I'm not going to go TOO deeply into this film, as I believe my associates before me have already deeply analyzed the film. Having recently read through "Red Dragon," I felt compelled to see the movie and see just how poor of an adaptation it was - I'm a cynical person, what can I say?
The film - at best - was your run of the mill, utterly clichéd "serial Killer on the loose" film. The movie actually began pretty well, bearing strong likeliness to the book. A half hour into it, however, things began to really diverge from the book's flow and we are left with a tangle of scenes that seem to have very little flow at all. Acting was a little stale in several cases (William Peterson's attempts to seem enraged with the killer's thoughts are weak and are only comparable to a soap opera) and, while I know this is a thing of opinion, I was completely unsatisfied with Brian Cox as Hannibal Lector (spelled Lecktor in this film, for some reason).
"Manhunter" could have been a pretty good had they kept in the real meat of the book - the background of Francis Dolarhyde and his struggle with the Red Dragon. Over a quarter of the book was about Dolarhyde's childhood and a good third was about the struggle with the Dragon. Truly one of the most incredible scenes in the book is when Dolarhyde faces down and devours (literally) the Dragon. All these scenes make the character seem really alive and something more human than it appears. So, what does the movie do with these scenes? TOTALLY discards them! The film leaves us with an unimpressive 2-D cardboard cutout of Dolarhyde, which was perhaps what dampers the film most for fans of "Red Dragon".
The film may enjoy some cult flavor, and is a decent addition to the Lector trilogy. At best it would be wise to rent this flick before buying it. You may regret purchasing it if you read the book first.
I'll leave you with some book-to-movie differences (AKA Minor Qualms):
FILM SCORE: 6/10
The film - at best - was your run of the mill, utterly clichéd "serial Killer on the loose" film. The movie actually began pretty well, bearing strong likeliness to the book. A half hour into it, however, things began to really diverge from the book's flow and we are left with a tangle of scenes that seem to have very little flow at all. Acting was a little stale in several cases (William Peterson's attempts to seem enraged with the killer's thoughts are weak and are only comparable to a soap opera) and, while I know this is a thing of opinion, I was completely unsatisfied with Brian Cox as Hannibal Lector (spelled Lecktor in this film, for some reason).
"Manhunter" could have been a pretty good had they kept in the real meat of the book - the background of Francis Dolarhyde and his struggle with the Red Dragon. Over a quarter of the book was about Dolarhyde's childhood and a good third was about the struggle with the Dragon. Truly one of the most incredible scenes in the book is when Dolarhyde faces down and devours (literally) the Dragon. All these scenes make the character seem really alive and something more human than it appears. So, what does the movie do with these scenes? TOTALLY discards them! The film leaves us with an unimpressive 2-D cardboard cutout of Dolarhyde, which was perhaps what dampers the film most for fans of "Red Dragon".
The film may enjoy some cult flavor, and is a decent addition to the Lector trilogy. At best it would be wise to rent this flick before buying it. You may regret purchasing it if you read the book first.
I'll leave you with some book-to-movie differences (AKA Minor Qualms):
- Too many scenes with Graham and his wife attempt to milk empathy from the film. 'Suppose it's the director's way to atone for cutting out all of the phone conversations. - Missing Francis Dolarhyde background - Dolarhyde's house is a one level, instead of a two level (now I'm just being picky.) - Love interest with Reba is cut down from the book's eight scenes to just two (combing six into one). - Dolarhyde's schizophrenic Dragon personality isn't even included in the movie. Therefore there is no showdown with the Dragon. - Movie's ending is completely FUBAR - completely clichéd and unworthy of even being considering an interesting ending. The book's plot twist ending is thrown into a paper shredder and comes out as your average "good guy shows up at the last moment to save the girl" type.
FILM SCORE: 6/10