| | | The only way to stop a killer is by going in to the mind of a madman.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Pan and Scan (TV Format), Special Edition, Deleted Scenes, Documentary
Anthony Hopkins and Jody Foster deliver sensational Oscar-winning performances in this "shockingly powerful thriller" (New York Magazine). "Stunning" (Los Angeles Times) and "spellbinding" (The Hollywood Reporter), this terrifying masterpiece garnered five Academy Awards, including Best Director and the coveted Best Picture. A vicious psychopath is murdering women throughout the Midwest. Believing that it takes one to know one, the FBI sends agent Clarice Starling (Foster) to interview a prisoner who may provide clues to the killer's actions. The prisoner is Hannibal Lechter (Hopkins), a brilliant, demented cannibal who agrees to help Starling only if she'll feed his morbid curiosity with details of her own complicated life. But as their relationship develops, Starling is forced to confront not only her hidden demons...but also an evil so powerful that she may not have the courage--or strength--to stop it!
"A Knockout! The most exciting thriller in years!" The New York Times
"Unbearably intense and brilliantly acted and cannily put together..." Leonard Maltin
Editor's Note
Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins will likely be forever associated with their roles in this bone-chilling masterpiece, based on the novel by Thomas Harris and directed by Jonathan Demme. FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Foster) is sent by her supervisor (Scott Glenn) to interview ferociously intelligent serial killer Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lechter (Hopkins) at his cell in a Maryland mental hospital. The FBI hopes Lechter can provide insight into the mind of killer-at-large, Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), whose current abductee happens to be the daughter of a senator. Intrigued by Clairice, Lechter demands information about her personal life and in exchange for clues, and the two begin to form a strangely intimate connection, with a girl's life hanging in the balance. Starling is gradually revealed as a woman struggling out of her own darkness, bound to aid the dysfunctional males around her on their own paths of transformation, liberation, and destruction. This is a film of brilliant and disturbing beauty that transcends its B-movie origins (though it does honor them with a cameo appearance by Roger Corman). Its enduring influence has led to a slew of similarly dark-toned serial killer films, and a sequel, HANNIBAL (2001).
| Features | French Subtitles | | Scene Access | | Interactive Menus | | Spanish Mono | | English Subtitles | | Spanish Subtitles | | TV Spots | | English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround | | French Stereo Surround | | Photo Gallery | | Collectible Booklet | | Theatrical Trailers | | Original 1991 "Making Of..." Featurette | | Never-Before-Seen Outtake Reel | | Anthony Hopkins' Phone Message | | Widescreen Version Enhanced For 16x9 TVs | | New "Inside The Labyrinth" Documentary With All New Cast Interviews Featuring Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster And More | | Deleted Scenes |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: MGM |
| Release Date: 8/21/2001 |
| Running Time: 118 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1991 | | Catalog ID: 1002331 | | UPC: 00027616865502 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1992) |  | Anthony Hopkins, Winner, Best Actor | | Jodie Foster, Winner, Best Actress | | Jonathan Demme, Winner, Best Director | | Ted Tally, Winner, Best Writing, Screenplay Based On Material From Another Medium | |
Golden Globe (1992) | | Jodie Foster, Winner, Best Actress--Drama |
| Memorable Quotes| "Believe me, you don't want Hannibal Lecter inside your head."----Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) | | "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."----Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins); the classic sucking sound Hopkins made after this line was ad--libbed | | "I do wish we could chat a little longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner."----Hannibal Lecter |
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"...Superbly crafted....THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS slams you like a sudden blast of bone-chilling, pulse-pounding terror..." 03/07/1991 p.87-8Sight and Sound
"...A sombre masterpiece....The film creates a world drained of light, counterpointed by a sinister and unsettling score..." 06/01/1991 p.62-3 USA Today
"...[A] superbly crafted, unsettling movie....Demme pumps up the tension to a deafening din..." -- 4 out of 4 stars 02/14/1991 p.1D Entertainment Weekly
"LAMBS remains a great film. A groundbreaking film." -- Grade: A 02/02/2007 p.111 Los Angeles Times
"...Hopkins' performance may be the film's bravura showpiece, but Foster's goes the whole distance, steadfast, controlled, heartbreakingly insightful, a fine addition to her gallery of characterizations..." 02/13/1991 p.F1 Premiere
"Hopkins's portrayal of the world's most urbane serial killer is a wonder of both actorly invention and villainous instinct." 04/01/2004 p.70 Uncut
4 stars out of 5 -- "[S]till the definitive upmarket serial killer thriller, achieving the almost unprecedented feat of winning all five major Oscar categories..." 03/01/2006 p.134 Ultimate DVD
5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] rare horror that transcends the genre and has arguably become a modern classic." 03/01/2007 p.114 Chicago-Sun Times 8 of 10
...true suspense, unblinking horror and an Anthony Hopkins performance that is likely to be referred to for many years when horror movies are discussed. - Roger Ebert
Washington Post 8 of 10
A smart, restrained entertainment, it doesn't splash around in blood and hysteria. It doesn't have to. The menace exists in small places, in Hopkins's eyes, or in the threat posed by "Buffalo Bill..." - Desson Howe
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5
