Rating: 
Summary: Good adaptation of the book
Review: The book "Red Dragon" is a wonderfully written, powerful and suspensful novel. Harris does a fantastic job of creating these characters and making them come to life. In Michael Mann's film version "Manhunter", some of the great ideas in the book are left out, such as the finale when the Tooth Fairy fakes his own suicide and blows up his house to fool the FBI, and then shows up on Grahams doorstep in florida. The ending in the book was far superior to the film, however Michael Mann did a great job in directing this movie and using the actors to bring life to Harris' characters. The investigative procedures where created brilliantly. The Tooth Fairy was well-acted and so was Graham. I prefer the portrayals of Jack Crawford and Dr. Chilton in "Silence of the Lambs, however. The actor who plays Lecter (Lektor), does a fine job in portraying a younger version of the character that Hopkins would later play in "Silence." His dialogue with Graham is similar to that of the book, and there's more to this scene in the Director's cut edition DVD. Although there is a better ending in the book, the one here is fine. Set to music as the FBI tracks Dolarhyde to his home for the final showdown while he holds his lover hostage. The low budget of the film most likely did not permit the explosive ending of the book. For the DVD, I wish Anchor Bay or Mann would have removed that awful song from the end credits however. That seems to me to be the only real flaw in the film.
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE
Review: After capturing Dr. Hannibal Lecter, FBI agent Will Graham (William Peterson) has left the agency to put back the pieces of his life, a life that was almost destroyed both physically and mentally.When a serial killer known as "The Tooth Fairy" begins killing innocent families, the FBI, with no positive leads, need Graham's help. Graham must analyze the crime scenes and determine what is going on in the killer's mind, and what his next move will be. But in order for Graham to stop this killer he will need the help of the good-ole Dr...Lecter. "Manhunter" is NOT better than "Silence Of The Lambs", it is slowly paced, and lacking the suspenseful thrills of "Silence...". Just when the movie has picked up speed, it dips off in a different direction, trying to show a tender and serious side of "The Tooth Fairy" by throwing in a romantic relationship with a blind woman. While the killer is very creepy, the movie does not spend enough time on him, rather it gets dialogue heavy on him and his crimes, instead of featuring him as a key player in the film. William Peterson does a great job of potraying (Will Graham), unfortunately, I can not say the same for Brian Cox (Hannibal Lecter) and Tom Noonan (The Tooth Fairy) who are very bland in their parts. Comparing this film to "Silence..." is unfair, many people (such as myself) have not seen this movie and had high expectations of it. The slow pace, and heavy dialogue took away from the suspense and thrills of a truly twisted serial killer. Although this is not a terrible movie, you will not enjoy it if you expect too much from it. The "Limited Edition" DVD does contain the never before available "Director's Cut", and even in that version does the viewer feel cheated of all the chilling thrills that was promised to them. Rent before buying this one, and await the theatrical release of "Hannibal" with Anthony Hopkins in a role that he plays masterfully. Nick Gonnella
Rating: 
Summary: Now I know why it's not called Red Dragon
Review: This movie is based on the book Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (who wrote silence of the lambs, etc.). The book in my opinion is incredible. It's far better than silence of the lambs or hannibal. I couldn't put the book down once I started reading it. So I was really excited to see Manhunter to see how it compares. Well it sucked! I was wondering why the movie wasn't called the same as the book but now I see it must have been because the author objected. In summary, the director chose all the least interesting parts of the book to put in the movie and even substituted the book's great ending with a really mediocre "miami vice" style ending. Which I guess was to be expected since the director also did miami vice... Don't buy this dvd, you'll be selling it on ebay soon just like I am err sorry I meant to say "amazon actions". Sorry to say the e-word.
Rating:
Summary: NOT better than Silence....NOT even close
Review: This movie was seriously one of the worst 80's movies I've ever seen...Thomas Harris should be offended and embarrassed his name even appears in this pathetic adaptation of his book. Mann's horrendous use of equally horrendous music ruins a big part of the movie...the rest of the movie is ruined by the horrible acting, editing, and screen play. While the book was suspenful, scary, gory and amazing this movie does not even hold a flame to the original writing. The ending was by far the most offensive aspect...I mean who the hell sees the killer and instead of shooting decides to crash through the window??? This movie is too horrible to even laugh at...I was upset that I lost two hours of my life to this awful waste of film...
Rating:
Summary: Do not buy the Director's Cut
Review: The movie itself is decent entertainment. The second disc (the actual director's cut) is fuzzy. Imagine if you will transferring an SLP VHS to DVD. OK, now you have the idea of the quality of the 'special' second disc. Don't bother with it. Just purchase the regular release DVD. In which case, it would get ***.
Rating:
Summary: All Style
Review: A very silly movie, all flash and no substance. Completely unmemorable, except as a footnote to the far more interesting Silence of the Lambs.
Rating:
Summary: Great film, mediocre version.
Review: Manhunter, as cheesy a title as it is, is in my opinion Michael Mann's best film to date. Very intelligently written and directed. When you go through the documentaries in this edition you'll realize how much work went into this brilliant film. My only complaints are the title (should have stuck to Red Dragon) and the picture and sound on this edition. It seems to me this DVD was rushed to catch the Hannibal craze, the sound is very mediocre. The studios will never learn to spend the money on making the actual film better rather than packaging it. There's a silly mini manilla folder with the words manhunter files on it, kinda like a happy meal toy.
Rating:
Summary: What is with all the 80s rock music???
Review: Well, this one's a dud. Let me start off by expressing my extreme annoyance in the use of dated, 80s rock music in a thriller movie! Yes, I understand it was made in the 80s, but that doesn't excuse the use of the music! You don't see thrillers today using Britney Spears or Sting. That's because thriller movies are supposed to set a tone and they usually are smart enough to use thriller music, usually instrumental suspenseful music. This had dated, horrible rock music that seriously made me sit and laugh. Not a good sign when you, as the director, are trying to scare or shock people. Michael Mann made quite a few creative mistakes besides the music. I'm sorry, but the detective talking to himself, or rather the killer, all the time got pretty annoying. The script went nowhere and barely touched on the character and background of the killer. I will admit that the brief scene or two with Lecter (Lecktor in this one) were well written and acted. That's it, though. Throughout the rest I found myself yawning and asking when it was going to end or do something worth while. And I of all people give every movie a chance. I wanted to like this one because I LOVE SIlence of the Lambs and I know I will love Hannibal! But I don't view this as an installment in the series, because it's simply not good at all. I can't fathom how anyone can say it's superior to Silence of the Lambs. Name ONE single thing that was superior to Silence of the Lambs. Certainly not the writing, DEFINITELY not the directing, the acting was fine, no complaints there. Although I would have preferred to see Joan Allen put to real use as a detective alongside the men. They needed a female counterpart as a smart detective. The whole thing just felt lopsided and clumsily-done. I haven't read Red Dragon, but I've read Hannibal and some of SOTL, and I am pretty confident in saying that Manhunter was a sloppy interpretation of Thomas Harris' brilliant work. This movie wasn't horrible, it just wasn't good.
Rating:
Summary: Great film tragic presentation.
Review: I got the new limited edition 2 disc set of Manhunter and I have to say I have never been more disapointed with a DVD in my life. First of all the first disc that is supposed to be the theatrical cut of the film is not. Several important scenes and patches of dialouge have been removed, and unimportant scenes from the directors cut are added in out of context. And to make matters worse the cuts are made very crudely, sometimes cutting people off in midsentence. Then there is the director's cut on disc 2. Saddly this version was never remastered from the source print so the picture quality of the whole film is that of a deleted scene i.e. worse than VHS. Not to mention that several scenes appear to be taken from brodcast tv as several lines of profanity are crudely dubbed over. Take my advice if you are a fan of this movie stay away from this poorly produced DVD, as refusing to buy it might be the only way get Anchor Bay to correct this horrible problem.
Rating: 
Summary: Yes, better than "Silence of the Lambs"
Review: As intense and powerful a film as "Silence of the Lamb" is, I consider "Manhunter" (AKA sometimes as "Red Dragon") to be the better movie -- more compelling and better photographed. Michael Mann has directed a strongly stylized movie, where mood and tone overshadow plot details and even acting. I have just viewed the "Limited Edition" of the DVD which includes both the theatrical release version and the special Director's Cut, plus two short "featurettes" with interviews with Dante Spinatti and the key actors. The DVD is not perfect -- an optional audio commentator by the director would have been much appreciated and, unfortunately, the "Director's Cut" version has not been enhanced to give the same visual clarity as the theatrical version -- but I still rate it 5 stars based upon the film itself. If you have only seen "Silence of the Lambs", take a look at "Manhunter".
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