Zodiac (2007)
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 231
Fresh: 207 | Rotten: 24
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.
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 53
Fresh: 44 | Rotten: 9
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.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 451,645
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Movie Info
The true story behind the murders that many crime scholars believe to be the most perplexing series of unsolved crimes in modern history comes to the screen in chilling detail as Fight Club and Seven director David Fincher steps behind the camera to tell the mysterious tale of the infamous Zodiac killer. A relentless serial killer is stalking the streets of the San Francisco Bay Area, leaving citizens locked into a constant state of panic, and baffled authorities scrambling for clues. Though the
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Cast
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Mark Ruffalo
Inspector David Toschi -
Jake Gyllenhaal
Robert Graysmith -
Robert Downey Jr.
Paul Avery -
Anthony Edwards
Inspector William Armst... -
Brian Cox
Melvin Belli -
Charles Fleischer
Bob Vaughn -
Zach Grenier
Mel Nicolai -
Philip Baker Hall
Sherwood Morrill -
Elias Koteas
Sgt. Jack Mulanax -
John Lacy
Zodiac 4 -
Donal Logue
Ken Narlow -
John Carroll Lynch
Arthur Leigh Allen -
Dermot Mulroney
Captain Marty Lee -
Ed Setrakian
Al Hyman -
Chloë Sevigny
Melanie -
John Getz
Templeton Peck -
John Terry
Charles Thieriot -
Candy Clark
Carol Fisher -
Adam Goldberg
Duffy Jennings -
James LeGros
Officer George Bawart -
Doan Ly
Belli's Housekeeper -
Pell James
Cecelia Shepherd -
Lee Norris
Mike Mageau-Young -
Bob Stephenson
Zodiac 3 -
Jason Wiles
Lab Tech Dagitz -
Joel Bissonnette
Inspector Kracke -
Richmond Arquette
Zodiac 1 & 2 -
Barry Livingston
Copyeditor -
Clea DuVall
Linda del Buono -
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All Critics (231) | Top Critics (53) | Fresh (224) | Rotten (25) | DVD (50)
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.
Top Critic[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.
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.
Gyllenhaal always manages to present a person of some sensitivity without leaning on actorish resources.
I think this is a great film.
Several bravura suspense sequences - can't help but recall slasher convention.
Beautifully poised, slow and sinister: a trance of expectant menace in which Fincher holds his audience until the movie's finale.
A complex crime drama that limits its action, opting to save it for the times that bring the greatest impact.
So insistent, and successful, is David Fincher at duplicating real-life hypervigilance that you may try writing a "k" in two, not three, strokes to see the difference - damning and admiring how this indisputable masterpiece drags you down the rabbit hole.
Zodiac is a great film that many true crime buffs would love due to the treatment given to the subject, and that many movie fans will admire thanks to David Fincher's direction and the performances of its cast.
Ultimately the lack of tautness in the storytelling, seemingly stemming from a desire to be as faithful as possible to Graysmith's book, costs the film dearly.
An enthrallingly unsatisfactory film, worth watching and deciphering
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.
Although the film is a good police procedural that moves methodically through the available clues, its strong suit is its characterizations. (Blu-ray Edition)
...an effective reenactment of some chilling real-life events.
Zodiac does a great job of showing three different paths (reporter, cop, cartoonist) in trying to capture a serial killer.
Notorious case inspires dark, sinuous thriller.
Zodiac has us ponder the frustrations of a case that won't close up tightly like your weekly CSI.
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
It is not its lack of resolution that makes Zodiac a poor film, it is its stupefying dull progression.
An all-star cast delivers in David Fincher's look into the investigation around one of history's great unsolved serial killer cases.
Audience Reviews for Zodiac
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- Inspector David Toschi: May I see that?
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- Paul Avery: He stole the logo of a watch.
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- Inspector David Toschi: Before I kill you, I'm going to throw your baby out the window.
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- Inspector David Toschi: Hey, how do we know that this lead is real?
- Inspector William Armstrong: It's very real. You know how I know? Cause I saw it on TV.
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- Robert Graysmith: Just because you can't prove it, doesn't mean it's not true.
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- Robert Graysmith: He made a mistake. It's Arthur Leigh Allen!
Discussion Forum
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Latest News on Zodiac
October 12, 2012:
Harris Savides: 1957-2012The famed cinematographer, whose work included "Zodiac" and "Milk," has passed away at the age of...
January 26, 2009:
RT on DVD: RocknRolla, Mary Poppins, and Zodiac and Bourne Hit Blu-rayThe year is beginning to get good for home video enthusiasts, with a band of notable new titles and...
March 6, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Ancient Action Arrives AgainFor its third chart-topper of the year, Warner Bros. is going back in time with its ancient...
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Quibble - they might have explained the Melvin Belli character a bit more. I got that he was some celebrity lawyer but I didn't think it was set up well.