One of my favourite films of recent years is Donnie Darko. I first saw the advert for this in early 2001 and knew I had to watch it. The first time I saw it was via a poor quality AVI file (it wasn't released at this time in the UK or available on DVD). I was amazed by the originality and imagination of the film, and was hooked at this point spending lots of time on the Donnie Darko Yahoo groups and anywhere else it was being discussed. I have since got the DVD (fully featured Region 1 and Region 2), been fortunate enough to see the original version at the cinema three times, and have some posters and a rare Frank mask poster.

Currently I can mostly be found on the IMDB forums, and I help moderate the Richard-Kelly.net forums also.

My Projects/Pages

To aid in my own understanding of the film I have started a couple of open ended projects, plus here are some pages that directly relate to my site:

FAQ - This is an FAQ for the film, which I guess will be ever evolving.

Script/Screenplay - To understand the film even more, and because there were so many requests for it by fans, I dictated the script from the film itself. Note that the shooting script can be found in the Donnie Darko book (see below).

Cunning Visions "Frank" slides - |1| |2| |3| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8|

T-Shirt images: These are some monochrome images that might be useful for T-Shirt image prints - Frank 1, Frank 2, They Made Me Do it (mirrored), 28:06:42:12 (mirrored)

USA Today - After a brief interview by Mike Snider I got a mention in USA Today in an article about Donnie Darko: "Interest is still growing," says Mark Taylor, 32, of São Paulo, Brazil, who has a Donnie Darko FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) file at www.stainlesssteelrat.net. "I'm still getting e-mail from people who have discovered the film." To see the original article click here.

Doc Brown explaining the plot for Donnie Darko, just a little joke ;-) (click to enlarge)

Files

For Whom the Bell Tolls (MP3) **DOWNLOAD LINK DELETED** As this can be bought from Associated Production Music on their Voicing the Classics 2 CD, and more importantly on the new 2CD Donnie Darko soundtrack I have deleted this download from my site.

Harem TrueType font (57kb) - A similar version of the font used for the titles. To download right-click on the link and choose "Save Target As" to download to a local directory. If there is a copyright on this font please let me know and I will remove it.

External Links

DonnieDarko.com - The films original site, with strange puzzles to solve and lots of background information to the film. Essential viewing for anyone interested in the film!

Richard-Kelly.net - An unofficial site, but has some strong links with Mr. Kelly himself. Also has a Donnie Darko forum among other things, and is likely to have various inside scoops on Richard and his new movies.

RuinedEye.com - The best fan site (I have found).

IMDB.com's DD Discussion board - A popular place for discussing the movie.

Yahoo groups - A search of the Yahoo groups for Donnie Darko (the groups are a little dead now).

Cinema.nl - A really interesting interview with Richard Kelly (needs RealPlayer), with several clips from the film. Ignore the Dutch introduction as the interview is in English.

TheyMadeMeDoIt.com - A UK site which has some graffiti art sponsored when the film was released in the UK.

Donnie Darko Music Resource - A great site about the music in Donnie Darko.

Donnie Darko Director's Cut: The Changes (DVD Times) - A list of the differences between the Director's Cut and the original.

88 Reason to Watch Donnie Darko again - As if we needed another reason ;-)

DVD

Region 1 DVD - link to Play.com for contents.

Region 2 (UK) DVD (fully featured) - link again to Play.com for contents. Note a Region 2 version has been released in the Nordic's and is a fairly "bare bones" release, with few if any extras. The UK Region 2 DVD has a few more features than the Region 1, including a feature on the "They Made Me Do It" graffiti exhibition which promoted the film in the UK, and also has some short interviews with the cast and crew.

There are also two "Easter Eggs" on the Region 2 DVD which are used to access 4 of the deleted scenes:

1. The first is found from the main menu: with a PC based DVD player simply select Frank's left eye. With a normal DVD player highlight the "special features" link and then press the "right" button. The first deleted scene will play and will then repeat with Richard Kelly's commentary, towards the end a rabbit icon will appear in the bottom left-hand of the screen, press select at this point to continue to the next deleted scene.

2. The second Easter Egg is found on the commentaries and subtitles menu: with a PC based DVD player simply select Jim's left eye. With a normal DVD player highlight the "Spanish subtitles" link and then press the "right" button. Again, the first deleted scene will play and will then repeat with Richard Kelly's commentary, towards the end a rabbit icon will appear in the bottom left-hand of the screen, press select at this point to continue to the next deleted scene.

Region 2 (UK) DVD (Prism "bare bones" release) - link to Play.com for contents. Similar to the Nordic release, this is again a bare bones release with no special features, albeit cheap to buy.

DIRECTOR'S CUT

Region 2 (UK) DVD - link to Play.com. Released on 4th October 2004.

Region 1 DVD - link to PlayUSA.com.

Soundtrack

Two soundtrack versions are available:

Original Soundtrack - link to Play.com. The first soundtrack, which has one CD and contains the original music by Michael Andrews, as well as two versions of "Mad World" rearranged by Michael Andrews and sung by Gary Jules.

2CD Soundtrack - link to Play.com. The revised soundtrack, after a lot of fan requests, which has 2 CDs that include the original soundtrack as well as a CD with all the other music used in the film, both the Original Version and Director's Cut. Includes the often requested "For Whom the Bell Tolls".

Book

The Donnie Darko book was released in the Summer of 2003. It was written by Richard Kelly (Writer/Director of Donnie Darko) and has a foreword by Jake Gyllenhaal.

It contains an interview, "Asking Cosmic Questions", with Richard Kelly which adds all sorts of interesting information to the understanding of the film. It also contains the screenplay for Donnie Darko, along with pages from the The Philosophy of Time Travel, images and sketches from the film, and images from the UK "They Made Me Do It" Exhibition.

Click on the respective links to buy from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Or obviously order from your favoured book shop :-)

Note that there is another book listed on various sites by Adam Fields, who was involved in the early stages of Donnie Darko. This book was never released though, and it is unclear what this book would have contained.

Other

Donnie Darko has spawned a mini industry aside from the book, CDs and DVDs, posters and other collectibles e.g. handmade Frank suits and various Donnie Darko T-shirts on eBay. Here are some of the other items available:

Donnie Darko Skeleton Suit Halloween costume - link to Amazon.com, but doesn't seem to be available any more :-(

KreationX's Frank Mask and Costume - Mask and costume can be bought separately

NECA's Frank Bunny Toy - Not sure if this is available to buy yet though...

If you have any suggestions for content I can add to this site please let me know!