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DVD Hannibal (Full Screen Edition)
Yes, he's back, and he's still hungry. Ten years after The Silence of the Lambs, Dr. Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins, reprising his Oscar-winning role) is living the good life in Italy, studying art and sipping espresso. FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore, replacing Jodie Foster), on the other hand, hasn't had it so good--an outsider from the start, she's now a quiet, moody loner who doesn't play bureaucratic games and suffers for it. A botched drug raid results in her demotion--and a request from Lecter's only living victim, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman, uncredited), for a little Q and A. Little does Clarice realize that the hideously deformed Verger--who, upon suggestion from Dr. Lecter, peeled off his own face--is using her as bait to lure Dr. Lecter out of hiding, quite certain he'll capture the good doctor.
Taking the basic plot contraptions from Thomas Harris's baroque novel, Hannibal is so stylistically different from its predecessor that it forces you to take it on its own terms. Director Ridley Scott gives the film a sleek, almost European look that lets you know that, unlike the first film (which was about the quintessentially American Clarice), this movie is all Hannibal. Does it work? Yes--but only up to a point. Scott adeptly sets up an atmosphere of foreboding, but it's all buildup for anticlimax, as Verger's plot for abducting Hannibal (and feeding him to man-eating wild boars) doesn't really deliver the requisite visceral thrills, and the much-ballyhooed climatic dinner sequence between Clarice, Dr. Lecter, and a third unlucky guest wobbles between parody and horror. Hopkins and Moore are both first-rate, but the film contrives to keep them as far apart as possible, when what made Silence so amazing was their interaction. When they do connect it's quite thrilling, but it's unfortunately too little too late. --Mark Englehart
I loved SILENCE OF THE LAMBS & when I read the book of HANNIBAL a while back I started pining for the movie release. HANNIBAL surpasses its predecessor in terms of panache & graphic gore. Anyone expecting Oscar material will be disappointed (& nauseated) with this, but I loved it. Lecter is relatively "normal" in this movie, which I feel makes him all the more terrifying. The plot revolves around one of Lecter's surviving victims, Mason Verger (the always excellent Gary Oldman, in gruesome makeup) plotting to capture Hannibal & feed him to his carnivorous wild pigs, as payment to Lecter feeding his face to a pack of dogs. When Clarice Starling (Juliannne Moore) learns of this she sets out to warn Lecter. Ridley Scott scores another bullseye after his success with GLADIATOR. His expected visual style complements Hopkins' performance well. Moore meanwhile, manages to step into the role of Starling and make it her own. My only quibble is that Oldman had his name removed from the credits supposedly because he wanted second billing.And for you gorehounds there are several gruesome scenes to savor, including Hopkins introducing Ray Liotta to the pleasures of "brain food". Yum.
Just read the book
I was not surprised to hear that "Hannibal," Thomas Harris' stylish sequel to "The Silence Of The Lambs," was going to be made into a movie. Nor was I surprised that the movie, in typical Hollywood fashion, went for the gore rather than character development. Ridley Scott's direction veers between European film noir and slasher flick with touches of MTV--as in many of his other films, including "Gladiator" and "G.I. Jane," he loves those slow but sharp action shots. Anthony Hopkins, reprising his role as cultured killer Hannibal Lecter, does the best with what he's given, as does Julianne Moore, who plays Clarice Starling with grim determination. Gary Oldman (who, despite Amazon's claim, is listed third in the end credits on the VHS version) turns in his usual creepy performance as Mason Verger, Lecter's only surviving victim, bent on revenge. Giancarlo Gianni looks rather bored in his role as the Florence police inspector who discovers Lecter in his new life as a medieval archivist. As is often the case with books turned into movies, a lot of the background information that makes characters interesting is tossed over the side, but Scott makes sure to keep the blood, although (believe it or not) a lot of the gore is toned down compared to the book, the final dinner party especially. "Hannibal" the novel is a fascinating character study. "Hannibal" the movie turns the good doctor into a pop icon on the level of Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees (and also, of course, leaves an opening for a sequel). Choose wisely!
Bogus ending
The production and performances were up to the excellent levels established in the Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon, right up to the moment when Lechter apparently amputated his own hand rather than give the cuff chain a few well placed whacks. This ending was so lame that the crew probably had to hold the author against his will: bound and gagged, and screaming while he was stuffed into the broom closet. The original ending in the book would have held the door slightly ajar for another awesome sequel. This ending so disgusted me that I threw the tape in the trash.
Based on Thomas Harris's novel, this terrifying film by Jonathan Demme really only contains a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jodie Foster - Anthony Hopkins Director(s): Jonathan Demme DVD Release Date: Released the 21 August 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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A lot could've gone wrong in Red Dragon, but the movie exceeds expectations. Replacing the acclaimed Manhunter as an "official" entry in the Hannibal Lecter trilogy, this topnotch thriller--the second adaptation of Thomas Harris's first Lecter novel--returns to the fertile soil of The Silence of the Lambs, serving as both prequel and heir to the legacy of Lecter as portrayed, with mischievous menace, by the great Anthony Hopkins. Familiar faces and locations reappear (along with Lambs screenwriter Ted Tally) as Lecter coaches FBI profiler Will Graham (Edward Norton) in tracking the horrific "Tooth Fairy" killer (Ralph Fiennes), whose transformative killing spree is inspired by a William Blake painting. By dutifully serving Harris's potent material, Tally and... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Anthony Hopkins - Edward Norton - Ralph Fiennes Director(s): Brett Ratner DVD Release Date: Released the 01 April 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Though it will always be remembered as the movie featuring the "other" Hannibal Lecter, Michael Mann's 1986 thriller Manhunter is nearly as good as The Silence of the Lambs, and in some respects it's arguably even better. Based on Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon, which introduced the world to the nefarious killer Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter, the film stars William Petersen (giving a suitably brooding performance) as ex-FBI agent Will Graham, who is coaxed out of semiretirement to track down a serial killer who has thwarted the authorities at every turn.
Graham's approach to the case is a perilous one. First he seeks counsel with Lecter (Brian Cox) in the latter's high-security prison cell--an encounter that is utterly horrifying in its psychological... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): William L. Petersen Director(s): Michael Mann DVD Release Date: Released the 08 July 2003 This item is currently not available.
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The most viscerally frightening and disturbing homicidal maniac picture since The Silence of the Lambs, Seven is based on an idea that's both gruesome and ingenious. A serial killer forces each of his victims to die by acting out one of the seven deadly sins. The murder scene is then artfully arranged into a grotesque tableau, a graphic illustration of each mortal vice. From the jittery opening credits to the horrifying (and seemingly inescapable) concluding twist, director David Fancher immerses us in a murky urban twilight where everything seems to be rotting, rusting, or molding; the air is cold and heavy with dread. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are the detectives who skillfully track down the killer--all the while unaware that he has been closing in on them, as well.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Brad Pitt - Morgan Freeman - Kevin Spacey Director(s): David Fincher DVD Release Date: Released the 19 December 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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With its disturbing images and a few good shocks, The Ring is the kind of frightfest you'll watch to set a chilling mood or spook your susceptible friends, but when you try to sort it out, this well-mounted American remake (of the 1998 Japanese hit Ringu, based on Koji Suzuki's popular novel) becomes a batch of incoherent parts. The negligible plot follows a Seattle reporter (Naomi Watts) as she investigates the death of her niece, the victim of a mysterious videotape that, according to urban legend, causes the viewer's death seven days later. (Fear Dot Com borrowed the same idea while avoiding this film's lofty pretensions.) The countdown structure follows the reporter, her son, and her estranged boyfriend into deepening layers of terror--all quite effective until... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Naomi Watts - Martin Henderson - Brian Cox Director(s): Gore Verbinski DVD Release Date: Released the 04 March 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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