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Hannibal


Reviewed by: Rachel Hughes
Genre: Horror
Video: Anamorphic 1.85:1 Widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS
Language: English, French, and Spanish
Subtitle: English, French and Spanish
Length: 2hrs 11mins
Rating: R
Release Date: 8-21-01
Studio: MGM
Commentary: Featuring Ridley Scott
Documentaries: "Breaking the Silence" Making of Hannibal
Featurettes: None
Filmography/Biography: Yes
Interviews: None
Trailers/TV Spots: Original Theatrical Trailer, Teaser Trailer and 19 TV Spots
Alternate/Deleted Scenes: 14 deleted scenes, including alternate ending
Music Video: None
Other: Multi-Angle Vignettes, Poster Concepts, Still Photo Gallery, and Production Notes
Cast and Crew: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Ray Liotta, Frankie R. Faison, Giancarlo Giannini, Francesca Neri, and Gary Oldman
Screenplay by: David Mamet and Steven Zaillian based upon the novel by Thomas Harris
Produced by: Dino De Laurentiis, Martha De Laurentiis and Ridley Scott
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Music: Hans Zimmer
The Review: "Hannibal" picks up ten years after "silence of the lambs." Clarice Starling's (Moore) career didn't go into behavioral sciences as she had hoped. Instead she is working on the streets bringing down drug dealers. Hannibal Lecter, on the other hand, is enjoying his freedom traveling the world. He has now settled in Florence, Italy, but is growing bored. His only surviving victim, Mason Verger (Oldman,) has posted a $3 million reward, so he may exact his revenge. When Clarice's career takes its latest downswing, Verger sees a chance to flush Lecter out of hiding by using her as bait. "silence of the lambs" was a huge surprise hit. It was released in February, yet so thoroughly captured audiences' and critics' attention that it went on to sweep the Oscars almost a year later. "Hannibal," however, had huge expectations and controversy surrounding its premier. First, Jodie Foster was not to be returning, nor would director Jonathan Demme. To replace them they hired Julianne Moore and Ridley Scott, both well-known and talented people. The second controversy was graphic violence in the film. As an intelligent adult I know that movies are just pretend, and having read the book I knew what to expect. However, in the theater where I saw this movie there were several children well under the age of 17 watching this movie with their parents. This movie is rated R for a reason. If parents refuse to monitor what their children are watching they have no right to blame Hollywood for the escalating violence among our children. I will now get off my soapbox and go on to the next controversy, which is the original ending of the book written by Thomas Harris. It is rumored that Foster refused to shoot that ending before turning down the project. Screenwriters were also quick to say they would rewrite the ending. If you haven't yet read the book, I won't spoil it for you here. Just go out and read it immediately! Mainly because of the book you would have two types of reaction to the film. Those who didn't read the book thought the first half was a bit slow, but loved the ending. Those who did read the book enjoyed the first half of the movie, but were disappointed that Hollywood didn't have the guts to film the book's ending. Having us glad Lecter escapes is one thing, but to have him completely victorious over the heroine, is apparently too far over the line. The casting change actually didn't have much effect on the film good or bad. While some of the chemistry between Lecter and Starling is missing, we have to remember that Starling is a completely different character in this movie. Ten years have passed and she isn't where she thought she would be, and she is intelligent enough to know that she will probably never get there. She is a sad and despondent character, and Julianne Moore does a wonderful job of capturing her determination to do the best job she can with the cards she was dealt, yet showing how crushed she is inside.
Image and Sound For a movie this recent you expect a good transfer, and that is what MGM delivers. It is not as striking as the one for "silence of the lambs," but it is not disappointing. The colors all come through well. Even though much of the movie is shot in Florence there is little direct sunlight. All of the characters seem to stick to the shadows. Luckily the shadows here are well done. There is no grain in the shadows, nor do they swallow the characters. The few noticeable uses of brilliant colors are in the library, which features warm and lush burgundies. Also when Hannibal is eating outside he is wearing a striking blue shirt. The best sign of a good transfer is the job done with Verger's doctor's coat when he first meets Clarice. It is similar to a herringbone pattern that usually plays havoc with the camera. Here there is only a slight blurring. You have to be looking for it to catch it. The sound is done equally well. It is available in both DTS and Dolby 5.1. The sound works especially well during the shoot-out at the beginning and with the pigs at the end. At both instances you feel like you were right there with them. Hearing those pigs squeals coming from every direction makes you look over your shoulder to remind yourself that you are safe in your living room. Like the original, much of this movie is dialogue centered. Still, the voices are all heard clearly. The haunting score by Hans Zimmer comes through all speakers to fully envelop the audience, but never drowning out the actors.
The Extras This is a wonderful two-disc DVD set. On the first DVD is the movie, commentary and a spot for the "silence of the lambs" DVD and a promo for "Windtalkers." On the second disc is where you will find the treasure trove of extras. One of the main highlights is the "Breaking the Silence," a making-of documentary. It has a total length of about 1hr and 15mins. It is indexed so you can watch whichever section most interests you. First there is the development which covers the casting, making the book into a screenplay ecetera. Second is the production, which covers actual filming. Next is a section on make-up that shows you how they did the brain-eating scene, and the pigs. Then is a section covering the creation of the score by Hans Zimmer. Most of the previous sections were filmed while the movie was still underway. There are also snippets of interviews and talk with the various members of the cast and crew. Finally there is a section called Reaction. This is the only disappointing section of the documentary. It features scenes from different premiers of the movie in the US. However there is no real reactions. You have actor James Woods saying the loved the movie but that is it. There was nothing from the critics saying how violent the film was, nothing negative, and nothing really positive. ***Next are the Multi-Angle Vignettes. The first of these is the Anatomy of a Shoot-Out. Here you can see the shoot-out in the fish market in from four different angles, or you can see all four at once. The next is Ridleygrams. This focuses on the storyboards done by Scott. There are three different sections: Interview with Ridley Scott, Ridleygrams, and Storyboard Shot Comparison. The interview is about storyboards and features an insert of various scenes done in both storyboard and final film simultaneously. Ridleygrams has the same interview played over full screen shots of storyboards, and Storyboard comparison also has the interview playing this time over a half screen storyboard and half screen film comparison. The final vignette is the Title Design. This allows you to watch four versions of the opening sequence, paired with two different scores or two different commentaries. *** Then we have 14 deleted scenes totaling over 35 min of footage. Each scene has a brief description and is available with or without commentary by Ridley Scott. Scott does a great job telling you why a scene was left out, along with why it was filmed in the first place. *** "Marketing" is broken down into three sections. The first contains the trailers and TV spots, the second has various poster concepts and the final is a still photo gallery. It is interesting the see the different posters that were originally considered. Another nice addition is that all of the still photos are indexed, so you don't have to mindlessly scroll through countless pictures just to see special effect shots. *** The final two features are fairly standard. They include the Cast and Crew bios, and the Production Notes. The bios are fairly basic and include film highlights.
Commentary Ridley Scott does great commentaries, and this one is no exception. On Hannibal the commentary is indexed so you can go straight to a particular topic. Just taking a look at this tells you that Scott covers almost everything. He is open and friendly and gives you a great look at how the film is done. He isn't overly technical, so it doesn't feel like you are sitting in a film class. There are a lot of interesting tidbits that Scott reveals. When you are done watching the commentary you want to call up a friend and sound like you are a great film buff because you know all this information about this film. However, there are no humorous anecdotes, except for the one about Julianne Moore being afraid of cows. Still that was told pretty mater-of-factly. The only disappointment is that there is no mention about the ending from the book. Why he didn't want to do it or if he ever considered it. In fact he didn't talk about any of the negative criticism of the film at all. I guess I was expecting him to be a bit more defensive. There was some information I wish he had included.
Final Words: This is a great package. It has wonderful features, and any fan of the movie should definitely buy one today. However if you are looking for any responses to anything negative ever said about the film, you will have to continue looking. This DVD takes a blind eye to all the controversy that surrounded it. Nevertheless anyone who enjoyed the film, will enjoy this mostly-illuminating package.


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 August 20, 2001