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Building a larger fan following with Anchor Bay’s DVD release in 2001,
Manhunter is the first film to feature the now infamous movie
villain Hannibal Lecter (or Hannibal Lecktor as it is spelled in this
film). Since then there have been various other releases from both
Anchor Bay and MGM, and now the film based on Thomas Harris’s novel Red
Dragon, that started it all, gets the hi-def treatment as part of The
Hannibal Lecter Collection from MGM/Fox.
Manhunter follows FBI agent Will Graham (William Petersen, CSI) who has
been plucked from retirement by former boss Jack Crawford (Dennis
Farina) to work on a current case involving a mass murderer. Graham is
the obvious choice on the case since he was the agent who captured
infamous serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox), known for his
fondness for indulging in human flesh. Graham’s ability to get inside
the mind of a killer allowed for Dr. Lecktor’s successful incarceration,
so if anyone has the ability to capture this killer (dubbed The Tooth
Fairy), it’s Agent Graham.
Manhunter exhibits a shining cast. William Petersen’s portrayal of FBI agent Will
Graham definitely gives off a Gil Grissom vibe -- his most prominent
character, from the popular television series CSI. Tom Noonan
gives an absolutely chilling performance as the tall brooding murderer,
The Tooth Fairy, and really steals the show. His interaction with a
blind woman and subsequent enragement is a performance highlight.
Anthony Hopkins is best known for his role of Hannibal the Cannibal, but
this introductory role was played by Brian Cox, who ultimately gives a
very different performance of Hannibal than the Hannibal viewers have
grown to know. Cox’s performance is much more subtle, and less chilling
since we never get to see him in his murderous element.
Director Michael Mann (Heat) has created an extremely stylish
crime drama/thriller and has a cinematic color pallet that echoes the
works of Dario Argento. It’s evident that color was vital to Mann when
directing the film. Everything, from the cinematography, right down to
the classic rock score works perfectly, lending to a unique movie
experience not present in many modern crime dramas today.
Manhunter is part of The Hannibal Lecter Collection released on Blu-Ray
from MGM/Fox. The film is presented 2.35:1 10:80p and is
a marked improvement over its DVD predecessors. The audio is presented
with English 5.1 DTS HD Master audio as well as Spanish 5.1 Dolby
Digital and French 5.1 Dolby Digital. While the audio and video are
good with this release the runtime poses a bit of a conundrum. This
release clocks in at 120-minutes while the previous DVD release from
Anchor Bay runs approximately 121:30-minutes. Then there is the problem
of not including the director’s cut of the film which runs 124-minutes.
Perhaps Anchor Bay still owns the rights to the director’s cut? It’s
strange to have the film run a minute and a half shorter. Of the
missing minute, nothing is noticeably missing from the film other than
the director’s cut footage. This release contains no extras. Who
smells a possible future Blu-Ray release?
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