Red Dragon (2 Discs) (UK)

6 / 10
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Before the silence
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 118 mins
Retail Price: £22.99
Release Date:

Synopsis:
In this prequel to `The Silence Of The Lambs`, Edward Norton stars as ex-FBI agent Will Graham, an expert investigator who quit the Bureau after almost losing his life in the process of capturing Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins).

Years later, after a series of particularly grisly murders, Graham reluctantly agrees to come out of retirement and assist in the case. But he soon realises that the best way to catch this killer, known as the Tooth Fairy, is to find a way to get inside the killer`s mind. And the closest thing to that would be to probe the mind of another killer who is equally brilliant and equally twisted. For Graham, that means confronting his past and facing his former nemesis, the now-incarcerated Lecter...

Special Features:
Audio commentary
Deleted scenes including alternative and extended scenes
Visual effects
Screen and film tests
`FBI Profile: Inside The Mind Of A Serial Killer` featurette
Director BGrett Ratner`s untitled student film
The Leeds house crime scene
`A Director`s Journey`: Brett Ratner`s video diary
Storyboard to final feature comparison
`The Burning Wheelchair` featurette
`Anthony Hopkins: Hannibal Lecter And Me`
Character make-up
DVD-Rom features

Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1

Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital 5.1 English

Directed By:
Brett Ratner

Written By:


Starring:
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Mary-Louise Parker
Emily Watson
Harvey Keitel
Ralph Fiennes
Edward Norton
Anthony Hopkins

Casting By:
Francine Maisler
Kathy Driscoll

Soundtrack By:
Danny Elfman

Music From:
Jack Newlon

Director of Photography:
Dante Spinotti

Editor:
Mark Helfrich

Production Designer:
Kristi Zea

Producer:
Martha Schumacher
Terry Needham
James M. Freitag
Dino De Laurentiis

Executive Producer:
Andrew Z. Davis

Distributor:
Universal Pictures

Your Opinions and Comments

5 / 10
Not a bad movie, but not as good as the original Manhunter or silence of the lambs
posted by soundzright on 23/5/2003 19:27
8 / 10
The best of all time, not as gory though but hten again it is more psychological then physical.

Dante`s Photography is the best, there are absolutly great shots in this movie

The audio had to be good since there was alot of talking in this movie, so it was essential.

Red Dragon is unique in its catargory and we should all hail brett ratner for making it
posted by alley on 1/7/2003 19:16
3 / 10
Movie- Before Clarice Starling, there is ex-FBI Will Graham. He comes out of retirement to be assigned to the "Tooth Fairy" case. In order to do so he must persuade Lecter to advise him. Lecter knows who this murderer is and only gives small pieces of information.

Video- Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Being a modern film, colours are at it`s best and sharpest. I can`t fault the transfer at all.

Sound- DD 5.1 and DTS is on offer. I`ll focus on DD 5.1 and let someone else review DTS(my player doesn`t recognise DTS). The mix is very atmospheric and does the job. Because this is a modern film, speakers will be widely used.

Extras- There is an array of extras. The 1st disc has two commentaries, one from the director Ratner and the other from the composer Danny Elfman. The latter feature isolated music and Elfman focuses on the music of Red Dragon.

The 2nd disc has "A Director`s Journey: The Making Of Red Dragon", it is fairly straightfoward(sometimes funny especially when Ratner thinks he`s filming Rush Hour 2!).

There are 8 featurettes, they are all straightfoward but short.

There are storyboard to final scene comparisons, all worth looking at.

7 deleted scenes(w/commentary),4 alternate scenes(w/commentary) and 3 extended scenes(w/commentary). They add some values and I can understand why the deleted scenes are deleted scenes. They are all presented in 2.35:1 letterbox.

Brett Ratner`s short film finish the packaging. It is presented in fullscreen and silent.

Overall- Marginally better than Hannibal, Red Dragon still doesn`t live up to Silence of the Lambs. For me, the story ends at Silence and that`s that. As Empire once said:

Quote:
Forget the sub-standard spin offs, Silence of the Lambs is Hannibal Lecter`s best bite at the screen
They are right.
posted by alias-rf2 on 2/6/2004 02:19