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Movies / On DVD / Zodiac
Zodiac

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Zodiac (2007)

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Reviews Counted:223

Fresh:198

Rotten:25

Average Rating:7.6/10

Consensus: A quiet, dialogue-driven thriller that delivers with scene after scene of gut-wrenching anxiety. David Fincher also spends more time illustrating nuances of his characters and recreating the mood of the 70s than he does on gory details of murder.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for some strong killings, language, drug material and brief sexual images

Runtime: 2 hrs 42 mins

Genre: Murder, Killer, , Cops, True Story, Thriller, Serial Killers, 1970s, 1960s, Detectives, Murder Mysteries, Murder Investigations, Based On A Novel, Theatrical Release

Theatrical Release:Mar 2, 2007 Wide

Box Office: $33,048,353

Synopsis: David Fincher's (FIGHT CLUB, SE7EN) adaptation of the Robert Graysmith book masterfully transports viewers to the Bay Area in the 1960s and '70s by drawing on actual case files from the notoriously... David Fincher's (FIGHT CLUB, SE7EN) adaptation of the Robert Graysmith book masterfully transports viewers to the Bay Area in the 1960s and '70s by drawing on actual case files from the notoriously unsolved Zodiac killer mystery. As a murderer with seemingly random targets starts sending terrifying threats and cryptic codes to police and publishers all around San Francisco, fear and paranoia descend on the city. Through slow pacing, Fincher creates an effectively chilling atmosphere in which he spins a thick web of character-driven plotlines. Early scenes depicting the Zodiac's first-known murders vividly capture the victim's fear and agony and will leave viewers haunted. When the Zodiac's ciphers arrive at the San Francisco Chronicle, they spark the interest of Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), a young cartoonist with a penchant for puzzles. As the former Boy Scout earnestly tries to decode the messages, eccentric reporter Paul Avery approaches the case from a career-boosting angle. Meanwhile, a string of investigators from four jurisdictions carry on a complex and unsatisfying search for the elusive killer. Inspectors Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) at times collide with Avery and Graysmith, whose interest in the case extends long after most have given up. Even at two-and-a-half hours in length, this dense murder mystery should manage to keep its audience riveted throughout. Paired with stellar performances from Ruffalo, Downey, Gyllenhaal, and countless others, a clever script produces well-developed characters, and the film's art direction, music, and costumes all combine to create an authentic sense of time and place. The somber tone of the atmospheric thriller gives the film a documentary-like aesthetic at times, lending weight to the story's facts while never relying on cheap tricks. Unlike murder mysteries such as THE BLACK DAHLIA, ZODIAC invites viewers to develop theories of their own, allowing them to come to their own conclusions. [More]

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey, Chloe Sevigny, Anthony Edwards

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey, Chloe Sevigny, Anthony Edwards, Gary Oldman, Mark Ruffalo, Ione Skye, Clea DuVall, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, John Carroll Lynch, Dermot Mulroney, Donal Logue, Pell James, Jimmi Simpson, Charles Fleischer

Director: David Fincher

Director: David Fincher
Screenwriter: James Vanderbilt
Composer: David Shire
Producer: Arnold Messer, Mike Medavoy
Studio: Paramount Pictures

[See More Credits]

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    Robert Graysmith
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    Robert Downey Jr.
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    The Zodiac Reads The Chronicle
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Release:

Jan 27, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

Blu-ray Disc Features:

  • 2-Disc Set
  • Sensormatic
  • Director's Cut
  • Full Frame - 1.33
  • Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus - English
  • Subtitles - English, French, Spanish

Additional Release Material:

Featruettes:

  • 1. Zodiac Deciphered HD
  • 2. Blue Rock Springs HD
  • 3. The San Francisco Chronicle HD
  • 4. The Hall of Justice HD
  • 5. Presidio Heights HD
  • 6. Lake Berryessa HD
  • 7. Obsession HD
  • 8. The Visual Effects of Zodiac HD
  • 9. Previsualization
  • 10. Blue Rock Springs
  • 11. Lake Berryessa
  • 12. San Francisco
  • 13. The Facts
  • 14. This is the Zodiac Speaking
  • 15. Lake Herman Road HD
  • 16. Prime Suspect
  • 17. His Name Was Arthur Leigh Allen HD
  • Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer HD

Audio Commentary:

  • 1. David Fincher - Director
  • 2. Jake Gyllenhall - Star, Robert Downey Jr. - Star, Brad Fischer - Producer, James Vanderbilt - Writer, James Ellroy - Writer

Featurette:

  • 1. The Visual Effects of Zodiac
  • 2. Previsualization

Documentary:

  • 1. Zodiac Deciphered
  • 2. This is Zodiac Speaking
  • 3. His Name Was Arthur Leigh Allen
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Zodiac

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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An enthrallingly unsatisfactory film, worth watching and deciphering

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/27/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

Zodiac is a marvel of moody photography, as it tries to capture the funereal pall hanging over a metropolitan city in the grip of fear.

Full Review Source: Cinefantastique | comment Comment
03/10/09
Steve Biodrowski
Steve Biodrowski
Cinefantastique

...an effective reenactment of some chilling real-life events.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
01/21/09
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

There are no tidy, last-minute plot twists to make you feel good in Fincher's Zodiac, just focus -- to keep an audience focused -- and the most disciplined filmmaking you've seen in forever.

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

[W]here Se7en, with its stygian gloom and theatrical executions, inflated the serial killer genre to gothic proportions, Zodiac lets the air back out. It is methodical rather than macabre, clinical rather than cruel.

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
09/18/08
Christopher Orr
Christopher Orr
New Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Zodiac does a great job of showing three different paths (reporter, cop, cartoonist) in trying to capture a serial killer.

Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review | comment Comment
09/04/08
Jeff Bayer
Jeff Bayer
The Scorecard Review

Zodiac has us ponder the frustrations of a case that won't close up tightly like your weekly CSI.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
06/21/08
Matthew Sorrento
Matthew Sorrento
Film Threat

Gone are the emphatic jumps and the flying-camera-through-the-keyhole style of "Panic Room". By avoiding the superficial scares he ends up creating a more devastating dread

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
04/16/08
Brian Holcomb
Brian Holcomb
PopMatters

It is not its lack of resolution that makes Zodiac a poor film, it is its stupefying dull progression.

Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com | comment 4 Comments
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com

An all-star cast delivers in David Fincher's look into the investigation around one of history's great unsolved serial killer cases.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
02/02/08
Wesley Lovell
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

What makes this movie special is that really, not much happens. ,yet it's insanely gripping, even if someone is explaining discovery or flipping through a file.

Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
01/10/08
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina

Fincher, more subdued ... and aching for a return to smart suspense films from the likes of Sidney Lumet and Alan J. Pakula, pulls us by the collar into the frame and cranks the sense of menace taut without cheap tricks or cop-out gimmicks.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
01/08/08
Mark Bourne
Mark Bourne
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

... with this film [Fincher] detours from the graphic violence and depravity of Se7en and Fight Club to a more psychological realm of terror.

Full Review Source: DVD Review | comment Comment
01/02/08
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
DVD Review

David Fincher presents an intriguing and intelligent puzzle of a film.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Not until well into its second hour does it settle on a theme: the need to know the truth, and the dismal toll of that futile obsession.

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
10/18/07
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

Director David Fincher is an absolute master of psychological terror.

Full Review Source: Gannett News Service | comment Comment
10/18/07
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Gannett News Service

Fincher, the neo-Kubrick-nerd, has lost his bearings.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment 2 Comments
10/18/07
Armond White
Armond White
New York Press

David Fincher's sixth feature potently blends the dynamics of the newsroom drama with those of the police procedural.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
10/18/07
Graham Fuller
Graham Fuller
Sight and Sound

A gripping true tale of attrition and obsession.

Full Review Source: MSNBC | comment Comment
10/18/07
John Hartl
John Hartl
MSNBC

Zodiac is, as everyone says, an unusually complex and ambitious true-crime story, and (more important) a deeply engaging study of three obsessed men.

Full Review Source: Nation | comment Comment
10/18/07
Stuart Klawans
Stuart Klawans
Nation
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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