Samantha Darko

Updated
Samantha Darko
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2009
Original Running Time:
98
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
75
Time Cut:
23
Brief Synopsis:
The film was streamlined by removing a subplot that seemingly becomes irrelevant. Bad dialog was removed to somehow get us to like the central protagonist. It is now more subtle in it’s overbearing references to Donnie Darko.
Intention:
The film was streamlined by removing a subplot that seemingly becomes irrelevant. Bad dialog was removed to somehow get us to like the central protagonist. It is now more subtle in it’s overbearing references to Donnie Darko.
Additional Notes:
I decided not to remove the party scene in the end. I may have been getting a little too rough with the material. It gives Randy and Sam some development time and makes Corey look more stupid, so we don’t care if she dies. Also, in removing most of Sam’s bitchy lines, we may like her more now.
Special Thanks:
Thanks to Captain Khajiit/Elbarto1 for taking a look and suggesting a few things...
Release Information:
  • DVD
  • Digital
Cuts and Additions:
- No opening scroll. Let’s let Sam develop herself, not tell us.
- Removed start music on desert, replaced with ‘Carpathian Ridge’ from D. Darko. Makes a better link.
- Completely cut car journey and initial breakdown with Corey and Sam=Music video.
- Resync’d music on Sam seeing Jack and Randy first arriving.
- Corey doesn’t ‘explain’ that Sam is an ‘Ice Queen’, this gives us the wrong opinion of Sam – because she isn’t.
- Removed shots of Sam asleep, taking the feather out of the TV. We cut straight to Dead Sam.
- Iraq Jack does not say “She told me that you’d come.”
- Dead Sam doesn’t say “That is when the world will end.” Gives more gravity to when Jack says it later. (Thanks Elbarto1)
- Removed Sam’s bitchy ‘getting wasted’ comment to Randy on being invited to party. She sounds like a brat.
- Removed Sam saying she’d burn Jack if gas wasn’t so expensive. Bitchy.
- Removed Sam saying God’s farts smell like ‘marshmellow peeps’. Whatever that is. It’s just a stupid line.
- Removed Sam seeing the 3000lb feather dropping down after the party.
- Removed Dead Sam nearly getting hit by a van.
- Inserted a small scene from Donnie Darko, it shows why Jack may construct the Rabbit head.
- Removed motel clerk gibbering on about an island with Elvis & Joplin etc. Redundant. (Thanks Captain Khajiit)
- Removed the subplot of Sam dying. Now, it’s only Corey who dies.
- Removed Corey’s overlong looking back at Sam before she dies. (Thanks Captain Khajiit) I’ve reworked this scene – it’s now a combination of both car crashes, Corey still looks back but not for quite as long. (Thanks to Elbarto1 and Captain Khajiit for this suggestion.)
- Sam mourns Corey, but with a different score, no strange eye visuals.
- Dead Sam doesn’t randomly say ‘Donnie liked to draw’.
- Added in piece of D. Darko music “Manipulated Living” over cinema scene to make it more sinister.
- Removed backward writing on the cinema.(Thanks Elbarto1)
- Sam doesn’t quote from the Philosophy of Time Travel.
- Dead Sam doesn’t say “Death comes to us all, here we come.”
- Rescored the above two sequences with D. Darko music ‘The Tangent Universe’.
- It’s now implied that Dead Sam shows Living Sam where the kids are in a dream.
- I removed the entire scene of Jack and Living Sam meeting. It’s not necessary, now we remove him being Roberta Sparrow’s grandson(well, he still is if you’re watching closely!), his dodgy explanation of the mask and Sam goes to where she saw her dead self faster!
- No dodgy CGI cube turned flaming bird flies toward the Earth. We don’t look into space either. Quickens the scene up.
- Dead Sam doesn’t pass Jack the feather or tell him that “Only you can save the universe.” Yea, we get it.
- Changed the end shots of Trudy and Father John. They now show remorse like they should upon exiting the Tangent Universe for their deeds. These are duplicated shots from earlier in the movie... but a gripe of many people is that Trudy and John don’t get any punishment or feel any remorse. This is the best I could do with the material available.
Cover art by White43 and CBB (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image

User reviews

3 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0(1)
Visual Editing
 
10.0(1)
Enjoyment
 
7.7(3)
(Updated: September 13, 2012)
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Review by xGrind — February 14, 2010 @ 10:26 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*
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(Updated: September 13, 2012)
Enjoyment
 
6.0
Review by zackepple — December 15, 2009 @ 12:06 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*
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(Updated: September 13, 2012)
Overall rating
 
9.3
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
Review by Captain Khajiit — November 22, 2009 @ 10:39 pm

Warning! This review contains spoilers!

Technically, the edit is fine. Video and audio were perfect. The picture quality is pretty high for this size AVI.

Video: 10 out of 10
Audio: 10 out of 10

The editing was seamless. Overall, the edit works, and the modified storyline seems entirely self-consistent. Nothing stuck out from the deleted tangent. Well done!

The edit plays like a lean streamlined version of the original with all the fat cut away. Small trims to cheesy scenes or corny dialogue help to give the edit a more serious tone than the original.

I liked the deletion of the marshmallow bit, when Corey wonders what “God’s farts” smell like. The reconstituted crash scene works well, and this helps to allay the viewer’s suspicion that “something is missing”.

Editing 10 out of 10

Presentation: I watched the AVI, so I shall not comment. A DVD is currently planned.

Does it improve on the original? I would say yes. This is not my kind of film, but I really quite enjoyed it – more than the original. While some might say the film will never be very good, part of the intention for this edit is to make S Darko into a more respectable follow-on to the original, and I feel it succeeds here.

Entertainment: 8 out of 10 (original: 5 out of 10)

Overall: 9 out of 10. This fanedit provides a more respectable follow on to Donnie Darko – recommended for fans of the original.
C
Top 500 Reviewer 33 reviews
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