Donnie Darko 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Casimir Harlow

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Great review Cas, it’s been on the pre order list for some time!

Which cut of the film do you prefer? I agree the Director’s cut feels a better film although I cannot help but feel a pang of disappointment when the first bars of Killing Moon fail to play...

Will report any playback issues in the thread when I get a chance.
 
Great review Cas, it’s been on the pre order list for some time!

Which cut of the film do you prefer? I agree the Director’s cut feels a better film although I cannot help but feel a pang of disappointment when the first bars of Killing Moon fail to play...

Will report any playback issues in the thread when I get a chance.

I favour the Director's Cut all the way. I think the structure works better and I actually really like the song choices (which were apparently the Director's original choices, but he couldn't get the rights to use them, which is why the songs were different on Theatrical). It's an elusive film whichever cut you watch, but I found the less elusive nature of the DC a more accessible and thus enjoyable experience.
 
This is one of my favourite films, ever.

I have the last special limited edition box set they brought out on blu-ray and so I really can't justify buying this one in 4K too, but, I would really love too.

The film is great and the score compliments it so, so well.
 
Thanks for the review Cas,had mine on pre order Amazon,but still said del 1st May ,am i am with prime ? :(
It said that on the battle Royale orders but mine dispatched yesterday to be delivered tomorrow so I’d imagine DD will be the same and you’ll get a dispatch today
 
Great review Cas. Always loved this film but haven't watched it for awhile so looking forward to checking the 4K version out......Director's Cut all the way.
 
It said that on the battle Royale orders but mine dispatched yesterday to be delivered tomorrow so I’d imagine DD will be the same and you’ll get a dispatch today

Hi
Just been on to Amazon, about this it seem everytime i put in an pre order its said,it will be del on or before that date,then when it comes to release date,the del date always seem to be pushed back about a week,and as i said i am on prime ?

:(
 
My Amazon order says package has departed facility. The location is 10 miles away from me, yet expected delivery is 1st May
 
One of my favourite films. The look of grief on Donnie's mother's face as she stands by the tree at the end has haunted me for years. Amazing acting.

I shall pick this up when I actually earn some spare dosh.
 
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Probably my favourite films of all time. I've been resisting buying a 4k player, but this will probably push me into it...
 
@Casimir Harlow have you heard anything about a replacement disc for the TC yet ?

Unfortunately my PR contact is away until May, so that will likely mean no update for a couple of weeks. But I'll keep you posted if anything changes.
 
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This is one of the few movies where I just did not like the Directors Cut. It simply wasn't as good as the Theatrical cut.
 
It should be noted that there were some playback issues found in running tests across a number of different 4K players. Whilst the 4K Director's Cut disc displayed no visual problems whatsoever (see below for one minor audio drop-out), the 4K Theatrical Cut disc displayed some curious frame skipping/latency which is most noticeable in horizontal panning on shots involving movement. If this were pervasive on the final release discs - as opposed to the Test Disc we were supplied with - almost certainly a replacement scheme for the 4K Theatrical Cut disc would need to be instigated.


Quite a few reports all over twitter that the fame skip issue on the disc is a reall probelm......and not limted to just test discs.
 
I preordered from Amazon when it was announced, my delivery is due Friday. However, if I ordered today I can get it delivered tomorrow. What's all that about?
 
Even though I love this film; I picked up the previous Arrow 4k mastered blu-ray last year, I won't be getting this. I'll probably wait for the standard 4K release knowing there are issues with the discs anyway.
 
Original version all the way for me. The directors cut goes to far to try and explain what is going on and completely changes the tone of the film.
 
I love this film but as with Battle Royale, I find it hard to justify double dipping so soon after I bought the Arrow Blu-ray Steelbooks. Might happen more too if Arrow are going to be releasing all their previous Blu-ray released 4K scans, as I have quite a few of them. Hopefully both get standard editions as I would prefer to just pop the 4K disc in my current steels.
 
Theatrical cut all the way, I don't think I'll watch the DC ever again as it turns the movie from the mystical to the mundane. And yeah, I get that some of the original music wasn't Richard Kelly's preferred choices, but Head over Heels is just perfect IMO.

So that makes it doubly annoying that the theatrical UHD is borked. I'd still like to know if any frame rate skipping is happening on the HDR10 layer, I guess I'll just have to check it myself when it arrives later today.
 
Yep, it's there in HDR10 as well as DV on the Panasonic 820 player. BUT it plays perfickly fine on my OPPO 203 and Sony X800. Chalk this up as yet another Panasonic problem le sigh
 
Struggling to see an issue in the TC on my OPPO 203 in DV or HDR10. Any particular scene bad?
 

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