Red Dragon
May 2003 Reviewed by: Wes Phillips Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs proved so enormously popular that Hollywood (and the book’s author Thomas Harris himself, for that matter) couldn't possibly leave the character alone. Hence we got the atrociously bad Hannibal and later, a second treatment of the character's first literary appearance, Red Dragon.

I say second treatment because Michael Mann's 1986 Manhunter was also an adaptation of the book. Manhunter is an excellent film, filled with Mann's stylized color and cutting. Both movies were filmed by Dante Spinotti, but he brings an entirely different look to Red Dragon, although it is just as darkly effective as the earlier version. Manhunter was released five years before The Silence of the Lambs, and it suffers, at least according to current Tinseltown thinking, from a fatal flaw. To viewers who started paying attention with The Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Hopkins is Hannibal Lecter, thus, Red Dragon had to be made to have an "official" Hannibal Lecter trilogy.

I admire Manhunter. Like all Michael Mann films, it is taut and beautiful, and is told with real economy. It also features great performances from William L. Petersen, Brian Cox, and Tom Noonan. Surprisingly, on its own terms, Red Dragon proves to be very good, too. It does not dwarf its predecessor, but neither does it wilt in its shadow.

Director Brett Ratner is best known for the Rush Hour films, but we have all worked beneath our true potential, so let’s not hold that against him. Here, he turns in a stylish film, one that proves surprisingly witty in its own droll way. He downplays the Grand Guignol nature of the material, opting instead for a thoughtful sense of pervasive unease -- for many of the characters as well as the audience.

The biggest area where Manhunter trumps Red Dragon is in its casting. As good as Ed Norton is (and I think he's very good), he seems a tad callow for profiler Will Graham. William L. Petersen better captured the weariness and moral ambiguity of a character who empathized with the pathologically unhinged. However, Red Dragon does boast Fiennes, who portrays the deranged "Tooth Fairy" with (gasp!) sympathy and sensitivity. And, of course, there is the franchise performance of Hopkins as Lecter.

Spinotti's cinematography is dark, somber, and chilling, with the exception of Lecter himself. Hopkins seems lit from within and absolutely glows with burnished warmth in scene after scene. It is an effective conceit as it keeps us focused on him -- not that anyone is likely to turn away when Anthony Hopkins is on stage. The sound is subtle, with superb use of the surround channels to establish mood and space.

The disc is packed with extras (actually, there's a separate second disc filled with 'em), none of which seems to add much to the feature itself. I could have gladly survived without dipping into any of them, though many fans will no doubt find them invaluable.

It took guts for this crew to tackle a feature that recapitulates such a highly regarded film as Manhunter, but they pulled it off. Red Dragon is very nicely done and a credit to everyone involved -- and the DVD is a clear winner, too.

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