BF2S Forums Donnie Darko

Best movie ever.









my favorite by far.


And yes, I can explain the movie.

I found that the Director's Cut really explained a lot. It's a pretty ambiguous movie but it is very good.

First time I watched it, I understood very little of it. Second time and third time, I felt like I understood more of it. I have yet to feel like I completely understand it though.

Otherwise, one of my favourite movies ever. Strangely enough, it was after this movie that I became kind of interested in Physics and Time Travel stuff.

sexecuti0ner wrote:

Looks like Samantha will be played by the same girl from Donnie Darko, but I'm not sure if this looks good or not.

Let me help, it doesn't. There's a different director and writer, obviously Donnie won't be back. Someone's just trying to milk some extra money off of the good name of the original.

Smithereener wrote:

First time I watched it, I understood very little of it. Second time and third time, I felt like I understood more of it. I have yet to feel like I completely understand it though.

Otherwise, one of my favourite movies ever. Strangely enough, it was after this movie that I became kind of interested in Physics and Time Travel stuff.

If you like Physics and time travel, check out Primer. Although if Donnie Darko was hard to follow, this one will leave you totally confused.

sexecuti0ner wrote:

I really liked it.  Especially Patrick Swayze's whole motivational speaker thing. 

A sequel is in the works now.  S. Darko

imdb wrote:

The story picks up seven years after the first film when little sister Samantha Darko and her best friend Corey are now 18 and on a roadtrip to Los Angeles when they are plagued by bizarre visions.

Oh Noes...why do they always ruin classic movies with shitty sequels?

Richard Kelly isn't directing it and the only actor I recognise in the cast listing is Elisabeth Berkely...not exactly a good sign.

sexecuti0ner wrote:

I really liked it.  Especially Patrick Swayze's whole motivational speaker thing. 

A sequel is in the works now.  S. Darko

imdb wrote:

The story picks up seven years after the first film when little sister Samantha Darko and her best friend Corey are now 18 and on a roadtrip to Los Angeles when they are plagued by bizarre visions.

Looks like Samantha will be played by the same girl from Donnie Darko, but I'm not sure if this looks good or not.

That would be Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jake Gyllenhaal's sister...


I dont see that being a good movie, you just cant sequel a movie like that and change everything...


Maybe it will bring some attention to the first movie, thats probably the best it can and will do


edit:    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0153738/

oh, the OTHER sister...

:\     I like Maggie Gylenhaal bette anyway

Last edited by GodFather (2008-07-01 13:07:50)

For me, the dialog throughout the movie makes it really quite amazing, the story line is great too, but the little snipits of conversation make it great. I guess that's the same reason why I love Pulp Fiction.

Ok I just rented this movie just to see how good it was and it was pretty good =]. But the whole story line is confusing.
Spoiler (highlight to read):
At the end is where I'm confused, did he go back in time to save the girl and stay in bed to die himself, so the girl lived? Also, was the bunny there just to save him from death etc? Last, "Frank" in the end when it's playing mad world with the pictures of the bunny and stuff what happens there? I just need this movie explained a bit more. Thanks.

Smithereener wrote:

Braddock wrote:

Hakei wrote:

For me, the dialog throughout the movie makes it really quite amazing, the story line is great too, but the little snipits of conversation make it great. I guess that's the same reason why I love Pulp Fiction.

I love the bit where they're smoking at the school bus stop...

Friend: "This is some good shit"

Donnie: "It's a fuckin cigarette!"

The whole smurf conversation was the best part I think. "What's the point in living... if you don't have a dick?"

@sportsman11-2cool4u
Spoiler (highlight to read):
Yeah, Donnie chose to stay in bed to save the girlfriend he'll now never have had. The whole Frank thing is a bit more strange. I think it's up to one's own interpretations, so here's mine:

Frank protects Donnie's life to kind of make the world slightly better. If you notice, the people that Donnie affected before the time jump realize it vaguely - for instance, Gretchen waves to Donnie's mum at the end even though they probably had never met; Frank touches his eye, even though he'd never been hurt there; Jim Cunningham? I think that's his name, is crying, probably cause he realises what a sick bastard he is; the slightly chubby girl is at peace despite everyone having made fun of her before - all before Donnie is supposed to meet any of them. So the bunny Frank guided/manipulated Donnie throughout the movie to reveal certain things so that when Donnie goes back in time, these things could be corrected. At least, that's what I thought. Sort of.

yep, basically, but for people who want specific details read the spoiler...


Now I haven't seen this movie in a while so here are my scratchy interpretations (By scratchy I mean things like names ill leave out because I forget them)


Spoiler (highlight to read):
The people shown at the end were the manipulated living, after the tangent universe was created they were being manipulated to help.

The movie(book written by the old woman) says even after the Tangent universe is destroyed the manipulated living will have a vague recollection of what happened, but it will seem as a dream.

I think the girl at the end had a crush on Donnie and I forget what role she played, but thats why she was shown.


As for the entire movie and the idea of frank you have to understand that Donnie has been doing this for a while, and in the previous times Donnie let the universe be destroyed.

This is displayed in the Movie theater scene when frank says, "It was the name of my father, and my fathers father, and his father" etc.

And also displayed when the first story was read and Donnie explained why the kids burned the money,
"Well, earlier in the book, they say destruction is a form of creation. So the fact that they burn the money is ironic; they just wanna see what happens when they tear the world apart."

Donnie has been failing at destroying the tangent universe.

The way Donnie was supposed to reset the Universe was by grounding the plane, in the beginning, he isn't in his bed when the engine falls through... his mother makes remarks about "Matching cereal numbers" The fact is, the engine already exists, this metallic "artifact" is what creates the tangent universe.

Donnie sets the universe back to normal and destroys the tangent universe by staying in bed that night, by staying in bed and being killed, a more formal intricate investigation is set up, when they find the jet engine with the matching cereal numbers on the other plane, they ground the plane, preventing it from ever flying and loosing its engine, and by preventing the engine from being detached, the engine never exists twice - thus the tangent universe is never created

Frank - Frank was really created by Donnie's subconscious. Donnie's memories from his past experiences with the tangent universe still exist, Frank represents those and still vaguely remembers them.

Donnie remembering is demonstrated by him stabbing frank in the eye, Donnie remembers shooting Frank in the eye with the gun towards the end of the movie.
Also, in the Movie Theater scene Donnie asks what happened to franks eye, and then he laughs remembering.

Donnie is able to stab the Iron statue because he is the chosen one, he is the chosen one (Chosen one, i forget what they call him in the book) because the artifact most effects him, because it crashed through his room.
Donnie also breaks the water pipes in the school so he can walk that girl home, further proof that Frank is in fact in Donnie's head (By in his head I mean created by Donnie's subconscious.) because Donnie fell in love with her in the past Tangent Universes (speculative) his subconscious tries to set that up again.

Frank is a bit tricky though, he is also a manipulated dead, Frank is there to help Donnie make decisions that will destroy the Tangent universe, he shares the same goal as the Manipulated living. Frank basically set Donnie up with the girl he fell in love with so that when she dies as a result of being with him in the Tangent universe, he sacrifices himself in the end for her.

The girl is a key part in the story because I would say she is the reason he decides to let the Tangent universe be destroyed. The teacher (Manipulated living) wrote cellar door on the board so he would go in the cellar, get grabbed by those guys, let those guys pin the girl on the ground to let her eventually get run over by Frank (Living frank) making Donnie want to sacrifice himself.

The details and explanation are cluttered, because it would take me a while to organize them and almost all the details rely on each other to be explained, thats what makes the movie amazing but thats what makes it hard as fuck to explain.

Ask me if you need any details/things explained

sportsman11-2cool4u wrote:

Ok thanks you guys cleared up a lot =]. I think that is just an amazing movie with all the twists and turns.
Spoiler (highlight to read):
I just don't get the end with the song mentioned earlier what's with the 3 drawings of the bunnies and stuff? Are they plans for the costume? Thanks .

Spoiler (highlight to read):
I dont remember if they showed the mask or not in the last scene but I remember the drawings...

The drawings were there I guess to simply show that that was Frank laying in bed, and he was still planning the costume for the Halloween.

If the mask was in the scene the drawings were the plans for the mask, and also to signify that its Frank in the bed and all I said in the line above...





I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dieing, are the best I ever had.

Mad world....

-Gary Jules