Red Dragon on DVD

Red Dragon got plenty of great reviews, and to be fair it's a very good film. But since it's really just a remake of Michael Mann's Manhunter, the movie that first brought Hannibal Lecter to the screen, we wonder why they needed to make this new version in the first place.

Okay, we're sure profitability had something to do with it...

Okay, it's a good movie, but if you've seen Manhunter you've seen it, and even more to the point if you've seen the Silence of the Lambs you've also seen it.

To be fair, if Red Dragon had been made before The Silence of the Lambs, we'd be whining about Silence being derivative, but that's the way the ball bounces. Unlike Manhunter, Silence turned out to be a Really Big Movie, earning enough Oscars to use as ballast in a submarine, so it must be the benchmark against which the "sequels" must be measured.

This time out, an FBI agent counsels with the famous Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter (Anthony Hopkins, naturally) to help him nab a serial killer before he strikes again. This is unlike In "Lambs," where instead we saw an FBI agent counsel with Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter to help her nab a serial killer before he strikes again. So while we have the same story, we get different FBI agents and serial killers.

Red Dragon opens with Will Graham (Edward Norton) coming to the realization that Hannibal Lecter just might be the man he’s hunting. Lecter nearly kills him, and he nearly kills Lector (Which would certainly have shortened the series!), and Lector is sent up the river while Graham retires to Florida.

We jump ahead several years, and now the man who used to be Will’s boss (Harvey Keitel) asks for his help in a new case: someone called the Tooth Fairy (Ralph Fiennes) has already killed two families, and Keitel thinks that only Will has "that special magic" that can bring him to justice.

Easier said than done, though, and Will decides to pick the brains (at least figuratively) of Lecter - who may be a whacko but whose intellect is unquestionable.

While you might argue with making the movie in the first place, you can't argue with the resulting film or its cast. Hopkins is always terrific, even if this version of Lecter seems almost a caricature of his Oscar-winning role from "Lambs." Norton goes a good job as the agent, and Fiennes is absolutely spot on as the villain. Emily Watson, as a blind woman, is very believable, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman turns in one of the best characterizations of his career.

Brett Ratner, whose his credits include the Rush Hour films as well as The Family Man, might seem a strange choice to direct a film such as this one, but he pulls it off. His hand on the tiller, augmented by the cast and a creepy Danny Elfman score combine to make Red Dragon a good thriller.

It's a darn good DVD, too, with Universal providing three (count 'em!) different versions of the movie on digital disc format. We were sent (fortunately!) the two-disc “director’s edition, that includes a second disc of extras.

Our widescreen edition is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible)andthe picture quality is outstanding. Red Dragon is a fairly dark movie (in more ways than one!), so details and color, especially blacks, are very important, and even in the very dark scenes this comes through very well.

Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and the sound quality is also excellent. We were surprised to see no dts audio track offered, something Univesal is usually very good about. Anyway, the dialogue is clear and the sound effects come through well, though there isn't a lot of surround use.

Disc one also contains quite a few extras, including a running commentary by director Ratner and screenwriter Ted Tally. Ratner comes across as being quite pleased with himself at times, but this impression is leavened by his sense of humor; Tally adds some good information as well.

You also get some deleted scenes, a couple of which are pretty good, a timeline of Hannibal Lecter’s life, Lecter’s case file, a featurette where Anthony Hopkins reminisces about playing Lecter, and “The Criminal Profile of Hannibal Lecter” (where a criminal profiler talks about catching serial killers). The latter is arguably the most interesting of the bonus materials.

Disc two has more, the best of which is a 40-minute “Director’s Journey” through the process of making the movie. It starts in pre-production and takes you right to the premier of the film and gives quite a bit of interesting poop about the movie-making process. We liked it so much we wanted more - especially since they had a whole second disc to use.

You also get Ratner’s first NYU Film School film which makes you wonder how he got his big break after such a piece of work. Then there are some featurettes about makeup and effects, screen tests, and a vignette on forensic experts creating the crime scene.

Red Dragon, from Universal Home Video
125 min. anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 TV compatible (also available separately in Pan&Scan), Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, Martha De Laurentiis
Written by Ted Tally, Directed by Brett Ratner.

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