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Zodiac: 2-Disc Director's Cut

Score: 95%
Rating: R
Publisher: Paramount
Region: 1
Media: DVD/2
Running Time: 162 Mins.
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Documentary
Audio: Dolby Digital: English 5.1
           Surround

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish


Features:

  • Widescreen Version Enhanced for 16:9 TVs
  • Commentary by Director David Fincher
  • Commentray by Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Brad Fischer, James Vanderbilt and James Ellroy
  • Zodiac Deciphered (Behind-the-Scenes Making of Zodiac) Featurette
  • The Visual Effects of Zodiac Featurette
  • Previsualization Featurette
  • This is the Zodiac Speaking Featurette
  • His Name Was Arthur Leigh Allen Featurette

A maniacal serial killer is at large and the police seem quite incapable of discovering his identity, much less actually catching him. The killer, who calls himself the Zodiac, even taunts the police, sending ciphers and encoded messages to several newspapers. When no one else can catch him, it's up to Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), the San Francisco Chronicle's political cartoonist, to catch the Zodiac. I know, I know... it sounds like a very Hollywood-esque and unlikely setup, but Zodiac was based on a true story. Not only that - this film was not "loosely" based on the true story; painstaking effort was taken to ensure that the film is as accurate as possible. In order to get information on the case, Graysmith shares notes with Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), a news columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle. Robert Graysmith and Paul Avery are a bit of an odd couple, with Paul Avery being very lax about things such as policies and laws and Robert Graysmith being much more easily distracted by riddles and ciphers than by other people. Robert seems to have an understanding of the Zodiac - knowing things about what the Zodiac's messages would say before they were deciphered, which would often make Avery uncomfortable.

Zodiac is the story of how a serial killer terrorized the San Francisco area, taunting the police by sending cipher-encrypted messages to newspapers and demanding that they be printed. Robert Graysmith is an analytical person who enjoys decoding ciphers and he inserts himself into the investigation to try to find out what he can. When the police are unable to catch the Zodiac, Robert Graysmith starts investigating the case on his own. Once the case is pretty much considered "dead" by the police, Robert is able to get Inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) to give him little bits of information to help him continue his personal investigation. This leads him from one police agency to the next, as the attacks were in different jurisdictions. Eventually, Robert Graysmith is getting a little assistance here or there from Inspector William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) and Sgt. Jack Mulunax (Elias Koteas), as well. It seems that crucial information to the case was failing to be shared, making it impossible to solve the case. These were just small details here and there, but they added up.

The book that Zodiac is based on focused more on the police investigating the murders, but screenplay writer James Vanderbilt thought that the real story was Robert Graysmith's personal investigation into the murders. Personally, I think that was a good call, as it is quite interesting to watch as Robert Graysmith becomes consumed with unravelling the ciphers that the Zodiac weaves and trying to collar the criminal.

For film-making fans, there are commentaries as well as three features on the making of Zodiac: Zodiac Deciphered, The Visual Effects of Zodiac and Previsualization. Zodiac Deciphered is an exhaustive behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the movie. Previsualization is a featurette with split-screen comparisons between animatics and finished film for the three murder sequences, showing how carefully they were planned.

Those interested in more detail on the case itself will also like the Zodiac Deciphered featurette, but will probably be more intrigued by the This is the Zodiac Speaking and His Name Was Arthur Leigh Allen featurettes. This is the Zodiac Speaking is "an all-new feature-length documentary (produced and directed by David Prior) covering every aspect of the investigation, including new interviews with the original investigators and surviving victims." His Name Was Arthur Leigh Allen presents the facts that were known about Arthur Leigh Allen, the prime suspect in the Zodiac case, by friends, relatives and the people who were investigating him.

Zodiac is an amazing movie; its about a serial killer, but only features three murder scenes, and yet, it's a roller-coaster ride that nearly lasts three hours. All this and the fact that it's based on a true story and provides a lot of special features that give additional details on the case makes Zodiac: 2-Disc Director's Cut a must-have for fans of murder - mysteries.



-Geck0, GameVortex Communications
AKA Robert Perkins

Related Links:



HD DVD Zodiac: 2-Disc Director's Cut Blu-ray Movie Blade Runner: Complete Collector's Edition

 
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