Zodiac Blu-Ray?

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

Travis, i dont know when it will come out in the States. But, i know its for sale on Xploited Cinema on a R0 BD. Xploited is closing shop, so if you want that import, get it now. I dont own that disc myself, so i couldnt tell you about the PQ.

Oh, and i know im not David.

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

The international Blu Ray from Warner is almost done and coming out any minute now. We're hoping to get all the unused material onto the domestic, but no word on when that will be.

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

One of my favorite films, period. I love the SD special edition you did, what other unused bits are there? (if you can talk about it of course, between being a true crime buff, and a Fincher movie fan, that SE was one of those releases that felt like Hollywood made me a movie. )

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

I was always surprised that there wasn't a commentary track that included Robert Graysmith. That would have been a nice addition. I'm still really looking forward to this. It was the main title that almost had me considering getting an HD-DVD player.

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

according to the insert in the new Transformers BD, Zodiac is coming to Blu-Ray before the end of the year.

With the extra space of BD, any chance we could see the remaining supplements that were dropped from the HD-DVD and standard DVD releases?

thanks

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

We'll be kicking up as loud a fuss as we can to make it so, but I'm not sure enough time has gone by to convince the studio to re-author and menu the disc yet.

I say this out of a surplus of caution, but we're damned well going to try.

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

David,

Much as I hate double dips (I already own the R4 theatrical cut DVD, the R1 DC DVD, and the Australian BD release), if you managed to get a lossless track and the missing features onto BD, I'd buy it again.

It'd be really nice if the special feature on the HD-DVD that was in HD but only SD on the blu-ray was in HD as well too!

As always, thanks for your input here. Fincher is one of my all-time favourite filmmakers (Se7en is my favourite film of all time), and it's great to hear from the man who makes his DVDs so great.

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

As a true crme "fan" and someone who is facinated with the Zodiac case; this film is in my top ten favs of all time. I also loved the "This is the Zodiac Speaking" doc you did for the dvd. Im sure it was quite an experience interviewing all those people from the case. (I feel bad for Michael Mageau; was it hard to get him?)

Anyway I look forward to buying it a 3rd time when it turns blu!

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

We have a release date. January 27, 2009!

David, any final word on the supplements and audio?

thanks

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

dvdfile states it will have the features from the HD-DVD, but no comment on whether or not they're in hi def, or sd, and whether or not the other unreleased features are on there...

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

If Paramount is unwilling to reauthor the basic disc to include the missing bonus features, any chance of working out a retailer exclusive bonus disc that would include them?

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

I have the Japanese BD version of Zodiac: DC (released via Warner). It is Region free, also.

It only comes with a DD 5.1 track, but all of the extras from the R1 DC are still there, and the PQ (in my mind, a very important aspect of any Fincher film) is certainly a step up from the SD DVD.

I cant imagine the R1 BD being too much different. I'd love to see a TrueHD track, but for now I can do with what I have.

One of the best films of 2007, and a vastly underrated film by Fincher. I feel it will grow with time, like many of his other films. The performances are superb, the attention to detail staggering, and the sound design and cinematography Oscar worthy.

Such a great film, it mixes so many elements of crime drama, noir, and suspense, and it only improves with repeat viewings. Along with Silence of the Lambs, it is perhaps the best serial killer type film made.

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

nearly a month away from the release, any hints yet of the special features being upgraded?

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

I was searching at The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) for the excellent documentaries but couldn't find them. Perhaps the Producer has to add them himself to the database :-)

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

Mr Prior,

Im curious if you think that Arthur Leigh Allen was the actual Zodiac killer?

New evidence seems to paint Jack Tarrance as the prime suspect.

Im curious if future editions of Zodiac on blu or dvd would tackle this.

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

Jack Tarrance (no relation to Jack Torrence, though I love the coincidence) has been on the radar before, but in my opinion the evidence is fairly sketchy.

My personal opinion is that Leigh Allen was not the Zodiac killer. I arrived at this after two years of heavy research and interviews with literally dozens of people involved in the case. When I first started delving into the case I was 90% sure Allen was the guy. By the time I was finished with the DVD, I was 80-20 against. The coincidences are very compelling, but the hard evidence is non existent, and I susbcribe to Charles Dickens admonition: "Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule," at least when it comes to criminal investigations. I think the key to Allen is that he was not the Zodiac, but he really got off on people thinking he was.

All that aside, no one knows for sure. And that's what's so tantalizing and so maddening about the case.

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

Thank you very much Travis. That project meant a lot to me, and it's great to hear it's appreciated.


That's tricky. I think Allen was so compelling a suspect that the police had to focus as much attention on him as they could or it would have amounted to negligence. What's really tragic is the interdepartmental screw ups, jurisdictional disputes, and CYA tactics that allowed Zodiac to slip away from the Washington and Cherry murder. That was the best chance anyone had of catching him and he waltzed away.

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

Thank you for answering my question. I do think it would be nice if they end up catching Zodiac.

But, lets say that it does turn out that Tarrance is the killer, do you think that Zodiac will be updated in anyway to reflect this revelation.

I also seem to recall that DNA testing has confirmed that Allen was NOT the killer and last I heard the DNA evidence on Tarrance was inconclusive.

Re: Zodiac Blu-Ray?

DNA testing will not be able to completely rule out Allen, nor any other suspect, until a better source of DNA for the killer is found. The sample used in the Allen test was consolidated from several samples from the flaps of envelopes and stamp backs, since no single sample provided enough material to test. So even if we could be sure that the same person who licked the envelopes also committed the murders (which we cannot be), the samples themselves are questionable.

Aggravating as it may be, I think we have to consign ourselves to the reality that Zodiac's identity will most likely never be known.

Hello Mr. Prior, thank you for your exhaustive work on the special edition. I understand that the 2 disc Blu-Ray is no longer in print. Should we take that as a sign of something even more exhaustive is in the cards? I hope that all your additional effort wouldn't go to waste and will eventually see the light of day.

Hi Roy. Been a while since you posted this, I apologize for the delay ---

The very idea of a disc more exhaustive than the one we already did makes me exhausted... which isn't to say I wouldn't happily jump at the chance to get into Zodiac again. But there are no plans to revisit the project at this time. The disc going out of print has everything to do with 1) the film not catching fire at the box office and 2) the bloodshed going on in home video industry-wide. Sad as it makes me, the market has dramatically shrunk over the last few years, and it's become harder and harder to convince studios to invest in ambitious projects, let alone revisit past ones, particularly for films that didn't set their britches on fire to begin with.

All that said, I have no doubt that the special edition of Zodiac will find its way to market again eventually, if only to tie in with the release of some future Fincher project. In fact, I'm a little surprised they didn't re-release it to coincide with Dragon Tattoo. But unless the general customer base re-discovers the value of ownership and collectibility, I wouldn't expect too many full revisits of any but the most lucrative, blockbuster movies.