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"Red Dragon" opens with the pleasure of seeing Hannibal Lecter as he was before leaving civilian life. The camera floats above a symphony orchestra and down into the audience, and we spot Lecter almost at once, regarding with displeasure an inferior musician. Interesting, how the director forces our attention just as a magician forces a card: We notice Lecter because he is located in a strong point of the screen, because his face is lighted to make him pop out from the drabness on either side, and because he is looking directly at the camera.

I felt, a confess, a certain pleasure to find him in the audience. Hannibal Lecter is one of the most wicked villains in movie history, and one of the most beloved. We forgive him his trespasses because (1) they are forced upon him by his nature; (2) most of the time he is helplessly imprisoned, and providing aid to the FBI, or seeming to, after his peculiar fashion, and (3) he is droll and literate, dryly humorous, elegantly mannered. In these days of movie characters who obediently recite the words the plot requires of them, it's a pleasure to meet a man who can hold up his end of the conversation.

The opening, with Hannibal still in civilian life, allows a tense early scene in which the doctor ( Anthony Hopkins ) receives a late-night visitor, FBI agent Will Graham ( Edward Norton ). Graham has been assisted by Lecter in examining a series of crimes which, he has just realized, involved cannibalism--and now, as he regards the doctor in the gloom of the shadowed study, it occurs to him, just as it simultaneously occurs to Lecter, that it is clear to both of them who this cannibal might be.

Flash forward several years. Lecter is in prison, Graham has taken early retirement, but now his old FBI boss ( Harvey Keitel ) wants to recruit him to solve a pair of serial killings, this time by a man dubbed the Tooth Fairy because he leaves an unmistakable dental imprint at the scenes of his crimes. Graham resists, but photos of the dead families and a poignant look at his own living family do the trick, and he joins the case as a free-lance adviser. This requires him to examine crime scenes by creeping through them in pitch darkness in the middle of the night, although there is no reason he could not visit at noon (except, of course, that he wants to share the killer's point of view, and also because the film seeds the darkness with potential danger).

The director is Brett Ratner , who has not achieved the distinction of the three previous directors of Hannibal Lecter movies ( Jonathan Demme on " The Silence of the Lambs ," Ridley Scott on " Hannibal ," and Michael Mann on "Manhunter," the first version of "Red Dragon," made in 1986). Ratner's credits have included the " Rush Hour " pictures, "Family Man" and " Money Talks ," some with their merits, none suggesting he was qualified to be Lecter's next director.

To my surprise, he does a sure, stylish job, appreciating the droll humor of Lecter's predicament, creating a depraved new villain in the Tooth Fairy ( Ralph Fiennes ), and using the quiet, intense skills of Norton to create a character whose old fears feed into his new ones. There is also humor, of the uneasy he-can't-get-away-with-this variety, in the character of a nosy scandal-sheet reporter ( Philip Seymour Hoffman ). The screenplay by Ted Tally , who wrote "Lambs," also supplies a blind girl in peril ( Emily Watson ), and blind girls have worked dependably since the days of silent pictures.

A movie like "Red Dragon" is all atmosphere and apprehension. Ratner doesn't give us as much violence or as many sensational shocks as Scott did in "Hannibal," but that's a plus: Lecter is a character who commands contemplation and unease, and too much action just releases the tension. To be sure, Scott was working with a Thomas Harris novel that itself went so high over the top (remember the quadriplegic murdered with an electric eel?) that much of it could not be filmed. But this movie, based on Harris' first novel, has studied "Silence of the Lambs" and knows that the action comes second to general creepiness. There are stabbings, shootings, fires, explosions, tortures, mutilations, and a flaming corpse in a wheelchair, but within reason.

As the Tooth Fairy figure, named Francis Dolarhyde, Ralph Fiennes comes as close as possible to creating a sympathetic monster. What he does is unspeakable. What has been done to him is unspeakable. Dolarhyde himself is horrified by his potential, and the character of the blind girl is not merely a cheap gimmick (although it is that, too), but a device that allows him to ask just how far he is prepared to go. We are reminded of another monster and another blind person, in " Bride of Frankenstein " (1932), and in both cases the monster feels relief because the blind cannot see that he is a monster. (In photos of a crime scene, ex-agent Graham notices that mirrors have been broken and shards of the glass put in the eye sockets of victims--perhaps because the Tooth Fairy cannot stand to look at himself, but is driven to a frenzy when others can look at him.) The movie has been photographed by Dante Spinotti , who also filmed Michael Mann's more cool, stylized version, and here he provides darkness and saturated colors. The Lecter world is one of dampness, lowering clouds, early sunsets, chill in the bones. Lecter himself, when he appears, is like a little fire we can warm before; he smiles benevolently, knows all, accepts his nature, offers to help, and more often than not has another macabre scheme under way. The early passages of this movie benefit from our knowledge that Lecter will sooner or later appear; it's as if the plot is tiptoeing toward a ledge.

The Lecter character, and the agents who deal with him, and the monsters who take him as a role model, create an atmosphere that encourages style in the filmmaking. It is much the same with the best upper-class crime novels. There is violence, yes, but also a lot of carefully described atmosphere, as we enter the attractive lives of the rich and vicious: Consider Nero Wolfe, who, like Hannibal Lecter, hates to interrupt dinner with a murder.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film Credits

Red Dragon (2002)

Rated R For Violence, Grisly Images, Language, Some Nudity and Sexuality

124 minutes

Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter

Edward Norton as Will Graham

Ralph Fiennes as Francis Dolarhyde

Harvey Keitel as Jack Crawford

Emily Watson as Reba McClane

Mary-Louise Parker as Molly Graham

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Freddy Lounds

Directed by

Brett Ratner

Based On The Book by

Thomas Harris

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Red Dragon Reviews

Manhunter, Michael Mann’s 1986 adaptation of Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon, is superior to Brett Ratner’s 2002 Red Dragon, but the contest is closer than one might imagine.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 24, 2023

But if Lecter’s shadow world must be visited again, let it be this way, and with a superlative cast.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Sep 17, 2022

...a progressively engrossing thriller...

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 30, 2022

Brett Ratner just lacks that twitchy neon touch...

Full Review | Mar 21, 2022

The cast alone warrants your time.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 17, 2022

Gets wrong and flattens out into a mainstream, homogenous smudge all the distinctive elements of Jonathan Demme's iconic 1991 work, The Silence of the Lambs.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 25, 2021

"Red Dragon" is the ultimate rewatchable crime thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 25, 2020

Set an extra place at the table and open up another bottle of Chianti because guess who's coming to dinner. That's right. He's back. Everyone's favorite dinner guest... Hannibal [Lecter]...

Full Review | Nov 13, 2019

There's still enough life in the Lecter mythology to create a must-see audience for what is, basically, a dja-vu experience.

Full Review | Jan 15, 2018

Great, but too scary and violent for most teens.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 28, 2010

A surprisingly good and entertaining finisher...

Full Review | Apr 29, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 7, 2008

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 14, 2007

The film oozes contempt for its audience, caring nothing for the characters or suspense and only craving money.

Full Review | Original Score: .5/4 | Feb 17, 2007

Frank Whaley and Philip Seymour Hoffman play minor characters so annoying they might as well wear T-shirts reading 'Eat My Brain.'

Full Review | Feb 7, 2007

A decent enough entertainment that sticks closely to the novel.

Where Mann and Demme steered the hokum away from dull genre generalities, Ratner's point-and-film literalness churns out a thriller by rote, shorn of the psychological dogfighting that distinguished the first two films.

Full Review | Feb 9, 2006

Who would've guessed the guy who gave us Money Talks, Rush Hour and The Family Man had what it takes to realize a thriller as smartly effective as this?

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Hopkins should know better than to lessen the impact of these performances with redundant encores.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Jan 15, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Aug 7, 2004

Red Dragon (2002)

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Hannibal Lecter scores again in “Red Dragon.” Even to the multitudes familiar with every detail of Thomas Harris’ first installment of the Lecter trilogy as well as with Michael Mann’s estimable first screen version, “Manhunter,” Brett Ratner’s faithful, immaculately appointed new telling of the inescapably creepy tale will be an intense, unnerving experience. An outstanding cast, led by Edward Norton and Anthony Hopkins in his third outing as the carnivore from Baltimore, lends a classy veneer to this sure-fire commercial attraction.

“Red Dragon” is an odd project in a number of ways, being a remake of the 1986 film that itself adhered pretty closely to the 1981 novel, despite the distinctively contemplative tone Mann’s visual abstractions and the heavy electronic score brought to the material. Both “Manhunter” and the new picture have the same producer, Dino De Laurentiis, as well as the same cinematographer, Dante Spinotti, and there are any number of near-identical lines of dialogue.

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On top of that, Hopkins here reprises a role he originated in “The Silence of the Lambs” 11 years ago, although the action in “Red Dragon” begins at least eight years before that of “Lambs.” Jonathan Demme’s multi-Oscar winner is directly recalled in numerous other ways, from the expert carpentry of screenwriter Ted Tally and the presence of some of the same actors (Anthony Heald, Frankie Faison) in their old parts to the use of identical locations and the return of production designer Kristi Zea, whose reproduction of Lecter’s basement cell carries the odd frisson of an old home week.

So audiences will be excused for any feelings of déjà vu the new film might inspire. That won’t prevent them from watching it in rapt, anxious silence, however, as the gruesome crimes, twisted psychology and deterministic dread that lie at the heart of Harris’ work are laid out with care and skill.

Ratner’s previous credits on “The Family Man” and the “Rush Hour” pictures may not have inspired confidence that he was the right man for this job, but the director has done a serious, responsible job of conveying the drama and menace inherent in this tale of an FBI man’s urgent search for a methodical serial killer. Furthermore, he’s shown intelligent restraint, unlike Ridley Scott when he indulged every potential excess available in the frightening but overwrought “Hannibal” last year.” “Red Dragon” may not possess the nuance and under-your-skin insidiousness of “The Silence of the Lambs,” but its interest lies in deepening the material, not warping it.

First step in this regard was to expand Lecter’s role, a task tackled at the outset in a gripping eight-minute prologue that reveals how FBI investigator Will Graham (Norton) captured Lecter after some bloody mano a mano that left both men close to death.

To contrast Mann’s and Ratner’s approaches, all that’s necessary is to look at the opening scenes proper, which serve precisely the same narrative function of having Graham lured out of Florida retirement by his old bureau superior to help track down an insidious murderer, who has just wiped out two families in identical ways, and who almost certainly will strike again with the next full moon. Mann’s artfully stripped down compositions and placement of his actors against the sea and sky gave his film a metaphysical quality drenched in a sense of mournful inevitability. Ratner’s crisp, more businesslike style has a narrower, purposeful focus, dedicating itself to expressing apprehension through economical dialogue and subtle acting.

Graham is called back by former boss Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel) due to his unusual adaptability to the mindset of murderers, his ability to think like them and therefore to catch them through anticipation of their moves. Reluctantly leaving his wife (Mary-Louise Parker) and son behind, Graham shortly entices the cooperation of Lecter, who’s helped him before and just may have some insights into the methods of the so-called Tooth Fairy, whose slaying techniques have included propping up dead family members with mirror shards over their eyes as an “audience” for what he does to the final victim.

At about the 45-minute point, the audience, although not Graham, is introduced to the killer. Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes), called “shy boy” by Lecter, is a peculiar loner whose handsome looks are disfigured by a nose-to-lip cleft. Aside from beefing up the running time for Lecter, who, as memorably impersonated by Brian Cox, appeared in only two scenes in “Manhunter,” “Dragon” is concerned with providing psychological backstory for Dolarhyde, who was terribly abused as a child and for whom mass murder is a major element in his effort at self-transformation.

A profound admirer of Lecter and a devotee of the mystical poet and painter William Blake, Dolarhyde finds his resolve slightly weakened by the attentions of Reba McClane (Emily Watson), a blind co-worker at a film lab whose vulnerability is exceeded only by her emotional accessibility and ability to connect with Dolarhyde’s insecurities. While the loony agonizes over what to do about Reba and Graham slowly closes in on his prey, Lecter, sitting calmly in his stone-lined cell, shrewdly plays both sides against each other, giving Graham helpful tidbits while feeding information to the Tooth Fairy that puts Graham’s family at the top of the killer’s hit list.

By the time of the drama’s spectacularly fiery climax, faithful to the book as “Manhunter” was not, the sense of cumulative tension is so palpable as to be almost oppressive. Startling follow-up scene proves even more intense, and serves as an effective bookend to the prologue’s battle between Graham and Lecter.

In undertaking a project destined to be held to close scrutiny, Ratner could not have surrounded himself with an array of more skilled professionals both behind and in front of the camera. Once again, Hopkins is mesmerizing as Lecter, and concerns about the age differential prove unjustified. If anything, the biggest difference in the actor’s appearance now versus a decade ago would seem to be in the increased size of his upper torso; otherwise, he may look a tad older, but not in any way that one sits there dwelling upon while watching the picture.

Filling William Petersen’s sizeable shoes as Graham, Norton gives a minutely calibrated performance that ably illustrates how the investigator’s mounting obsession overcomes his promise to his wife not to lose himself in the case. Fiennes once again proves chillingly adept at portraying a psychotic who can’t keep from killing, Watson is an affecting open book as the sightless woman who gets under the murderer’s skin, and Philip Seymour Hoffman socks over his showy role as an amoral tabloid journalist who becomes far more involved with his subject than he intends.

Of all the film’s outstanding craft contributions, notably Spinotti’s rich lensing, Zea’s evocative production design and Mark Helfrich’s smart editing, none boosts the proceedings more crucially than Danny Elfman’s score, which uses strings to more suspenseful effect than anyone since the heyday of Bernard Herrmann and otherwise employs unusual instrumentation to add flavor to an outstandingly conceived traditional soundtrack.

Production: A Universal release of a Universal Pictures and Dino De Laurentiis presentation in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, Martha De Laurentiis. Executive producer, Andrew Z. Davis. Directed by Brett Ratner. Screenplay, Ted Tally, based on the book by Thomas Harris.
Crew: Camera (Deluxe color, Panavision widescreen), Dante Spinotti; editor, Mark Helfrich; music, Danny Elfman; production designer, Kristi Zea; art directors, Steve Saklad, Tim Glavin (Baltimore); set designers, Nancy Deren, Jeff Markwith, James F. Truesdale; set decorator, Karen O'Hara; costume designer, Betsy Heimann; sound (DTS/SDDS/Dolby Digital), Kim H. Ornitz; supervising sound editors, Gregory King, Darren King; assistant director, James M. Freitag; casting, Francine Maisler, Kathleen Driscoll-Mohler Assoc. Reviewed at Arclight Hollywood, L.A., Sept. 24, 2002. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 124 MIN.
With: Hannibal Lecter - Anthony Hopkins Will Graham - Edward Norton Francis Dolarhyde - Ralph Fiennes Jack Crawford - Harvey Keitel Reba McClane - Emily Watson Molly Graham - Mary-Louise Parker Freddy Lounds - Philip Seymour Hoffman Dr. Chilton - Anthony Heald Police Chief - Bill Duke Lloyd Bowman - Ken Leung Jimmy - Stanley Anderson Bookseller - Azura Skye Barney - Frankie Faison Josh Graham - Tyler Patrick Jones

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Red Dragon Review

11 Oct 2002

124 minutes

Let's be honest, it didn't look very promising, did it? The auteur behind The Family Man and Rush Hour 2 tackling the movie's favourite cannibal with the residue of the dreary Hannibal still ripe in the memory. But Brett Ratner's adaptation of Thomas Harris' 1981 prequel to The Silence Of The Lambs (already adapted by Michael Mann as Manhunter) delivers the goods with minimum fuss.

As if to atone for Ridley Scott's uninspired instalment, Red Dragon feels like a concerted effort to get back to the glory days of Silence and, to a large extent and against all the odds, Ratner pulls it off. It may not have Manhunter's sense of style or interesting contours, but Red Dragon surpasses Mann's movie in its dogmatic desire to entertain.

Putting the cult of Lecter aside for a moment, Red Dragon works as a cracking detective story. Going the Christopher Columbus/Harry Potter route, Ratner, in tandem with Silence screenwriter Tally, has been remarkably faithful to Harris' tautly constructed mystery. He offers a well-tooled, workmanlike compendium of the book's greatest hits - the great scene in which Lecter's cell is searched for clues as to how he is contacting Dolarhyde, the horrific burning wheelchair set-piece - that is the cinematic equivalent of a page-turner.

Where Ratner does deviate from the novel, it pays dividends: a pre-credits opener that pitches Lecter and Graham against each other, first mentally, then physically, is a fantastic curtain-raiser, satisfying our immediate appetite to see the good Doctor while setting up the Lecter-Graham mind-games to come.

Hopkins, who doesn't make much effort to convince us that the character is any younger, coasts through his scaremongering, conveying an astuteness and intelligence that was missing last time round. Although Lecter's comedy schtick is much better judged here - droll wit replacing grandstanding one-liners - and keeping Lecter in his cell is far more unnerving than him roaming freely, it is a shame that much of the menace from the monster in Silence has evaporated. At times bordering on the pantomimic, Lecter has turned into a Freddy Kruger for the Friends generation.

Elsewhere, Ratner has invested in quality casting and it shows. As Lecter's foil, Norton gives the movie a likeable, easy-to-root-for centre, nicely conveying a man masking his fear with a determination to do right. Be it scoffing a painting of William Blake's Red Dragon or torturing a snivelling journalist (nobody plays snivelling and enfeebled like Phillip Seymour Hoffman), Fiennes manages to take Dolarhyde to the extremes without ever making the character's evil laughable.

If not quite as shit-scary as Tom Noonan's incarnation from Manhunter, he also finds a real shift of gear in his tentative, affecting relationship with Reba (Watson, once again putting in good work), the blind woman who offers the killer a redemptive state of grace.

What ultimately stops Red Dragon from being truly great rather than merely good is the bog-standard quality in Ratner's direction. Everything is crisp, everything is proficient but nowhere does he generate the foreboding atmosphere or memorable image that really hits home: visually, the movie is a sitcom version of Silence, all flat lighting and bland set-ups, the infamous corridor approaching Lecter's cell having none of its previous power.

Indeed, the movie doesn't really deliver any real scares and nail-gnawing tension until a last reel denouement. But when the shocks do come, they work a treat.

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'Red Dragon' Review: The Acting Holds Up, But Not the Directing

While it isn't nearly as good as Silence of the Lambs, this prequel still offers plenty to chew on when it comes to the work of its committed cast.

Following the critically acclaimed 1991 classic Silence of the Lambs , one of the most unsettling psychological horror films of all time, the story of Anthony Hopkins ’ cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter continued on - both forward and backward. Though it has largely been forgotten, there was the much-maligned sequel Hannibal in 2001 that upped the violence only to lose the dread. Then there was the tense, yet still flawed, 2002 prequel Red Dragon that introduced us to FBI agent Will Graham ( Edward Norton ) and his encounters with Lecter as he tried to stop a different serial killer known initially as the Tooth Fairy. Twenty years since its release, it is a work that finds genuine suspense in its sinister story even as its direction leaves much to be desired.

Revisiting the film after it first premiered twenty years ago, there is a strange sense of déjà vu that hangs over much of the experience. For any who have watched the recent television series that saw Mads Mikkelsen take on the role of Lecter or the 1986 Michael Mann film, Manhunter , where Brian Cox first stepped into the lead, there are shared storylines and characters as all are based upon the original Red Dragon novel that first introduced us to the character. Each ends up serving as a demonstration of the way the same story can be reimagined by different creators. When it comes to this film, the best aspects of it all are the cast who help to carry it through some of its more conventional aspects. From the opening scene where Norton and Hopkins go head-to-head, complete with the latter sporting a ponytail, it is most engaging as a demonstration of the actors giving their all and then some to the characters.

RELATED: How 'The Silence of the Lambs' Remains a Classic by Refusing Easy Explanations

Anthony Hopkins Is Still a Terrifying Hannibal Lecter

This begins with Lecter hosting a dinner of unsuspecting guests who remain unaware of his tastes and the likely contents of the food they are consuming. It does require some suspension of disbelief as Hopkins is clearly older than he was in the original Silence of the Lambs , though this is easy when he continually sinks his teeth into every scene he gets. Much like in the prior film, Lecter is not the protagonist of the story even as he is a driving force behind everything that ends up happening. Even when it has its weaker elements, there will always be something that burrows its way under your skin in seeing this character on screen once more. Take when he gets approached by Graham after the dinner who shares his big discovery about the nature of the cannibal he has been tracking. As we see the recognition creep across Lecter’s face that he is very likely going to be found out, the chill it sends down the spine as the looming potential for violence is unmistakable. It ensures that when the two get into a bloody confrontation that leaves them each injured, yet alive, you feel every blow cut deep.

The rest of the film then plays out as being a bit more of a crime thriller than anything at times. While there were certainly investigatory elements in Silence of the Lambs , the general sense of growing terror conveyed via the direction made it far more frightening. Here, we pick up with a traumatized Graham who has tried to leave this world behind, and Lecter who is now held in the institution that we remember him most for. Of course, they will soon get drawn back together with a new serial killer on the loose. While the television series had a more romantic undercurrent to these interactions and the prior film felt more grounded than any of them , Hopkins gives everything theatrical bombast.

The Movie's Direction Is Lackluster

There is a rage and danger lurking just below the surface in every single interaction. Though Lecter spends the entire film largely in confinement, we see that he is capable of creating chaos for all the other characters. We are never able to escape how he is conniving and cruel, a terrifying combination that Hopkins brings to life with an almost haughty disposition. Norton, while the straight man in the scenario, deserves credit as well for how he creates an understated juxtaposition to the killer he is talking with. His sense of subtlety serves the story well and, as was reported when the film first released, also led to some tension with the now disgraced former director and producer Brett Ratner . This tension between Ratner and Norton about how to approach the scene ends up being telling as the film often sees the more subtle performances undercut by the blunt direction. While the actor seemed to have a better understanding of what makes the story work and how to bring it to life, he gets hamstrung by the way many of the scenes are constructed

Red Dragon Copies Silence of the Lambs

Many of the scenes feel poorly constructed and border on being copies of the superior Silence of the Lambs . Even the introduction we get to Lecter has a nearly identical shot to begin though soon loses the same sense of tension and darkness from Silence of the Lambs . It lacks the patience that conveys the quiet sense of peril. Possibly aware of this, Ratner had, according to USA Today , told Norton that he needed him to make some sort of motion to indicate Graham was scared of Lecter. To this suggestion, Norton said he had replied that “if you've filmed this correctly, the audience will know it.” While both the actors get us absorbed in the scene, it is the direction itself that often holds the film back in this scene and many others. Whereas the original brought us in for creepy close-ups that meant we couldn’t escape Lecter’s gaze, Ratner directs the scene in a manner that is more clumsily and conventional. There is a reason that the original scene is so iconic and memorable for just how mesmerizing it felt. All that made it great is noticeably missing here. There just isn’t the same confidence in everything being communicated visually, holding back the experience from being as great as it could be.

The Cast Saves Red Dragon

Despite all this, there is still much to appreciate in the rest of the work we’re getting to see. It isn’t just Hopkins and Norton as we also see some great performances from the rest of the cast as well. Be it Harvey Keitel as Graham's boss, Emily Watson as the Tooth Fairy's next target, or the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as Freddy Lounds, they all add a welcome gravitas in even the smallest of scenes. Of course, there is the always riveting Ralph Fiennes as the killer that sets the entire story in motion. Without tipping off too much of what happens towards the end for those that have not yet seen it, the way he takes us into the mind of the mass murderer through a dedicated physical and psychological performance is spectacular. There isn’t a moment where he isn’t completely inhabiting the menacing man that has struck fear into all those trying to track him down. It ensures that, by the time all pieces come together, it remains a well-acted film with great work from all in front of the camera.

Reader's Choice

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Review by Brian Eggert March 25, 2021

Whether or not you’re familiar with Manhunter , Michael Mann’s 1986 screen version of Thomas Harris’ first book to feature Hannibal Lecter, the 2002 adaptation of the same text, Red Dragon , must be seen. The cast alone warrants your time. Anthony Hopkins reprises his role as Lecter, making his third appearance as the cannibal psychiatrist, following his Oscar-winning bow in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and the ill-received sequel, Hannibal (2001). But Hopkins feels like an afterthought next to Edward Norton as Will Graham, the FBI profiler who takes down Hannibal in the first scenes. And Ralph Fiennes outperforms them both as Francis Dolarhyde, the disturbed killer with a cleft palate and lingering issues with women, be it the memory of his grandmother or a romantic prospect (Emily Watson). Rounding out the cast is Harvey Keitel as Jack Crawford, the head of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Division (played Scott Glenn originally), and Philip Seymour Hoffman in a small but wonderfully acted role as a sleazeball reporter. Together, they elevate a boilerplate thriller above Mann’s take, as well as its most immediate preceding entry in the Lecter franchise.

A mere 18 months passed between Hannibal ’s arrival in theaters and Red Dragon ‘s debut. Producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis couldn’t resist striking when the iron was hot, and Hannibal ’s more than $350 million box-office haul meant the Hannibal Lecter brand was indeed scorching. They fast-tracked the only other property available, Harris’ first Lecter book, which was familiar territory for the De Laurentiis Company. De Laurentiis produced and distributed Manhunter , and it bombed, but the time was right for another attempt. (The producer couple would eventually compel Harris to write a prequel, Hannibal Rising , but the less said about that, the better.) Fortunately, the producers convinced Ted Tally, screenwriter of Silence , to adapt the material. They also brought on prestige names like Danny Elfman as composer and Dante Spinotti as the cinematographer. A fourth of the almost $80 million budget went to Hopkins, while the rest went to the high-profile cast. The actual production cost was low, owing to the relatively low-key situations aside from some pyrotechnics in the last act.

From the outset, Red Dragon is a much more conventional Hollywood serial killer movie than Silence , and it’s almost as though the filmmakers intended a throwback, if only so one could watch the 1991 film and still feel that it was innovating on established archetypes. With that in mind, a standard story demands the customary trappings. For starters, the protagonist, as is usually the case, is a male detective. Norton’s Will Graham has a special knack for understanding serial killers, an “imagination” for detection that he shares with his consultant, Lecter, in the first scenes. When he stumbles upon Lecter’s particular appetite, the two confront and nearly kill each other. Lecter ends up behind plexiglass and under the thumb of some familiar faces—Anthony Heald and Frankie Faison return from Silence as Chilton and Barney, respectively. Graham steps away from the FBI to Marathon, Florida, with his wife (Mary-Louise Parker) and son. Inevitably, Crawford calls him back for one last job to investigate a new string of murders.

Enter Dolarhyde, a warped but not altogether unsympathetic character who grew up under the emotional abuse of his grandmother (never seen, but heard in Dolarhyde’s head with a voice provided by Ellen Burstyn). Dolarhyde has killed two idyllic families so far, and he’ll probably kill another on the next full moon unless Graham can stop him. Graham resorts to Lecter’s help for clues, but Lecter also wants revenge on Graham. Meanwhile, Dolarhyde struggles with the voices in his head, one of whom, the Red Dragon envisioned in William Blake’s painting, is telling him not to seek happiness with a charming blind coworker, Reba (Watson). Watching them together, you fear for Reba even as you hope that her kindness—and horniness, evidenced in a scene where she cops a feel on a sedated Bengal tiger, and then later she repeats the gesture on another powerful creature—might save Dolarhyde. But if that were to happen, there wouldn’t be a movie. Inevitably, things go south for the couple in a tragic and disturbing turn.

The standout remains Fiennes, who bulked up for and disappears into the role. Watch the frantic sequence where he runs about his old, dusty manor in the nude, searching for Reba, with the enormous dragon-like tattoo on his back on full display. Tom Noonan, who originated the role in Mann’s film, could give me nightmares without much effort (see The Pledge or Synecdoche, New York ). Fiennes does something else altogether, creating a sense of emotional fragility and delicacy in scenes with Reba, but he also bursts into volatile, monstrous violence. It’s strange, but the scariest scene remains when Dolarhyde hopes to silence his inner dragon, and so he visits the museum where Blake’s painting is stored. Somewhere in the killer’s mind, he convinces himself that he must ingest the painting to silence his impulse to murder Reba. So he tears the image apart and shoves chunks into his mouth, an act of possession and self-possession.

The actors do most of the work to make Red Dragon watchable. Without them, the material is handled rather plainly, and it might even be forgettable with another cast. Even Tally’s adaptation bears a striking resemblance to Mann’s script for Manhunter and thus fails to distinguish itself. Both scripts draw equally from Harris’ text, transporting much of the dialogue verbatim and leaving the director and cast to translate. And so, the actors’ choices (and in some cases, sheer screen presence) remain essential to the 2002 film’s superiority. It’s hardly an essential entry in the genre, but next to Hannibal ’s style-as-substance approach, it feels familiar and resembles, somewhat superficially, the basic appearance of Silence . If there’s a false note in the whole thing, it comes in the last scene where Chilton and Lecter chit-chat about Clarice Starling’s arrival. Nevermind that Lecter despises Chilton and Barney would have been a better choice for this scene. It’s tacked on just in time to prevent one from praising Red Dragon too much, and instead, remind us that we’re watching a cash cow prequel—albeit a handsomely crafted and impeccably acted one.

(Note: This review was suggested by supporters on Patreon . )

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Great, but too scary and violent for most teens.

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Very graphic violence, many deaths.

Nudity and sexual references and situations.

Strong language.

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Based on 5 parent reviews

Mysterious and nerve racking film has some grisly violence and images

Better than hannibal, but still lacks the thrills and quirkiness of the silence of the lambs, what's the story.

Hannibal Lecter is back in RED DRAGON. This time, FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) consults Lecter on a series of murders and then is responsible for his capture, after Lecter tries to kill him. Graham retires from the FBI, but is called back in to consult when another serial killer has murdered two families. Graham visits Lecter in prison to ask for his help tracking down a killer known as "The Tooth Fairy." Unbeknownst to Graham, Lecter is communicating with the killer, who is Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes). Meanwhile, Dolarhyde is drawn to his blind coworker Reba (Emily Watson), and he struggles with the demons that tell him to kill and the tender feelings he has for her. Graham must work quickly to uncover the killer's identity, because Dolarhyde's next intended victims are those closest to the FBI agent's heart.

Is It Any Good?

As engrossing as it is to track down the new killer, the real thrill of Red Dragon is the interaction between Graham and Lecter. Norton's character is more of a challenge for Lecter than novice Clarice Starling (from Silence of the Lambs ), and the history between them – and some similarities between them – make for some electric moments on screen. At first, the effort to explain Dolarhyde's compulsion seems overly simplistic, but the way it is used in the movie's climax makes it work.

Every single part of Red Dragon is meticulously cast and brilliantly performed. Among many notable appearances, particular standouts are Harvey Keitel and Ken Leung as FBI agents and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a tabloid reporter. But the primary pleasure here is just being so scared that you might forget to breathe.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how this series and the character Hannibal glorifies the idea of serial killers. Families can also talk about Graham's conversation with Reba. How was what he said important to her? If the FBI comes back to Will to ask him to help again, what should he do? Why? Why are people so fascinated with the Hannibal Lecter character?

Movie Details

In theaters : October 4, 2002
On DVD or streaming : April 1, 2003
Cast : Anthony Hopkins , Edward Norton , Ralph Fiennes
Director : Brett Ratner
Studio : Universal Pictures
Genre : Thriller
Run time : 124 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : graphic, intense violence and some nudity
Last updated : November 8, 2023

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FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW; Taking A Bite Out Of Crime

By Elvis Mitchell

Oct. 4, 2002

''EVERY single victim lost a body part used in cooking,'' says the F.B.I. agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) to an esteemed forensic psychiatrist helping him track a serial murderer in the drearily derivative ''Red Dragon.'' The problem is, the doctor Graham is consulting has hard, appraising eyes and a tendency to roll vowels around in his mouth, savoring them as if they were a '79 Pétrus; it's Hannibal (the Cannibal) Lecter, played once again with relish -- and probably wasabi mayonnaise -- by Anthony Hopkins.

But the dread the movie needs so desperately to create is gone, since Mr. Hopkins's satiny hamminess is so pronounced he might as well start carving thin, translucent slices off his own arm and serving them up with a side of white asparagus.

''Red Dragon,'' which opens nationwide today, is a thriller too timid to thrill because it's the devil we not only know, but that audiences have come to love; it features the best known anthropophagite since Grendel stalked the world of Beowulf. Hannibal's ready for a musical by now, or at the very least a one-man show at the Helen Hayes Theater. The director Brett Ratner is saddled with an unenviable task, and his ambition is almost inspiring. Lecter is such a huge presence at this point that he capsizes the picture's narrative, which is presumably a manhunt for a serial murderer other than Lecter.

Lecter is in prison, but a killer is attacking families in their homes on a lunar cycle. The now retired Graham is asked to help find him before the next full moon by Jack Crawford of the F.B.I. (Harvey Keitel). Graham is scarred, spiritually and literally. He was attacked by Lecter, and managed to stop the garroting gourmet before the good doctor found an appropriate serving suggestion. (What cheese goes with an F.B.I. agent?)

It's the cheese that the novelist Thomas Harris is so accomplished at putting out; he's one of the most adroit spinners of urban Gothic fiction since Philip K. Dick. ''Red Dragon'' was the first of the Lecter trilogy, and Lecter is only in a couple of sequences. The book really is about Graham's ticking-clock search for the killer known as the Tooth Fairy because of the bite marks he leaves on his victims.

At the spine of Mr. Harris's ''Dragon'' is a great paranoid premise: What if the thing you are best at puts you in touch with the worst part of yourself? For Graham -- and later for Clarice in ''The Silence of the Lambs'' -- it's the ability to enter the psyche of the killer and think the way he does.

''Akin to artistic imagination,'' Lecter purrs to Graham from his cell.

''Dragon'' is akin to artistic bankruptcy. The movie could have been directed by ''Avid Fan,'' the sobriquet the Tooth Fairy uses in his letters to Lecter. Mr. Ratner places Lecter in the same cell we saw him occupy in ''The Silence of the Lambs,'' the Stygian space that appears to be hell's rec room.

The camera even approaches Hannibal in the same way, moving slowly down the hallway to the smooth, waiting criminal. To his credit Mr. Hopkins still plays Lecter as though each conversation was an occasion for him to go slumming: verbally he dresses for dinner while everyone else shows up in track suits and flip-flops.

It must be noted, though, that much of Lecter's needle-pointed pronouncements are right out of the novel. Ted Tally, who won an Oscar for his ''Silence'' screenplay, knows that much of Mr. Harris's dialogue is camera ready; sometimes, the movie is so reverent that it's like listening to an audio book.

The best material in the picture -- and the book -- is sparkling, drawing-room comedy, like the exchanges between Graham and Lecter. And there are gamey comic moments featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman as the tabloid reporter Freddy Lounds.

Mr. Hopkins excels at this Grand Guignol comic relief, though it's tiresome because we've heard it before. The entire picture is a third-generation Xerox copy, in part because adapting Mr. Harris's books for the screen seems to turn directors into rigid formalists.

As for Mr. Ratner, whose breezy looseness is a refreshing signature, you can feel his ribs straining against a corset.

The movie seems cowed by the material. This is reflected in the interview in which Graham is trying to pick Lecter's brain. The F.B.I. operative is dressed in a blue blazer and striped tie; he's like some prep-school student seated in front of a particularly invidious headmaster. The sick gag is that Lecter is mentor to both cop and killer and is equally enamored of both. (The book makes a bit more of this.)

Mr. Norton's boyishness is dissipated here; with his puffy eyes and tense lower lip, Graham looks as if he hasn't slept since he apprehended Lecter.

The movie does get at a recurring theme in all of Mr. Harris's works: modern-day American loneliness experienced by people who can't accept what they are, like the cops and the criminals at the center of the books. (It's Lecter who is the freest, and he is treated as Old World aristocracy; he wouldn't be out of place at the Medici court.)

The lurid, morbid tenderness that ''Dragon'' extends to Francis Dolarhyde, the scarred, shy killer who is played here by Ralph Fiennes, is particularly freakish -- and affecting -- compassion.

Dolarhyde is the victim of child abuse, and the ancestral home he inhabits looks as if it were subleased from Norman Bates of ''Psycho.'' (The violent, emasculating grandmother heard in his flashbacks must have been friends with Norman's mother.)

It's tough to accept Mr. Fiennes, with his angelic, hurting eyes and firm raised chin, as an outcast. And the flamboyant soap opera between Dolarhyde and a blind co-worker, played by Emily Watson, is jaw-dropping. Just when you think the picture can't go any farther over the top, it finds a whole new peak to tumble over.

Because the picture so studiously apes ''Silence,'' it's missing the gruesome tingle that informed the first film version of ''Dragon,'' the 1986 ''Manhunter.''

Both pictures share a cinematographer, Dante Spinotti, who forgoes the high-gloss, primary-color resolution of ''Manhunter'' for gothic shadowy tones in this case. Michael Mann, the director of ''Manhunter,'' has a legitimate affinity for pulp. He didn't try to elevate a B-picture into something it couldn't live up to.

The real issue for many is the Hannibal Lecter taste test; Brian Cox's brisk, bored Lecter in ''Manhunter'' was all firing synapses, throwing away every single line. Mr. Mann had the advantage of the book being a lesser-known commodity, and he adjusted his sights. The Hannibal of ''Manhunter'' was scarier because what he had done was never revealed.

Mr. Ratner has a lot more to live up to. One of the more amusing things he does is cast Frankie Faison, the only actor to appear in all four Lecter movies, as a hospital worker. And the climax has a coldblooded panache that shows what the director might have done if he had been given more room to exert his own style.

But mostly the new movie adaptation of ''Red Dragon'' poses a philosophical question not found in Mr. Harris's novels: Can something really gory put you to sleep? ''Red Dragon'' says yes.

''Red Dragon'' is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for dialogue, sexuality and operatic violence and gore.

Directed by Brett Ratner; written by Ted Tally, based on the book by Thomas Harris; director of photography, Dante Spinotti; edited by Mark Helfrich; music by Danny Elfman; production designer, Kristi Zea; produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Martha De Laurentiis; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 126 minutes. This film is rated R.

WITH: Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal Lecter), Edward Norton (Will Graham), Ralph Fiennes (Francis Dolarhyde), Harvey Keitel (Jack Crawford), Emily Watson (Reba McClane), Mary-Louise Parker (Molly Graham), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Freddy Lounds), Anthony Heald (Dr. Chilton) and Frankie Faison (Barney).

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DVD & Streaming
Drama , Horror

Content Caution

In Theaters

Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter; Edward Norton as Will Graham; Ralph Fiennes as Francis Dolarhyde; Harvey Keitel as Jack Crawford; Emily Watson as Reba McClane; Philip Seymour Hoffman as Freddy Lounds

Home Release Date

Brett Ratner

Distributor

Universal Pictures

Movie Review

It’s tempting to open this review with, “He’s baaaack!” except in this movie, he hasn’t quite arrived yet. “He” being the cold, cunning, remorseless Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter, made famous in the movie The Silence of the Lambs . Red Dragon is actually the first story in the Thomas Harris trilogy about Lecter, and the movie opens with a prologue showing how the criminally insane serial killer was first captured.

FBI special agent Graham has a gift—or curse, depending on how you look at it—of being able to think like a serial killer. This is what helped him nail Lecter, although he was almost killed in the process. Called out of well-earned retirement by his former FBI boss, Jack Crawford, Agent Graham is asked to help track down another serial killer (Dolarhyde) who massacres families in their sleep and who has been dubbed The Tooth Fairy by the tabloids because of his penchant for biting his victims. This enrages him, as he considers himself the more menacing-sounding Red Dragon.

In the meantime, the unsuspecting Reba, who is blind, knows Dolarhyde only as a shy man with few friends, and the kindness she shows him and their growing friendship sparks an internal battle between the killer’s demonic Red Dragon persona and the smidgen of human kindness that remains in his warped personality.

Agent Graham needs help on this one, so who better to help him understand the mind of a killer than Lecter? Thus begins the grisly cat-and-mouse interplay between Graham, Lecter and The Tooth Fairy.

positive elements: Agent Graham adores his family; it is clear that he and his wife deeply love each other and their son. Graham, gun-shy after his near-death experience with Lecter, decides to pursue the new killer after seeing home movies of the families before they were slaughtered—all were apparently intact, loving homes—and seeing another close-knit family in a restaurant, who could easily be the killer’s next victims. The cruel abuse the serial killer suffered at the hands of his grandmother provides a negative lesson about parenting and loving discipline.

spiritual content: When asked what motivates a serial killer, Graham says, “Because it makes him feel like God. Would you give that up?” Lecter and Dolarhyde communicate through the personal ads in a trashy tabloid, using Bible verses as a sort of code. An alert FBI agent notes, however, that some of the verses don’t exist, implying he has a good knowledge of Scripture. Lecter curses God, calling Him a murderer for allowing natural disasters.

sexual content: Dolarhyde has a grotesque full-body tattoo of a red dragon on his back, and several scenes show full nudity from the rear and side. He is also seen running nude up a dark stairwell from the front, (the lighting mostly obscures the lower portion of his body). Dolarhyde seems obsessed with large-breasted women, and in a few scenes the camera lingers on cleavage. Reba initiates a sexual encounter with Dolarhyde (oral sex is implied). Her action is a shame, considering her friendship toward him until that time seemed pure and motivated by genuine kindness, not lust. A smarmy, sex-obsessed man is referred to by a rude joke. Drawings and old photographs contain images of nude men and women. A rape victim is briefly seen with her breasts exposed. Crude references are made to “wet dreams,” semen, erections, homosexuality and incest.

violent content: Simply put, this is a gory movie. Lecter stabs a man in the abdomen, whispering in his ear what his body is doing as he slowly dies. Lecter is in turn stabbed by a full quiver of arrows, then shot. Crime scene photos show blood-soaked mattresses and blood sprayed across a wall, as well as grisly close-ups of the victims. A murderer bites the nose off a victim. A man is super-glued to a wheel chair, set afire and rolled downhill. Several people are shot in the head. (Why does Hollywood always show people being shot square in the middle of the forehead?) Blood splatters across the face of a woman. A burning house explodes. A boy is threatened with a shard of shattered glass. A woman is hit over the head with club. Etcetera. Ad nauseam.

crude or profane language: Several uses of the f-word and s-word. The Lord’s name is abused more than a dozen times (including exclamations of “Jesus”). A cop shouts out a crude barnyard epithet and milder profanity tallies in at around 10.

drug and alcohol content: Reba and Dolarhyde drink beer. Lecter prefers wine. One man smokes a cigarette.

other negative elements: Lecter kills a symphony musician, and it is implied that his victim becomes the main course at a charity event. Lecter tells his dinner guests, “I love serving musicians.”

conclusion: Hannibal Lecter has morphed from killer to monster to parody. Star Anthony Hopkins admits that he had some reservations about doing this film for that reason. “But then I thought,” he says, “It’s not life or death. It’s only a movie, after all.” Still, to preserve something of his artistic sensibility, he insisted that he play Lecter “more dangerously, with lots more menace . . . with blazing anger and rage against everyone.”

Why is America so enthralled with this cannibalistic killer? “People respond to him. They find him seductive,” says screenwriter Ted Tally, who also adapted The Silence of the Lambs for the screen. “I think there’s a part of all of us that likes watching an anti-hero, someone who can get away with doing and saying things we could never get away with.”

In a perverse way, Tally tries to find humor in the sickest of depravity. We’re supposed to laugh knowingly when the symphony board eats one of its musicians, and indeed, many in the audience did laugh at the double entendre-laced commentary from Lecter.

Did the parents of the under-17 crowd that populated the showing I was at know what their kids were absorbing? Do you know what yours are?

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GAMES, BRRRAAAINS & A HEAD-BANGING LIFE

Horror Movie Review: Red Dragon (2002)

A prequel to the phenomenal Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon first sets out to re-establishing that Hannibal Lector isn’t the mis-understood anti-hero many see him as. Opening before the good doctor was caught we see him attempting to enjoy an orchestral performance. Clearly a man of refined taste the poor playing of a flute player seems to annoy Lector & later at a dinner party the flute player’s disappearance is mentioned.

Lector’s spree has caught the attention of the FBI, with agent Will Graham investigating. Believing it to be the work of a serial killer with cannibalistic tendencies Graham has been working with Lector to create a profile of the suspect. While talking with Lector, he uncovers proof that Lector is the man they are after. Graham is attacked by Lector & only just manages to fight him off wounding the doctor in the process.

Lector is captured & imprisoned in an institution for the criminally insane.

Years later & ‘The Tooth Fairy’ serial killer murders seemingly random families. The FBI is struggling to catch up with the killer so enlist the help of a retired Will Graham who is initially reluctant to get involved. He eventually agrees & begins building a profile of the sadistic killer, one that he can only complete with the help of Hannibal Lector.

Red Dragon treads a familiar path but for the most part manages to be exciting & nerve-racking. Showing how Lector was caught at the beginning of the movie instantly created a sense of affection for Will Graham, an agent who was getting closer & closer to Lector’s secrets. It’s also a timely reminder of just how much of a psychopath he is. This is emphasised more throughout the movie & while he still has a charm about him, he’s way more threatening than ever before.

The focus leans heavily on the new serial killer, The Tooth Fairy & the movie is better for it. A fascinating character but one it’s hard not to have sympathy for, being a product of a severely abusive grandmother. Ralph Fiennes excels in the role conveying intense psychotic behaviour mixed with a keen desperation to be normal.

It’s not just Fiennes who does an amazing job in his role, Edward Norton as Will Graham, Philip Seymour Hoffman as the skin-crawling tabloid journalist Freddy Lounds & Emily Watson as Reba McClane are all memorable characters who throw their all into the story. It’s hard to fault any actor but this time round I found Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Lector to be a bit more cartoonish & less enjoyable.

This is probably the most terrifying version of Lector as it halts any notion of a mis-understood individual. It’s not about humanising him but showing how evil & calculated he can be. His role is small thankfully as the focus is elsewhere & the movie is better for it.

Although the identity of the Tooth Fairy is revealed early to us other details such as his motives & just how he is able to get away with it stay hidden for most of the running time. It’s exciting to see Will Graham moving every closer to solving the puzzle & as he begins to put the pieces together the whole picture becomes clearer to the viewer too.

The movie walks the line between horror & thriller on occasion but sudden bursts of violence do remind you of just what kind of movie it wishes to be. These are often brutal moments that feel all too real but that is as much to do with the character behaviours & reactions as anything else.

Red Dragon is a good entry in the Hannibal film series but you can begin to see the strain as it begins to bulge under the weight of its own legacy.

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Red Dragon has been adapted to the screen - both in movies and TV - no less than three times. The story holds a unique spot in the pantheon of Hannibal Lecter stories for the strange and confusing way its legacy entered popular culture. Thomas Harris' novel that first introduced the demented but brilliant Dr. Lecter was adapted for the screen on three separate occasions, all with notably different interpretations. Despite not being as widely popular as The Silence of the Lambs , the influence of Red Dragon on the "Lecter-verse" is a significant reason for celebrating the icy thriller for all its faults and accomplishments.

Harris' novel follows FBI profiler Will Graham , who is gifted with impeccable investigative abilities allowing him to understand the minds of serial killers, as he consults Dr. Hannibal Lecter to help track down the grisly murderer dubbed "The Tooth Fairy," the alias of Francis Dolarhyde. Both the narrative and the 1981 year of publication precede the more recognizable The Silence of the Lambs , which was released in 1988 as a direct sequel novel, despite it coming first in the Anthony Hopkins movie franchise. Due to the immense critical success and cultural impact of Jonathan Demme's classic horror-thriller film, though, audiences have widely accepted Silence as the definitive Hannibal Lecter tale.

Related: Why Hannibal Never Adapted The Silence of the Lambs

The fact that the gateway Lecter film is based on the sequel to the first literary appearance of the character makes the history of Red Dragon somewhat confusing. The underrated Manhunt er, written and directed by Michael Mann, was released in 1986, five years before the film version of The Silence of the Lambs , and is a direct adaptation of Harris' crime thriller despite its difference in name. Brett Ratner also directed a Red Dragon adaptation that was released in 2002 and is more closely connected to Silence as well as its sequel Hannibal . Finally, elements of the unconnected television show Hannibal are strongly based on Red Dragon , especially the latter half of season 3.

Manhunter (1986)

Manhunter , a detective thriller that received tepid reviews upon release, has more recently been re-evaluated as a bold and artistic predecessor to future Thomas Harris adaptations. The name change from the title of the novel is due to the popularity of martial arts films at the time, especially producer Dino De Laurentiis' own Year of the Dragon , but this didn't save the film from being a box office bomb. The role of Will Graham went to William Peterson, who returned to the world of crime drama and forensics investigations in CSI as Gil Grissom, while Tom Noonan played Dollarhyde (spelled with two "l's" in this case) and Brian Cox played Hannibal Lecktor (also a different spelling).

The film is widely praised for the ways in which Michael Mann visually compares Graham and Dollarhyde to enunciate the blurred line between the monster and the monster-hunter. For all the terror that the Tooth Fairy perpetuates, Graham's conflict is as much an internal, psychological struggle as it is a physical battle against a killer. And William Peterson 's performance is excellent even if it's Cox's Lecter that gets the lion's share of praise these days. However, Manhunter doesn't afford quite the same complexity to Dollarhyde, snubbing his literary backstory in lieu of Graham's statement about his tragic childhood. The film also changes the novel's original, ultra bleak ending in which Dolarhyde fakes his own death and brutally maims Graham's face, an incident that is briefly referenced in The Silence of the Lambs but absent from Manhunter .

Red Dragon (2002)

Dino De Laurentiis took another stab at adapting Red Dragon in 2002, this time hoping that Anthony Hopkins would lure audiences who were now familiar with Hannibal Lecter to a prequel film. As a result, the narrative focuses on Lecter significantly more than the novel or Manhunter , in which the serial killer is more of a secondary figure to mirror Graham, now played by Edward Norton, as the detective flirts with madness. Despite this, the depiction of Dolarhyde, here played by Ralph Fiennes, is more faithful to the book, arguably to a fault. The killer's motivations are more elaborate and his psychology is based on a split personality.

Related: Clarice: How The CBS Show Fits Into Silence Of The Lambs Movie Timeline

Dolarhyde is obsessed with the William Blake painting The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun , believing that ritualistically murdering people will eventually transform him into the "Red Dragon." However, he struggles with his malevolent side and, in one particularly bizarre sequence awkwardly translated from the novel, eats the artwork at the Brooklyn Museum in an attempt to stifle his alternate persona. The added focus on Dolarhyde and Lecter, the latter of whom closes the film with a nod to Silence , means that Graham takes a backseat to the psychopaths. Unlike in Hannibal , where Will Graham's mental state is given more space to breathe and, unlike in Manhunter or the novel, his fraught mind is mostly unexplored.

Hannibal (2013 - 2015)

Hannibal showrunner Bryan Fuller took note of the negative reception to Norton's shallow portrayal of Will Graham and, in contrast, created what is arguably the darkest, most morally complex interpretation of the criminal profiler yet. Furthermore, Graham is the protagonist of the entire series, which covers material far outside the realm of just the Red Dragon novel. The story focuses on the relationship between Graham and Lecter, played by Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelson respectively, who start off working together for the FBI before Hannibal's true murderous intentions are brought to light. Graham's ability to empathize with serial killers leads to a struggle with violent impulses that Dr. Lecter often manipulates the forensics expert into embracing.

Dolarhyde, in fact, isn't introduced until the eighth episode of season 3, entitled "The Great Red Dragon," and is played by Richard Armitage . This arc is the closest adaptation of Red Dragon found in the show, incorporating the strange, quasi-mystical persona of the Tooth Fairy, painting-eating and all. This time, however, Fuller's trademark surreal visual style, lauded for destroying the separation between beautiful and disturbing, makes for a more seamless and satisfying transition from page to screen than Bryan Singer's unfussy direction. In this way, Hannibal manages to combine the best of both Manhunter and Red Dragon , exploring Will Graham's fascinating psyche while embracing the bizarrely horrifying mythos of Dolarhyde.

Next: Hannibal: Which Movie Each Season Adapts

Hannibal (2013)
Silence of the Lambs (1991)

"Poor William Blake"

What You Need To Know:

RED DRAGON is the first novel in the Hannibal Lector trilogy. In 1980, forensic psychologist Hannibal Lector, played by Anthony Hopkins, is captured in a bloody showdown with FBI agent, Will Graham, played by Ed Norton. Will retires to care for his family, but his superior, Mr. Crawford, talks him into coming back to solve some gruesome crimes where entire families were killed, the women raped, mirrors were broken, and pieces from the mirrors were placed in the dead people's eyes. The murderer, Francis Dolarhyde, played by Ralph Fiennes, thinks he is the incarnation of the Red Dragon figure from William Blake’s work and from the book of Revelation. Can Will stop him before the Red Dragon kills Will’s family?

RED DRAGON is big budget. Anthony Hopkins is over-the-top. Ed Norton is too laconic. Philip Seymour Hoffman is superb as a sleazy tabloid reporter. There are too many plot holes. The violence and references to cannibalism are intentionally grotesque and sensational. The Bible quoting is focused on the satanic. There is no hint of redemption. The ending is predictable. RED RAGON is neither good entertainment, nor good for one’s soul

(OO, B, C, H, LLL, VVV, SS, NN, A, D, M) Demonic occult worldview with moral messages, New Testament references, and ironic hero; 31 obscenities and 14 profanities; intense and excessive violence including cannibalism, man bites other man's tongue off, brains blown out, people sliced with mirrors and pieces of glass inserted into their eyes, man stabbed in chest, splattering blood, man stabbed with arrows, woman clubbed, point blank shootings, references to violence, and children threatened; suggested oral sex and fornication; male nudity, though private parts are not shown; alcohol use; smoking; and, devil painting tattooed on man's back, deception and Freudian claptrap about good man turned evil by his grandmother.

More Detail:

RED DRAGON is the first in the notorious Hannibal Lector trilogy of novels. Since this is such a popular movie franchise, extensive background information is not needed by, nor given to, the audience.

The movie opens in 1980 at a classical concert with forensic psychologist Hannibal Lector, played once more by Anthony Hopkins, hungrily staring at a member of the New York City symphonic orchestra. That night, Hannibal cooks some special dishes for the board of the symphony. They comment that it’s too bad one of the musicians is missing. One snooty board member asks for Hannibal’s recipe. He responds that she doesn’t want to know.

Later that evening, Hannibal’s FBI colleague, Will Graham, played by Ed Norton, shows up to discuss the case of some mutilated corpses. During the conversation, Will realizes that the Dr. Lector is probably the cannibal who has been maiming these murder victims. They struggle. Lector stabs him and Will drives some arrows into Lector. Both survive and Lector is sent to prison. Will retires from the FBI and moves his family to Marathon, Florida.

Soon Will’s superior, Mr. Jack Crawford, played by Harvey Keitel, shows up at his door to discuss another brutal series of murders. An entire family in Alabama, and another in Atlanta, were killed, the women raped, the mirrors in the houses were broken, and pieces from the mirrors were placed in the dead people’s eyes. Crawford begs Will to come back and step-by-step gets Will involved in the case.

The murderer, Francis Dolarhyde, played by Ralph Fiennes, is in communication with Hannibal. Francis fancies himself the incarnation of the Red Dragon figure from William Blake’s work and from the book of Revelation. Hannibal gets information to the Red Dragon telling him where Will’s family now lives. So the story boils down to whether Will can catch and stop this new murderer before the Red Dragon kills Will’s family.

RED DRAGON is a big budget, slick movie. The photography and music are sumptuous. Anthony Hopkins is over-the-top at times giving slightly too much comic relief. Ed Norton is laconic as the frightened FBI agent. Emily Watson is superb as Dolarhyde’s love interest. Philip Seymour Hoffman is superb as the sleazy tabloid reporter Freddy Lounds and almost redeems the movie.

Like many sequels of horror movies, there are plenty of plot holes. Such as why does everybody send their video tapes thousands of miles to be made into family movies? How does the Red Dragon get from the Midwest to Baltimore and Atlanta so quickly when he is only a poor, lowly employee at the video company? How does Dolarhyde digest the canvas of the Blake painting he’s eaten? Because of the intense action and the slick production, people will tend to miss the many plot holes, but they make for a bumpy ride.

The violence and references to cannibalism are intentionally grotesque and sensational. The filmmakers must know that several cannibalistic crimes were committed in light of the first movie SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, yet they have made no attempt to try to make these characters less enticing to susceptible youth.

There is Bible quoting in RED DRAGON, but it is focused on the satanic. There is no hint of redemption. Eventually, however, human good does triumph. The movie seems to indicate that there is a demonic realm without a corresponding recognition that there is a holy, supernatural realm governed by the God of the universe. Therefore, God is left out of the equation. Furthermore, Will spouts Freudian nonsense that Dolarhyde was once good, but made evil by his grandmother. This contradicts the reality that no man is good.

All of this philosophizing aside, the movie seemed almost paint-by-numbers. The ending is predictable. While the violence is upsetting, it is not scary. It is truly unfortunate that the public keeps on patronizing these movies. They are neither good entertainment, nor are they good for one’s soul.

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COMMENTS

Red Dragon movie review & film summary (2002)
"Red Dragon" opens with the pleasure of seeing Hannibal Lecter as he was before leaving civilian life. The camera floats above a symphony orchestra and down into the audience, and we spot Lecter almost at once, regarding with displeasure an inferior musician. Interesting, how the director forces our attention just as a magician forces a card: We notice Lecter because he is located in a strong ...
Red Dragon
Feb 7, 2007 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Manhunter, Michael Mann's 1986 adaptation of Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon, is superior to Brett Ratner's 2002 Red Dragon, but the contest ...
Red Dragon
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 17, 2022. Gets wrong and flattens out into a mainstream, homogenous smudge all the distinctive elements of Jonathan Demme's iconic 1991 work, The Silence of ...
Red Dragon (2002)
Red Dragon: Directed by Brett Ratner. With Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel. A retired FBI agent with psychological gifts is assigned to help track down "The Tooth Fairy", a mysterious serial killer. Aiding him is imprisoned forensic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter.
Red Dragon
Mixed or Average Based on 36 Critic Reviews. 60. 56% Positive 20 Reviews. 42% Mixed ... everything what id excpect in an action movie. this movie is underrated. edward norton does a great job at capturing will graham. Read More Report. 10. LoRevisor Sep 29, 2015 Me julguem, mas acho que Red Dragon (2002), entreter mais na minha opinião que ...
Red Dragon (2002)
7/10. Great prequel. theshadow908 12 July 2006. Red Dragon takes place just before the events of The Silence of the Lambs. In this movie, a deranged serial killer is killing entire families every month on the night of the full moon. Jack Crawford of the FBI calls in retired agent Will Graham to help catch the killer.
Red Dragon (2002 film)
Red Dragon is a 2002 psychological thriller film based on the 1981 novel by Thomas Harris.It was directed by Brett Ratner and written by Ted Tally.It is the third film of the Dino De Laurentiis Company production, last produced by Universal Pictures, and last starred by actor Anthony Hopkins.It follows The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Hannibal (2001) as a prequel, being followed by Hannibal ...
Red Dragon
"Red Dragon" is an odd project in a number of ways, being a remake of the 1986 film that itself adhered pretty closely to the 1981 novel, despite the distinctively contemplative tone Mann's ...
Red Dragon Review
Red Dragon Review. Retired FBI Investigator Will Graham is lured back into action after a series of grisly murders undertaken by serial killer Francis Dolarhyde, aka The Tooth Fairy. To help crack ...
Red Dragon
An insult to the adaptation by Michael Mann. Mann embraced the novel with an original eye and created a atmospheric and stylish film in 1986. Red Dragon is a poor remake and exemplifies an ...
Red Dragon Review: The Acting Holds Up, But Not the Directing
The Movie's Direction Is Lackluster. There is a rage and danger lurking just below the surface in every single interaction. Though Lecter spends the entire film largely in confinement, we see that ...
Red Dragon (2002)
Whether or not you're familiar with Manhunter, Michael Mann's 1986 screen version of Thomas Harris' first book to feature Hannibal Lecter, the 2002 adaptation of the same text, Red Dragon, must be seen.The cast alone warrants your time. Anthony Hopkins reprises his role as Lecter, making his third appearance as the cannibal psychiatrist, following his Oscar-winning bow in The Silence of ...
Red Dragon Movie Review
Mysterious and nerve racking film has some grisly violence and images. Red Dragon is a crime investigation film about FBI agent Will Graham taking on the case of a cold blooded killer nicknamed "the tooth fairy" who murders innocent families in cold blood. If the description doesn't already explain enough, the film can be very violent and ...
Red Dragon (4K UHD Review)
Like the video portion of this presentation, the audio soars. Red Dragon on 4K Ultra HD sits in a black amaray case alongside a 1080p Blu-ray containing the film and the bulk of the bonus materials. The insert and slipcover both use the artwork from the original theatrical poster (as have most home video releases of the film).
FILM REVIEW; Taking A Bite Out Of Crime
It's tough to accept Mr. Fiennes, with his angelic, hurting eyes and firm raised chin, as an outcast. And the flamboyant soap opera between Dolarhyde and a blind co-worker, played by Emily Watson ...
Images
movie review Gary Johnson. Red Dragon, the newest installment in the Hannibal Lecter series, is Hollywood's second go at Thomas Harris' best-selling novel of the same name.In 1986 Michael Mann wrote and directed a generally well-regarded version of the same story, under the title Manhunter.However, after the success of The Silence of the Lambs, with Anthony Hopkins delivering a bold and ...
Red Dragon Movie Review
I review Red Dragon. A Remake of Manhunter and a true prequel to Silence of the Lambs. Bring snacks.Directed byBrett RatnerStarringAnthony HopkinsEdward Nor...
Red Dragon
Movie Review. It's tempting to open this review with, "He's baaaack!" except in this movie, he hasn't quite arrived yet. "He" being the cold, cunning, remorseless Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter, made famous in the movie The Silence of the Lambs.Red Dragon is actually the first story in the Thomas Harris trilogy about Lecter, and the movie opens with a prologue showing how the ...
Horror Movie Review: Red Dragon (2002)
Horror Movie Review: Red Dragon (2002) ... Red Dragon treads a familiar path but for the most part manages to be exciting & nerve-racking. Showing how Lector was caught at the beginning of the movie instantly created a sense of affection for Will Graham, an agent who was getting closer & closer to Lector's secrets. ...
Red Dragon (2002)
The "Tooth Fairy" is a vicious murderer who kills entire families at once, covering the eyes of his victims with bits of a shattered mirror. Graham finds he needs help putting together the pieces of the "Tooth Fairy" case, and he calls upon Lecter looking for advice. Lecter, at once vaguely helpful and self-serving, as usual, offers scraps of ...
Red Dragon: All 3 Times The Novel Was Adapted To Movies & TV
Published Sep 27, 2020. Red Dragon is an important part of the Hannibal Lecter saga, but the original novel has had a strange and confusing journey to the screen. Red Dragon has been adapted to the screen - both in movies and TV - no less than three times. The story holds a unique spot in the pantheon of Hannibal Lecter stories for the strange ...
RED DRAGON
RED DRAGON is the first novel in the Hannibal Lector trilogy. In 1980, forensic psychologist Hannibal Lector, played by Anthony Hopkins, is captured in a bloody showdown with FBI agent, Will Graham, played by Ed Norton. Will retires to care for his family, but his superior, Mr. Crawford, talks him into coming back to solve some gruesome crimes ...
Red Dragon
Anthony Hopkins reprises his Oscar-wining role as the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the thrilling prequel critics are hailing as 'A Suspenseful Masterpiece!' (Fox-TV) After capturing Dr. Lecter, FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) retires only to be called back to active duty to hunt down an exclusive killer, 'The Tooth Fairy' (Ralph Fiennes). Red Dragon is the electrifying, critically ...

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