Zodiac Blu-ray
20 May 2012 06:25 PM
I have the HD-DVD of Zodiac, but wanted the blu-ray and was surprised to see that it has gone out-of-print here in the United States. Then someone on Home Theater Forum mentioned that the movie was available at Amazon.co.uk for a pittance.
I ordered the disc, and it showed up yesterday. So I popped it in the PS3 and watched it.
Zodiac tells the story of the infamous late 60’s early 70’s California serial killer who taunted the police with letters and ciphers, all while eluding capture. No one is certain as to exactly how many people he killed, since he took credit for murders that might not have been his.
Rather than focus strictly on the whodunit aspects of the story, Zodiac focuses on the people responsible for the investigation, including police detectives and journalists. One of the journalists, a self-professed Eagle Scout, is Robert Graysmith, a political cartoonist who decides that the Zodiac story deserves a book.
David FIncher’s direction is first-rate. Since most of us don’t know the supposed resolution of the story, the twists and turns of the movie are suspenseful and unexpected.
It is worth noting that this is a single-disc edition, whereas the first blu-ray release was a 2-disc edition. This disc also includes a lossy Dolby Digital track at 640kbps. I’m not sure what the first blu-ray disc had sound-wise, since I don’t have it. But the sound was acceptable. The dialogue was easy to understand, and the music soundtrack was fine.
The single 50-gig disc includes over three hours of supplemental documentaries, all in high-definition. There are two commentary tracks. The picture quality of the movie was quite good, the picture shot mostly digitally, and processed to have an older look. The supplements did not look as good as the movie itself, but since they were not the main feature, I was not bothered.
Hopefully, with David Fincher’s stock on the rise after The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, we will see Zodiac go back in-print in the United States. Meanwhile, this U.K. edition is a fine substitute.
I ordered the disc, and it showed up yesterday. So I popped it in the PS3 and watched it.
Zodiac tells the story of the infamous late 60’s early 70’s California serial killer who taunted the police with letters and ciphers, all while eluding capture. No one is certain as to exactly how many people he killed, since he took credit for murders that might not have been his.
Rather than focus strictly on the whodunit aspects of the story, Zodiac focuses on the people responsible for the investigation, including police detectives and journalists. One of the journalists, a self-professed Eagle Scout, is Robert Graysmith, a political cartoonist who decides that the Zodiac story deserves a book.
David FIncher’s direction is first-rate. Since most of us don’t know the supposed resolution of the story, the twists and turns of the movie are suspenseful and unexpected.
It is worth noting that this is a single-disc edition, whereas the first blu-ray release was a 2-disc edition. This disc also includes a lossy Dolby Digital track at 640kbps. I’m not sure what the first blu-ray disc had sound-wise, since I don’t have it. But the sound was acceptable. The dialogue was easy to understand, and the music soundtrack was fine.
The single 50-gig disc includes over three hours of supplemental documentaries, all in high-definition. There are two commentary tracks. The picture quality of the movie was quite good, the picture shot mostly digitally, and processed to have an older look. The supplements did not look as good as the movie itself, but since they were not the main feature, I was not bothered.
Hopefully, with David Fincher’s stock on the rise after The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, we will see Zodiac go back in-print in the United States. Meanwhile, this U.K. edition is a fine substitute.