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Rating: 
Summary: EAT YOUR HEART OUT (or perhaps, liver) WITH THIS GREAT DVD!
Review: "The Silence of the Lambs" needs no introduction. A masterfully told suspense/thriller with a diabolical twist ending, this is the movie that made cannibals cool and reinvented the careers of both Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins is, of course, Hannibal Lecter, the psychiatrist who ate his patients and is serving out a life sentance in a maximum security, clinical facility. Foster is Clarise Starling, a fledgling FBI agent sent to pick apart Hannibal's mind (no pun intended) when copy cat crimes start surfacing.
MGM's remastering effort of this important movie is nothing short of a revelation. Both Criterion and Image tried to give us an adequate print. Neither were anamorphically enhanced and both suffered from insufficient contrast levels, shadow delineation and color separation. This DVD fixes all of those problems. The image quality throughout is superb. Colors are well balance. Film grain is kept to a minimum. Edge enhancement, shimmering and aliasing are nonexistant. The audio has been remixed to 5.1 and is incredibly stirring, especially in its music tracks.
Extras: a really great documentary that, unfortunately does not involve the participation of Jodie Foster (what's with her any way?), some deleted scenes and test footage round out the extras, including bios, theatrical trailers, television spots and an audio commentary track. Three cheers. Much better than Criterion's bare bones junket and far less expensive!
BOTTOM LINE: A DEFINITE MUST FOR ANYONE WHO LOVES FAVA BEANS OR JUST BEING SCARED IN THE DARK!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Thriller.
Review: Plot: Silence of the Lambs tells the story of FBI trainee Clerice Starling (Jodie Foster) who is asked by her boss, Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) to interview Dr. Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in order to find some information about a serial killer known only as Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), who is skinning various women and using their skin to make suits to wear. Dr. Lecter is skeptical about sharing information with Starling until she agrees to share information about her personal life. Quid pro quo. She tells Dr. Lecter about the death of her father and her being sent to live on a ranch until she ran away. With every compicated hint, Clarice is a step closer to catching Buffalo Bill. The clock is ticking, and she'd better hurry. Acting: I read the book before I saw the movie, and I must say, nobody could have been better for their parts. Anthony Hopkins was perfect as Hannibal, far surpassing Brian Cox's performance in Manhunter. He really makes the part his own, and is truly unforgettable. Jodie Foster also did a great job as Clarice. The character displayed a lot of emotion throughout the movie and Foster brought that to her character excellently. Scott Glenn also did good as Crawford. Ted Levine was really, REALLY scary as Buffalo Bill, and that trick he does near the end..... BRRRRR! Overall: The directing was good, everything was good. See the movie.
Rating:
Summary: "I'm having an old friend for dinner..."
Review: That is the famous quote made by doctor Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter as the movie draws to a close and leaves you in suspense wondering if they will ever convict the notorious killer and eater of human flesh, Hannibal Lecter.This movie was well above the regular suspense/thriler genre movies mainly because of the superb directing by Jonathan Demme.The movie carefully blended a well made plot, excellent acting, masterful directing, and a creepy musical score in one movie which landed it the five top Academy Awards.The plot of the movie basically is this: Jodie Foster plays Clarice Starling, a woman who is currently striving hard for her goal of one day becoming an FBI agent. In the FBI accademy she Is then assigned the job of interviewing the famous Hannibal Lecter,(Anthony Hopkins) a convicted cannibal in prison in hope of learning any information that might lead to the conviction of another killer, Buffalo Bill, at large that is killing women and dumping their bodies in lakes. She discovers that the only way that she can learn the information she desperately needs is to feed the mind of Hannibal Lecter with various details from her childhood. Using new clues she then sets forth on the investigation of trying to capture the mysterious killer Buffalo Bill, but also acheive the FBI status that she wants so bad. So sit back watch the movie and prepare to witness a one of a kind movie.
Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: The first film to sweep all the major Oscars since One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1975; Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs is more than just the most unnerving mainstream serial killer film of all time (the only other movie that comes close to rivaling it is Seven), it is a masterpiece of modern day cinema. The story, as we all know by now, revolves around haunted FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) trying to get information out of imprisoned cannibalistic killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) on a serial killer called Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). The amazing interplay between Foster and Hopkins is the film's main highlight, but the laced with suspense prison break will have you jolting out of your seat. Those who have never seen this film should definitely pick up this generously priced extra laced DVD, but the long out of print Criterion Collection DVD is more than worth tracking down as well.
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Summary: Hannibal Lecter the best bad guy in a movie
Review: The first one of the trilogy of Hannibal Lecter. Anthony Hopkins at his very best. A fantastic movie, don't miss any of the three.
Rating:
Summary: Care for some fava beans?
Review: Thomas Harris wrote three novels on which four different films are based: Manhunter (1986) and Red Dragon (2002) based on the same novel as well as Hannibal (2001) and this film. After a decade, it retains its strengths in terms directing, acting, and production values. For obvious reasons, however, it has lost much of its emotional impact for those such as I who have seen it several times since its initial release in 1991. Nonetheless, I find it every bit as entertaining now as I did then but for different reasons. For example, the compelling personality of Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) had such an impact on me the first time around that I paid little attention to information revealed about Clarice Starling's childhood. Jody Foster received an Academy Award for her performance as did Hopkins and director Jonathan Demme. Well-deserved. I now have a much better appreciation of the evolving relationship between Lecter and Starling, and a much better understanding of childhood influences on her values and especially her vulnerabilities. Also, I now have a greater appreciation of the performances of others, notably Ted Levine (Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb). During the final confrontation, he more than holds his own with the highly talented Foster. Finally, I am now more aware of Jack Crawford's importance to Starling. Portraying her supervisor, Scott Glenn appears only briefly but makes a critically important contribution to Starling's development, both personally and professionally. Her judgment proves better than his as they pursue Buffalo Bill and he duly acknowledges that. As I now think again about this film, I realize that the dominant image previously had been of Lecter in his cell, smiling serenely at the earnest young F.B.I. agent. Whenever I heard a reference to the film or to Lecter, that is what immediately came to mind. Now, the dominant image is of the "cage" in which Lecter is served a lamb chop dinner by two of the guards. I recall it so vividly...and shudder. The DVD version of a film offers clearer image and sound (which I certainly appreciate) but also, more often than not, a "bonus" of supplementary materials. In this instance, they include 20 minutes of deleted scenes, interviews of Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, a "making-of" featurette, and a reel of out-takes.
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