Rating: 
Summary: ANTHONY HOPKINS STEALS THE SHOW...
Review: Based upon the wonderful, well-written novel "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris, this is a superior and chilling thriller. Grim and gripping, it features Edward Norton in the role of troubled, retired FBI agent, Will Graham, who is called back to service in order to track down a bizarre serial killer, known as the "Tooth Fairy". It appears that Graham has the uncanny ability to get into a killer's mindset and figure out what his next move might be. It is as if he and the killer become one. In his preparation for this, Graham even consults the imprisoned Hannibal Lecter (yes, THE Hannibal Lecter), deliciously played by Anthony Hopkins. Unfortunately for Graham, Hannibal has not forgotten that Graham was responsible for his changed circumstances.It is Hannibal Lecter, after all, who was the catalyst for Will Graham's retirement. The viewer is treated to scenes of Lecter's life, before he was revealed to be Hannibal the Cannibal, one of the sickest serial killers ever to strike. The viewer sees the renowned psychiatrist in his milieu as an erudite, cultured, and wealthy patron of the arts. A noted gourmand, Dr. Lecter liked nothing better than to give intimate dinner parties for the favored few. Of course, some of the ingredients used for his dinners were best left unsaid. It was nice to see the always excellent John Rubenstein in the small role of a dinner guest, heaping accolades upon Hannibal for his dinner parties. The movie is compelling and, at all times, gripping. Anthony Hopkins reprises his career defining role and steals the show (Really, Hannibal Lecter has become all but a cottage industry for him!). With a twinkle in his eye, he is, in his low key way, deliciously malevolent. Edward Norton, one of the best young actors around, gives a decent and sensitive portrayal of Will Graham, the angst ridden former FBI agent and profiler, but lacks the grittiness and hard-edged veneer that the role really demands. He also simply looks too young and soft for the role. Ralph Fiennes gives a fine performance as the tormented Francis Dolarhyde, but his portrayal is hampered by the fact that too little is revealed in the film about what makes him tick. Emily Watson affectingly plays a blind woman who becomes romantically involved with Francis Dolarhyde. It is her involvement with him that helps bring the film to its stunning conclusion. Moreover, Ms. Watson is a wonderfully talented British actress who manages to get her American accent down pat. Good performances by Harvey Keitel, as Graham's former boss, and Mary Louise Parker, as Graham's wife, round out this fine, ensemble cast. This film is a taut, unnerving psychological thriller that is subject to comparison to its 1986 predecessor "Manhunter. Having seen both, I call it a draw. This current version had a bigger budget, so obviously it has better production values. Also, the opening scenes in the current version are more interesting than those in the 1986 one. Music, however, was used to much better effect in the earlier version. Moreover, the final scenes in the earlier version were much better than in this later version, as they were much more suspenseful. Both films, however, are well worth watching. Do yourself a favor and view both. Then, judge for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent film, ho-hum DVD
Review: This is a very worthy prequel to Silence of the Lambs, and is well worth seeing. However, the DVD features are lackluster to say the least. The interface is beautiful, but the features are no more than a few minutes apiece. Considering how much they are hyped in the commercials, you don't get much for your money. If you liked Silence, you'll like this.
Rating: 
Summary: You must come to dinner....
Review: We all know by now that there was a book before The Silence of the Lambs, by the name of Red Dragon. Few are aware that there was a movie based on this novel by the name of 'Manhunter', though it was a fair adaptation, this is far superior.
This is a few years before Hannibal Lecter has even heard the name Clarice Starling,at this time his opponent in the mind games is an ex-FBI agent by the name of Will Graham. Will is a much more interesting opponent for Lecter, seeing as he is the man responsible for Lecter's incarceration.
Graham is called out of retirement by his boss Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel)in order to assist in the investigation of two homicide cases, both of which share enough things for the FBI to become convinced that they are hunting for a serial killer.
Crawford wants Graham because of Graham's ability to get inside the head of a serial killer, so much that he virtually becomes one of them. Crawford is also aware that if worse comes to worse they may have to consult Hannibal Lecter, who, in spite of his status as a convicted felon, is still one of the best forensic psychiatrists in the country. And the only person Lecter will talk to is Graham.
Graham reluctantly comes onboard to assist, in the hope that the killer will get caught before he has a chance to strike again, and then he can go home for good. But there is no denying the ability he has to think and act so much like a serial killer, as Lecter so thoughtfully tells him during their first exchange "You caught me because we are just alike". And it's clear from this first reunion that Lecter's obsession with Graham is far from over.
However, Lecter sets aside his obsession long enough to give Graham the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to help him catch the killer the tabloid press have dubbed 'The Tooth Fairy'. Lecter is disdainful of Graham's claim that he's at a loss with these murders, and he takes every chance to taunt Graham about the state of his own mind.
Anthony Hopkins once again showed the world why Hannibal Lecter was voted as the number one villain in film of all time, Edward Norton proved a good foil for Hopkins' Lecter. Ralph Fiennes was excellent as Francis Dolarhyde, a lonely photo lab manager whose mind and actions are influenced (and to what extent, controlled) by a Blake painting named Red Dragon. Brett Ratner, best known for the 'Rush Hour' films, proved all of his critics wrong by crafting a film which closely rivals it's decade old sequel.
This DVD is definitely worth the extra money for all the features, such as deleted scenes and seeing one of Brett Ratner's first films. But the dossier on Hannibal Lecter seemed a little silly to me, but whatever turns you on.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing after 'Hannibal'
Review: Thank God they made this movie. After the horridness of Hannibal, they needed something to bring the Silence of the Lambs trilogy to the level it should be. This movie does a great job of doing just that. An amazing cast helps the movie along. Ed Norton is spectacular as FBI agent Will Graham, trying to track down the Tooth Fairy serial killer, played amazingly by a creepy Ralph Fiennes. This movie brings back the much-appreciated puzzle of chasing a serial killer where the agents actually have to think about things, and there's a surprise around ever corner. Anthony Hopkins is once again masterful as Hannibal Lecter, after a disappointing showing in Hannibal. He is intelligent, manipulative, and witty as ever, as opposed to Hannibal, where is is a little too omniscient, and seemingly only there to get a maximum gross-out factor from his cannibalism. Either way, this movie is definitely the second-best movie in the trilogy, behind, of course, the original. It is definitely light years ahead of Hannibal in just about every category, and highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Can't replace "Manhunter"
Review: I'm pleased to see that other reviewers have had the same impression I had. Red Dragon is just a remake of Manhunter, and not nearly as good. All the performances in Manhunter are much more intense and edgy. CSI's William Peterson is a better Graham, Tom Noonan a MUCH better Dolarhyde, and Brian Cox will always be THE Hannibal for me. My two stars are for Harvey Keitel, always an interesting actor, even if his character wasn't.
Rating: 
Summary: An outstanding cast in a good detective film.
Review: Those people who have seen The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal will want to see this "beginning" of the story. Before the credits are even shown we are introduced to Hannibal Lecter (played once more by the great Anthony Hopkins) at a dinner party serving his guests choice tidbits from his latest victim. After dinner an FBI agent (Edward Norton) comes to call and the movie appears to move into high gear -- again, before we have even seen the credits. But those folks looking for a horror film with much grisly action will be a bit disappointed. Red Dragon is more of a dectective film which takes us with the talented Mr. Norton as he attempts to find "the tooth fairy," a demonic killer played well by Ralph Fiennes. We would like to know more about the motivation of "the tooth fairy," which is only hinted at and includes William Blake's great "Dragon" picture for which the film is named. Hannibal Lecter helps the FBI, as he did in The Silence of the Lambs, but in Red Dragon his role is peripheral and less satisfying. The cast of this movie is reason enough for most film buffs to see it. Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Phillip Michael Seymour, and Emily Watson are all fine actors when given proper direction and suitable material, which is not always the case in Red Dragon, particularly with Norton. He appears at times a bit confused about the real motivation for his character. This is not the case with Anthony Hopkins, whom many of the audience will have come to see reprise his role as one of the great monsters in film history. In the end it is another monster, "the tooth fairy" that takes center stage. Even though Fiennes plays him well enough I was disappointed with the formulaic "Fatal Attraction" ending that we have seen too often. The outstanding cast makes this film good enough to recommend and those viewers who enjoy a good detective film will not, I think, be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Not as gory as Hannibal, but just as good!!!
Review: I really enjoyed this movie. It is a different role for Ralph Fiennes to play a madman and I thought he did a wonderful job. The way they made this movie was excellent. There wasn't very many gory scenes and it actually had a story line to follow and understand. I would recommend this to the faint of heart.
Rating:
Summary: "Yes, I will play Hannibal again."
Review: Let's get real folks, the only reason "Red Dragon" was made was because it gives moviegoers a chance to see Anthony Hopkins in the memorable role of Hannibal Lecter for the third time. And once again, he gives a fine, if not enjoyably creepy performance as one of the most famous villains in screen history. "Red Dragon" is an interesting film because it is a rare opportunity to see the same novel (Thomas Harris' first of the Hannibal trilogy including "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal") made into a film twice within the same era. Granted, Michael Mann's version "Manhunter" came out in 1986 (was it that long ago?), but it's memory is still fresh enough where one wonders why this film was made at all. Edward Norton is a fine actor, but I agree with an earlier reviewer, he's just too young for this role. He never adequately displays the type of burnout angst required. Oddly enough, on paper the exceptional cast recruited for "Red Dragon" is in many ways superior to the cast for "Manhunter" (William Petersen, Joan Allen, Dennis Farina, Stephen Lang) but in almost every circumstance, the performances from the first film are superior. Even Ralph Fiennes, an extraordinarily gifted actor in the role of the serial killer dubbed "The Tooth Fairy," does not leave as much of an impression as Tom Noonan from "Manhunter." Ironically, the greatest triumph of "Red Dragon" is Fiennes' brave, if not heartbreaking, performance. He adds an uncomfortable human element to an absolutely evil character and frankly steals the show. "Red Dragon" is a good Hopkins-as-Hannibal thriller (superior to "Hannibal," far, far inferior to "Silence of the Lambs"), but one wonders why so much effort and resource went in to making this film when Mann's innovative and stylish "Manhunter" covered this same territory in such a satisfying, complete manner. The answer is obvious. Hopkins said "Yes, I will play Hannibal again." And so viewers can once again sit back and be force fed a deja vu recipe of Hollywood formula filmmaking. If anything, "Red Dragon" proves just how fine a film Mann's "Manhunter" truly was.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Hannibal
Review: Summary:
The movie begins with the capture of Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) by FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton). However, the capture isn't a simple, "Put your hands up." Both Lecter and Graham are seriously wounded. Lecter ends up in his famous cell and Graham retires from the FBI. But when a new series of serial murders begins, Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel), Graham's boss, convinces Graham to come back to work for the agency to help them find the person they are calling 'The Tooth Fairy'. Graham returns to the FBI but in working on the case he must request the help of Lecter. Lecter, who has become quite famous for his murders, is also contacted by the serial killer who considers himself to be the incarnation of Blake's Red Dragon. Graham has to work out the details and connections to figure out who the killer is while dealing with the psychological manipulations of Lecter. The result is a climactic scene similar to the beginning of the movie when Lecter is captured. My Comments:
I'll reveal my bias from the beginning - I love psychological thrillers and I'm fascinated by serial killers. So, in reading my review you may want to keep that in mind. The only problem I had with this movie is I wasn't sure Edward Norton was the perfect fit for an FBI agent. I really like Norton in most of his roles and he plays all sorts of characters, there was just something about him as a serial killer profiler that didn't work perfectly. I still think he did a good job, but I just wasn't sure I was as convinced that he was being played with psychologically - at least, not nearly as convinced as I was when Jodi Foster was being played with by Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. So, that was a small problem. Otherwise, the acting was great. I particularly enjoyed Ralph Fiennes (Francis Dolarhyde & the Red Dragon). He came across as extremely disturbed, which, obviously, was what he was supposed to be. I read the book Hannibal before I watched the movie and was pretty disappointed by the movie. I haven't read Red Dragon, so I don't know how they compare. However, from my past experience reading Thomas Harris novels, I'm guessing that the book is probably better than the movie. I also cheated when I was watching the DVD. I have a tendency to look at the length of movies before I watch them - usually because I'm pretty busy and have to plan accordingly. Well, as I was watching Red Dragon, I realized that Francis Dolarhyde had allegedly been killed at about 112 minutes but I knew the movie was 124 minutes long. I wasn't positive what was going to happen next, I thought Lecter might escape, but once they showed Graham back at his home in Florida it clicked. I liked the ending. However, I'm not sure that it made perfect sense as serial killers go. Of course, I'm not an expert on serial killer profiling and maybe it does, I just thought that it was actually plausible that Dolarhyde would kill himself instead of killing Reba McClane (Emily Watson). To do what he did was pretty calculating and based upon how he seemed to be acting prior to that, I wasn't sure it worked perfectly, but I was ultimately satisfied. Overall, I liked this movie better than Hannibal but not quite as much as Silence of the Lambs. If you enjoyed Silence of the Lambs or like psychological thrillers, you'll probably enjoy this movie. As with all movies about serial killers, it can be a bit disturbing (one of the people we were watching it with actually left the room she was so disturbed by it) what with references to eating people and what not. But perhaps Lecter's fascination with cannibalism is what keeps fans of Thomas Harris's novels coming back.
Rating:
Summary: An unexpectedly solid prequel to "The Silence of the Lambs"
Review: The key thing about watching "Red Dragon" is to realize that this is not a Hannibal Lecter story. The character was a compelling but relatively minor figure in both the Thomas Harris novel and "Manhunter," the original cinematic adaptation by Michael Mann. Obviously screenwriter Ted Tally and director Brett Ratner have enhanced the role for this 2002 film, but Anthony Hopkins's part is not a central part of the story. Once you understand that you will discover that "Red Dragon" exceeds your expectations. But if you cannot get around this idea then you are probably going to be bitterly disappointed with this film. Clearly a major strength of this film is the stellar caste, which in addition to Hopkins has Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Anthony Heald, and Mary Beth Hurt (add to the list Ellen Burstyn as the voice of Grandma Dolarhyde). But what makes this film work is its intelligence, for which Harris and Tally get the credit. Will Graham is an intelligent man, an F.B.I. profiler who constantly shows throughout this story that he has a gift for saying the right thing, whether he is talking to Lecter, a room full of police officers, the head of a company, or the Red Dragon himself. Yes, he has been scarred psychologically as well as physically by his capture of Lecter, but it is not an incapacitating condition as was the case with Clarice Starling. In "Silence of the Lambs" the climax of the film involved a cinematic commonplace that has always enraged me, when a law enforcement officer has a gun drawn and aimed at a suspect who then manages to get away. I thought the climax of "The Red Dragon" involved an exhilarating series of intelligent, brilliant moves by the good guys. The other aspect of this story that makes it compelling is that the villain is a monster with a soul. The idea of a serial killer falling in love, struggling to thwart the demonic voices and try to stop his descent into hell is brilliant. The circle becomes complete when you notice that all of the main characters in this film are complex; granted, not as complex as the Red Dragon, but enough that the actors reading this script would be drawn to the parts. But the ability of the villain to be surprising is critical because usually in the final analysis it is the villain that makes the film. Again, this underscores the fact that Lecter is not the villain of the piece. But he was in "Hannibal," and look how well that film was received. Here we are back to the pivotal idea that even when this character is bound and gagged in a cell he is still capable of killing you. Ultimately Hannibal Lecter remains the problematic element in the film; more often that not his scenes are suggestive if not outright reminiscent of scenes from "Silence of the Lambs." One of the obvious questions that springs to mind is whether Hopkins's Lecter would have made as big of an impact if "Red Dragon" had indeed been the first of the reconstituted trilogy. Ultimately the answer has to be "no," but because this is clearly a prequel made fully cognizant of the film that comes after it. To appreciate how difficult this is to pull off look at other recent prequels such as "Gods and Generals" and either of the two Star Wars films. The argument here is not that "The Red Dragon" is a better film than "The Silence of the Lambs," but that it is a worthy successor to that classic film, even if it takes place first. Final Note: The commentary track with Ratner and Tally is well worth a second viewing of the film, more so in terms of tidbits about the production than analytical insights into the adaptation. The rest of the DVD extras are at least average, but the commentary is the big attraction here.
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