambigious and mysterious film with a good soundtrack, or a more detailed elaborate film (with inferior soundtrack choices)

[Cinematt]

Originally Posted by cherbert

What is the general consensus about the Directors Cut version? I remember loving the original and seeing the Directors Cut years later and being bored to tears by it.

I think the problem with the Director's Cut was that it gave Kelly an opportunity to answer everyone's questions, and his answers are less fun than the ones people were coming up with on their own. It made it look like a lot of the intrigue was by accident, and he never wanted to leave the original version so ambiguous. I still enjoy it, I like a lot of the additions, and I'll watch both versions again (don't think I've seen the DC in a decade) when I get this set, but the original is the definitive version.