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Manhunter [VHS] [1989] starring: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina

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Rating: - A modern classic

Manhunter is the prequel to Silence of the Lambs. Though it is not as high profile as the follow up, many will argue that this is the better film. Those that are expecting a low budget, artless introduction to Hannibal Lector, with bad acting are in for a surprise. A lot of people will list Manhunter as one of there favourite films.

The acting is superb. Tom Noonan plays the serial killer in his unusual style. Scottish actor Brian Cox plays Hannibal Lector. Is Brian Cox's Lector better than Hopkins? Cox's Lector portrayal is a lot less flamboyant, and almost seems casual than Hopkins's and as a result is more convincing. Personally I prefer Cox's performance.

William L Peterson plays Will Graham and is absolutely fantastic. Will Graham is the Manhunter of the title. Graham is able emulate the killers dark thoughts in his own imagination but doesn't know how to cope with them. Graham makes a fascinating hero and the character is brought wonderfully to life by Peterson.

The film is also visually striking, extremely tense and feels utterly unique. Manhunter is a brilliant film.

Rating: - Finally, a worthy DVD release for Mann's Masterpiece !

First of all: Accept no imitations - Manhunter will always be the definitive Hannibal Lecter movie, even if they do decide to 're-make' the film under the original title of 'Red Dragon', which has been widely rumoured for many months now.

After the disappointing original UK DVD release of Manhunter from BMG, and the ambitious, but ultimately flawed Region 1 editions from Anchor Bay, this new release is the definitive edition of the film to own.

Momentum have wisely decided to avoid using the obscure Director's Cut of the film and have stuck with what appears to be the original theatrical cut, which is a great start. Whilst some of the extras included here are identical to those found on the USA release, as a bonus you also get a 53 page book about Manhunter and the other Lecter films called 'Michael Mann's Head Games.' Although the book is far from being a 100% definitive guide to the film, it is still the finest companion to this excellent film which has been written to date.

Overall then, this is another highly impressive release from Momentum and one which will satisfy all fans of the work of Michael Mann, Thomas Harris and Hannibal himself! Don't miss it.

Rating: - Best of the three.

This is based on the book Red Dragon by Thomas Harris which included the first appearance of Hannibal Lecktor. Anthony Hopkins played him superbly in The Silence Of The Lambs and Hannibal but he is played in this film by Brian Cox. This is not a bad thing at all because Brian Cox is perfect as the psychotic cannibalistic serial killer Dr.Lecktor. Why they replaced him I'll never know. Although a major character in the film he isn't in it for that long so this is by no means a Hannibal Lecktor film. The film's main stars are the utterly brilliant William L Petersen as Will Graham, the manhunter of the title, and Tom Noonan as the wanted serial killer "The Tooth Fairy". The plot revolves around Graham's attempts to understand the killer in order to catch him before another family is butchered. Michael Mann wrote the screenplay and directed this. He has firmly established himself as one of the best in the business after classic films such as this, Heat and The Insider. This is one of the best psycholical thrillers of all time. Easily a contender for my favourite film.

Rating: - LECTORS FIRST INCARNATION, NEAR PERFECTION.

The film that introduced us to cinemas most memorable psychopath; Hanibal Lector, "Manhunter", based on the Thomas Harris book "Red Dragon", predates its over rated sequel; "The silence of the lambs" by four years. On it's initial release it didn't do so well and finally dissapeared without trace, which to put it mildly, is a crime. Anyone who hasn't seen this film, is really missing out on one of the classics of the genre.

The plot sees FBI agent Will Graham (William Peterson) coaxed out of retirement to track down serial killer "The tooth Fairy",(Played by Tom Noonan, one of the most truly terrifying celluloid pyscho's ever), who has been butchering entire families while they sleep. Enlisting the help of Hanibal Lector to gain valuable insight into the psyche of a killer, Graham moulds his own way of thinking to that of the killer so that he may feel as the killer feels, think as the killer thinks and hopefully by doing, so he may finally catch the killer.

As with most of director Michael Mann's films, every scene is treated as a work of art and every piece of dialogue, like a line of poetry. The use of music too, is crucial, witness the classic climax, played out to the strains of IRON BUTTERFLY's "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vidda".

"Manhunter" will never be as popular as it's big brother, although it is far superior. No, it's more likely to be remembered as the Lector film with "the other Lector". While "The silence of the lambs" was good, the central performance by Hopkins as Lector was, I feel, over the top, possibly played that way deliberately to detract from such dark subject matter. Here, the part of Lector is played by veteran Scottish actor Brian Cox, it's a part played to perfection. There is no big scenery chewing performance here that Hollywood is so fond of, but a very subtle, underplayed performance that truly terrifies, letting the action and situation, rather than performance carry the film. Given the fact that Cox is only on screen for ten minutes or so, only gives credence to the magnitude of his performance.

With the release of the new film; "Hanibal" and a possible big budget remake of "Manhunter" in the pipeline, you really should take the time to seek this film out, before it is thrust deeper into obscurity, trust me it will be worth it, as with most things in life, the original is the best. Also worth checking out if you can, is the directors cut of the film, which does add considerably to the film.

Rating: - Excellent!

After reading 'Red Dragon' and finding out about the film 'Manhunter' I wondered why they had changed the name... And when I'd seen the film, I knew why. This is by far better than the book which spends too much time focusing on the killer (the 'Red Dragon'). Mann made the right decsicion to focus on Will Graham (the 'manhunter').

When it comes to Lecter (or Lektor as they spell it in the film - why the change I don't know... maybe it just looks more evil?) I still think that Anthony Hopkins did a better job. But neither this or Silence of the Lambs gives an accurate account (compaired to the book description) of his cell, but out of the two, I prefer the SotL's rendering of his confinement... definitelty more atmospheric there...

The music to Manhunter is another masterpiece, especially 'Heartbeat' in the end credits... but... be warned music fans, the soundtrack is very hard to come by, which is a real disapointment.

The direction is typical of Mann, after seeing such films as Heat, and his own persional touch is unmistakeable.

On the whole, this is one of thrillers all-time greats on the big screen... if you like thrillers and you haven't seen this... what planet have you been living on?! BUY ITY TODAY!!!

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