Donnie Darko

Videos [2001] Donnie Darko [2004] Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut [2006] Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut (Boxset) Soundtrack [2002] Donnie Darko (Score) [2004] Donnie Darko Soundtrack & Score [2004] Mad World Single Trivia The trailer for the game "Gears of War" uses Gary Jules and Michael Andrews's version of "Mad World". Although both game and song are great by itself, putting them together was uncalled for.

Gary Jules & Michael Andrews - Mad World Michael Andrews 1 comment Echo & the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon Echo & the Bunnymen

The first time I saw Donnie Darko, it blew me away. I absolutely loved the movie, especially the 80s soundtrack. The best song on the soundtrack, has got to be "Mad World" by Gary Jules.

Now, the first time I heard it, I didn't even know it was a cover of a Tears for Fears! The Jules song is completely stripped down and different than the 'Fears version, although I believe much of the credit is due to Michael Andrews who provided much of the haunting score for the film.

Since the film wasn't so successful on its first launch in 2001, the score soundtrack wasn't available until 2002 (due to demands from the growing cult fans of the film). The entire soundtrack was orchestra, except for the "Mad World" featuring Gary Jules on vocals.

In 2004, coinciding with the re-release of the film as a "Director's Cut", the soundtrack was re-issued with a 2-disc set. The first disc includes all the 80s pop songs featured in the film, while the second disc is the original 2002 score. Unfortunately, I believe the new soundtrack was only released in the UK.

Since I bought bought both DVDs (original cut and Director's Cut), I have to say that I prefer the original much better than the Director's version. Although there is an additional 20-30 minutes in the new version, I honestly didn't need those extra details. Part of what made the movie really fascinating to me was that I started making up things (filling in the gaps with my imagination) in the missing parts. I didn't need to see the time-travel or explanations.

I guess I have a real appreciate for the film editors, Sam Bauer & Eric Strand, who did an amazing job putting the film together and getting rid of the unnecessary parts - but still made it a watchable film.

My biggest complaint was the opening bicycling riding sequence which dropped the original "The Killing Moon" by Echo and the Bunnymen, in favor of INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart" song.

See for yourself and let me know which one you prefer:

I understand that INXS was originally intended for this scene (probably due to copyright issues, it was dropped for Echo and the Bunnymen). Well this caused some problems because suddenly the scene with the wonderful Church's song, "Under the Milky Way", is now replaced with "The Killing Moon" in the Director's cut.

Although these are just little gripes that I have, both version of the film is still worth checking out.

If you're thinking of buying the DVD, I do suggest picking up the Director's Cut DVD because it comes with a bonus DVD with special features. For collectors, there is an oversized Tin Box (with Frank on the cover) covering the Director's Cut and a bonus Frank the Bunny pewter necklace.

Tip: I used DVDFab to import chapter 1 of both DVDs into an AVI file. Then I used the free Windows Movie Maker to edit the chapter to just the section I wanted to talk about. I love DVDFab, and about last year, they added a feature to let you import movies into iPod and PSP. You can try out the full software for 30 days to see if it works for you.

 11/25/2007 00:02:30  vu my♥posts www.donniedarkofilm.com

05 Manipulated Living

1 comment

Mark wrote: Nov 25, 2007 3:22 PM

My favorite song on the soundtrack is "Manipulated Living", which has that real machine-like sound. It makes me think of Bjork, Tricky, the soundtrack to Dark City, and Marilyn Manson all at the same time.