Rating: 
Summary: The Sort of Thing Youll Like if You Like This Sort of Thing
Review: The Hannibal lecter corpus is a strange beast - we now have in total 4 films, including two versions of the first book, RED DRAGON, one of which (this one) was made AFTER the film of the second book. I pretty much liked this version even though I was a fan of MANHUNTER (the first filmed version of RED DRAGON). For readers of the book, there may be some disappointment at the playing down of the childhood abuse that leads the killer character to form his twisted psyche; on the other hand I liked the scenes here where he goes to the museum to consume the power of Blake's Red Dragon by literally eating the painting. An enjoyable version of the story, possibly best watched as No. 1 in the chronological sequence, followed up by SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and HANNIBAL to complete the trilogy. That way you could get the full story development as Thomas Harris, author of the books intended.
Rating: 
Summary: Comparisions....
Review: I know that I probably shouldn't compare Red Dragon and Manhunter, but I couldn't help it. Both films are so similiar that it was inevitable I'd favor one over the other. The one I favored was Manhunter. Let me explain why in this little comparision thing below: Better Casting: I thought William Peterson blew Edward Norton away. Edward Norton was, simply put, atrocious in this movie. Terrible. Awful. Nothing good about it. I haven't seen any of his other movies, but I can't see how he could do good, considering he is so simply terrible in this movie. Philip Seymour Hoffman also gave a very, very bad performance as Freddy Lounds. Stephan Lang as the character was full of energy and oozed with sliminess. Hoffman sleep-walks through the movie. The scene in Dollorhyde's house is particularly funny in a really bad way, thanks to his performance. Speaking of which, Ralph Feinnes did an EXCELLENT job as Dollarhyde. The aformentioned scene could have been great and powerful, but Hoffman ruined it all. Emily Watson is also fantastic as Reba. Feinnes and Watson both outshine Tom Noonan and Joan Allen's performances, the only actors in this movie to do so. They have amazing charisma and chemistry and Feinnes owns the movie. The rest of the cast does quite poorly. They reak of being chosen not because they do a good job, but because they are famous and make the movie's poster look better. Harvey Keitel and Mary-Louise Parker both manage to be completely wooden. Anthony Hopkins over-acts badly, which is sad after his excellent performances in Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, but it's better than acting like a lump of cardboard. Directing: Virtually non-existant here. The camera moves several times, but nothing in the movie is memorbable visually, except for a few shots stolen from Silence of the Lambs. Manhunter was filled to the brim with style and was beautiful to look at. This movie is drab and dull looking, especially coming after the visual feast that was Hannibal. Oh, well, what do you expect from an incompetant director like Brett Ratner? Writing: The sad thing is that the writing of this film is good. Excellent, in fact. But the directing and "acting" takes it all away. manhunter also had fabulous writing, which was done justice by the fabulous directing and acting of that movie. Music: While the music itself is fairly good, it is placed in completely the wrong movie. Elfman should have saved this for Batman 5. The 80's themes came across much better in Manhunter. Overall: I enjoy this movie a bit, but it is really pretty lousy when put against not only Manhunter, but also Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. Those all had substance. Red dragon has a terrible cast, horrid, non-existant "directing," out-of-place music. All in all, while peices of this are doing more faith to the book, the movie didn't need to get made. Sorry, but i consider the Hannibal Lecter Trilogy to be Manhunter, The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. This movie comes off more as a poor TV film. Use your money on Manhunter. PS All my friends love this movie and dislike Manhunter. I tell them that even though it's their opinion, they're completely wrong and stupid. With the exception of the relationship between Dolparhyde and Reba, everything in Manhunter is done better. I am one of the biggest Hannibal Lecter fans ever. I've read all the books and seen all the movies, and I can say this is by far the weakest entry.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, But Hannibal's Weakest Movie.
Review: Red Dragon is an adaption of the book Red Dragon and a re-telling of the film Manhunter, which introduced the world to Hannibal Lecter. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this film nearly as much an Manhunter. Before I start complaining about the movie's flaws, I will say that there are two things in this movie that are much better than Manhunter. Those two things are Emily Watson and Ralph Feinnes. Like the book, their relationship is much more developed, interesting and fascinating than in Manhunter. I would recommend seeing the movie just for their scenes together. However, most of the rest of the movie, while good, didn't even come cloe to Manhunter. Manhunter had visual flair and awesome cinematography. Red Dragon is drab and has very "point-and-shoot" direction. Edward Norton, as much as I tried to like him, was horrible in this movie. I have no idea what idiot thought he would be good for the movie, but he's really quite awful. William Peterson in Manhunter played the role like it was supposed to be played. Graham is supposed to be a traumatized, hard-edged man who is on the verge of insanity. Norton plays him just like some cop, and he dos this annoying grimace thing throughout most of the movie. The other actors do well, but, with the exception of Emily Watson and alph Feinnes, everybody in Manhunter did a superior job. Hannibal Lecter is given more screen time than Manhunter or the book. While Anthony Hopkins did a stunning job as Lecter in Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, he pales here because Brian Cox did a better job in Manhunter. Also, I couldn't get into the story because it was basically a remake of Manhunter, so there were few surprises. Dialouge was a lot of times the exact same as Manhunter, but not acted out as well. Philip Seymour Hoffman should have gotten a Razzie for the movie. He sleep-walked through the whole movie, while Stephen Lang played him with lots of energy in Manhunter. It was sad to see Stephen Lang (spoiler) bite it in Manhunter, but I was happy to see Philip Seymour Hoffman get brutally killed in here. (end spoiler) I also got the feeling in the commentary that the director didn't even watch Manhunter, because practically every time the camera moved he was like, "I love this shot." I wouldn't even espect him to say that if he had seen the supremely beautiful lighting and brilliant style of Manhunter. Perhaps I could have enjoyed this movie if I hadn't seen Manhunter, but since I watched and admired the pure brilliance of that film, I couldn't really get into it. Let's hope this is the last we see of Dr. Lecter.
Rating:
Summary: **** 4.2 / 5 [A-]
Review: Previously produced in 1986 as MANHUNTER (by "Miami Vice" producer Michael Mann), RED DRAGON is the adaption of Thomas Harris' best-selling novel and the latest installment in the Hannibal Lecter series. Chronologically the first in the Hannibal series, Edward Norton plays retired FBI agent Will Graham, who is taken out of retirement by FBI Special Agent Jack Crawford (Keitel, taking over from Scott Glenn), because Graham has the psychic ability to see inside the mind of serial killers. Now he's tracking the elusive "Tooth Fairy" (Ralph Fiennes), but Graham knows there is only one way he can get on the right track after all these years of retirement. Now he must travel to the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and visit insane genius Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), whom Graham put away years ago. This is a high improvement over Michael Mann's cult classic MANHUNTER, returning the Hannibal Lecter series to it's original form. Brett Ratner, director of RUSH HOUR, pulls off his job considerably well. Ted Tally returns to write the film, and does a good job. Danny Elfman scores, and his score is excellent. And, of course, while the cast is all terrific, Hopkins is the stand-out...although Norton (this was his first film that I'd seen) left a good first impression on me. RED DRAGON is also lighter than the previous Hannibal films, particularly THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Thomas Harris fans will be pleased with the outcome of this film, and well they should be. It is a terrific film, top-notch entertainment and the second greatest out of all the Hannibal films.
Rating:
Summary: Bringing Back the Doctor One Last Time
Review: Starring Edward Norton, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony Heald, Ken Leung, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. **possible spoilers** The films starts with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who is visited by FBI Agent Will Graham at his office. The moment that Graham finds something in one of Dr. Lecter's cook books, Lecter attacks Will. Graham grabs his handgun and shoots Lecter two times in the chest. Hannibal is captured by the police. Several years later, a psychopathic killer who calls himself the "Tooth Fairy/Red Dragon", has murdered two families in Atlanta and Birmingham. FBI Chief Jack Crawford asks Will if he would come from retirement and help solve the case. As Graham helps with the investigation, he must find information from Dr. Hannibal Lecter. If Will Graham enters the mind of a psychopathic killer again, will he ever be able to escape. As Graham searches for "the Dragon", he must also protect his family from the "Tooth Fairy" and himself from the insanity of Dr. Lecter. I thought that this remake of the extremly underrated Manhunter was surprisingly good. It wasn't better than The Silence of the Lambs or Manhunter, but was better than Hannibal. Edward Norton wasn't as good as William Petersen, but Anthony Hopkins delivers another good performance, as Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson do. This will problably be the last movie in the Hannibal Lecter Series. Not trilogy because of Manhunter. I include Manhunter because I thought that Manhunter was good enough to be in the series. Hannibal Lecter is problably the most memorable villian, along with Norman Bates and Michael Myers for Halloween, in Motion Picture History. This movie told a whole lot more about Francis Dolarhyde. It tells about his past and how his grandmother used to abuse him. It also showed how Will Graham caught Dr. Lecter. In Manhunter, Dr. "Lecktor" said "Do you remember how you caught me Will?" without the audience even knowing. I think that they improved that part in Red Dragon. I was surprised to hear that the director of Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2, directed Red Dragon, but other than that, I think that this movie is one of the best Thrillers of 2002.
Rating:
Summary: Critics Hated, I liked!
Review: Red Dragon received plenty of beef from the critics, but I enjoyed it immensely. Since it made less than a hundred million in the box office, I suspect it will sadly be the last in the series. Edward Norton is terrific in this movie. Even though Anthony Hopkins has a small role in this film, he is still very scary and believable as Hannibal the Cannibal! Great movie!
Rating: 
Summary: RED DRAGON is Fiennes Movie!!!
Review: RED DRAGON is a great movie one step below SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and many steps above HANNIBAL. Anyone who has read the Thomas Harris novel of the same name should agree with me that this remake/prequal is better than Manhunter. Although I LOVE the song Inna- gadda- da- vida, Manhunter's HIGHLY mainstream ending is dull compared to the chilling one in RED DRAGON which shows the evil that the investigation has brought upon the family.
One scene that is much better in Manhunter is Francis watching/imagining his co-worker kissing Reba. The mix of the actions and the song "Strong as I am" work seamlessly You can feel this monster's pain. Basically saying, the selected songs for Manhunter are better than in Red Dragon, which is replaced by a rich, chilling score by Danny Elfman( Batman ).
The story works because of the connection between the characters. For example, how different is Will Graham, who relentlessly hunts serial killers, than Francis Dolarhyde who hunts families for victims. In the end, both of them are hunters and killers, so where do you draw the line? Hannibal plays as a good foil to Will. Hannibal is a serial killer trapped in a world of guards and mentals while Will lives in society tormented by killers like Hannibal on the outside! As Hannibal tells Will is the end, the killers that he caught/killed will always be with him in dreams( or nightmares )!
Anthony Hopkins is always witty and creepy to the extreme as Hannibal. I am tired of everyone saying that Graham is a miscast! Admitting that William Peterson was better at Graham, Norton still does a good job here! His "weasel" way makes his character more like his Dragon advasary. The best this film has tooth offer is by far RALPH FIENNES AS THE RED DRAGON, he simply excels! His infamous character was tormented as a child, he never had a family who loved him, only a twisted grandmother! Growing up, he became facinated with the William Blake painting called THE GREAT RED DRAGON AND THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN( something from REVALATIONS ). Before you know it he is killing entire families, placing mirrors in their eyes as apart of his twisted fantasy of finally being accepted! In the film's most famous scene, he exhibitions his grand Dragon tatoo. Later on he finally meets a woman who does not judge him... she is blind! She comes as a sort of redemption to his human side, he realizes that he was killing those families blindly without even knowing them but nothing can stop his alter ego.
And yet the DVD has a ridiculas emphasis on Hannibal! Read the book for goodness sake, he was hardly in it! These Hannibal extras should be relocated to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS or HANNIBAL DVDs. Hannibal is strickly sidekick villian in this one, this one belongs to the dragon! Francis Dalarhyde/Tooth Fairy(don't call him that!)/Red Dragon should have been on the front cover, not Hannibal. How about INSIDE THE MIND OF FRANCIS DOLARHYDE, instead. That intro to the DVD menu is awesome though, and the commentary track is informative and very humorous! The making of was also very good.
Remember,"I am the DRAGON!"
Rating:
Summary: Lecter for non-readers: who worships movie creeps?
Review: The less said about the book, largely irrelevant here, the better: this is a movie for lovers of 'movie magic', that quality slathered onto every feeble, retreaded storyline that professional screenwriters can cobble together for big budget moviemakers. It surely isn't a film for readers,or people who pay close attention to plot, character, or dialogue. Hannibal Lecter's admirers are tossed a few more bones than the former version, a well-crafted but limited effort, gave them to gnaw on. Tally and Ratner should have spared themselves the trouble, because the movie's edgy qualities are its worst ones. The actors are all known for better work in better movies, and it is tempting to give them extra credit here for their earlier work, but it is unfortunately impossible to do so. Especially somnolent is Edward Norton, who brings little to the role of the psychologically complex investigator, Will (Thomas Harris took English -lo!- many years ago.) Ralph Fiennes is better looking than Tom Noonan, but that doesn't really work in his, or the movie's, favor in this version. By this standard, Stacy Keach should be pounding the walls in a bughouse, instead of continuing his career as an actor. Hoffman appears in a small role, but once you've seen one flaming corpse scoot by in a wheelchair, you return to the spectacle a bit jaded. The most sympathy, aside from the similarly beset Fiennes, goes to Emily Watson, who is given some of the most uproarious dialogue I have heard in some time. After Watson/Fiennes' big love scene at the end, I gave in helplessly to the impulse to laugh out loud, cracking up the apparently relieved house at the cinema where I went to see it. After that, the laughter recurred at each preposterous line. (It had been hard to suppress the urge up to that point, but I tried to remain considerate.) Maybe the director thought the script was pushing the envelope by being purposely hokey. But, sorry, the yucks were more derisive than meta-entertained, and I dare the admirers of this version to sit through it pokerfaced on a return trip. As Oscar Wilde once said, it would take a heart of stone. Maybe the idea was to continue in the comic, and increasingly silly, direction of Hannibal, which was also an awful book. Please, let it be the last, although I have heard some frightening rumors of more to come, untouched by an editor, as author Harris specifies. If this isn't an exploitation film, what is? I would happily watch Manhunter again, or Silence of the Lambs, but the franchise is now clearly in decline. Genre lovers will feast away on this stuff until the long-awaited Albert Fish biopic emerges.
Rating:
Summary: Overall, A fairly decent movie.
Review: The movie actually holds exactly to the book unlike its predecessor, Manhunter, which was filmed in the mid-80's.
Out of the trilogy of movies, I would rank Red Dragon a 7.5 compared to Silence's 10 and Hannibals 5.5. Hannibal is not
the villian here in this movie, but has a somewhat important part helping the lead character. One other note, "Red Dragon" is also not as grotesque as "Hannibal", which some found over the top. Edward Norton and Ralph Fiennes do a superb job with their characters roles as does Anthony Hopkins, who has a small amount of screen time. Highly Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good
Review: There are a few different ways you can look at Red Dragon. You can look at it as a prequel to Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, or you can look at it as a remake of Manhunter. Either way though, the potential for disaster was huge going into making Red Dragon after the dreadful Hannibal was released in 2001, but all's well that ends well here. Anthony Hopkins returns as Hannibal Lecter, though he is in more of a supporting role here. Ed Norton stars as Will Graham, an FBI profiler brought back to use his unique talents to track down a brutal serial killer known as the Tooth Fairy (a tattooed and frequently naked Ralph Fiennes). Being a fan of Manhunter, I was leary when hearing that it would be re-made as Red Dragon (but not surprised considering all the money Hannibal banked), and was even more leary when I had heard that Brett Ratner was directing, but now I'm pretty much eating my words here because Red Dragon turned out to be much much better than I had expected. The only real flaw with Red Dragon are the scenes between Hopkins and Norton. In Silence of the Lambs, the interplay between Hopkins and Jodie Foster was what made that film as good as it was, but it doesn't work between Hopkins and Norton for one simple reason: Hannibal isn't scary anymore. In Silence of the Lambs, Lecter was a truly scary character that could make your skin crawl just by hearing him talk, but after Hannibal was released, he's just become a Hollywood circus side-show attraction that makes creepy sounding pronounciations. But besides all that, Red Dragon is an above average thriller that delivers the goods, and Ralph Fiennes' performance as the Tooth Fairy is reason enough to see the film. This Director's Edition DVD contains an extra disc of features that is exclusive to this edition. While a few of them are worth watching (Brett Ratner's student film is of interest), this overpriced edition isn't worth owning if you already have another edition of the film.
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