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The Movie:
Earlier in the year, director Roger Avery started a web-effort to write in to Artisan Entertainment to convince them to do a special edition of his cult hit "Killing Zoe". Apparently, the studio had decided to release the film in a full-frame, basic edition (which suprises me since they do a fine job with even small titles). It looks as if only part of the battle was won; although the title was delayed to be re-thought out, the final product has few special features, but a fairly nice transfer.
And that's good, because although "Killing Zoe" isn't a great movie, it's certainly a very good one. Many may know Avery from his work co-writing "Pulp Fiction" with director Quentin Tarantino. Although "Zoe" does have its slow moments, the final half does start to really get rolling. The film stars Eric Stoltz as Zed, a safecracker who's going to Paris to meet up with old friend Eric. Before that, a cab driver suggests spending the night with Zoe(Julie Delpy), a French prostitute.
Eric enters the film and takes Zed on a sort of drug-fueled trip through Paris while they plan a bank robbery on the only bank that will be open during a holiday. Much like many similar crime tales, the plans in "Zoe" go very wrong, very quickly. Although many will compare "Zoe" to efforts of Tarantino like "Reservoir Dogs", the two films are quite different in style. Where Tarantino's films are more focused on dialogue, Avery's effort focuses more on creating a rush of intensity even in the more quiet sequences, of which this film has few.
The performances are generally good, though. Stoltz and, in few scenes, Delpy, are the highlights of the picture. "Killing Zoe" isn't a bad film, but it could be helped by a little bit of tightening in some of the scenes in the middle. Dialogue is generally well-written and not bad. Not for those who are disturbed by violence, though.
The DVD
VIDEO: Artisan offers "Killing Zoe" in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and it is also anamorphic. For the most part, the picture is good, and even great. Sharpness is strong, with only a couple of scenes that begin to look slightly soft. Detail is very good as well, and clarity is never lacking.
Flaws are pretty minimal; the film is now a few years old, and contains about the amount of print flaws I would expect to see from a movie of this age. There are just a couple of minor marks/speckles on occasion, but nothing that will prove distracting for most. A few scenes have a slight amount of grain, but again, a minor problem. I didn't notice any instances of pixelation, shimmer or similar problems.
Colors are bold at times, but this really isn't a brightly colored film. Now and then a more intense color will appear(the reds of the bank walls, etc.) and these colors look fine, with no problems. Although apparently the studio was not able to work out a deal for a special edition of the film, at least they did do a fine job with the image quality.
SOUND: The film unfortunately only sports a Dolby Surround soundtrack. A Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack would have been nice to have for the film's thumping techno soundtrack and the occasional action sequence. That score is pretty much the only element of the audio that really opens up the sound; the rest of the film is mainly dialogue-driven, and even the action scenes don't provide that much of a sound experience. Dialogue is clear and easily heard, as well.
MENUS:: Basic main menu, with a picture of Zoe in the background. Sub-menus are also non-animated.
EXTRAS: Trailer, production notes, cast/crew bios.
Final Thoughts: While it's unfortunate that this is not a special edition, "Killing Zoe" may still be worth a rental for fans of the film or the crime genre.
Film Grade
The Film B-
DVD Grades
Video 89/B+ = (356/400 possible points)
Audio: 83/B = (332/400 possible points)
Extras: 70/C- = (210/300 possible points)
Menus: 70/C- = (140/200 possible points)
Value: 80/B- = (240/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1278/1600
DVD GRADE:B-/80%
FILM GRADE: B-
DVD GRADE: B-
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