Zodiac - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
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DVD details
Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.Brand: Paramount
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 157 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-01-08
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of Zodiac - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
DVD Review: I am not the Zodiac. And if I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you
Summary: 4 Stars
The film is a police procedural crossed with a newspaper movie, but free of most of the cliches of either. Its most impressive accomplishment is to gather a bewildering labyrinth of facts and suspicions over a period of years, and make the journey through this maze frightening and suspenseful. I could imagine becoming hopelessly mired in the details of the Zodiac investigation, but director David Fincher ("Se7en") and his writer, James Vanderbilt, find their way with clarity through the murk. In a film with so many characters, the casting by Laray Mayfield is also crucial; like the only eyewitness in the case, we remember a face once we've seen it.
The film opens with a sudden, brutal, bloody killing, followed by others not too long after -- five killings the police feel sure Zodiac committed, although others have been attributed to him. But this film will not be a bloodbath. The killer does his work in the earlier scenes of the film, and then, when he starts sending encrypted letters to newspapers, the police and reporters try to do theirs.
The two lead inspectors on the case are David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards). Toschi, famous at the time, tutored Steve McQueen for "Bullitt" and was the role model for Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry. Ruffalo plays him not as a hotshot but as a dogged officer who does things by the book because he believes in the book. Edwards' character, his partner, is more personally worn down by the sheer vicious nature of the killer and his taunts.
At the San Francisco Chronicle, although we meet several staffers, the key players are ace reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr., bearded, chain-smoking, alcoholic) and editorial cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal). These characters are real, and indeed the film is based on Graysmith's books about the case.
I found the newspaper office intriguing in its accuracy. For one thing, it is usually fairly empty, and it was true on a morning paper in those days that the office began to heat up closer to deadline Among the few early arrivals would have been the cartoonist, who was expected to work up a few ideas for presentation at the daily news meeting, and the office alcoholics, perhaps up all night, or already starting their recovery drinking. Yes, reporters drank at their desks 40 years ago, and smoked and smoked and smoked.
Graysmith is new on the staff when the first cipher arrives. He's like the curious new kid in school fascinated by the secrets of the big boys. He doodles with a copy of the cipher, and we think he'll solve it, but he doesn't. He strays off his beat by eavesdropping on cops and reporters, making friends with the boozy Avery, and even talking his way into police evidence rooms. Long after the investigation has cooled, his obsession remains, eventually driving his wife (Chloe Sevigny) to move herself and their children in with her mom. Graysmith seems oblivious to the danger he may be drawing into his home, even after he appears on TV and starts hearing heavy breathing over the phone
DVD Review: Long, but worth it
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie starts out a bit grisly, with a couple of random murders, then transforms into a journalist/detective flic. It has plenty of twists and turns (as expected), but because it is based upon a true story, the ending is somewhat anticlimactic.DVD Review: Zodiac
Summary: 5 Stars
Great experience. arrived on time and was in excellent condition. I will let all my friends know.DVD Review: 4 STARS FOR THE SINGLE DISC
Summary: 4 Stars
ZODIAC
This movie is actually a very interesting and entertaining look at a coward named [self named] The Zodiac Killer. For those who have read my other review [The Zodiac Killer-which was a good movie over all] about this fame seeking individual will know what I think of this chump. This seemed like a real event to me when I was watching it [as in the movie felt real, I know the events actually took place] since the atmosphere, writing, direction, and acting seemed to be in top order. For fans of serial killer movies and movie fans over all this is worth while flick that is purchase worthy in my opinion. Of course I am sure you all know what it is basically about, the killer right? Kinda
While the movie is basically about this guy the true story lies within the people who covered the killings and the ones who investigated them. And even then it is not truly about those people it is about how it affected their lives and changed them. You may be saying well that means it is about them then, no because how it affected them is basically how it affected the whole area. This movie is about the impact this glory hound had on the population during this time, the book on which this is based is great by the way.
Any way the film follows a couple of different people from the lead investigators to other police officers from different areas, and of course the newspaper employees who followed this case as well. It was interesting to see these people go through changes that altered their lives forever; some just gave up while stayed obsessed with the case. Director David Fincher who you may know from making other great films like "Seven and Fight Club" I believe does a great job with this movie. Although you will say to yourself at one point or another "this is a long movie" it still is a great viewing experience. James Vanderbilt's screenplay based on Robert Graysmith's book is wonderful and really brings the people on screen to life.
Speaking of author Robert Graysmith he is played wonderfully by Jake Gyllenhaal whose obsession with the case drives him closer and closer to an answer he will never truly get. Maybe one day but as far as the book and film even though he believes he knows who the Zodiac is he will never truly get the answer as of now. Jake is great n this film and you can see the transformation of an everyday average guy to a man who becomes so obsessed that he alienates his own family. Mark Ruffalo is great as well playing Inspector David Toschi as is Anthony Edwards who plays Inspector William Armstrong. Both do great jobs in this film and are truly upset that they never caught their man.
One of my favorite actors out there Robert Downey Jr. is excellent as usual playing Paul Avery. This guy goes from being one of the most confident people ever to being reduced to a shell of his former self, even though he ends up helping more then he thinks when Robert comes to see him. Another great performance comes in the form of John Carroll Lynch who plays the lead suspect Arthur Leigh Allen. Both these guys deliver well and add a lot to the film, glad both were cast in this. Still everyone that was in this movie deserves credit because all were good and deserve praise for their acting abilities.
This is a little more held back as far as blood and stuff compared to the filmmakers previous films but that adds to the atmosphere in my opinion. This is a wonderful movie that I truly believe most would enjoy even if it feels a bit long. The only problem is that if you want some special features you have to buy the two disc version, this single disc has nothing on it really. Still if it is all you can find the movie alone is worth it, go rent, buy or what ever this movie.
DVD Review: The Zodiac (Blu-ray)
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a Blu-ray disc enthusiast and I have to say that this film has been given top notch treatment in its transter to HD. I owned this film in Standard DVD and now own it on Blu-ray disc and the difference in video quality is amazing. While the Standard DVD looked good upconverted to 1080p in my HDTV, it simply could not match the three-dimensionality, vibrant color, and detail of the Blu-ray version. This is one of the best Blu-ray discs I have seen and would highly recommend it to fans of the film.
Description of Zodiac - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
Based on the actual case files of one of the most intriguing unsolved crimes in the nation's history, "Zodiac" is a thriller from David Fincher, director of "Se7en" and "Panic Room." As a serial killer terrifies the San Francisco Bay Area and taunts police with his ciphers and letters, investigators in four jurisdictions search for the murderer. The case will become an obsession for four men as their lives and careers are built and destroyed by the endless trail of clues.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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