Hannibal Review:

THE FILM
10 years after the release of the enormously successful "The Silence of the Lambs," "Hannibal," the sequel to the aforementioned Oscar winning epic from Jonathan Demme, was released with massive anticipation. A sequel had been talked about from the moment Silence of the Lambs had finished screening at the cinema, and the author of the novel, Thomas Harris, took a long time in delivering. A screenplay was commissioned, but the writer would not be the same as Lambs. Jodie Foster, an Oscar winner for her performance in the first picture turned down an opportunity to reprise her role, but Anthony Hopkins, also an Oscar winner for his original performance accepted and Ridley Scott was hired to direct the picture. After much deliberation Julianne Moore was given the opportunity to take up the role of Clarice Starling given Foster's refusal.

I was a big fan of the Silence of the Lambs, and was really looking forward to continuation of the Hannibal saga. Unfortunately, it really didn't deliver. It's difficult, having seen Foster play Starling so well in the original Moore really doesn't do it.
The only surviving victim of Hannibal Lecter, a severely disfigured Mason Verger (Gary Oldman) decides he wants to get his revenge by feeding Hannibal to a flock of killer pig beasts, and so the story unfolds.

PICTURE
Presented with a 1:1.85 Anamorphic transfer this is what DVD is all about. The transfer is excellent. The detail level is high, and, with a lot of quite dark scenes the transfer copes excellently.

There is infamously a lot of gore in this film and to be honest I think they took it a bit fair, especially with the final scene when Hannibal cuts the top of Krendler's head and slices his brain to cook. This is definitely not for the faint hearted!

SOUND
We are treated to both Dolby and DTS 5.1 tracks, which are both excellent. The opening shoot out will have bullets whizzing all over your room and give the sub a good workout. After that the surrounds are used well to add to the ambience, and the fantastic music score reproduces brilliantly around any decent home cinema setup.

I have listened to both the Dolby and the DTS tracks and, as in most cases there is very little difference.

EXTRAS
13 Deleted and Extended Scenes
Alternative Ending
Five 'Making Of' Featurettes: Development (17 mins), Production (20 mins),
Make-Up (13 mins), Music (14 mins) and Premiere (15 mins)
Audio Commentary From Director Ridley Scott
Trailers
Three Multi-Angle Extras: 'Anatomy Of A Shoot-Out' (48 mins),
Storyboarding with Ridley Scott (27 mins) and Opening Titles Design (7 mins)
21 TV Spots and Trailers
Photo Gallery
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

This is a double disc edition which is packed full of extras, which once again shows why DVD has taken off like it has. Sometimes you get an element of quantity but with little quality, which is certainly not the case here. The extras add to the film well and give an interesting insight into the film, deleted scenes, how it was made and publicity material.

OVERALL
Like most sequels, this falls some way short of the standard set by the original. I fell as though the genre has changed from an enveloping thriller to more of an all out horror movie. This is a watchable film, if you enjoyed Silence of the Lambs, you will no doubt want to see the continuation of the saga but it is by no means a must see. The DVD however is an excellent all round package, with pristine audio and video and a wealth of extras. Rent it, if you like it buy it.

James Padgett

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