Zodiac (Widescreen Edition)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.Brand: GYLLENHAAL,JAKE
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 157 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-24
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of Zodiac (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: So Disturbing I Had To Delete This Review And Give Myself Time
Summary: 5 Stars
Reposted: 12/01/2008
Traumatic. That's what the killings down by the lake were to watch in the theater. Seconds before it had just sunk in: the reality of this moment. This had happened. These people were there together. Their fear was real. The man had come out of nowhere. In the next moment they are being stabbed. The camera does not turn away. There are no quick edits. We are not at a far master shot, either. We're as close as those two lovers were to each other and we never left that space. I am traumatized and perhaps I should be, but I wasn't ready for a mind-altering experience on the level of Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan. And if you don't remember, those films were revolutionary for their depiction of realistic death by violence in a you-are-there manner. It was appropriate to the subject matter for sure, that's why it wasn't exploitation or offensive in the way you would normally assume. Zodiac, however, was not particularly gory in comparison. Rather the humanity & reality of these victims and the sheer randomness of the encounters is what shocks. If you are not used to this sort of thing, be prepared to be in a humor-less, mildly traumatized state for at least 24 hours after seeing this film.
I had a theory about David Fincher as a director. That theory stated that every other film of his is a masterpiece. Seven was great. Alien 3 sucked. Fight Club was great. Panic Room sucked. Zodiac... I can't say great, because I'm too affected by it right now. And calling it entertaining or even art I'm not sure is appropriate. It was not poorly done, but it's going to take some time for it to sink in. I can't think of any reason to give it less than 5 stars, though. Fincher has certainly taken us on a journey of frustration and terror from the vantage point of those aforementioned victims, the police, and the journalists covering it. Since I assume that's a proper portrayal of their experiences, I think Fincher and company accomplished their goals. The writing, acting, direction and all the technical aspects were so on the mark that I often lost my awareness of watching a movie.
Now, who was the Zodiac? If all the information portrayed in the film is correct, then it's clearly Allen. I don't know that is the case, as I don't know much on this particular subject. However, after just watching the film I am left with a few gut reactions. First, Zodiac distinctly strikes me as either a law enforcement person or someone who was denied that type of employment. It reminded me of Aldrich Ames or Robert Hanssen being disgruntled intell workers wanting to show their peers how incompetent these peers are. I also sense a contradiction in thinking a child molester would even be targeting adults in the first place, since they often gravitate to children due to their lack of socio-sexual maturity; and even if they did why would they not rape any of the victims prior to their murder? The whole talk about slaves sounded like a man who was always a subordinate and never allowed to lead.
In that area of California, you also had a surge of New Age occult-like "free living" movements that a lot of traditionalists were emphasizing as fornication and a rejection of conservative values amongst young people. It makes me wonder how someone who was a little too old to be part of these movements, who was raised very conservatively but had already concluded they themselves were a "Lost Soul" might respond to a sudden social movement that was embracing these non-traditional beliefs without feeling guilt or shame like he had. Thus he is both seeking revenge on the imposters and by killing the transgressors also increasing his ranks of slaves of the Lesser Evil who will be subordinate to his Supreme Evil in the next life. Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven. I've met a number of very religious people who oddly enough feel beyond redemption (their word, not mine) so they just become more screwed up. It just usually doesn't include murder, but I see no reason why it might occasionally.
But then I'm forced to think down another line. Profiles of serial killers often seem to fall into two groups. There are the extremely eccentric, fixated types like Dahmer & Bundy. Then there are the media hungry ones. And there are some killers who are a combination of both. I'm reminded of the astronomy advances in planet detection. They have found mostly planets that exhibit one or more of the following attributes: 1. They are large. 2. They are close to their host star. 3. They have fast revolutions. Yet the Doppler spectrum shift detection methods tend to find these planets easiest because they produce the largest shifts. As technology improves, more planets are being found that have fewer or none of these attributes. Therefore, early conclusions by laymen that most planets were big, close to their host stars, and had faster revolutions than in our star system were incorrect. In all likelihood it means there are a great many planets out there, with just a minority of them initially fitting these detection requirements.
Applying this logic to serial killers, if the only killings we are attributing to serial killers are those that are clearly purposely similar or eccentric, and/or are the result of individuals who are looking for publicity & attention from police & the media, then concluding that the average serial killer exhibits these attributes could very well be erroneous. A higher proportion of unsolved murders & disappearing persons could be the result of serial killers than we realize, with enough variation in methods and a lack of correspondence with police or media that they are never put into that category. That's a truly terrible thought, but it makes sense. Most people do not murder in their lifetime. Yet there are murders and many of them are never even close to ever solved. Someone is doing them. Captured serial killers often mention the thrill of the kill. It seems to make sense then that those murderers who do it once will likely do it again, especially if it was random to begin with. Could there be a small subculture of silent, sufficiently pattern-less & non-fame-seeking serial killers out there lurking? I hope not. Maybe serial killers are prone like the rest of us to wanting attention & credit, and hopefully the killing need is more deeply tied to eccentricity & pattern. I'd like to hope that were the case. Anyway, at least I'm feeling a little less traumatized right now. Probably not justifiably so, but we all need to sleep, right?
Summary of Zodiac (Widescreen 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
Beyond Zodiac
 The Zodiac (2005) |  Curse of the Zodiac (2007) |  The Novel |
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