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Hannibal Lecter’s initial cinematic appearance was in Michael Mann’s
1986 film Manhunter based on Thomas Harris’s novel Red Dragon.
Silence of the Lambs however, was the film to turn Hannibal
Lecter into a cannibal killer movie villain icon and made Anthony
Hopkins one of the creepiest actors in movie history. Ranking number 24
on IMDb’s Top 250, Silence of the Lambs now gets the hi-def
treatment as part of The Hannibal Lecter Collection from MGM.
Head Agent, Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) elects promising FBI trainee
Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) to interview psychiatrist turned
cannibalistic murderer Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). His hopes
are that Lecter will inevitably assist in their current perplexing case
of chunky women turning up dead at the hands of the latest serial
killer, labeled Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). Now Starling must get
inside the mind of a madman -- much like former agent Will Graham (Manhunter,
Red Dragon) -- following the clues, in order prevent Buffalo Bill
from producing another murder victim.
Manhunter
briefly touched on Hannibal the Cannibal’s potential for being a
brilliant movie villain, by merely talking about his actions. Silence of the Lambs shows us why he’s a brilliant villain with
Lecter’s cunning, intelligence and viciousness. Anthony Hopkins, along
with writer Thomas Harris, rockets the character to the forefront of
movie villain greatness. Simply looking at Hopkins’ eyes, we are
looking at the eyes of violent murderer Hannibal Lecter. Hopkins
encompasses the role completely, and unfortunately for Brian Cox,
obliterates his performance of Lecter (Lecktor) in Manhunter
completely. If you’re still unsure as to Lecter’s brutal merits and his
cultural status, then watch aghast at the suspense building scene when
Lecter bites a piece of a guard’s face off when the unsuspecting guard
brings him a meal. It’s vicious stuff.
Jody Foster’s chemistry with Anthony Hopkins is arresting, in a
non-relationship sort of way. Their rapport is sprinkled with sexual
tension, partly due to the power Lecter evokes, and also by his discreet
affinity for Starling. It goes without saying that they work incredibly
well onscreen together, and it would be difficult to imagine their
portrayal by any other actors. This makes the film’s sequel,
Hannibal, harder to stomach with Julianne Moore reprising the role
of Clarice Starling (although she does an adequate job).
Hannibal Lecter is the obvious highlight of the film, but psycho killer
Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb accomplished by Ted Levine is also a paramount
performance. The cross dressing serial killer is twisted and
exquisitely deranged and leaves a mark with this character with some of
the most repeated quotes of that decade. Quotes like “It rubs the
lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.” and “Now it
places the lotion in the basket.”
Silence of the Lambs is a classic thriller at its finest, and if you haven’t seen this film
by now, then you’re a lost cause. What more of a reason do you need to
check this out than seeing cum flung at Jody Foster in high definition!
Silence of the Lambs is part of The Hannibal Lecter Collection released on Blu-Ray
from MGM/Fox. The film is presented 1.85:1 10:80p with a good transfer
with film grain mainly occurring during the dark Buffalo Bill dungeon
sequences. The audio is presented with English 5.1 DTS HD Master audio
as well as Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Thai
2.0 Dolby Digital. This Blu-Ray release contains a bunch of
supplemental features. There are six documentaries in total. ‘Breaking
the Silence’ contains interviews that pop-up throughout the film. It’s
a sort of visual commentary. ‘Understanding the Madness’ is an
interesting 20-minute featurette that takes a look into the Behavioral
Science Unit of the FBI. ‘Inside the Labyrinth: Making of the
Silence of the Lambs’ is a great 66-minute making of documentary
with cast and crew interviews that were shot 10-years after the film
originally came out. ‘The Silence of the Lambs: Page to Screen’,
is another excellent featurette hosted by actor Peter Gallagher which
takes a look at the novel turned to film and the popularity both have
garnered. It also has interviews with cast, crew and FBI agents who
talk about the connection to the book and real life serial killers.
‘Scoring the Silence of the Lambs’ takes a 16-minute look into
how Howard Shore went about scoring the movie. This section of features
climaxes with the brief ‘Original 1991 “Making of” Featurette’ which
clocks in at 8-minutes. This release also contains 20-minutes of
‘Deleted Scenes’, a 2-minute ‘Outtakes Reel’, ‘Anthony Hopkins Phone
Messages’, eleven ‘TV Spots’ and a teaser and theatrical trailer.
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