Hannibal

Rating:
Summary: The Silence is Broken
Review: Dr. Lecter is back and comes out of retirment with a vengence. Clarice is on the case of Hannibal. Hannibal is moved up to the FBI's ten most wanted list. A FBI agent learns about this and tries to capture Hannibal himself for the money but comes into somes trouble when Hannibal kills him and hangs him off the roof. Hannibal and Clarice interact and Hannibal comes back to the states. Hannibal is captured by an angry former victom but before Hannibal is eating by warthogs Clarice gets him out of there but is shot. I'm not going to say what happens in the last few sceans because you will just have to watch it yourself. This is a great movie Anothny Hopkins and Julieanne Moore give great performences in this action packed thirller and don't look now but you will see Ray Liota. This is probally the best DVD to date because it has four whole hours of extras which include the making of Hannibal, an interview with Ridley Scott, tons of deleted sceans with and without commentary your choice, an alternate ending, production notes, cast and crew bios, theatrical trailers, and much more.

Rating:
Summary: Gruesome does NOT mean good!
Review: I loved "The Scilence of the Lambs", which was a brilliant film. Much more than I can say for this garbage. It recieves 2 stars, because Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal *decently*, for what crummy script he was given. This movie was just a stupid hollywood ploy, which i got pulled into. The acting is VERY cheesy, as are the lines, as is the STUPID attempt at trying to use shock-value to save an unsaveable movie. It is intensly- and moreover unnecessarily- gruesome and disgusting. I winced at the sight of sickening scenes in that film, and I am not one to look down upon a movie for gore, but I certainly do here. The use of violence was unneceary- and this, folks, is coming from a teenager. Just to give you an idea. It was quite OBVIOUSLY unnecessary, which is really what struck me. Anyways, the plot is poor (almost non-existant), the lines are aweful (i mean truly cheesy and bad) and the use of rediculouse senarios do not make it any better. There were many of these- more than enough to ruin the movie, simply in this catagroy. So, stay away from this junk, it does not deserve to be associated with the original.

Rating:
Summary: A Dark Romance.
Review: It has been obvious that the best sequels do not strive to copy the original to perfection but stand alone as seperate, original bodies of work. So, do not watch "Hannibal" expecting an exact equal to the classic "The Silence Of The Lambs." Like the novel, the movie is another PART of the trilogy started by the novel "Red Dragon" and Michael Mann film "Manhunter." "Hannibal" is more of an art film, a dark romance that depends on the atmosphere and dialogue. Director Ridley Scott presents a stylish piece of film that is beautifully photographed in rich textures (the photography is by John Mathieson, who was nominated for an Oscar for "Gladiator") in shadows. There are sequences that look like gothic paintings. There is a dreamy quality here. Much is due to the great team working on this movie. There is Scott, who directed "Gladiator," the editor is Pietro Scalia who won an Oscar for Oliver Stone's "JFK" and was also nominated for "Gladiator," and the hauntingly romantic music is by Hans Zimmer, composer of the "Gladiator" score as well. This movie is for people who like perverse horror mingled with artistic taste. "The Silence Of The Lambs" was more about the psychological, gritty aspects of the story, "Hannibal" is about the theatrics. Anthony Hopkins is great as in the first movie, he is charming and engaging. We don't miss Jodie Foster at all and Julianne Moore perfectly captures the character which is a tougher, rougher Clarice Starling made hard as a rock by 10 years of FBI work. The writers of the screenplay, David Mamet (The Edge) and Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List), do a neat job of capturing the atmosphere of the book. "Hannibal" is a dark romance, a more perverse version of Beauty & The Beast. I am disappointed that the ending of the book was left out, nope, Clarice and Hannibal do not run off together. I loved the novel's ending because the author, Thomas Harris, went for broke. What is true horror but the unexpected and unthinkable? I don't understand how Ridley Scott is willing to film the top of a man's head cut off, revealing a red brain underneath, bowels spewing onto the floor, but left out the original ending. I suspect it's because there is a sequel in order. Still, "Hannibal" is a gothic, atmospheric movie. It is not the classic that "The Silence Of The Lambs" is, but it is an original, artistic thriller. A certain, unique taste is needed to enjoy this one. You probably have to read the book to really get it, but it is fine filmmaking.

Rating:
Summary: A poor sequel that fails to live up to even the novel.
Review: The long awaited sequel to "Silence of the Lambs" not only manages not to live up to the first film but it doesn't even live up to the book which although good was very flawed, namely in the ending.

Ridley Scott has taken the continuing saga of Dr. Hannibal Lector and has unfortunately made it rather slick and over the top. What "Silence of the Lambs" had that made it great Scott has taken away for this film in an attempt to make it his own but has fuddled it up in the process.

This film catches up with Hannibal Lector and Clarice Starling some ten years after their last encounter and since then the good doctor has been quite busy. He now lives in Florence as a respected historian and is getting on with things. The film revolves around Starling's and a former victim named Mason Verger's attempts to catch him.

Let's look at the flaws of this film. For starters although Julianne Moore is a great actress she is no Jodie Foster and fails to provide the strength yet insecure vulnerability needed for the character to work that Jodie Foster did. I know the character is supposed to be older and stronger but this makes us less interested in the character and what happens to her. Starling still had the vulnerability needed to make us care about her in the book of "Hannibal" but she fails to have it here. Moore and the character are rather boring to watch and I never really cared about Starling because of it. Second, the film relies far too much on shock gore to keep its audience interested. The disembowelment in Italy and the feast at the end shock you during viewing but do not have the lasting chill that the tension from "Silence of the Lambs" provides. The violence is very strong in this film and for those who are easily disgusted: be warned. Third, Anthony Hopkins could never have lived up to his performance in "Silence" and does not. Lector is too slick, too playful and comes off as almost cartoonish at points. A lot of this comes from the fact that the film focuses on him and also because he is not behind bars. Free, walking around, talking to people Hannibal is not nearly as frightening as locked up, don't-touch-the-glass Hannibal.

In comparison to the book I would say that the strong parts of the book are weak in the film and that the weak parts of the book are stronger in the film. The best parts of the book are when Lector is in Florence and Merger's men are after him along with the Italian cop. This part is exciting and suspenseful and well crafted but in the movie they seem rushed and unimportant. I would say that Scott rushed everything especially the part when Lector returns to America. It was so rushed it was hard to tell what was going on. One minute he is in Italy and the next he is being chased around a mall in the U.S.A. Although not great, the end in the movie is an improvement over the end in the book. It is still to strange and not at all true to the characters or the story or just the plain feel of the film.

A disappointment but still interesting to watch and by no means awful. Just flawed.

Thanxs...

Rating:
Summary: Dr. Lecter is value for money
Review: First of all, Hannibal, be it the movie or the book, is not a sequel to The Silence of the Lambs. Consequently, it is a different sort of movie altogether.

This seems to have confused and disappointed many people.

Hannibal is sometimes funny, sometimes violent, sometimes gory and sometimes sad - but it is always stylish, beautifully filmed and well acted.

The story does use most of the key moments from the book, but it is not exactly true to the text in all cases. But those wondering "how can they do that in the movie" about some of the scenes from the book will not be disappointed - all the extreme scenes that ask the "how can they?" question have been answered.

If you haven't read the book, then just sit back and enjoy - but make sure you have not just eaten - some of the scenes are gruesome by any standard.

The second disk of this remarkable two disk set contains over two hours of extra features - and this represents value for money in a big way. One particularly impressive feature was on how they used a combination of makeup, animatronics and computer graphics to execute some of the scenes. It is a real eye-opener.

Watch the second disk and you will want to watch the movie again.

Rating:
Summary: Truly bizarre
Review: A blockbuster movie from a bestselling novel seems pretty scary these days, but Hannibal holds up very well. No, it's not as good as Silence of the Lambs, and it does take some time to get used to the very different style, but it does make for an effective thriller.

I don't think that you could compare Julianne Moore with Jodie Foster, but this is an entirely different Starling...one who has become embittered by several years of career stunting political manipulation and being forced into the trenches of innumerable drug raids. For all that, Moore does do an excellent job and provides a strong screen personality.

Hopkins obviously savors the role.

Rating:
Summary: Hannibal Pleases, But Silence Is Still Golden
Review: Hannibal is one fine film. It didn't go over well with critics and some of the audience, but it is good. Sure, it is no match whatsoever for the brilliant Silence Of The Lambs, but it is a good film nonetheless. We all know the story, so need to go over it. Anthony Hopkins is electrifying. You just need to hear his "Lecter" voice and you get goosebumps. He is not over the top, which I've heard in reviews. He is perfect. Julianne Moore is no Jodie Foster, who would've been nice to have aboard, but she is quite adequate. She is very good. She has the right look and charm to her to make it work and to have people not miss Jodie Foster too terribly. Giancarlo Gianinni was also good. He had a strong presence that was a great addition to the film. Gary Oldman was good as usual. The final 20 minutes were surprising indeed. I was shocked at how Lecter went about as if it were a normal everyday thing. It was unsettling to the max!. The confrontation in the kitchen between Lecter and Clarice was rather good. Not as intense as the original, but still a good scene. I was only disappointed by Ray Liotta. He wasn't given enough to do. It seems he was just added just so there was another bad guy oon Lecter's list. Anyways, this was a fine film. It's not really eerie or suspenseful like Silence was,but that's okay. In fact, a lot of the recent slasher films had more suspense.But this film wasn't necessarily about that. It works well on it's own. Don't expect anything as good or memorable as Silence.

Rating:
Summary: Dissapointed
Review: After reading all the comments about Hannibal being 'overly disgusting' I figured it was right up my alley. In my opinion, I am much more adept to grotesque movies than the rest of the population so the idea of not watching this movie simply because it was 'gross' was not even considered.
This movie is like watching Speed 2 meets American Psycho, everything is forced and nothing is believable. Too much fake action and blood and guts for no apparent reason. There are a few scences in this movie that were overly disgusting, but did not bother me personally. The ending of the movie, where one of his victims is walking around with his skull cut in half, but still concious is just.. vomit inducing. He proceeds to feed the man pieces of his own brain, while they carry on a normal conversation. If the movie wasn't overly done, overly gross, and actually had a plot.. it might get a better rating.
Also the fact that it's a sequel to one of the best movies of all times, I expected much more out of it. I currently own 150 dvd's, and this is the first one I am going to throw away. I have no interest in watching this crap ever again, and wish I had never put these images into my head.. because now I can't get them out.

Rating:
Summary: WATCH OUT
Review: Okay, this is not really a review because we all know some people like these movies some don't. And does it really matter what I think. No it matters what you think. Anyway with that in mind. I want to let everyone know who watches their DVD's-as I do on my computer-that the second disk in this two disk set is encoded. That means you CAN NOT play this on your computer. The sad thing is that many more movies are going to be made like this because there are too many cheep, slime balls out there who want to make bootlegg copies of films because they are too cheep to buy them. Anyway, if you use your DVD player on your computer, do on get this two disk version it is not worth it. Wait untill just the one disk comes out. Also, the store won't addmit to this because they don't know. I had to call the manufactuer direct. This should be listed on the DVD box and it is not.

Rating:
Summary: Hopkins/Moore shine in disappointing sequel.
Review: Hannibal is very disappointing. It lacks almost everything that Silence Of The Lambs had. The suspense, the intensity, and the chemistry between the two leads. The only thing this film gives us is violent, gorry, scenes that is ireevelant to the story. Anthony Hopkins is once again mesmerizing and creepy as Dr. Hannial Lector and Juliane Moore is wonderful as Clarice. It is unfortunate that the 2 leads had barely any scenes together except until the final scene. That is what made the first, is the intense interaction between the 2. The scrpit is confusing and there is too much emphasis on the Italian FBI agent trying to capture Hannibal. Ray Liotta is wasted in a role that only allows him to act like a jerk. Through this all I was hoping that there would be an intense ending, but there wasn't, it build and builds and then just ends. Silence of the Lambs is one of the best movies ever made, and they should have just left it at that,and not bothered with this pointless sequel.