How to Watch Donnie Darko on DVD

Donnie Darko is a film that has a cult following. It's a dark thriller with plenty of swearing and violence.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a precocious high school student with strange visions that suggest schizophrenia, but may be something far stranger. It's a complex movie that will keep you guessing throughout.

1. Watch it on a big screen

Richard Kelly’s directorial debut Donnie Darko is an eerie, engrossing exploration of the bizarre and the mysterious. It follows a precocious teenager whose visions of a monstrous rabbit suggest schizophrenia, yet may be nothing more than hallucinations.

The film begins late one night when Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is led out of his home by a figure in a rabbit suit who tells him that the world will end in 28 days. The next morning, a jet engine crashes into Donnie’s bedroom from above, opening up a whole series of strange experiences and encounters.

During the course of the film, Donnie becomes increasingly concerned with the possibility that his bizarre visions are real. He begins to take therapy sessions and is prescribed drugs. However, the rabbit continues to appear, urging him to commit suicide.

He also has a number of recurring nightmares in which he sees himself drowning in a pool of water, burning down his school building, and committing suicide with a gun. This eventually pushes him to commit suicide out of self-loathing, but not before he writes down a set of numbers that are supposed to tell him when the world will end.

As with many movies, there are some key elements that should be interpreted in the context of the story. Some of them are more obvious than others.

For example, one of the major plot points is that Donnie Darko’s mother and sister are murdered. The main villain, Patrick Swayze’s character, is never seen to get any sort of punishment for this.

Another important character is his English teacher Karen, who is later fired. She is also a big fan of The Evil Dead, a film that Donnie mentions several times during the film.

2. Watch it with friends

Donnie Darko is one of those movies that you'll want to watch with friends. This cult classic is a great way to see Jake Gyllenhaal as a troubled teen who finds himself dealing with mysterious strangers who tell him the world is going to end in 28 days.

The film is a fascinating look at free will and how our actions in this universe affect the other. It also has some of the most eerie moments you'll ever see on the big screen.

Richard Kelly helms this strange and often mind-blowing film about a teenager named Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is living a life of desperation in a suburban neighborhood. He finds himself suddenly drawn into a trance-like state where he meets a person dressed up as a giant rabbit who tells him that the world is about to end in 28 days and that he has to prepare for it by saving a girl.

Fortunately for Donnie, he has plenty of support. His parents (James Duval and Patience Cleveland) are supportive, and his cool older sister Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal) helps him cope with his problems.

Meanwhile, his new friend Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone) becomes his best friend and is a constant source of inspiration. She also manages to get Donnie's attention with her snarky humor.

However, Donnie's biggest problem is his feelings of loneliness. His therapist (Katharine Ross) tries to help him find a way out of this rut by suggesting that he meet someone, but his attempts to connect with anyone seem to fail.

But then, a mysterious stranger called Frank (James Duval) appears and lures him out of his home. He introduces himself by announcing that the end of the world is nigh, and then proceeds to lead Donnie through a series of bizarre vandalism sprees.

3. Watch it on a TV

The 2001 cult classic Donnie Darko is one of the strangest movies ever made. It drew fans almost instantly for its surreal visuals and dreamlike atmosphere, but it also left viewers with a sense that the universe is a bizarre, sometimes terrifying place.

The film follows the story of Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal), a precocious high school student with problems that suggest schizophrenia, but who may actually be something more. Donnie is prone to sleepwalking and visits from a human-sized rabbit, who tells him that the world is going to end in 28 days, six hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds.

As a result, Donnie starts to commit vandalism and lashes out at the people around him. But he’s smart enough to sense that there’s a time-warp pattern behind all the odd goings-on, and he makes a heroic sacrifice at the end for the good of everyone else.

There is some violence in the movie, such as a girl getting hit by a car or a classmate shoving a knife to Donnie’s throat, but it’s not too gory. There’s also a lot of swearing in the movie, although this isn’t too much.

Parents should be aware that this is a serious story about mental illness, and it’s important to talk about it with their kids/teens. It’s not a bad movie to watch, but it may be difficult for younger children to understand some of the things that are happening, so it’s best to explain them.

The ending is a bit obtuse, but it’s ultimately quite bittersweet, and it’s the sort of thing that will stick with you for a long time after the film is over. It’s also a reminder that no matter how crazy the situation is, you always have to make the most of what you have, and that it’s never too late to start over.

4. Watch it on a DVD

Whether you're a fan of Richard Kelly's cult classic or have just seen it for the first time, watching Donnie Darko on DVD is an excellent way to experience this movie. The Fox Home Video release has a wealth of supplemental material and features a very strong auditory experience.

The film begins with troubled teenager Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) having a vision of a giant bunny rabbit named Frank who tells him that the world will end in twenty eight days. The next morning, he wakes up to find himself at a golf course.

Donnie soon starts to have hallucinations about time travel, worm holes and other dimensions. These hallucinations also start to influence the way he lives his life. Eventually, he decides to use time travel to stop the destruction of the planet.

While Donnie is on a quest to save the universe, he is also navigating his teenage life and trying to figure out how he fits in with his peers at school. In addition, Donnie is struggling with his mental health and his desire to break away from the established norms of society.

A cast of outstanding actors is at the center of this story, including Holmes Osbourne as Donnie's father and Mary McDonnell as his mother. Patrick Swayze is a great character actor in this film as well, and Drew Barrymore brings a lot to the table as an English teacher.

The film is a lot of fun to watch, and it's very well shot with cinematography by Steven Poster that makes it look great. The music, which is by Michael Andrews, is also a very nice touch. This is a great movie that you should definitely see.

5. Watch it on a computer

For a generation of teenagers, Donnie Darko is like a rite of passage. It's up there with discovering bands like Radiohead or rappers like Odd Future as formative adolescent experiences.

The 2001 film, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is arguably the first cult classic of the new millennium. It combined science fiction, Spielbergian touches and 80s nostalgia to much acclaim, although it struggled to find an audience initially.

It tells the story of a troubled teenager who is prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend called Frank, who warns that the world is going to end in 28 days. Despite his adolescent delusions and maladjusted instructions, Donnie follows Frank's advice in an effort to prevent the apocalypse.

In a world where movies are often overly contrived, Donnie Darko offers some of the most original storytelling in recent memory. Its ambiguities and enigmas are so captivating that audiences are willing to rewatch the film as many times as it takes to fully understand what's going on.

There are also moments of genuine comedy, like a baby-faced Seth Rogen wreaking havoc at Donnie's high school or a pitch-perfect send-up of beauty pageant culture in Donnie's little sister Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal). And there are some truly hilarious bits – a scene where Donnie and his family sit down to dinner, and he gets into an argument about voting with his brother Michael Dukakis in the upcoming presidential election.

It’s a movie that asks the audience to think and it’s a movie that encourages the audience to take risks and make decisions on their own terms. It’s also a movie that asks the audience to consider why a character does something in particular, even if it seems irrational. This is a rare moment in modern cinema, and it’s what makes Donnie Darko such a enduring cult classic.