4K Ultra HD – UK Edition – Arrow Films – 133 min – 26 April 2021
Video format
• Intermediate Master: 4K
• Standard HDR: Dolby Vision
• Ratio: 2.35
Soundtrack
• English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles
• English
It is brought to the attention of our dear readers as well as the viewing equipment specified and used by each tester of the MaG team, the rendering may differ from one installation to another, whether or not it is calibrated, as well as personal preferences and expectations may influence the rating.
WORK – The enigma of adolescence
Middlesex, Iowa, 1988. Donnie Darko is a 16-year-old, not like the others. Introverted and emotionally disturbed, he maintains a friendship with a certain Frank, a giant rabbit who alone can see and hear. On a night when Donnie was awakened by the voice of his imaginary friend who intimated him to follow him, he miraculously escaped an accident that could have been fatal to him. At the same time, Frank announces to him that the end of the world is near. From then on, Donnie will obey the voice and provoke a series of events that will sow the trouble within the community...
Teen-movie melancholic and fantastic thriller at the same time, this cult movie (with drawers) of an entire generation is an existentialist and nihilist work with multiple levels of reading whose controlled narrative and poetic staging demonstrate an undeniable know-how. Worn by a very young Jake Gyllenhaal and brewing a whole bunch of references (from Spielberg cinema to Lynch's), this brilliant allegory of adolescence to atypical script and the unique universe will only leave a deep trace to anyone who abandons himself to experience.
IMAGE – A good rabbit in her hair!
Restored in 4K by the publisher from the original negative 35 mm and approved by the director Richard Kelly and the op-head Steven Poster (for cinema and director-cut versions), this UHD Dolby Vision transfer is at the height of the dark photographic work. For despite clear skies that can become noisy on rare occasions, there is really nothing else to blame him.
The granular texture increases in confidence and finesse, the details are improved (as on close-up faces or background decorations), especially in the shadows, the colorimetric palette with shades slightly more blue than on the Blu-ray seems more robust, the contrasts are reinforced (cf. the richness of the blacks) and the different lights are more dazzling than ever (the intensity of the flames makes it very easy to convince). Beautiful work for a low-budget production that did not demand so much.
⚠ For your information, cinema editing encounters problems of reading (regular saccades) on some readers (mainly Panasonic brand). With my Oppo UDP-203 I have not personally encountered any problems, but it is good to know before placing an order.
SON – New Age Music Mix
Enchanting and ethereal, this DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack with clear rendering dialogues, generous surround activity, iconic score and impressive low frequencies (the thunder picks us from the beginning) reveals an immersion of every moment.
CONCLUSION – Love is to know how to sacrifice yourself!
Nanti of an excellent A/V presentation, this 4K Ultra HD edited by Arrow Films alters the space and time of this small masterpiece of the 7th art with a visual upgrade just fantastic!
Artistic note
10
Video quality
9
Audio quality
9
0
[...] (Carpenter Brut, The Toxic Avengers), a mysterious scenario with this talkative rabbit in Donnie Darko's air: Furi had decidedly no similar in his genre. Demanding but always fair, [...]
[...] they realize that their contact, Alice (the great Jena Malone whom we love since Donnie Darko) packed the drugs in condoms that she intends to force them to swallow. His weapon [...]