David Fincher's movies are among those few that truly cry out for the extended treatment. With the release of the Two-Disc Director's Cut package of his most recent film, Zodiac, fans of the film and its director are in for a real treat: a DVD release that, unlike its predecessor, is worthy of the film.

I sincerely hope you didn't buy the initial release. Paramount did a disservice to its customers with that barebones package and poor-quality transfer; the film looked bad on a regular TV, and downright awful on a decent home theater setup. I rented it, and was suitably disappointed -- all the more so given how much I enjoyed the film in the theater. Didn't even finish it.

This is the edition to own. The transfer is just right this time; the non-HD release looked and sounded terrific on my home theater setup.

The film itself represents a bit of a departure for Fincher, who is known for his intensely violent (and sometimes brutal) action sequences and sparse dialogue. Based on Robert Graysmith's books on the real-life case of the Zodiac killer (still unsolved to this day), Zodiac traces the murders, the investigation, and the fallout from that, all from Graysmith's point of view.

Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhall), an editorial cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle when the self-described Zodiac killer first identifies himself in a letter to the Chronicle, becomes obsessed with the case. Initially, he tracks it vicariously through the reportage of gritty journalist Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr., in an excellent performance). But soon he's tailing the police, as well, including lead SFPD investigators Inspector Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and his partner William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards).

As the police grow baffled with the seemingly random killings and the frustrating rabbit-trail leads, Graysmith insists on investigating on his own. He chases down leads, keeps poring over scrapbooks, cajoles cops to give him access to reports, and loses track of his life. After the initial flurry of murders, the cases grows cold, time wears on, and the case takes its toll on all concerned. It's that personal damage that seems to concern Fincher especially, as the search for a notorious killer is repeatedly frustrated. The closer the investigators get, the farther away an arrest seems.

For a film approaching three hours in which the mystery is destined to remain just that, Zodiac makes for compelling drama all the same, thanks to a taut script (by James Vanderbilt) that never succumbs to cop-movie cliches and outstanding performances by the cast. The leads are all top-notch, but there are some real standouts among the supporting cast, as well. In particular, John Carroll Lynch gives a knockout performance as lead suspect Arthur Leigh Allen.

Disc one features the film itself and two commentaries, both compelling and worthy of hearing. One is director Fincher alone, who relates his own struggles with coming to terms with the case, along with the challenges of faithfully re-creating the time and milieu of the Zodiac killer. The other commentary track is very different, making for a surprisingly different take on the film: Gyllenhall, Downey, producer Brad Fischer and screenwriter Vanderbilt, along with celebrated crime writer James Ellroy, banter back and forth as they share their insights into the case and the film. Each has something valuable to contribute, which is rare enough for multi-voice commentary tracks.

And for all the extras on disc two, there is no filler. The making-of feature is truly a full-length feature in its own right, offering fascinating insights into Fincher's obsession with period detail (the size of the prop warehouse alone is daunting) -- down to reproducing every page of Chronicle issues from the key dates that we never see, but were there to give the actors a sense of authenticity they could respond to. Along with the cast interviews, there are plenty of insights from the production crew, who describe the lengths they went to in order to reproduce the various periods and actual event details as accurately as possible.

Better yet is a feature-length documentary about the case, This Is the Zodiac Speaking, that is almost as riveting as the film itself. It's a valuable addition to the package, as is a shorter documentary, His Name Was Arthur Leigh Allen, a closer look at the man who was the lead suspect in the case -- more than once.

With this two-disc collector's edition, Paramount has more than apologized for the first DVD release of Zodiac. If you loved the film, you'll want this thoughtfully packaged edition.
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