Zodiac (Director's Cut) (HD DVD)

Zodiac is a film that has grown on me with each and every viewing. The first time I saw it I wasn't exactly enamored, but that was due to my expectation of seeing another David Fincher film much like Seven and Fight Club. However, Zodiac isn't a serial killer flick in the traditional sense, this is more of a '70s procedural thriller from the opening title retro Paramount and Warner logos to the investigative treatment of each crime scene. Fincher presents a look at the never caught Zodiac killer in a film based on the actual case films, not inspired by the actual events, and yes, there is a difference. While this director's cut has nothing noticeably different from the theatrical version as it features four additional minutes, it is nice to finally have it in a high definition format considering it looks phenomenal in full HD.

Where this 2-Disc Director's Cut of Zodiac picks up is where the DVD version never dared to go. Back in July of 2007 Paramount released a completely bare bones edition of Zodiac on DVD. Considering the nature of the film not to have a single feature was a slap in the face to not only the film, but the fans that are sure to continue to grow as the film gets seen by more and more people. Selling it as a Director's Cut seems almost gimmicky considering the differences aren't recognizable, but if it gets more folks interested in watching I am all for it as Zodiac will most likely be the most critically loved film of 2007 to be completely ignored by the Oscars, barring a miracle.

Therefore, considering I have already given my opinion on this great film with a theatrical review and a bare bones DVD review I will let you read those for my opinion and stick strictly to the special features with this review.

Broken out into two discs, the first features the feature film along with two accompanying commentaries. The first commentary features director David Fincher going solo and the second is a pieced together commentary featuring stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., producer Brad Fischer, screenwriter James Vanderbilt and the self-congratulatory author James Ellroy.

Of the commentaries I found absolutely no interest in the second one as Gyllenhaal and Downey Jr. are all I wanted to listen to since Fischer and Vanderbilt are all over the second disc making-of documentary and Ellroy's introduction of himself ("king of American crime fiction acknowledging this film as one of the half-dozen great American crime films") was enough for me to be put off immediately. Sorry, Michael Bay kissed his own ass enough on the Transformers commentary, I don't need yet another Paramount title featuring another blowhard tooting his own horn, even if I agree with his opinion. On top of all that, Gyllenhaal and Downey don't get nearly enough voice time as this is two commentaries spliced together and not all five gents in the same room at one time.

The first commentary with David Fincher, however, is fantastic as he points out several of the special effects in the film including the cleaning up of Gyllenhaal's hand double who had noticeably more knuckle hair that Jake did, comments on Ruffalo and his concerns in casting him, his love of Robert Downey Jr. whom he says you can only hope he doesn't "swallow every consonant" and a comment on one of the film's extras (Andy Walker featured above) that you have to hear to believe as this guy has about 2 seconds of screen time but apparently will not come on screen unless he knows exactly what his character is all about. In this case Fincher says, "He was playing a reporter who was breaking Watergate... If you walked past him while we were shooting he was on the phone constantly saying, 'I think there is something to this whole Watergate thing...'" The comment is brilliant, especially once you dig deeper into the features and realize just how much of a stickler for detail Fincher actually is.

Disc two carries your load of actual documentaries and making-of goodness. Personally I have explored this film so many times now, including covering the junket and interviewing "Zodiac" guru Robert Graysmith, that the making-of stuff pertaining to the details of the story and the inspiration and investigation was a bit old hat for me. However, for those of you not all that familiar with the production you should enjoy every minute of this second disc. None of the docs over stay their welcome and really manage to hit all the necessary details without becoming tedious.

Personally the best of the bunch for me included a look at the special effects and a feature called "His Name was Arthur Leigh Allen".

First for the effects feature, after watching this you will be ashamed of the Academy for not including it as one of the seven candidates for Visual Effects Oscar. You will be amazed at how many effects were used to create this film and how seamlessly integrated into the feature they actually are. However, I will admit that after knowing where everything is some of the blue screen work begins to stand out, which is upsetting, but I am still amazed at the majority of what they did.

The second highlight being the “His Name was Arthur Leigh Allen" doc runs just over 40 minutes and includes just about everyone you could imagine as they comment on the prime suspect in the Zodiac case. The interesting thing about the feature is that as you are watching you begin to wonder whether or not Allen actually was the killer as the film definitely seems to lean toward as some of the friends of Allen's commenting in this doc seem just as likely of candidates as Allen himself. You also begin to wonder whether or not the Zodiac could have been multiple killers as these men could all be in cahoots with one another. Needless to say, it is an interesting examination following up the film, and a fair one I would say as it never actually pins Allen as the killer considering it was never actually proven.

Other features include a gallery of pre-vis scenes, a feature length documentary looking at the various crime scenes in an exhaustive investigative fashion (something they did for press at the junket) and the behind-the-scenes documentary where you will soon see just what kind of a perfectionist Fincher is as he pointed out in his commentary a few scenes that actually took upwards of 56 takes! Just watch as he makes Jake Gyllenhaal drop a book over and over again until it falls just right. Patience must have been the word of the day for each day of this shoot. Downey told me while interviewing him for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang when I asked him if he was still shooting Zodiac, he said, "Still filming? It may well be filming when I come to promote the next movie. David Fincher ladies and gentlemen." It was simply funny at that time, but now I know where he was coming from.

Suffice to say, after this exhaustive read, this is a must own HD DVD, or if DVD is your thing buy that instead. Whatever you do get this film in your collection and watch it over and over again. Show it to friends and make sure it undoubtedly becomes one of the best films of 2007, it already made my list.