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Average User Score: 8 (129 sources)

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lolipoper696

-1

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This movie was purely fabulous. Thrilling and exciting.

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Posted jan 31, 2008 7:29 pm pt

BrookllynBoy94

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Zodiac tells the true story of the infamous Zodiac killer in San Francisco. Jake Gyllenhal played Robert who quickly becomes obsessed with this case many years after it was forgotten. At many times in this dull movie I almost found myself feeling...
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Zodiac tells the true story of the infamous Zodiac killer in San Francisco. Jake Gyllenhal played Robert who quickly becomes obsessed with this case many years after it was forgotten. At many times in this dull movie I almost found myself feeling sorry for him as he thinks he finally nailed the bastard. Mark Ruffalo palys a detective who is utterly annoyed by Robert. At times I thought Ruffalo was just going to pull out his revolver and and put a few in Gyllenhal just so he'd shut up, and I whished he would have. the one thing I did like in this movie was Robert Downey Jr.'s performance. Unfortunately he didn't get to much screen time. This is an incredibly long film that it is not even worth more than an hour of film.

as the movie progresses the more annoying it becomes. I lost my interest when Downey dissapeared from the screen. The killer is never found in real life, so the film just picks around for a needle, no in this case a crumb, in haystack. You don't get to see the personal lives of these men you just see their families by accident. There were many interesting points but not enough for me to give this film an even mild recommendation.

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Posted dec 27, 2007 11:43 pm pt

FilipHolm

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Zodiac is the true story about the killer who called himself "Zodiac" in the late 60´s-mid 70´s. The directing is great, David Fincher realy know how to create suspense. And i like how the murders is set up....
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Zodiac is the true story about the killer who called himself "Zodiac" in the late 60´s-mid 70´s. The directing is great, David Fincher realy know how to create suspense. And i like how the murders is set up. Script is good and acting good by most of the actors/actresses. I like the plot, it was good shifting from year to year/month to month. While Zodiac isn´t one of the best movies of the year. It is one satisfying movie experience. If you are looking for a fresh movie with a lot suspense, this is a great choice.

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Posted oct 8, 2007 12:44 am pt

luluxinhapr

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Excellent dramatization of the hunt for the Zodiac killer who terrorized San Francisco in the late 60's/70's.The film is directed by David Fincher of Fight Club and Seven fame and you may be a bit suprised by how unflashy and straight ahead the...
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Excellent dramatization of the hunt for the Zodiac killer who terrorized San Francisco in the late 60's/70's.The film is directed by David Fincher of Fight Club and Seven fame and you may be a bit suprised by how unflashy and straight ahead the story is told.The cinematography is great,it has a sort of brownish/gold tint to it,it's very effective in getting the time period across.The acting is very solid across the board,with Jake Gyllenhaal doing some of his best work since Donnie Darko and Mark Ruffalo is also great too.Yes, the film runs a little too long and the ending is a bit anticlimatic if you're not familiar with how the case turned out in real life,but these are minor quibbles when the film is this well made.One of the best films of 2007.

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Posted sep 27, 2007 7:55 am pt

rockin01

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Not for action fans- this is a long, methodical movie, but I was fascinated by the character studies and the doggedness of the people trying to find the Zodiac killer. If you thought you knew this story inside and out (like I thought I did), be...
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Not for action fans- this is a long, methodical movie, but I was fascinated by the character studies and the doggedness of the people trying to find the Zodiac killer. If you thought you knew this story inside and out (like I thought I did), be ready to learn some new stuff. And the direction of David Fincher is stunning, but unobtrusive.

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Posted sep 26, 2007 12:14 pm pt

Dakotagirl823

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Director David Fincher scores another hit with his engrossing psychological study of the Zodiac Killer. In the late 60's and early 70's, the city of San Francisco was stalked by a cryptic executionor know as Zodiac, who's detailed crime sprees...
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Director David Fincher scores another hit with his engrossing psychological study of the Zodiac Killer. In the late 60's and early 70's, the city of San Francisco was stalked by a cryptic executionor know as Zodiac, who's detailed crime sprees were reported in the newspapers. Jake Gyllenhaal is Robert Greysmith, a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle, who's interst in puzzles leads him to try and figure out the identity of the elusive killer. Robert Downey, Jr. is superb as reporter, Paul Avery, who first reports about the killer. Greysmith later went on the write a best selling novel entitled, Zodiac.

Although the murders are depiced in graphic detail, the center of the film revolves around the investigation. Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards are outstanding as the detectives who tried unsuccessfully to bring a suspect to justice.

David Fincher's evenly paced direction adds suspense when it's needed. The screenplay was well written and sadly, left it up to the audience to decide for themselves the Zodiac's identity. This is one film that stays with you long after you've viewed it.

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Posted aug 5, 2007 6:56 am pt

afq2846

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This is an interesting movie based on the zodiac killer. It tells the story of a cartoonist who is investigating the murders. Its almost as if the actual murders take a back seat to the investigation. They show the murders in detail and then they...
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This is an interesting movie based on the zodiac killer. It tells the story of a cartoonist who is investigating the murders. Its almost as if the actual murders take a back seat to the investigation. They show the murders in detail and then they show the police's frustration in trying to get the murders solved. Acting in this movie is average as is the plot. I think the flow of this movie and the directing. The director definately has a visual style which goes really well in this movie. The movie is pretty good and its worth a viewing. There are some graphic violent scenes but they are few and not long.

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Posted aug 5, 2007 1:37 am pt

ashman2

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I can understand why people really like this film, but it just really did not do it for me. Let me try to explain.

The film is really clever, and even though I knew exactly how it was going to end, it was still intriguing watching...
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I can understand why people really like this film, but it just really did not do it for me. Let me try to explain.

The film is really clever, and even though I knew exactly how it was going to end, it was still intriguing watching it unfold. It was almost like watching a long Criminal Minds episode.

But damn this film is long! And it was moderately predictable, which is something I'm not a huge fan of something that's supposed to be a 'suspense/thriller'. I don't know if it was because I've watched too much tv or something else, but I saw the ending coming a mile away, and knew exactly who the killer was from the moment they introduced him.

In the cinema yesterday the place was packed with about 60 people, and by the end everyone just wanted it to end. There were a couple of scenes two thrids of the way through when it would fade out slowly and then eventually brin up a new scene, every time that happened people in the audience got up thinking it was the end, and were rather disappointed when they found that it was not the end.

This film is clever, especially with how the main character didn't give up, and each cop helped him out unofficially, but this was the first film in my life where I wanted to break the rule and go to sleep. And when I was considering it I looked over at one of my friends and he was playing on a Nintendo DS with the sound off obviously. I'm into crime thrillers and this sort of thing, heck I have watched every episode of CSIx3, Criminal Minds, Without a Trace, NCIS, JAG, L&Ox3, Cold Case, I've watched them all, and this just felt like a very long episode of that.

I'm sorry to be damning about this film because it is clever, but it was just too long for what it had, (and this coming from someone who has the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy extended on DVD and actually watches it). There wasn't enough stuff in the film, in my opinion, to warrant the length of it. If they had chopped out small pieces of it here and there then this film would have been brilliant.

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Posted jun 16, 2007 6:46 pm pt

hunterharry2

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An excellent film by David Fincer (Se7en, Fight Club). The film is beautifully shot and framed and the real life story of the Zodiac is told superbly. Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr. and Ruffalo put in great performances, as do the entire supporting...
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An excellent film by David Fincer (Se7en, Fight Club). The film is beautifully shot and framed and the real life story of the Zodiac is told superbly. Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr. and Ruffalo put in great performances, as do the entire supporting cast (Brian Cox is also a highlight). The film doesn't drag, despite it's 2 and a half hour runtime. Recommended viewing.

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Posted jun 2, 2007 2:45 am pt

jonisjack

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An excellent drama with solid acting and great direction. The story skips forward throughout the investigation that examines the characters lives. It's a long movie (2-1/2 hours), but it does not drag. It is one of the best detective movies I...
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An excellent drama with solid acting and great direction. The story skips forward throughout the investigation that examines the characters lives. It's a long movie (2-1/2 hours), but it does not drag. It is one of the best detective movies I have ever seen because it sticks to the facts. If you couldn't already tell, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

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Posted apr 7, 2007 5:06 pm pt

• [+] Village Voice
  
  100
  Zodiac exhausts more than one genre. Termite art par excellence, it burrows for the sake of burrowing, as fascinated by its own nooks and crannies as "Inland Empire."

  by Nathan Lee | Read Full Review »
• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  100
  Zodiac never veers from its stoically gripping, police-blotter tone, yet it begins to take on the quality of a dream.

  by Owen Gleiberman | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Onion (A.V. Club)
  
  100
  Zodiac is the rare serial-killer movie in which the psychosis stems as much from the pursuers (and the filmmaker) as the pursued.

  by Scott Tobias | Read Full Review »
• [+] TV Guide
  
  100
  Fincher gets it all right, and Donovan's hippie-dippy "Hurdy Gurdy Man," which bookends the story, has never sounded so hauntingly menacing.

  by Maitland McDonagh | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Sun-Times
  
  100
  Its most impressive accomplishment is to gather a bewildering labyrinth of facts and suspicions over a period of years, and make the journey through this maze frightening and suspenseful.

  by Roger Ebert | Read Full Review »
• [+] Christian Science Monitor
  
  91
  In Zodiac, working from a script by James Vanderbilt, Fincher has decidedly toned down his act. His straight-ahead, methodical direction isn't as flagrantly unsettling as much of his previous work, but it's more psychologically layered. In this film, for the first time, we feel for his characters when they bleed.

  by Peter Rainer | Read Full Review »
• [+] Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  
  91
  An absorbing and fulfilling experience -- even though it ends with a question mark.

  by William Arnold | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New York Times
  
  90
  Rarely has a film with so much blood on its hands seemed so insistently alive.

  by Manohla Dargis | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Hollywood Reporter
  
  90
  Firing on all cylinders as a creepy thriller, police procedural and "All the President's Men"-style investigative newsroom drama, the smart, extremely vivid production oozes period authenticity.

  by Michael Rechtshaffen | Read Full Review »
• [+] Variety
  
  90
  Conveying an astonishing array of information across a long narrative arc while still maintaining dramatic rhythm and tension, this adaptation of Robert Graysmith's bestseller reps by far director David Fincher's most mature and accomplished work.

  by Todd McCarthy | Read Full Review »
• [+] LA Weekly
  
  90
  Zodiac may be the perfect meeting of filmmaker and subject ­-- an obsessive's portrait of obsession that is, finally, a monument to irresolution.

  by Scott Foundas | Read Full Review »
• [+] Time
  
  90
  Fincher, whose work on "Fight Club" and "Panic Room" displayed his expertise in melding the suspenseful and the lurid, plays it cool here. He lets his stars do their thing.

  by Richard Corliss | Read Full Review »
• [+] Charlotte Observer
  
  88
  Anyone who enjoys the novels of Ed McBain, the Oscar-winning "All the President's Men" or any televised variation of "CSI" will be at home here.

  by Lawrence Toppman | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Tribune
  
  88
  It's fascinating and unexpected both in its simple, looming images and its storytelling priorities, which may not intersect with the priorities of audiences who couldn't get enough of "Se7en."

  by Michael Phillips | Read Full Review »
• [+] Philadelphia Inquirer
  
  88
  Zodiac is a reproach both to those dedicated to unscrambling "The Da Vinci Code" and to those hooked on forensic crime shows where all the evidence leads to a tidy conclusion. That Zodiac's manhunt is inconclusive makes it all the more haunting.

  by Carrie Rickey | Read Full Review »