Zodiac

[Vanilla]

Review/Discuss

Edited July 24, 2014 by baumer

[Travod]

His 2nd best movie :DThe guy who plays Arthur Leigh Allen is amazing for the part (and it's funny because he's so different in Fargo). I like long, slow, and dark movies for some reason. Toschi is great. And the opening scene. Basically every murder scene.

[ky02121]

This is Fincher's best film IMO.

[fmpro]

did´ ent get it5/10

[The Creator]

David Fincher brings the tale of the Zodiac killer to life with a wonderful vibe that really places the viewer in 1960's/1970s San Francisco and makes the events feel tense and real. This is probably Fincher's finest movie and one of the most well-developed, and it's powerfully acted and strongly casted. But it's the story itself that compels me; Fincher's Zodiac makes the killings feel like they're happening as we are watching them, like we are readers of "The Chronicle" who are just learning of them at the same time they do. It puts you right in the scene of the action, but rather than focus on the Zodiac killer himself, because he is ambiguous and there's not enough information to make him the star character, we get to follow his progress through three significant characters: a cartoonist working for "The Chronicle", a reporter at "The Chronicle", and a detective from homicide who is investigating the Zodiac killer. Gyllenhaal, Downey Jr., and Ruffalo all deliver stellar, Oscar-worthy performances here, but it was Gyllenhaal's character who I enjoyed watching the most, with perhaps his finest performance since "Donnie Darko".

But what I really like about Zodiac (2007) is how it brings to light so much evidence that in a way, it makes it the viewer's responsibility to decide who they think the Zodiac killer was. And no other suspect is so clearly placed in the limelight as Arthur Leigh Allen. The man is nuts, and in the one interview we get with him, we see so many connections to what we learn about the Zodiac through the movie, from his watch bearing the symbol and Zodiac brand name, to his ambidextrious nature; what we learn from those associated with him just drives it home. The man pratted about "picking kiddies off a school bus", about how he could get away with it because there was no motive. Leigh lived just across the street from the theater showing "The Most Dangerous Game" in 1968, a movie that inspired the Zodiac's killings. Leigh's letters stop when he goes to prison in 1975, but they pick back up after he is released in 1978. He is identified by one of his victims in the closing scene of the movie. And, according to Graysmith (the author of the Zodiac book, who is played by Gylenhaal), the mysterious phone calls ended after Leigh's death.

In fact, with all this evidence brought to light, it really makes me outraged that Leigh was never brought to trial, and just when he was going to, he suffered a fatal heart attack.

All in all, a wonderful thriller. I love the use of "Hurdy Gury Man" and "Easy to be Hard" in this movie. Best line: "After I kill you, I'm going to throw your baby out the car."

A+

Edited August 7, 2012 by The Creator

[Jake Gittes]

I also think this is Fincher's best film. The whole opening sequence culminating with the murder set to Hurdy Gurdy Man is just brilliant filmmaking. The interrogation scene in the middle is a little masterpiece in itself. All in all, a tense, haunting, confident (I really love Fincher for his no-nonsense, self-assured, yet not self-indulgent approach to filmmaking, and Zodiac is no exception) character piece, beautifully acted and directed.

[Hatebox]

I knew nothing about the Zodiac murders when I first saw this so left the cinema thinking 'well that was a whole bunch of nothing'. Needless to say I appreciated it a lot more the second time.

[TheMovieman]

No poll?

[XenoZodiac]

A lot of people calling it Fincher's finest film. I liked Fight Club and Se7en better though.

[Gopher]

This and Social Network are far and away Fincher's best work.

[Kevin Bacon]

This and Social Network and Fight Club are far and away Fincher's best work, though Se7en and Dragon Tattoo are awesome in their own right, and Panic Room and The Game are also quite good. He also made another movie in 2008 that is better not discussed.

Edited September 28, 2012 by Kevin Bacon

[The Toymaker]

Fight Club and Se7en are miles better than Zodiac. It was a good movie, but that's it, just good. I enjoyed it, but I'm not ever going to watch it again. Panic Room is more enjoyable than Zodiac.

B-

[Gopher]

Se7en's a good movie with a great ending. It's enjoyable but it doesn't really even feel like a Fincher movie. Fight Club is enjoyable but flawed. It's apparently a satire, according to Fincher, but never feels like one at all. The ending doesn't make any sense with the tone of the rest of the movie. Zodiac and Social Network are near-perfect films in my book. Always engaging and expertly crafted.

[The Toymaker]

I would argue that Fincher is not auteur enough to have his own feel.

[Gopher]

You don't need to be an auteur to have your own feel. Uwe Boll movies feel like Uwe Boll movies.

[The Toymaker]

Well then it's a pretty gentle feeling. Only auteurs have similar feelings and atmospheres in all of their films. Fincher is not an auteur.

Edited September 29, 2012 by The Toymaker

[Jake Gittes]

Caught this playing on TV by chance and before I knew it, got hopelessly sucked in once again. What a film.

[luna]

a crime movie that doesn't spend most of its time on the crime. great character study, and while the soundtrack would be terrible on its own fincher's movies always seem to have this great atmospheric sound to them.

 

8/10

[DAR]

I think it might be Fincher's most underrated film. Great performances all around and extremely engrossing. A

[Lordmandeep]

I thought it was to long and way to even to be interesting for 3 hoursB -