Manhunter (Director's Cut, Limited Edition Set)

Rating:
Summary: Finally the Divimax edition pays a worthy tribute
Review: This masterpiece needed a workover so badly. All the other previous dvd editions had a picture quality worse than vhs. I was glad as the Divimax Edition came out. The picture quality is superb (with the exception of the added restored material - although that can't get any better). Also the cardboard chapter list inside the box has the original poster printed on the other side. What is there left to say on the film? A masterpiece on a war of the minds. One, the Manhunter, brilliantly portrayed by William Petersen, chasing the other, The Tooth Fairy - also extremely well played by Tom Noonan. And then there's still the Dark Mind in the background: Hannibal Lector. I don't think you would want to get any closer to a psychopath than this.

Rating:
Summary: "He Gave Us a Recipe For Potato Chip Dip."
Review: I first saw "Manhunter" back in 1986 as the tail-end of a double-bill with a Rodney Dangerfield vehicle, "Back to School"(?). Now I was not favorably inclined to see this film because I was not a big fan of Michael Mann's "Miami Vice", which was all the rage on TV at that time. What I found was an engrossing FBI procedural that entertained me at the time but I backburnered it until "The Silence of the Lambs" came out. I revisited the film on cable and with repeated viewings over the years have grown to appreciate this film more than "Silence of the Lambs". Mann has masterfully directed the complexities of this story of a serial killer case that crosses state borders. There is terrific ambience, particularly in the scenes shot at night. The climax of the film where agent Will Graham(William L. Petersen) confronts the serial killer, Francis Dollarhyde(Tom Noonan) while the organ solo from Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gada-Da-Vida" plays in the background is classic. Enough cannot be said about the cast that Mann has assembled here. William L.Peterson portrays Graham as a man who is clinging to his sanity while trying to feign cool detachment as he investigates this gruesome case. Tom Noonan effectively assays the pathos of Dollarhyde but also shows us the monster in the man. Stephen Lang does a good supporting turn as sleazy reporter Freddy Lounds. Joan Allen demonstrates the toughness and vulnerability of the blind woman, Reba, whom Dollarhyde falls in love with. Inevitably we have to compare the performances of Brian Cox and Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. All I have to say is these two superb actors deliver different interpretations of the character and both are equally fine. Cox chose a more detached reading of Lecter and for this film that was the correct call. Also good are Dennis Farina as Crawford, Graham's FBI superior, and Kim Griest as Molly, Graham's wife. "Manhunter" at the time of release was a box office dud but fortunately for us it has grown in stature with the passage of time.

Rating:
Summary: First Watch This, Then Hannibal
Review: This movie is equivalent to Hannibal. The Hannibal legacy starts at Manhunter! The Director's Cut Is More Thrilling Than Ever! Everybody watch out!

Rating:
Summary: The original is still the best
Review: Manhunter is the movie in which I fell in love with the story of Hannibal Lecter, and the direction style of Michael Mann. This movie is so much better than the recent Red Dragon movie. The use of music, lighting, the direction, the actors performances, virtually everything is better here than in the very inferior Red Dragon. I still am surprised that William Peterson did not become more of a star after his performance here and in To Live and Die in LA.

You owe it to yourself to witness the amazing performances in this film.
You wouldn't think it from reading the cast list, but the lesser-known stars of Manhunter actually did a much better job than the high-end names in Red Dragon.

William Peterson, way better than Edward Norton.
Tom Noonan, way better than Ralph Fiennes.
Joan Allen, way better than Emily Watson.
Dennis Farina, way better than Harvey Keitel.
And yes, Brian Cox did a more sinister job of Hannibal that Anthony Hopkins.
Michael Mann, way better than whatever hack directed Red Dragon.

  

Rating:
Summary: Slightly Over-Rated (But Not By Much)
Review: as most people, i have seen "manhunter" after i saw "silence of the lambs". many proclaim that "manhunter" is just as good if not better than "silence of the lambs". its almost as good in my opinion. as you dont get much at all of dr. hannibal lector in this movie, you do get much on a very interesting FBI case about the "tooth fairy", a serial killer who kills every full moon and his victims seem to have a connection--though no one can figure out what. just as in "silence of the lambs", the young FBI agent seeks help on the psychopathic mind from a psychopath (dr. lector, of course). while this movie has very little suprises and "twists", it does make up for it with intesity and suspense. i haven't much to say on "manhunter", since the film is one of those timeless "classics" in which you just can't explain what's so good about it. at the end, not as much is resolved about "the tooth fairy" or even the agent himself, yet you are left with a memorable performance by an A-plus cast, different yet strongly supportive musical score, and a plot line that never gives up with its drama.

Rating:
Summary: A remarkable classic!
Review: I've never read it but I think that this 1986 adaptation of the novel "Red Dragon" is a remarkably powerful, and dark crime thriller that has a unique edge that has a style that sets it apart from many other crime thrillers of its genre. Light years better than it's `replacement' "Red Dragon", "Manhunter" has a remarkable performance by the entire cast involved. Starring the immensely talented and skilled actor William L. Peterson, "Manhunter" is a great and outstanding thriller.

Will Graham (Peterson) is a retired forensic scientist who left his job after a confrontation with notorious mass murderer Hannibal Lector. Graham has had a troubled past but comes out of retirement to track down an unknown serial killer who randomly targets his victims and is known as the "Tooth Fairy". Graham may surprisingly find some answers from his arch nemesis Lector who's in prison but may hold some pieces of the puzzle in figuring out where "The Tooth Fairy" may strike next. Graham has the ability to be able to study the minds of murders, albeit at a great cost with enormous mental stress at doing so but he's willing to do whatever it takes to hunt and nail "The Tooth Fairy" before he strikes again. Meanwhile a blind woman unaware of it, falls in love with a man named Francis Dolarhyde.

The cast of this movie is great, much better than that of it's 2002 counterpart "Red Dragon". While Ralph Fiennes is a wonderful "villain" actor, he doesn't hold a candle to the towering Fred Noonan as the psychologically twisted antagonist Francis Dolarhyde. The mood of this movis has a strange greatness to it, something that I feel was missing from "Red Dragon". The background music was also great ranging from disturbing ambient background music to heavy metal like the epic Iron Butterfly track "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". There is an uncertain sense of gloom, foreboding, and doom throughout the movie but in a way that it's not excessively depressing or grim but just right.

While the popularity of its brilliant sequel "Silence of The Lambs" has unfortunately overshadowed this, "Manhunter" is a great and awesome movie with a unique style that makes it stand out amongst it's peers. There are disturbingly graphic scenes but for those who love crime thrillers or murder mysterious, this is a movie that should be checked out. While not necessarily viewing it as bad or even mediocre, it actually is good to me anyway, when it comes to this and it's remake "Red Dragon", if I had a choice between the two, I'd easily take "Manhunter" any day. Highly recommended.


Rating:
Summary: True adaptation
Review: This first film version of Thomas Harris' novel "Red Dragon" is, in a number of ways, the better of the two. Manhunter features somewhat less known, but by no means lesser, actors in the lead roles. A young William Peterson is, in my opinion, rather better than Edward Norton as FBI profiler Will Graham. It's something of a toss up between Manhunter's Dennis Farina and Red Dragon's Harvey Keitel in the Jack Crawford role. (All in all, I really liked Scott Glenn's portrayal best, but that was in a different part of the story.) Tom Noonan takes on the part of insane serial killer Francis Dollarhyde. I find that I prefer him to Ralph Fiennes, who was, among other problems, really too good looking for the part. Noonan has played a number of killers of varying stages of insanity during his career, but Dollarhyde is probably the capper. And, lastly, Brian Cox has the character of Hannibal Lector--the novel's Lector, not the later film version--down perfectly. It's a smaller part than in the more recent film, but Lector's part was smaller in the original novel as well.

Manhunter is, mostly, quite faithful to the novel. Given the limits of the film media, particularly regarding running time, a bit too much background material seems to be missing. I doubt that anyone could film this story exactly right in much under five hours. Noonan's makeup shows the effect of the character's surgically corrected cleft lip and palate, but it isn't really explained (though there are bits of dialogue that suggest it might have been before the film was edited). Some of Cox's lines as Lector are precisely the same as those spoken by Anthony Hopkins, which is to be expected as they are lifted straight from the novel.

The major departure from the novel is the ending. Again, I'd suspect running time may have been the culprit (and I doubt that anyone who hasn't read the novel will even notice, since the film's ending is effective enough). Filming the real ending might have been even more effective, but it would also have added at least another quarter hour to a two hour film. Blame the theatre owners for that--they don't like long movies because the length reduces the number of daily screenings.



Rating:
Summary: MGM JUST SCREWED UP MANHUNTER CAN YOU BELIEVE IT
Review: OH MY GOD I CANT BELIEVE MGM DID THIS TO MICHAEL MANN'S MANHUNTER THE RESTORED DIRECTOR'S CUT THE HIGH DEFINITON HD TRANSFER IS GONE THE WIDESCREEN ENHANCED FOR YOUR WIDESCREEN TVS IT'S GONE MGM JUST GOT BAD AS PARAMOUNT THEY LOVE TO SCREW PEOPLE NOW ANCHOR BAY RELEASED THE RESTORED DIRECTOR'S CUT IN 2003 AND I OWN THAT ONE DONT BUY THIS ONE I JUST CANT BELIEVE IT WHY ON EARTH DID MGM DO THIS TO THAT FILM

Rating:
Summary: Great but forgotten
Review: This a a goo dmovie in the Hannible series I am so sick of people who try to fight with me about it saying that its not part of it because either A They have never heard of it B Won't give a shot or C Have never seen it yes it is a little slow in some parts but the ending of it more than makes up for it I have not seen this version as of yet I am looking for it now tho so come on give it a shot dont think that just because you have seen red dragon that this one sucks (Even tho they ARE the same movies) this one has something that red dragon does n't have what is I just dont know but if you try it you might just like it alot