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Blu-Ray Review:

Zodiac

 

By Jason Gillard

*Screen shots are not from the Blu-Ray source.

    
           

Movie

When Zodiac came out in the theaters I was really mad that I didn't get a chance to see it. I am a big fan of David Fincher who directs this movie. He is responsible for films like Fight Club and Se7en. Who better to handle a film about a serial killer than Fincher, who did such an amazing job with Se7en. This movie is about a serial killer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the 60's. What made this serial killer unique was how he used the media. He would regularly send letters to the San Francisco Chronicle with syphers in them. The case went pretty stale until a cartoonist at the paper took it upon himself to try and figure out who the Zodiac was. This movie was a surprise for me. I was surprised how much I liked it. It's not about gory murders like Se7en, it's more about the characters and the constant battle between the police trying to solve the cases and the Zodiac killer. It rates up there as one of my top movies of quite awhile

9 out of 10
 

Video

The transfer for Zodiac is fantastic, we get a 1080p transfer with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The movie was shot digitally and the transfer really shows this.  The picture is so sharp that you can see little nuisances in the actors faces.  It's crisp, clear and vibrant when it needs to be.  Details that would go unnoticed in most films are readily apparent here, like blades of grass and grains of sand.  Black levels are also fantastic.  There is quite a lot of CG used in this film and it goes unnoticed, because it blends into the print seamlessly.  All I can say is this is an example of how great a blu-ray title can be.  If you want something to show off your home theater and don't want to go with a crazy action flick you should pop this one into your player and marvel at the detail and an incredible looking transfer.

10 out of 10
 

Audio

Zodiac is given the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack treatment.  The only thing is that it doesn't really need it.  The audio is pretty basic and flat.  Most of the sound comes out of the front channels with little use for the rear surrounds.  It does an OK job of recreating the busy office at the Chronicle, but that's about it.  I also found that it comes across a little soft.  For a movie such as this, it's mostly dialogue and the track does do an adequate job of this, but it is a little quiet though.  I found that while watching the film I didn't remember a single thing about the soundtrack, except for the dialogue, but maybe that is what they were going for.

7 out of 10
 

Extras

Here is what you get in the way of extras:

  • Commentary by Director David Fincher, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Producer Brad Fischer, James Vanderbilt and James Ellroy
  • Zodiac Deciphered: The Making of Zodiac
  • The Visual Effects of Zodiac
  • Sequence Breakdowns: Blue Rock Springs; Lake Berrvessa; San Francisco
  • This is the Zodiac Speaking: An in-depth look at the attacks of the Zodiac killer
  • Prime Suspect: A chilling look at the prime suspect in the Zodiac case

The extras included here are the same as the DVD, the only difference is there is HD. My favorite extra has to be "Zodiac Deciphered: The Making of Zodiac" This is a very well done documentary of the making of the film. I really enjoyed this and I find personally the whole Zodiac lore very interesting. Another feature I liked was the Visual Effects of Zodiac because when watching this movie you would think there is not very much in the way of special effects. So this feature tells you how there were 90 special effects shots used. They also talked about how overhead shots were accomplished without the use of helicopters. I also really liked Prime Suspect. This goes into more details about Arthur Leigh Allen with interviews of people who knew him. Plus there is an excellent commentary by David Fincher with only the occasional patch of silence.

9 out of 10
   

Overall

I really liked this disc and it is one of my favorites of 2007. You get an amazing movie, an excellent transfer and great extras. The bonus features included are all excellent and really add to the film. This is an excellent movie and an amazing story. I think that if anyone other than David Fincher directed this movie it could have turned out like one of those movies of the week, but instead we get an amazingly deep film and excellent visuals. This for me is a must buy!

9 out of 10

Recommended.

Zodiac Blu-ray is available now from Amazon.com