So, I watched Donnie Darko for the first time today. I'd heard it was sort of a cult film, and that it was really weird which made it even more interesting. 6 foot tall rabbit, time travel, saving the world, it svcked me in.

So, I watched Donnie Darko for the first time today, which was actually just me sitting on the couch for 2 hours watching the longest 'what the [censored] just happened' I've ever seen. I was completely lost afterward, and a quick google search showed me I wasn't the only one. Apparently I have ever right to be clueless, without seeing the directors commentary, or cracking the old website, ect.

Anyone else enjoyed this movie, did you understand it or did you have to google the answers too?

I'd say I understood most of it after the second time watching it, after which I turned to Google to see if I was right. It was hit or miss. I got the gist of it, but I was surprised by how many little things I had no clue about. I don't think most folks really know what to expect the first time and are overwhelmed when key details start flying. By the time I watched it again I had a better idea of what to look for, so it made a bit more sense. Still, there were quite a few unanswered questions until various websites intervened.

Great movie though. S Darko, not so much. :meh:

I've watched it several times, it definitely gets clearer the second time around. Still, I don't think there is one clear explanation for everything. There are many different theories floating around..

It's still one of my favourite films. And yes to nobody's surprise the sequel svcks. :meh:


Also it was weird to see Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie) as the prince in the Prince of Persia movie. The guy must love time travel.

Loved it and it was extremely out thier but I wasn't ever lost.

I've never really looked into time paradoxes,time travel, and all that, so that certainly didn't help me any.

yeah, I got it. The whole movie is a paradox, the second one however is terrible and I cant recommend it.

I fell asleep during it and didn't bother to go watch it again to see what I missed. I just did not like it at all.

Doesn't the second DVD have the book written inmovie by the crazy old lady on it? I sure remember it had. Which way did you watch it?

I enjoyed it. However, I never realised there was all this stuff about time traveling and what not until I checked on IMDB. As far as I was concerned it was a straightforward film...yet apparently it's anything but straightforward. :laugh:

I might give it a watch, but holy hell, the fans of this movie are a vicious bunch, at least on Tomatoes. Nearly every rotten review has many flamers in the comments section. I haven't seen such hostility over a movie opinion since Spoony posted his Tron vlog.

Anyway, it looks interesting. I like "thinking man" movies, so I'll probably enjoy it.

Give it a few views, because you're generally not going to understand exactly what happens at the end.

I've seen it about six times, and love it. One of my all time favorites.

Remember to pause the excerpts from "The Philosophy of Time Travel" and read them all the way through to get a sense of what's going on.

I have a friend who has a fear of rabbits thanks to Donnie Darko.
Makes me so happy whenever he sees one. >:D

Spoiler tags aren't working. Screw you, spoiler tags. In the old fashioned method then: warning - SPOILERS

Imagine that the film starts when Donnie's mother and little sister are in the plane on their way home. The engine is torn from the plane. This wasn't meant to happen. It is a disruption in spacetime, and so a Tangent Universe (TU) is created. The engine goes back in time to the actual beginning of the film. We are in the TU.

Donnie is the most affected by the engine (aka the Artefact) and so he becomes the Living Receiver. It is the Living Receiver's job to correct the spacetime corruption in the TU, righting the Primary Universe (PU). Being the Living Receiver grants you superpowers (I know, I was disappointed too) such as telekinesis and extreme strength - think of how Donnie buries the axe into the solid bronze statue.

People around the Living Receiver - but especially those who are to die in the TU - act oddly in the TU. The ones who die are called the 'Manipulated Dead', and they act in such a way as to manoeuvre Donnie - the Living Receiver - into a position at which he can use his superpowers to fix the spacetime corruption and end the TU, putting the PU back on track. Some examples of this are Ms Pomeroy telling Gretchen to sit with whoever she thinks is cutest, Gretchen warming to Donnie quickly despite him being awkward and strange, Roberta Sparrow pacing back and forth waiting for Donnie's letter (not particularly important in the normal edition unfortunately) and, of course, Frank's guiding of Donnie through the Fourth Dimensional Construct (http://www.donniedarko.org.uk/philosphy-of-time-travel/).

So yeah, basically what you have is a bunch of odd, dead to be people unknowingly guiding Donnie around until the end of the film when he stands at the ridge and uses his telekinesis to send the Artefact back into the PU. The loop is complete, the engine is in the PU and Frank has no need to save Donnie (indeed he can't, because we're back to reality now).

Also, people remember what happens in the TU to some extent in the PU. This is shown in the aftermath of the film when Jim Cunningham cries (remembering the shame of being exposed as a paedophile), when Gretchen waves at Donnie's mother (they must have become acquainted to an extent for Gretchen to go on Donnie's trampoline) and when Frank cannot sleep, and rubs his perfectly healthy eye (remembering both the guilt of running over and the pain of being shot in the eye by Donnie). However, nobody actually remembers the TU. They just experience abstract emotions. The most powerful example is Donnie's hysterical laughter before he goes to sleep - he is experiencing the euphoria of knowing that he's saved the world and the girl he loves.

It goes a bit deeper than that I think but once I found out that Donnie gets superpowers I became seriously disillusioned with the film.