alright, i'm wondering about this movie. from what i understand it's being released at different times all over the place, i think the earliest was in july, but i live in toronto and it's coming out tommorow. so i'm just wondering, to all the people who have seen it, if it's any good... better or worse than the original theatrical version. i'm a pretty die-hard fan of the original so i'm just wondering if i should go buy it or rent it. thanks in advance.

They're both equally good as movies but unfortunately with equal amounts of potential for bias against each other concerning the changes. It all depends on which version you happened to see first. The differences between both versions is such that whichever you seen second will suffer more than the first because it will constantly be subjected to the first in comparison while you're watching it and in a very annoying way; there are so many changes, 20 extra scenes, some of the same but extended scenes, some of the same scenes but a different TAKE of that scene, different special effects, sound adjustments, new music cues, reaarranged music cues, etc.

If you saw the D.C. first you'd probably feel like me that the original was missing or lacking in the details of middlesex world and donnie's families dynamics. You might feel the pacing of the story is rushed because of the missing scenes, many of which were quiet inflections upon certain characters fleshed out, giving epic tone to the film.
If you saw the original first, which is the majority, you might consider the extra scenes slowing down the pace and obstructive to the film. You definitely wont like the added special effects which to some degree are redundant.

My own opinion is that I would have liked a third cut of the film to be done. I could easily do it myself since after analyzing the two long and hard I realized what needed to be kept, chucked, and rearranged. At some point I was planning to write up a post that lists the pros and cons between the two and what the ideal revision of the movie's editing should be. Some of the changes between these two versions are so subtle you might notice it bothering you while watching but not knowing what exactly was different. The obvious changes such as the extra scenes and the insertion of "philosophy of time travel" book may force you to broaden your scope of the film. Difficult to do if you're one of the Donnie Darko fanatics that love the original for its singular, internalized theme and think it to be the kind of movie that should be preserved in one's left side shirt pocket in loving secrecy rather than exposed through the gaudiness of epic-izing.

If you havenet discovered the website which is basically 45 percent of the film, the D.C. version sheds some light on how the whole time travel theory and Donnie's role in THAT aspect of the film works. Even though this is one of those movies where anyone can grasp WHAT is happening and come up with a lot of different WHYS, the philoshpy book inserts in the film at least puts a bead on one of the major plot threads of the movie.

Like I said both are great and deserve to be in your dvd collection. I'm planning to pick up my D.C. copy tommorrow.

to many anonys posting these days so not to confuse but that was of course me. sorry.

We never would have guessed ...

dont get snippy with me NAsty Gash or I'll GIVE you one...

Hey man, back off, I'm pulling my punches you know? ...