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Summary: One of the best thrillers ever made .......
Review: Despite what you may have heard and may read in other reviews further down... THIS WAS NOT A MADE FOR TV MOVIE! Trust me. I saw it at the Ford/Wyoming drive-in in 1986 in Dearborn Michigan. I was blown away by it then and am still blown away every time I see it. It is a masterwork. It is a far more cerebral movie the campy and silly horror type movie called The Silence of the Lambs. If you like John Wong movies this is probably too much for you. It should be viewed on its merits as a film.... Not a book. Books rarely make it to the screen in pure form. This is Mann at his best.... Also check out Thief, and To live and Die in LA.
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Summary: Suspenceful movie!! Very true to the Book!!
Review: Manhunter is a great adaption of Thomas Harris' book "Red Dragon". It is the first movie that introduces Hannibal, the Cannibal, Lecter. He is not played by Anthony Hopkins, but it is still a powerful role. William Peterson is great in this and I hope that MGM considers him for the same role when they release their version of "Red Dragon".It is an dark movie that really works you into the mind of a serial killer. It is very suspenceful and Michael Mann pulls off the suspence wonderfully. I strongly recommend this movie to all suspence fan.
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Summary: Good
Review: Very good movie.Exciting,colorful,striking-what have you.Follows Thomas Harris novel closely in some regards,but not as close as the much better oscar awarded sequel(if the wonderful 'The Silece of the Lambs' had been any closer to it's source novel it would have been a direct translation). The book(Red Dragon) is of course better:it takes you inside the twisted mind of Dollarhyde,and shows you what made him so darned murderous(could have been presented here in flashbacks,like Clarice's memories of her father in TSOTL).On the plus side,Brian Cox is excellent as Dr.Lecter(spelled Lecktor here),and for awile I came close to considering him THE definitive Monster.In the end though,I was just so much more afraid of Anthony Hopkins' Lecter;I can't imagine Cox's Lecter beating Sgt.Boyle to death with his own riot baton,and then slicing off Sgt.Pembry's face and wearing it-no qualms whatsoever.At least not under Mann's direction,but I digress... As I said,the movie is full of color,and much emotion.It makes TSOTL look somewhat clinical by comparison,but maybe that's just 'cause I've seen the latter so many times. The end is awesome,and the obvious inspiration for the(more creepy/suspenseful,less gut wrenching)'goggles and guns' showdown between Clarice and Buffalo Bill in the next movie. Check it out. (and to the guy who said SOTL ripped dialouge off of Manhunter,and that's why it was re-edited:I don't think so.Read the books.The Lecter/Clarice dialouge bears similarity to that between Lecktor/Graham ,because the author of the source novels is the SAME)
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Summary: GENTLEMAN FROM KRAKOW MAY BE RIGHT
Review: I don't know if it is THE best thriller, but it's easily Top Ten--up there with "Wait Until Dark" and "Marathon Man." And, sadly, it's one of the most underrated thrillers ever made. When I saw it in a theater in '86, some bozo a couple rows down stood up as the end credits rolled and said, "Dat was no movie, dat was a video." "Manhunter" director Michael Mann WAS "the guy who did 'Miami Vice'"--the show that was born (supposedly) when an NBC exec scribbled 2 words: "MTV-cops" Although Mann's visual style-- bold use of color and cutting--IS dazzling, it's much more than MTV "mind candy." Petersen gives an Oscar-quality performance, conveying the revulsion at being able to get into the killer's head --and being afraid that he, the hunter, is becoming the person he's trying to catch. The cable, syndicated tv, theatrical and video versions were all different, and I'm first in line to buy the definitive cut in February 2001. I forgot to mention that Brian Cox is an even creepier Lechter than Hopkins...he's a real, human monster.
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Summary: the great movie about a serial killer on the loose!
Review: This is the best outing by Michael Mann and what a performance by Petersen! Great acting!
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Summary: Quite possibly the best thriller ever made.
Review: If there is ever going to be a poll on the best thriller ever written and the best movie thriller ever created, then Thomas Harris's "Red Dragon" is a sure winner in the book category. As for the movie category, Michael Mann's "Manhunter", the adaptation of the novel, would quite possibly take the grand prize. Both the book and the movie are far superior to the overfamed "Silence of the Lambs". Mann, a long-time specialist in creating atmospheric pictures, managed to make a true classic, and his skill of using the right music to magnify the ambience shows best in this film.
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Summary: Taken on Its Own Merits
Review: Taken on its own merits, this is a pretty good movie. Michael Mann's direction is great, and his use of lighting and textures is impressive, and Brian Cox is in many ways far creepier than Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lechter. And the climactic sequence, set to "Inna Gadda Davida," is sheer perfection in and of itself. My only complaint is with William Peterson, as FBI Agent Will Graham. Nothing personal, but Peterson couldn't act his way INTO a wet paper bag. A wooden cigar-store Indian would have been more convincing in the role. Nonetheless, a very good film and well worth seeing. It makes "Silence of the Lambs" make a lot more sense, and it is not a bad way to kill an evening.
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Summary: The best Thriller ever!
Review: For once i am in agreement with other reviewers... This adaptation of the book Red Dragon is a great deal closer to the mark to the work of harris then SOTL was. I liked the book alot better then SOTL and so too do I like the movie better. the acting was magnificant, the story line didnt stray to far from the book. over all a must. I own it for vhs, and AS soon as the DVD comes out I will own that too. if you like thrillers you wont be let down.
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Summary: The two releases of Manhaunter explained and more!
Review: I first came across Michael Mann's version of Thomas Harris' "Red Dragon" in the fall of 1987. I was mesmerized from the first scene of the movie as the "Tooth Fairy" Francis Dollarhide began his ascent up Charles and Nancy Leeds staircase and it did not let me loose for 3 years. I became obsess with finding as much information about this film, the Author, the music. There is only one other movie of this genre that has had the same affect on me and that was the David Fincher masterpiece "Seven". I realized what they both had in common was that neither film showed any of the murders. They forced the viewer, through the forensic evidence & it's detectives, to reconstruct these horrific crimes in their own mind...boy does it work! I spent months with the images of the Jacobys and the Leeds and how they were killed and same as Will Graham suffered for a resolution. I than finally, by accident, came across a copy of "Red Dragon" and read the book cover to cover in three days. I could not put it down! It helped somewhat in filling in the holes left by the movie. Than in 1988 the cable movie channel "ShowTime" began a series called "Director's Cut's" and one of the first movies was Michael Mann's "Mannhunter". They opened with a 10-minute conversation with Mann and ended with a brief discussion. The movie itself ran 2:07 long and included 8 minutes of added footage removed from the theatrical and video release. This extra footage included a conversation with a real estate agent, inside the Jacoby's house. Another scene was with Ton Noonan and Joan Allen on the evening of their first date after they visited the tiger. The most important scene added was at the end, with the third chosen family and was a very very powerful scene and displayed the emotions of Will Graham brilliantly. As far as a comparison between Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs I favor Manhunter, but that is not to say that Manhuter didn't suffer from what sererval Michael Mann project do...Substance. In his earlier work, Thief, The Keep, Miami Vice, Mann constructs amazing sights and sounds at a break-neck pace. At the end of all of these works the viewer needs to catch their breath and check their pulse. It was why the removed ending, with the third chosen family, would have lent itself to the substance of the film. My only copy of this particular version Manhunter is on VHS and was taped on a 6-hour speed. My hope is that the DVD version of this film, release date 10-10-00, includes these scenes and is remastered in 5.1 and/or DTS. A director commentary track would be nice also. We'll see when 10-10-00 comes round. If these things occur I give this film a 9.5 out of a possible 10 and strongly recommend it to any one who is/was a fan of these Thomas Harris novels/films. By the way the third installment "Hannibal", being directed by Riddley Scott, is also a great read, and I can't wait for the movie! Mason Verger, referenced in Manhunter as one of two Lector victims still living, is being played by Gary Oldman.
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Summary: Disappointing compared to the book
Review: I loved the book (Red Dragon) but was pretty disappointed by the movie. I never really got the "creeps" from the movie that I got from the book. What didn't I like? I thought Tom Noonan as Dollarhyde was pretty weak. He seemed too skinny and creepy/goofy looking to match the character. The book's ending is a great twist, but would probably not work in a movie. (In fact, when I first watched the movie, I even wondered ahead of time how they'd do the ending). The movie didn't develop Dollarhyde very well or give us any insight into what makes him tick. What did I like? The Miami Vice look and feel, especially these days. Lector's scenes. The ending with Dollarhyde (the music and the shooting scene). Definately worth viewing, but if you're a "reader", check out the book.
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