Billed as Se7en meets All The President's Men, true crime thriller Zodiac won rave reviews. It's an "exhilarating" comeback for director David Fincher who, of course, made his name with Se7en. Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo also won acclaim as the men obsessed with the case. Sadly, audiences were more freaked out by the two-and-a-half hour runtime and generally stayed away.

Innocence Lost

With room to sprawl on your living room sofa, Zodiac makes an exciting night in on DVD. On top of that, a half-hour investigation into the roots of the film, as well as the production of it, delivers more than the usual carbon cutout featurette. Fincher starts off by revealing a fascination with the Zodiac killer that goes all the way back to his childhood in 60s San Francisco. But he insists that he didn't want to glamorise him. "I'm not interested in exploiting this," he says, "I'm not Geraldo."

In footage from early script readings it's clear how much deep thought went into portraying the grisly crimes and the people affected by them. Gyllenhaal is especially keen to offer his notes, but there's no doubting who the boss is. "It is gruelling in terms of the mindset you have to keep," says the actor, before going on to add that Fincher demands repeated takes which make the job all the more taxing. Ruffalo seems to have had more fun playing Inspector David Toschi, but that's probably because he got to hang out with the real Toschi on set.

Star Gazing

There's plenty of behind-the-scenes coverage offering a chance to see how Fincher cracks the whip, metaphorically speaking. True crime buffs will also appreciate interviews with the real-life detectives and journalist-author Robert Graysmith (played by Gyllenhaal). Fincher is reportedly compiling more bonus material for a Special Edition to be released in 2008, but in the meantime this slim-line edition of Zodiac should be high on the hit list.

EXTRA FEATURES

Zodiac DVD is released on Monday 24th September 2007.