|
Manhunter (Restored Director's Cut Divimax Edition)Rating:
Release Date: 08 July, 2003 Retail Price: $19.98 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (14 total) |
Manhunter (Restored Director's Cut Divimax Edition) Reviews
Silence of the Lambs--the Prequel
This is a fine film. Just don't expect it to be Silence of the Lambs. Manhunter is based on the book Red Dragon by Harris, the "prequel" to Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal Lecter is not the focus here, though he appears in the film. Instead, it concentrates on Will Graham, the FBI agent who caught Hannibal Lecter and must now catch a killer who murders entire families.
Willam Petersen is perfect as Graham, who must reawaken his own personal demons to find the killer. The depiction of Dollarhyde as a colorless, average worker with a really bad obsession is brilliant. The culminating scene, where Graham must track down Dollarhyde, is filled with 70's music (In-a-gadda-da-vida in its pulsating entirety) , weird pyschedelic scenery and some great tension. (think, bad trip.)
What disappoints many people is the depiction of Hannibal Lecter by Brian Cox. He underplays Lecter as a cool, cerebral, distant villain. Which is quite appropriate--he's not the central character here. But many people see this film after Silence of the Lambs and want more of Anthony Hopkin's chilling interpretation. That's not in this film.
Don't expect a tight thriller like Silence of the Lambs or to see lot of Hannibal Lecter and you will enjoy this version of another Harris novel. This is a different interpretation of Harris' work and it's great. But enjoy it for itself and not in comparison to other films.
Brilliant!
Manhunter is one hell of a movie, let me tell ya! From beginning to end, this movie had me gripped thanks to its stunning cinematography, creppy atmosphere, dynamite direction, powerful writing and top notch acting. I have never seen The Silence of the Lambs or Hannibal, but today I watched Red Dragon. While I enjoyed it, I didn't feel it even compared to Manhunter.
Manhunter is the story of ex-FBI agent Will Graham (flawlessly played by the unforgettable William Peterson). Graham caught two extremely dangerous serial killers, one of which was Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (in the novels and other movie adaptations, it is spelled 'Lector,' but in this movie it is spelled Lecktor). Lecktor (played here, beautifully, by respected Scottish actor Brian Cox, and not Sir Anthony Hopkins) was murdering women and eating them (though it is never mentioned in the whole movie that he is a cannibal) until he was caught by Graham. Graham discovered he had to think like the killer in order to catch him, and it seriously messed with his brain. Now, years later, Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina) asks Will to come back to catch the mysterious "Tooth Fairy" (Tom Noonan), who has been murdering whole families. Graham is skeptical until he sees pictures of the dead families. He interviews Dr. Lecktor, barely able to tolerate Lecktor's mental games, until he starts thinking like the killer once again. If Graham enters the mind of a killer again, can he ever come back, or will he simply go insane under the ugly and disturbing thinkings of one messed up sicko?
Lord, this movie was good! Of the three Thomas Harris novels involving Lecktor (Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal), Red Dragon was the only one I hadn't read, so I couldn't compare this movie version to the book. From what I've read, the movie Red Dragon follows the book a lot better. That may be true, but Manhunter was quite simply the better film. One thing I liked about Manhunter much more than Red Dragon was that you had to have a brain to figure out the plot, but Red Dragon pretty much spelled it out for you. I like movies that have a brain and trust you to have one, too. I thought Red Dragon insulted the audiences intelligence and the end felt EXTREMELY rushed. And call me crazy, but I very much preferred Brian Cox's subtle, quiet Lecktor to Sir Anthony Hopkins' over the top and hammed up performance in Red Dragon. I'm pretty sure I'll like Hopkins' performance in The Silence of the Lambs, but he seemed to be desperately trying to get a scare in Red Dragon. The best praise I can give to Red Dragon is that it made Manhunter seem even more excellent. It may sound like I'm completely bashing Red Dragon, but I am not. I liked that it developed Dollarhyde's past more, and I thought the actors that played Dollarhyde and Reba were both fantastic, but overall I was dissipointed with it after watching the brilliance of Manhunter.
OK, enough comparisons. Manhunter's acting is perfect, right from Graham to his wife and son to Hannibal Lecktor and the Tooth Fairy. William Peterson did a great job with the depressed and strong character who has a weak side. The Tooth Fairy, played by Tom Noonan, was very scary and yet I felt some sympathy for him, because you could tell he was trying to be a good guy but couldn't get over his urge to kill. Brian Cox was amazing because he made such a large impact in only three scenes and less than ten minutes. Joan Allen also did a great job as the blind woman Reba.
The directing of this film is amazing, and is helped greatly by some unforgettable cinematography. The whole film sports an excellent feel and I was never bored.
As for the DVD well, I love it. I own the Limited Edition, copy #12,697 of 100,000. I read several mixed reviews of this. Some people love it, some people think it's OK, and some people simply hate it. Apparantly, the Theatrical Cut is messed up and has two things cut out and two things from the Director's Cut added. Also, people have complained that the Director's Cut edition has horrible picture quality and messed up widescreen format. Well, yes, the picture is very, very below average, but I think we should be happy to have the Director's Cut at all. I am watching it for the second time in Director's Cut format as I write this (I am on the part were they are studying the note) and feel the picture is not very good at all, but after a few minutes, I get used to it. I wouldn't like it if the Theatrical Cut had such bad picture quality, but forunately it doesn't. In fact, the picture on the Theatrical Cut is absoloutly spellbinding, and quite flawless, in my opinion. I would give the amazing picture quality an A- at the very worse! The two documentaries included are short but quite excellent, and the cheesey trailer is included in anamorphic widescreen. The talent bios are some of the best I've ever read and in a lot of detail. I really feel sorry for Tom Noonan because people seemed to be creeped out of him in real life, simply because he is suh a fabulous actor.
This is a very long review, but the bottom line is: Manhunter is a masterpiece and a movie you must own. The Limited Edition DVD is pleasing and the booklet included is also excellent, but for not so avid fans, the 1-disc version is just fine.
Hope my review helped.
Sincerely, Joe.
More Customer Reviews (42 total)
You like Manhunter (Restored Director's Cut Divimax Edition)?
|
© 2004 DVD Booty | Don't Plunder Our Cache of Booty, Matey!
Hosting Provided by American Debt Management
