# Silence of the lambs, Red Dragon, Manhunter, Hannibal or Hannibal rising?



## crazymtf (Nov 29, 2010)

Which one did you like the best? I've only seen lambs but plan to watch the rest this week.


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## Castiel (Nov 29, 2010)

Lambs is head and shoulders above the rest.

Hannibal is really, really goofy.  I personally could not take it seriously in the least.

Rise of Hannibal was fucking awful, pretend it doesn't exist.

Red Dragon - I liked this one quite a bit, not great but it was decent.

Never seen Manhunter, so I have no opinion.  FYI, based on the same book as Red Dragon


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## masamune1 (Nov 29, 2010)

_Manhunter_ and _Lambs_ are both the best. _Lambs_ is probably superior but Brian Cox's Lektor is nothing to sneer at, and he gave a much more believable performance. His Hannibal was more down to earth and realistic that Hopkins' brilliant, but slightly pantomine version.

_Hannibal_ is good but after it leaves Florence it seems to lack a certain somethign. In Florence you are in Lecters' world and we learn a lot more about his personality and such just by the fact that that is the place he chose to run off to, after years in prison that was the place he wanted to make his home. After that you are really just waiting for the brain scene, though the actors (including Julliane Moore as Starling) all give great performances.

_Red Dragon_ is just a rehash of _Manhunter_, and while it's more faithful and does some things better (like the killer, Dolarhyde's, background and motivations) it does'nt have the edge or tension the first one did, and Lecter goes from underexposed to very much overexposed. Only caught the end of _Hanibal Rising_ but, while it did'nt look as bad as a lot of reviews made it out to be, it was still not very impressive. The scenery is the only thing really going for it, though the kid playing Hannibal I think suffered from bad direction more than bad performing.


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## MartialHorror (Nov 29, 2010)

Silence of the Lambs is the best. I never saw Manhunter but intend too one day.

Hannibal was fun if you look at it as a slasher. 

Red Dragon was kind of bland too me. It has its moments and is okay though. 

Hannibal Rising didn't work. I read the book and it makes a great transition between "misguided youth to serial killer"(when he realizes that killing is fun). But the movie doesnt establish this well enough and Hannibal never felt like Hannibal in the long run, try as they might. Sort of like how the Scorpion King felt completely different than the same character from the Mummy 2. 

It's not a bad movie. It just feels out of place.


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## CrazyMoronX (Nov 29, 2010)

I've only seen Lambs, Hannibal, and Red Dragon. I'm going to say that I agree with Martial the most here. Especially on Red Dragon. Decent, but bland.


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## Solon Solute (Nov 29, 2010)

Silence of the Lambs.

Easily.


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## Rukia (Nov 29, 2010)

I like Manhunter, I really do.  But if you are going to view it with these other films... it might not be for you.

Watch it a month later.  Separately.

I love Silence of the Lambs.  Julianne Moore replaced Jodie Foster in Hannibal... and that may ultimately be my biggest gripe about that movie.  Hannibal was still decent though.

I liked Red Dragon for one reason.  Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Norton and Voldemort were pretty good too.  It's a little bland, but I consider it a success anyways.

Hannibal Rising is awful.  Unwatchable.


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## Parallax (Nov 29, 2010)

Red Dragon is ok

Silence is the best

the rest I don't really care for.


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## Rated R Superstar (Nov 29, 2010)

Red Dragon was okay, nothing special, but I did get kinda spooked out when he bit that guys nose off.

Never saw Manhunter.

Hannibal was dull and boring, imo.

Silence of the Lambs is the best...but even _that _film is overated. But Anthony Hopkins did a Flawless job with his role. Just my opinion.


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## Niabingi (Nov 29, 2010)

Manhunter is easily my favourite. I think that Michael Mann did a great job with directing and also Brian Cox's Hannibal is much more realistic and as a result scarier than Anthony Hopkins over the top (and as someone else already said) pantomime like portrayal.

However, Manhunter is old and it looks it! I's very 80s and looks a whole lot like Miami Vice. If you can't get past that then it's probably not for you.


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## Deleted member 84471 (Nov 30, 2010)

I concur with Niabingi. Manhunter is my pick of the lot. Silence of the Lambs after that. 

I didn't even bother with the others, I was warned off them.


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## Castiel (Nov 30, 2010)




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## Narcissus (Nov 30, 2010)

The Silence of the Lambs is by far the best one, and one of my favorite movies. 

Hannibal was okay, but no where near as good. Red Dragon falls into the same category. Hannibal Rising was just bad, though I hear the book was actually good. I've only ever seen the ending of Manhunter.


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## HugeGuy (Nov 30, 2010)

Silence of the lamb was good but it was ok to me. Probably because I was very young back then. Need to rewatch.

I like Red Dragon a lot though. 

Hannibal Rising was like, eh didn't care much about it.

Never saw the entire Hannibal and never saw Manhunter.


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## Sine (Nov 30, 2010)




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## crazymtf (Nov 30, 2010)

So bout to watch em next few days. How about the books, all worth reading? Including Rising I guess?


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## masamune1 (Nov 30, 2010)

crazymtf said:


> So bout to watch em next few days. How about the books, all worth reading? Including Rising I guess?



I've read _Silence_ and (most of) _Red Dragon_, in that order simply because I got _Silence_ dea cheap first (I'd already seen the movies so nothing was spoiled). 

Hannibal is much more of a dick in both, utterly without the charisma of either of his actors; a self-absorbed narcissistic asshole (ie. more so than the films). Both books are a bit more bleak, pessimistic and depressing than the films, which is why _Dragon_ has been lying unfinished for about a month or so in the corner of my room. It has a much more oppressive atmosphere and all the main characters tend to be treated pretty badly (eg. Jack Crawford has his own story arc in the book, but not the film; it's about his wife dying), while all the killers are more unsettling.

But they are both excellent reads, and other than Hannibal (simply because he is just a different character from any of the films, _Manhunter_ excluded- maybe) everybody is better developed than their movie counterparts. You get more detail about Gumb and Dolarhyde and they both come across as much more freakish and inhuman than the movies get across, though much more tragic for it. Hannibal too, minus the tragedy part. 

Read a bit of _Hannibal_ but don't remember much, though again it's a different character since Hopkins changed him into a more romantic serial murderer, hence the change in backstory. 

So, yeah, first two both worth reading, if you don't mind the darker and meaner tone versus the films.


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