One of the best movies of 2007, "Zodiac" was released today in a special edition "Director's Cut," with two fascinating documentaries, commentary tracks that include (among others) director David Fincher and crime novelist James Ellroy, and nearly ten minutes added to the picture.

 

If you missed this masterpiece in the theater (shame on you!) then get thee to your Netflix and rent this edition. Or even better, buy the thing.

 

And while you're at it, read MSN DVD columnist Sean Axmaker's take:

 

David Fincher's look at the unsolved Zodiac killings of the 1970s is the director's most disciplined, focused and mesmerizing film to date and one of the best films of 2007. Based in part on the nonfiction book by Robert Graysmith, the San Francisco Chronicle political cartoonist who became obsessed with the investigation, it stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Graysmith, Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards as the investigating officers, and Robert Downey Jr. as the reporter called out by the killer in his enigmatic messages. The low-key thriller is as much a study in obsession and detail as it is a murder mystery, and Fincher is appropriately obsessive in his attention to detail, from the complexity of the investigation to his re-creation of '70s San Francisco and American culture.

Fincher offers a slightly reworked version of the film for the "2-Disc Director's Cut." It runs only a few minutes longer and, from what I can tell, the added footage is mostly toward the end, but it's still essentially the same fascinating film. The director also gives good commentary, offering technical and production details but always relating the technique and tools in terms of the art and meaning. Fincher is articulate and really invites you into his creative process. A second track features stars Gyllenhaal and Downey Jr., screenwriter James Vanderbilt, and producer Brad Fischer, joined by author and true-crime aficionado James Ellroy, who (nitpicks aside) loves the film: "The dramatic arc of this film is unlike any other crime film ever. There are no acts. It's an accumulation and accretion of detail that is all logically underpinned and makes perfect sense. You are situated within the film and the film is entirely coherent all the way through." The second disc is divided into sections on "The Film" (featuring the well-made 54-minute making-of documentary "Zodiac Deciphered" and a shorter featurette on the visual effects) and "The Facts" (with the feature-length documentary "This Is Zodiac Speaking" and the 42-minute profile of the prime suspect, "His Name Was Arthur Leigh Allen"). They are substantial supplements to a worthy special edition.

 

Read all of Sean's DVD coverage (including "3:10 to Yuma," "Sunshine," "Shoot 'Em Up" and more) here.