DVD Reviews

S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale – Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll May 14, 2009, 11:25 GMT

$Seven years after her brother\'s death, Samantha Darko finds herself stranded in a small desert town after her car breaks down where she is plagued by bizarre visions telling of the universe\'s end. As a result, she must face her own demons, and in doing so, save the world and herself.$

Seven years after her brother\'s death, Samantha Darko finds herself stranded in a small desert town after her car breaks down where she is plagued by bizarre visions telling of the universe\'s end. As a result, she must face her own demons, and in doing so, save the world and herself. ...more

So would seeing S. Darko in high definition make it any better? Guess not. I’m still just disappointed that more effort wasn’t put into this film or that the funds could’ve been used for an original idea or something more worthy than this sideways remake.

Samantha Darko (Daveigh Chase) and her best friend Corey (Briana Evigan) are on a cross-country trip to get to California. Samantha is still feeling the melancholy from the death of her brother Donnie, under strange and mysterious circumstances.

Sam and Corey’s car breaks down and they’re stranded in the tiny burg of Conejo Springs, Utah. Corey takes up with local boy Randy (Ed Westwick). The gals stay at the hotel of Phil (John Hawkes), who appears to be obsessed with UFOs. The locals are fearful of a disturbed man dubbed Iraq Jack (James Lafferty).

There’s also Pastor John Mellit (Matthew Davis), the law is represented by Officer O’Dell (Bret Roberts), and a nervous lad named Jeremy (Jackson Rathbone) takes a shine to Sam. Sam soon starts to have visions that the world is about to end with shades of her late brother.

S. Darko is more of a remake than an actual sequel, though the filmmakers refer to it as a continuation. The film uses many of the same plot points for this sequel which make it feel like more of the same. It’s very familiar and since we’re dealing with time travel and fractured time it makes me imagine that the film is from an alternative universe.

The film just feels like Donnie Darko with less budget all around. The acting isn’t as good as the first film. Jake Gyllenhaal made Donnie a compelling character and the serpentine, time bending plotline kept you guessing.

The problem with this film is they basically use the same plot as the first one so you see where the film is going and why I call it a sideways remake. Perhaps they’re trying to say something about time repeating itself, but they’re saying it the same way over and over.

I doubt that fans of the first film will find much to love in this tepid redo. I’ll have to give the Blu-ray some kudos in that the picture is much improved over the regular DVD, but that does not a good movie make.

S. Darko is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1). Special features include a commentary by director Chris Fisher, writer Nathan Atkins, and cinematographer Marvin V. Rush.

All other special features are presented in high definition. Next are 6 minutes of deleted scenes, the 15-minute “Making of S. Darko,” the 2-minute trailer, and the 6-minute “Utah Too Much” about the song the cast wrote during the boredom of location shooting in Utah.

S. Darko should’ve come to an end instead of the universe collapsing upon itself. It could be a warning sent back in time to us about direct-to-video sequels, but I think it was just the case of Fox trying to cash in on the fan base. However, what they’ve offered is only going to make that base fume.