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Zodiac - R4 (Australia)
R4 - Australia - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak and Jarrod Baker (29th October 2007). |
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The Film
 The Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer who terrified Californian residents during the late 1960’s has inspired numerous books, television programmes and films over the years. Scorpio, the antagonist in the first “Dirty Harry” (1971) film was based on the Zodiac killer, and numerous fictional serial killers have since followed in his footsteps. Unlike the Zodiac-themed films that have gone before it however, David Fincher's “Zodiac” takes a much more documentary approach, explicitly attempting to recreate the real events of the case. Based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction books on the case, “Zodiac” and “Zodiac Unmasked”, the film focuses on the people involved in investigating the murders, including crime beat reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), SFPD detectives Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards), and Graysmith himself (Jake Gyllenhaal). This is Fincher's first film since 2002's “Panic Room”, and represents an impressive return to form - or perhaps it's a continuation of the pattern he has displayed thus far, where he alternates exceptional films like “Se7en” (1995) and “Fight Club” (1999) with merely okay ones like “The Game” (1997) and (cough) “Alien3” (1992). Regardless, although “Zodiac” might not reach the cinematic heights of “Se7en” or “Fight Club”, it's still an engrossing, rewarding film that feels thoroughly like the product of Fincher the auteur. Shot completely on digital (It was the first major feature to be shot entirely using the Thomson Viper digital cinema – Michael Mann's “Collateral” (2004) also used this camera, but also used footage from other sources), the film is visually striking, if perhaps lacking some of the dynamism seen in Fincher's previous films. Any film based on actual events skates several fine lines – the primary goal of a movie is to entertain, and if the subject matter is approached too dryly then the picture can fail on this count. On the other hand if corners are cut in the name of entertainment then the movie can become less a depiction of real events and more a somewhat misleading mess (see “Saving Private Ryan” (1998), “Braveheart” (1995), etc). “Zodiac” manages to balance these competing interests well, helped in part by the fact that it's based on a somewhat partisan source material – Graysmith was deeply and viscerally involved in the case, and has a particular viewpoint on the killer's identity (albeit one that isn't supported by much in the way of physical evidence); because of this the film doesn't necessarily have to be fair and balanced, representing as it does one individual's experiences. It also helps that the filmmakers have obviously put a great deal of time and effort into getting the facts right. They conducted a great deal of additional research, contacting the principal figures from Graysmith's book (including the Zodiac killer's surviving victims) and convinced many of them to serve as advisors for the film. “Zodiac” may be too long and too detailed for some audiences – particularly those who go into the film expecting another generic serial killer film. For everyone else, it makes for thoughtful and thoroughly worthwhile viewing.
Video
Presented in 2.40:1 ratio this widescreen anamorphic transfer is another top notch effort from Warner Brothers. Taken from the original digital source this transfer is quite sharp and detailed. The photography comes across exceptionally well as all colours appear accurate to the filmmaker’s vision with deep and bold blacks and natural skin tones. Shadow detail is also excellent and remains so throughout the print. The image is clean and features no flaws that I could find.
Audio
Two audio tracks are included in English Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its English soundtrack. The film is not action orientated and therefore isn’t an aggressive track but it is a very moody film that takes great effort to immerse the viewer in it’s bleak setting and play heavily on ambient and environmental sounds that utilise the surround channels well and creates depth. Additionally dialogue is clear and distortion free ands the film’s score comes across well. It’s not as dynamic as a full-bit rate DTS track could be but for a Dolby Digital 5.1 number it’s rather good. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, Dutch, Spanish, Hebrew, Icelandic and Portuguese.
Extras
Warner Brothers has released this film with only with a featurette and some bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements.
Overall
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