Manhunter (Director's Cut, Limited Edition Set)

Rating:
Summary: This is an underrated classic.
Review: This is one of my favorite movies. The acting is superb, many of the scenes are memporable, the music creates just the right mood, and the way in which the killer is found is brilliant. This is the best work William Peterson and Michael Mann have ever done. I do not understand why this movie has not received more attention.

Rating:
Summary: A much better, more realistic, version of Hannibal Lecter.
Review: This is one of my favorite films. It is wonderfully tight and suspenseful, creating an unshakeable mood with a startling ending. Brian Cox, another wonderful British actor, plays Hannibal Lektor (spelled differently). His performance is much more accurate to the book. Consider this, would you, as a potential patient looking for a therapist, approach Hannibal Lecter as played by Anthony Hopkins, for his services? Brian Cox plays him as a genius full of ennui, who uses his talents as he sees fit.

Rating:
Summary: best thriller NOBODYS' ever seen!
Review: after watching this flick at least 10 times i still cant think of a better suited soundtrac for any movie than this one. it will give ya nitemares. also cox' lektor was easily as creepy as hopkins'. the shopping trip w/grahames' son is espescialy poiniant.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Great Thrillers of ALL Time
Review: I have not read the Thomas Harris novel "Red Dragon", but I imagine it is darker and more graphic than Manhunter, and quite possibly much more along the lines of his later adaptation, The Silence of the Lambs. However, while Manhunter and "Silence" are both drastically different in style, content, and presentation, they are equally superb by all means, and Manhunter may in fact be an even better film. The visual imagery and cinematography are breathaking, a natural spectacle that, in all honesty, adds little to the story, but which serves as an entertaining garnish and a wonderfully vivid piece of 1980s nostalgia. The performance by William Peterson is superb. He is heroic, masculine, and extremely powerful. There are equally impressive supporting performances by the always underrated Kim Greist and a young Joan Allen, and the man who portrays the sexually repressed psychopath(his name I cannot recall) is unforgettable. No, Manhunter is NOT the least bit frightening; but it is also not a horror movie. The book may have been more in synch with the horror genre, but this is, ultimately, Michael Mann's film, and it is a solid, old fashioned, extremely intelligent and extraordinarly entertaining piece of cinematic gold. Riveting, unpredictable, and often exhilarating, Manhunter is one of the finest examples of its genre.

Rating:
Summary: It did not get the credit it deserved.
Review: A true sleeper. This is Mann at his best. He shows his unique ability to combine music with image oh so well in this film. Several times the movie seemed to draw you into it. LAMBS may have had a bigger budget and bigger name stars, but Manhunter was a supurb potrayal of Lecktor and Graham. I hope that when the next Lecktor movie is made, that the character of Will Graham is brought into it. It would be nice if Mann could direct it as well

Rating:
Summary: As usual...the book is better
Review: I pity anyone who watches this film without having read Red Dragon. This film works more as a Cliff's Notes adaptation to a brilliant novel. It seems as though the director wanted the Tiger scene so bad, he left out all explanation to the audiendce. I advise people to READ THE BOOK, and stay away from this hokey, BORING, movie.

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE GREATEST SLEEPERS OF ALL TIME!!!!!!
Review: This is truly one of the most freightening and thrilling movies ever made. Lechter is played as well or better than in the Lambs. Mann and Peterson team up to give exceptional directing and acting performances. All of the supporting cast, music and filming make this a joy to watch.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but not frightening.
Review: I'm baffled by all this talk of Michael Mann being a superb director...this movie looks like a music video. I have no problem with his style, but for a thriller of this sort, I don't think he is an adequate choice. After reading "Red Dragon," I wanted to be SCARED during this film. But the flashy photography and rock music does not do justice to the merciless suspense of the novel. It's as if Mann does not take the material of the horror genre seriously. "Red Dragon" is NOT a crime drama, but a suspense thriller; he doesn't seem to know this. Granted, I loved much of the dialogue; many scenes in this film are fascinating and memorable, and make us realize just how clever the novel is. Brian Cox, while not as good as Hopkins, is worthy of the role. (And what's this saying that Hopkins OVERacted the role?? His tounge-in-cheek performance was brilliant because he DIDN'T overact). And why did they stick so closely to the novel and then abandon the brilliant climax of the book with the most cliched concept in film: the shoot-out? The bottom line is: I wish Mann and his crew tried to SCARE me as well as entertain me.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, breathtaking...
Review: An excellent (though too short) adaptation of an excellent novel, Mann's film is definitely one of the best and most atmospheric movies of its kind - if not the best one. Light years above "Silence of the Lambs"!

Rating:
Summary: Stylish gloss hides Harris' bleak story.
Review: The fact that it was Michael Mann who made this film means that there will be inevitable comparisons with Miami vice. To be fair he didn't use any vacuous talent in Manhunter which elevated it above his TV output. I found the film to be a fair interpretation of the book, with some dialogue lifted directly from the novel (you're so sly, but so am I). Being a book of immense depth, particularly the development and (attempted) redemption of Francis Dolarhyde (played well by Tom Noonan, but Dolarhyde he aint), it was too layered and complex to film thoroughly. The central premise of the film, that Dolaryhde was 'becoming' the Red Dragon, seemed to be the most criminal omission, with no mention at all of the Blakean origins of Dolarhyde and the direct relationship between Blake's magnificent painting and Blake and Thomas Butts; a theme expanded upon in Harris' third Lecter Novel. This apart, and of course the lame ending, Manhunter is a reasonable chiller. Read the book first and then do the video, but keep your expectation levels low!