Rating: 
Summary: One of the best Book-Movie adaptations EVER!
Review: One of the best movies, book-movie adaptations I have ever seen. I hadn't read Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon before seeing Manhunter, but the film inspired me to. The book was magnificent and looking back the film had captured all of the suspense leaving nothing out. The soundtrack is great too, but unfortunately only available on cassette.
Rating:
Summary: An intriguingly suspenseful masterwork
Review: Nobody directs a film quite like Michael Mann. His tone and mood mesmerize the viewer. With "Manhunter", pacing is absolutely key to the plot. The story methodically unfolds before our eyes and it is hard, if not impossible, to look away. One cannot help but be drawn in by the sensational visuals and heartpounding score. Cast is in top form here and seems particuarly adept at handling the tricky subject matter. While "The Silence of The Lambs" is a technically flawless piece of cinema, "Manhunter", though not perfect, proves that watching a movie can be like living a dream.
Rating: 
Summary: SILENCE OF THE LAMBS part 1
Review: THOMAS HARRIS is one of my favorite authors and this film was the first debute of Hannibal the Cannibal. Though I prefer ANTHONY HOPKINS, the rest of the movie is great...captured heart of THE RED DRAGON
Rating:
Summary: Chilling, fascinating, stylish, suspenseful!
Review: Michael Mann's movies aren't quite like anyone else's. Even if it weren't so well-acted (and cast!) and suspensefully directed, it would be worth seeing for its amazing style. The cinematography (by Dante Spinotti) is full of powerful, colorful compositions, and production designer Mel Bourne turns Atlanta's ultra-modern High Museum of Art into a mental asylum! A bit of the dialogue is stiff, but I still think it's a great movie.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent thriller; edge of your seat
Review: This is one of my top ten movies of all time. The whole "Crime Story" cast is superb and Brian Cox is a much better Lector than Anthony Hopkins. Instead of Sir Anthony overplaying everything with his pitchfork and tail, Cox UNERPLAYED him, presenting a subtle yet diabolical performance. I have seen this film about twenty fivve times and (cliche as this sounds) I see something new every time!
Rating:
Summary: I'm surprised this movie isn't famous
Review: This is a great, suspenseful, chilling thriller, with great performances from all the actors. It's sort of a prequel to "Silence of the Lambs", with a different, but equally good actor (Brian Cox) playing Hanibal Lector. On a side note, it also gets my vote for the best job of converting a book into a movie. I actually think the movie is BETTER than the book, which shocks even me! END
Rating:
Summary: Dream Much, Will?
Review: Don't miss this original, the first of the Hannibal Lechtor series. The score, the filmography, (Lighting), is still so vividly used in the best of today's suspence/thrill sequences.
Will Graham, (William Peterson), is the "Manhunter" hunting down "Frances Dolarhyde", and also the man responsible for imprisoning Dr Lechtor, at great phsycial, and emotional harm to himself.
Don't be fooled by Dino's latest grab at a buck, the rediculous "Red Dragon". (Which is odd, since Dino owns "Manhunter" as well..)
So, Red Dragon is only a remake of this great film.
It's ultimately embaressing to watch Lechtor and Chilton's charachter's re-acted, only "made up" to look 20 some years younger! (Red Dragon).
This is the Real McCoy, and Brian Cox, IMHO, should have stayed Hannibal Lechtor.
If you want another good performance by Anthony Hopkins, see "Meet Joe Black".
BTW, as far as I can tell, Barney's character, (Frankie Faison), is the only actor to play in all "Four movies of the Trilogy"..
If you want the original psychological thriller in this series, you found it..Pete
Rating:
Summary: SEE THIS BEFORE "RED DRAGON" IS RELEASED!
Review: See this movie before "Red Dragon" is realeased in October, 2002. Many say that "Manhunter" is better than "Silence of the Lambs". It is not fair to compare the two films. Both are classics. But what makes "Manhunter" extremely compelling is the thrill-by-thrill crime-solving phases of the film. The DVD version is awesome. The THX sound goes right to your soul. The storyline follows a Hitchcock pattern...and the music is nostalgic and riveting. Five stars...nothing less. The performance by Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecter is spine-tingling. You wish he had more screen time when the flick is over. The psychotic killer, portrayed by Tom Noonan, is worth all 6-foot-7 of him. The manhunter, played by William Petersen, is brilliant and convinceable. I shy from giving away plots, but potential viewers need to know that this film was the prelude to Silence of the Lambs. The manhunter in this film is the FBI agent that caught Hannibal Lecter...now he desperately needs him to solve a haunting crime that has possessed his life...his psychie. This movie is based on the book "Red Dragon", which is the basis of the film coming out in October, 2002. It will be a remake of this 1986 classic (16 years later). If you loved "Silence of the Lambs", you can't miss "Manhunter". And for those of you who grew up in the Sixties, if you watch this flick, you'll never listen to the classic psychedelic rock song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" with the same set of ears or senses. The tune, recorded by Iron Butterfly, is the highlight of the closing sequence. Fasten your seat belts, grab your main squeeze, turn off the lights............ENJOY!
Rating: 
Summary: Better than 'Silence'? Hardly.
Review: Somehow, inexplicably, one of the professional reviews of "Manhunter" actually writes that in some ways, this movie was better than "Silence of the Lambs." Let me offer a profound dissent. Rather than creating a sleek, suspenseful thriller like Jonathan Demme would later do with "Silence," Michael Mann's gloppy, dark direction reminds me of some of his least interesting episodes of "Miami Vice." Brian Cox, though a talented actor in his own right, can't possibly compare with Sir Anthony as Hannibal Lecter. I'll admit, having seen "Silence" first, I had a preconceived notion of what Lecter should look, sound and act like, but trying to stay as objective as possible, I can't think of one relative strength of Cox's performance. What made "Silence of the Lambs" such a great movie? Great direction, great acting (Hopkins, Foster, Glenn), and also great writing. "Manhunter" (based on Thomas Harris' "Red Dragon") falls short of "Silence" on all these measures, even though the plot bears much resemblance to Harris' later novel. It's simply not as compelling a movie. If you're interested in a different perspective on Hannibal, you might enjoy the film. Just temper your expectations -- it is OK, but can't compare to the movie that swept all of the main Oscar categories when it came out.
Rating:
Summary: Manhunter
Review: This movie is about a million times better than the recent remake "Red Dragon." The real conflict of the film is Will's (William Petersen)tenuous grasp on his sanity as he tracks a killer who is about to strike while dealing with a killer who he has already caught. While Brian Cox's Lecktor will draw comparisons to Anthony Hopkin's version in subsequent movies, Cox plays the psychopath as a real threat -- a murderer who will kill. Hopkins is brilliant as well, but I always felt that his Lector was like an animal who would strike only of thouroughly provoked. We see Cox and Petersen as equals on different sides of the fence, with little separating them other than Petersen's Graham's knowledge of right and wrong. This thriller is one of the best.
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