Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. As with most invested in some form or fashion in the high def war, my head has been spinning the last few days. Not only with Warners going Blu, but the new rumors that Paramount might use an exit clause in their HD-exclusivity contract to jump ship as well.

I love my HD-DVD player, I love the movies I have on it, but in all honesty if Blu is going to ultimately win and the HD camp can’t counter the Warner/New Line exclusivity, I’d rather it goes that way fast and we’re left with one high def choice. I’ll be able to play my 90 or so HD-DVD titles for years, enjoying my favorite movies in near 35mm quality at home.

But if this is the KO to HD, I want this to be the KO to HD and not drag out for another year.

Which leads me to my review of the new ZODIAC DVD, the jam packed director’s cut.

I don’t know exactly how I should recommend the disc. It’s fucking great, the movie’s great, the documentaries are great, the two commentaries are great… but the movie looks so good in HD. I want to recommend picking it up on HD-DVD, especially since there is no Blu-Ray option, but I know I’m more cautious now in picking up high def titles.

So, I’ll leave it up to you. I watched it in this version:

And I can say that it’s a fantastic set.

First of all, the movie… The director’s cut isn’t all that different from the theatrical version. In fact, I didn’t really notice the new additions until I listened to the commentaries and they were pointed out. It’s about 6 minutes of small scenes… mostly more investigative scenes, including a really good sequence where Toschi (Mark Ruffalo), Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) and Marty Lee (Dermot Mulroney) have to convince the DA to get a warrant for Arthur Leigh Allen (John Carroll Lynch)’s trailer. Of course, the DA isn’t there. The conversation is over the phone, specifically a Charlie’s Angels-ish speakerphone.

Anyway, the flow of the film isn’t affected. If you liked it before you’ll like it still and if you were obsessed with it before you’ll love the new additions.

On the first disc you have the flick and two commentaries. One is director David Fincher all by his lonesome and the other is a multi-commentary featuring Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., screenwriter James Vanderbilt, producer Brad Fischer and novelist James Ellroy.

Of the two, the most consistent is Fincher’s commentary. He gives you a glimpse at his process, turns you onto some tricks (the film was shot digitally, but he had to shoot the opening murders on 35mm because the slow motion on film looked better) and gives you a sense of his own personal obsession with this story about obsession itself.

The second commentary track is entertaining, especially Robert Downey Jr. It actually made me jones for the inevitable commentary track with Favreau on the IRON MAN DVD.

Gyllenhaal is likable and Vanderbilt has a lot of insight into the actual writing. Producer Fischer is actually really funny, so that helps, too, but it does get a little confusing on who is talking when. I’d love it if they’d put the name of the person talking onscreen on these bigger commentaries.

The second disc features a feature length documentary called THIS IS THE ZODIAC SPEAKING which is an in-depth look at the Zodiac murders with the real life people involved, including most of the characters you see in the movie. It’s pretty graphic as it shows real life crime scene photos and stories from the lips of the survivors themselves.

You get to go step by step through the entire case and get every piece of evidence (including conflicting reports). It’s a real good watch.

Just as interesting, maybe even moreso, is the shorter documentary called HIS NAME WAS ARTHUR LEIGH ALLEN, which has discussions from people who knew one of the prime suspects of the Zodiac investigations. You have people convinced he was Zodiac and people who defend his name and honor. It’s a fascinating look at a very troubled man.

All the docs are presented in HD on the HD-DVD, in case you were wondering.

That’s about it. The flick held up great through three viewings on HD (one just the movie and both the commentaries). In a way it feels like a classic Spielberg movie, like if Spielberg did ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN. It’s absolutely one of the best films of 2007 and this set didn’t disappoint.

It's a definite own... now it's up to you if you get the HD-DVD now or you get the standard def and upconvert until we know the impact of the last week a little better.

-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com