| | | A Brett Ratner Film.
Features: HD DVD, Widescreen, Dolby, Digital Audio, Dolby Digital (5.1), English, Spanish, French
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 acclaimed movie that "returns the series to The Silence of the Lambs form" (Jack Mathews, New York Daily News).
"Lovers of the original The Silence of the Lambs will be ecstatic to see that cinematic lightning can strike twice." Brian Webster, Apollo Movie Guide
"...a suitably dark, dread-inducing look..." Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
"Hopkins' Lecter once again makes an unabashedly amoral and shockingly amusing impact as modern cinema's most sardonically erudite bogeyman." Joe Leydon, San Francisco Examiner
"...delivers the goods in scary fun." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
" A bowel-curdling, heart-stopping recipe for terror." Ron Stringer, L.A. Weekly
Editor's Note
Based on the novel by Thomas Harris, RED DRAGON stars Edward Norton as Will Graham, the intuitive FBI agent who captured the notorious Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). When another killer, dubbed "the Tooth Fairy," begins a series of bizarre, seemingly random killings, the now-retired Graham reluctantly agrees to aid in the investigation. In order to get further into the mind set of the murderer, Graham consults the imprisoned Lecter, who offers cryptic commentary that the determined agent must decipher. However, the Tooth Fairy himself, Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes), is also in contact with the infamous epicurean, and the case soon develops into a deadly cat-and-mouse game, with Lecter deviously playing both sides. Rather than attempting to remake MANHUNTER--Michael Mann's 1986 adaptation of RED DRAGON starring William L. Petersen as Graham and Brian Cox as Lecter--or recreate the monster-movie atmosphere of HANNIBAL, director Brett Ratner wisely chooses to focus on the character-driven specifics of the first Hannibal Lecter novel. As in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, the unblinking Hopkins makes the most out of his screen time as the eloquent yet terrifying former forensic psychologist. Norton is excellently understated as the talented investigator, while Fiennes explores the full range of his conflicted character, from a sensitive man-child to a methodical psychopath. These key performances are enhanced by strong supporting turns by Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Harvey Keitel, and Mary-Louise Parker. Ratner's capable direction extends to his choice of crew, which includes SILENCE OF THE LAMBS screenwriter Ted Tally and production designer Kristen Zea, as well as MANHUNTER cinematographer Dante Spinotti. This collection of talent combines to create an engaging and eerie thriller that brings the Hopkins-as-Lecter trilogy full circle.
| Features | Audio Commentaries | | Audio: English, French, Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Surround Sound | | Brett Ratner's Student Film | | Deleted/Extended Scenes | | Dubbed: French, Spanish | | Featurettes: Inside The Mind Of A Serial Killer - Hosted By John Douglas, Anthony Hopkins - Lecter & Me, A Director's Journey - The Making Of Red Dragon, Visual Effects, The Burning Wheelchair, The Leeds Crime Scene, & Makeup Application | | Interactive Menus | | Lecter's FBI File & Life History | | Scene Selection | | Screen Tests | | Storyboards | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | This Is An HD-DVD Made For HD-DVD Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture & Sound |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 9/12/2006 |
| Running Time: 125 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2002 | | Catalog ID: 31286 | | UPC: 00025193128621 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | USA Today
"...RED DRAGON lets Anthony Hopkins have more fun for fun's sake than he has ever had playing history's most urbane cannibal..." 10/04/2002 p.13DVariety
"...Hannibal Lecter scores again in RED DRAGON....Inescapably creepy....An intense, unnerving experience..." 09/30/2002 p.24-71 Chicago Sun-Times
"...[Ratner] does a sure, stylish job, appreciating the droll humor of Lecter's predicament, creating a depraved new villain in the Tooth Fairy, and using the quiet intense skills of Norton..." 10/04/2002 p.35 Total Film
"...A deeply atmospheric chiller that maintains a constant hum of droning menace....You'll be gnawing away at your cuticles..." 11/01/2002 p.100-1 Box Office
"...An exceptional thriller....Solid, well-crafted..." 12/01/2002 p.62 ReelViews 6 of 10
It's all about greed. Make no mistake, that is the only reason why Red Dragon exists. It has nothing to do with the filmmakers wanting to "complete" the Hannibal Lecter trilogy with Anthony Hopkins in the key role. It has nothing to do with the filmmakers wanting to "update" an already-filmed story...The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal were money makers, so producer Dino De Laurentiis, never one to ignore the smell of lucre, has struck again...Like most motion pictures whose sole reason for existing is the almighty dollar, Red Dragon is poorly conceived and poorly executed. The film's attempts to replicate the Clarice/Hannibal mind games of The Silence of the Lambs with Will and the good doctor fizzle. There's no connection between these two characters. They're one dimensional puppets mouthing lines of Ted Tally's dialogue. And the chase of Dolarhyde doesn't build to anything...There may be a suspenseful story to be found in Red Dragon, but Brett Ratner is not the man to bring it to the screen. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
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. - Roger Ebert
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