Zodiac [Blu-ray]

Zodiac [Blu-ray]
by David Fincher

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DVD details

Actor: Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.
Director: David Fincher
Brand: GYLLENHAAL,JAKE
Producer: Arnold Messer
Producer: Brad Fischer
Producer: Ce?n Chaffin
Producer: James Vanderbilt
Writer: James Vanderbilt
Producer: Louis Phillips
Writer: Robert Graysmith
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 157 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-01-27
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount

DVD Reviews of Zodiac [Blu-ray]

DVD Review: True story...
Summary: 5 Stars

"Zodiac" is directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven). In this movie Fincher tells the true story based around the murders of a serial killer named Zodiac who lived in the San Francisco area. What strikes me about this movie is the realism as the various characters work through this case which goes on for years. A haven't spent a more entertaining 2 1/2 hours in quite some time. Great movie.

DVD Review: Another fine thriller; "Zodiac"
Summary: 4 Stars

First off; this is one loooooong film. Punching in at nearly three hours, it will not be something "everyone" will be bothered to watch (as if that would be a goal, but I'm just saying...). Interestingly enough the film centres around a dark subject, piquing the morbid interest most humans for some reason have; unsolved murders, ooooh! The inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay area were quite driven by fear of the so-called "Zodiac killer" in the late 60's and even stretching far into the 70's. They probably never caught him, something most people will be aware of, since this film is based on reality and word gets around about these cases. The killer makes a little fuzz about himself by writing strange and conflicted letters to newspapers, carrying out some kind of love-hate relationship with both the media and the police, which he constantly taunts. All the while, the slayings continue, innocent young people are found murdered for no apparent reason except being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The film focuses on three people mainly; Gyllenhaal as a young bright cartoonist/artist working in a newspaper, Downey as the alcoholised journalist-colleague of his and finally Ruffalo as a relatively obsessed police detective. The acting is simply great, nothing to add there. These three variously work together or fight, all the time striving towards discovering the identity of the elusive "Zodiac". Quite rare in films of this calibre, the time span stretches over 20 years and beyond, as the years drag on and the murders stop. There are several suspects over the years, yet eventually very few are still working on the case, even though it officially remained open in various places, due to the wide area of crime.

The three mischlinge become obsessed with the subject; catching "the Zodiac", sacrificing both friendships and marriages in the process. I won't say how it ends, except that there is no clear "happy ending" here, just as there mostly isn't in real life. It is a veeery dark film, quite brutal and uncomfortable to watch at times. Yet at the same time, it is very well made, and you can see the changes in American society as it gradually declines after the mid-60's, due to the "Culture of Critique" and various other factors.

I guess this is what would be judged an "epic film" if I ever saw one. Highly recommended and 4,5 stars from me.

DVD Review: Captures the mystery
Summary: 4 Stars

This film is amazing on many levels. Firstly, it is not simply a film about a serial killer but rather a film about both the public reaction to horror and the journalistic realm behind a killer's demands and desires. The cast is immaculate in their portrayal of the characters, with particular emphasis on gyllenhaal. If there's anything about these murders its the fact that the whole gruesomeness is shrouded in dark mysteries. The mystery concerning who the killer is, but mostly behind what the scenes were like ontological. Since the victims have no voice fincher had to use his artistry to communicate their story. Fincher captures these scenes and images with cinematic brilliance. His use of the interactions of the characters explains the ambiguous confusion that surrounds the manhunt for a subject such as this. This film is a must see for any criminology enthusiast or fincher fan. This is not another Seven or anything like that. It is its own animal. And man is the most dangerous game of them all.

DVD Review: Fincher's masterpiece of terror
Summary: 5 Stars

I'm not sure if I submitted a review of this but I have seen this absorbing David Fincher film twice, once in the theater and again in HD DVD--and it is awesome. Like the numerous details that Fincher incorporates in the film to keep on your toes, the HD DVD version boast almost 3-D like realism and I'm sure the Blu-Ray version is the same except that it does cost considerably more than $8!! Don't be put off by the length of this film, you surely will not be bored and there are several frightful moments in this docu-drama that will surely make you jump. Compared to the trashy slasher movies that are coming out of Hollywood, this film is a true original in its own low-keyed way--it grips you and won't let go. I feel this film even more than "Seven" establishes Fincher as the best young director out there since Scorsese!!

DVD Review: Zodiac investigation
Summary: 4 Stars

It has a deliberately dated look which I didn't really care for. I would have liked a more intense experience. Had I told this story, I'd probably explored a more conspiracy - oriented look, since even the name Zodiac refers to something of a greater magnitude than just plain murder. In particular, I'd explored the possibility that it wasn't just one person but maybe something related to the spirit world and the animal world. Just one person would have most likely been caught with modern investigative tools.

Description of Zodiac [Blu-ray]

Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 27-JAN-2009
Media Type: Blu-Ray

Closer in spirit to a police procedural than a gory serial-killer flick, David Fincher's Zodiac provides a sleek, armrest-gripping re-invention of the crime film. It surveys the investigation of the Zodiac killings that terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the late -60-early -70s; Zodiac not only killed people, but cultivated a Jack the Ripper aura by sending icky letters to the newspapers and daring readers to solve coded messages. But the film's focus isn't on the killer. We follow the reporters and detectives whose lives are taken over by the case, notably an addictive crime writer (a sartorially splendid Robert Downey Jr.), an awkward editorial cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal), and a hard-working cop (Mark Ruffalo). Fincher and his brilliant cinematographer Harris Savides are deft at capturing the period feel of the city, without laying on the seventies kitsch, and James Vanderbilt's script doles out its big moments to major and minor characters alike. Fincher's confidence is infectious; the movie glides through its myriad details with such dexterity that even the blind alleys and red herrings seem essential. The well-chosen cast includes unexpected people popping up all over: Anthony Edwards as a lunch-bucket homicide cop; Charles Fleischer as a mysterious suspect; Elias Koteas and Donal Logue as small-town policemen whose districts are hit by Zodiac; Chloe Sevigny as Gyllenhaal's sweet-natured wife; Brian Cox as the media-friendly lawyer Melvin Belli, so famous he once appeared on Star Trek; and the mighty John Carroll Lynch, as a supremely creepy suspect. The film is based on non-fiction books by Robert Graysmith (he's portrayed by Gyllenhaal), although Fincher and co. did extensive research on their own. The result is a propulsive whodunit without (thus far) an ending, but the uncertainty makes the film even more intriguing. --Robert Horton

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