A Serial Killer Movie Without ... a Killer?
Here's my problem with "Zodiac". We know going in that the case of the Zodiac Killer was never solved so basically this is a movie about people looking for something they're never going to find. And I don't know how you define dull? But for me, that's right up there. The performances are all fine. Jake Gyllenhaal is good, Anthony Edwards is good, Robert Downey Jr is always good. And the movie has a nice dark authentic look to it. The trouble is, it's just not scary. David Fincher stays true to his material here and, while that's admirable, it means that we never see the killer, never get into his head and never come to understand his need to kill. So what we're left with is simply a shadowy figure with a gun. A cardboard cutout of a killer. And while if you actually lived through the Zodiac era, that uncertainty, the knowledge that anyone you pass on the street might in fact have blood on his hands might be terrifying, that terror doesn't transfer to the screen. This film received a lot of praise when it came out and was nominated for several awards (Jake Gyllenhaal: "Teen Choice Award" for Actor: Horror/Thriller?) and maybe as a sort of documentary it deserved it. But as pure entertainment (And I have to admit here, I am a fan of pure entertainment.) it falls flat.

I believe we have our man
The feature on the disc is the most compelling story yet told of the Zodiac case. I love the point of view that the story is told from, that of the detectives that were unlucky enough to have worked the case and how these murders changed their lives and the lives of that part of the country.

Even more compelling are the supplemental features which include interviews with not only some of the real life law enforcement and ancillary personnel involved with the case, but two of the surviving victims. Watching these videos and hearing the often contradictory statements leaves no wonder why the case remains unsolved.

If you have any interest in this genre of film, you owe it to yourself to pick this up pronto. I'd highly recommend the HD-DVD version which I own and consider to be the superior version, but we all know why I can't do that :)

The best Zodiac movie of them all!
It is horrifying to think that all the events in this movie actually took place, and more terrifying still that the serial killer might still be at large after over 30 years of evading the police. (Note: though the case is still open in many states, the killings have stopped, and the author, Robert Graysmith, believes the Zodiac is dead).

This movie is not about the Zodiac killer himself, but about the people involved in his pursuit, and especially with the obsession of one police detective and one cartoonist to catch him. The killings are gruesome, with some victims repeatedly stabbed to death, while others shot at close range with a hand gun. None of the victims were sexually molested, and they were not robbed of their personal belongings. The killer derived pleasure from killing his victims. As he later tells police in letters sent to newspapers, he kills in order to collect his victims as slaves for the next life! He always started his letters with, "This is the Zodiac speaking."

There was one instant where the killer might have been caught. After the Zodiac (as the killer calls himself) shoots a taxi driver, a police car is called to the scene after the gun shot is heard. However, witnesses mistakenly reported a black man at the scene. The Zodiac is a chubby white man. When the police arrive near the scene, they see the Zodiac walking, and stop by him to ask him if he had seen a black man in the area. He says yes and points to the direction he allegedly saw a black man with a gun running. If the police would have stopped and interviewed the Zodiac more closely, they would have seen his bloody hands. There is no telling what would have happened then. The policemen could have been shot dead, or maybe it would have been the other way around (there were two policemen in the car.) The Zodiac also called the police after committing some of the crimes - from phone booths adjacent to police stations!

Another chilling instant was when the Zodiac stopped a pregnant woman and her child on a road claiming that her back tire was wobbling. He volunteered to fix the tire, and while the woman watched from her side view mirror, he appeared to do just that. However, as soon as she drove off, the back tire completely came off and she had to stop. She was then kidnapped by the Zodiac and driven around for almost an hour, as if the Zodiac was looking for an ideal place to kill her. However, the woman, together with her child, managed to jump out of the car, and escaped death!

Not all of Zodiac's victims died. Although some victims were repeatedly stabbed, some survived! In all, it is believed that the Zodiac might have killed about 37 people.

It was quite amazing how an amateur code breaker was able to break the coded letter of the Zodiac within a day and a night. After the coded letter was published in a newspaper, neither the FBI nor the police were able to decipher the letter. However, an amateur man did! The FBI should have hired him!

This movie does follow the plot in the book `The Zodiac', by Robert Graysmith, who is played by Jake Gyllenhaal. This movie is much superior to other Zodiac movies I have seen. The acting is superb, and you will be kept in suspense throughout the movie. I did like the 70s look the movie portrayed.

If you have read the book by Graysmith, I highly recommend this movie. If you haven't read the book, then I recommend reading it before watching this movie. The movie does tend to jump from one scene to another without much cohesion at times, and if you did not read the book, you might not understand what is going on. The movie is also pretty long (about 3 hours), and my friends, who did not read the book, found it boring. I was captivated only because I knew what was going on, and the movie refreshed my memory on many of the chapters of Graysmith's book. I guess I was watching it more like a documentary than a feature film.

Outstanding Account of the Case
I saw the film when it was released because I wanted to see David Fincher's treatment of the story and was impressed. I was a teenager at the time and remember the case very well. He handled it very deftly and paid respect to victims and law enforcement. He handled the material with sensitivity but was direct in telling the story.
This is an excellent film on one of the most baffling cold cases in the US during the last century. I remember the news reports and Fincher's film conveys the era and the fear that the Zodiac spread throughout northern California. It also focuses on the impact the case had on all involved and the toll it took on the lives it touched. More than other crime films, it shows the amount of work the case took from several police departments because of the multiple jurisdictions and this case had to be handled along with full case loads of other crimes the detectives and officers had to work. In addition, each jurisdiction contended with issues on cooperation, lack of funds, and lack of manpower. I came away with a real appreciation for the integrity of the officers involved and a respect for how much effort the reporters, the detectives, and officers put into the case.
Fincher paid a great deal attention to detail, including recreating victims' clothes and, when possible, using real locations. He also had an impressive list of advisors, including Detective Toschi, Bryan Hartnell, and Robert Graysmith, which helped lend the authenticity to the filmed account.
I recommend the two-disc set with the interviews with Bryan Hartnell and Mike Mageau, survivors of the Lake Berryessa and Blue Rock Springs attacks, and the surviving detectives and officers that investigated the case.
Zodiac - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)ZodiacZodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer RevealedSeven (New Line Platinum Series)Suspect Zero (Widescreen Edition)Machinist-Special Edition [Region 2]

Gripping Documentary Is Worth The Price
After I saw the Zodiac, which I really enjoyed, on DVD in 2007 (rental) I did some research and read that at a later date this Special Edition was being released with a new movie length documentary featuring the actual investigators and surviving victims. It was worth the wait. Luckily, I had purchased a laptop with an HD-DVD player. Format wars aside, it is worth the price just for the extras included. The detectives and survivors will have you hanging on every word. The detectives go over crime scenes in pretty good detail telling of little things that still stick in their minds about the crime scenes. Every one of the suspected Zodiac killings are gone over in the documentary, including ones that were not recreated in the movie. The documentary also has photos that have probably never been seen before of evidence (that are new) as well as police shots of crime scenes. Interwoven into the documentary are old news clips of survivor interviews and police press conferences. And victims look back and tell what happened and how it effected their lives over the years. Excellent, excellent production quality with state of the art graphics being used for recreations. Also this was the first high definition DVD of either Blue Ray or HD-DVD that I have seen were all the extra features were also in HD.

For those that are interested in true crime, historical events, or the Zodiac (regardless of your theories on who he was)you need this in your DVD library if just for the documentaries (there is one also on the Zodiac's identity). If you don't have an HD-DVD player I would think it may be released in Blue Ray at a later date since that is now the standard so keep tabs on that.