In addition to “Seven” and “Fight Club,” David Fincher also gave us exciting hits like “Ververdung,” “Gone Girl” and “Panic Room.” Perhaps his best film is another one - and you can now experience it in 4K.
Successful directors from the advertising industry are by no means a guarantee of great cinema. And yet filmmakers always manage to celebrate success with TV commercials and music videos, only to ultimately realize their full potential on the screen. A prime example: David Fincher.
While pop stars like Sting, Madonna and Aerosmith were in front of his camera in the 80s, he first went through production hell with his feature film debut “Alien 3” in Hollywood. But he didn't let himself get down, created two of the most legendary thrillers of the 90s with "Seven" and "Fight Club" and finally established himself in the dream factory. Perhaps his best film - and not only according to FILMSTARTS editor Pascal Reis - never achieved the cult status of Fincher's great classics. Maybe starting this week he can win the hearts of more film fans, because „Zodiac - Die Spur des Killers“ will be released for the first time in Germany on 4K Blu-ray on October 23, 2025!
"Zodiac" 4K Blu-ray bei Amazon*
After the UHD premiere was originally supposed to take place in July, the release was initially canceled. But now PLAION PICTURES is taking over distribution for Warner Bros. - and giving the superbly cast, atmospherically dense and visually splendid serial killer thriller A year after the 4K evaluation abroad, there is finally a home cinema upgrade here.
The official running time of 163 minutes leads us to assume that the 2-disc set contains the director's cut. However, if you follow the example of the USA, this will only end up on the included Blu-ray, while the theatrical version (158 minutes) is included as a 4K Blu-ray. In the end, both versions are absolutely worth seeing.
The film is considered one of the best since the turn of the millennium, came 20th in a comprehensive critics' survey and is also the third best serial killer film of all time for us at FILMSTARTS. You can find out which masterpieces the film has to admit defeat to – spoiler: “Seven” is not one of them – here:
The best serial killer movies of all time
Even though there are several Hollywood greats from the Marvel cosmos with “Iron Man” Robert Downey Jr., “Hulk” Mark Ruffalo and “Spider-Man: Far From Home” villain Jake Gyllenhaal, the real stars of “Zodiac” alongside director Fincher are, above all, original author Robert Graysmith, screenwriter James Vanderbilt (“Welcome to the Jungle”), cinematographer Harris Savides (“American Gangster”) and composer David Shire (“The Dialogue”).
In the end, they are the ones who make “Zodiac” a thriller masterpiece that gradually gets under your skin, a sustainably nerve-wracking murder hunt and a visual feast for the eyes - with which established genre conventions are brilliantly subverted. Especially with regard to the resolution of the film, which is ultimately based on the world-famous real-life case of the “Zodiac Killer”...
The late 1960s: The serial killer known as the “Zodiac Killer” terrorizes the San Francisco region. He has already killed five people, taunts the police and the press with coded letters and makes the authorities feel that he is always one step ahead of them. Until one day, San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) develops an obsession with the case.
Together with star reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) and Inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo), he begins to investigate on his own in order to reveal the identity of the killer - but the trio soon discovers that they are dealing with an extraordinarily complex and tricky case...
Do you have a thing for gripping serial killer entertainment based on true events? Then be sure to read the following article on “Monster: The Story of Ed Gein”, in which we tell you which legendary cinema killers the eponymous murderer inspired:
Not just "Monster: The Story of Ed Gein": The killer served as a template for 3 of the most famous murderers in film history
*The link to the Amazon offer is a so-called affiliate link. If you purchase through this link, we will receive a commission.
This article is based on an article that has already appeared on FILMSTARTS.
Visit our site and see all other available articles!