hannibaldvd

"Hannibal", despite comments from the film makers, is a continuation of the story portrayed in 1991's "The Silence Of The Lambs". Ten years after escaping from prison, Hannibal Lecter (played brilliantly by the one and only Hopkins) is living it up in Florence under the guise of a curator of a historic library. But when the Italian police department pick up on him, word gets back to both Mason Verger, a hideously disfigured former client of Lecter's who wants revenge, and Clarice Starling, female lead in "Lambs". What follows is a three way fight to get to Lecter first, the Italian police detective tempted by the hefty reward on Lecter's capture, Verger hell bent on causing Lecter pain, and Starling, who wants Lecter put back where he belongs.
Many people felt this was a poor follow up to "Lambs", and while it lacks the psychological thriller aspect that made the first film so captivating, Lecter does get a LOT more screen time this time around, something fans of the character cannot disagree with! This film also features a lot more action content, the shoot out at the fish market especially, as well as moments of tension (trying to find Lecter in a crowded shopping centre), and out and out horror (THAT ending with the Krendler character getting, shall we say, a taste of his own medicine).
It is perhaps unfair to discard this film as poor, because it isn't. Scott is a fantastic director (he brought us, amongst other things, 'Blade Runner', 'Alien' and of course the epic 'Gladiator'). It's just that it seems the course of the Lecter character has reached an end - in "Lambs" you really felt the horror and genuine scariness of Hopkin's portrayal, whereas here the character has become seemingly more light hearted, and despite some great quotes, you'll find yourself being entertained by Lecter, not frightened, as was the case with the earlier film. Oldman (unrecognisable in make up) excels as the disfigured Verger, and Moore lends herself admirably to the role of Starling (nobody plays the role like Jodie Foster though...) Still, a very good movie in itself, backed by some amazing extra features (see below).

EXTRA FEATURES
The special features on this disc are, simply, fantastic. It'll take you a long time to get through this lot. On disc one you have an informative commentary from Ridley Scott, who talks you through the film thoroughly, explaining locations, history and general on set experiences. Disc two though, is where the meaty stuff lies. First up is a superb collection of features that can be played separately or together to form a 75 minute behind the scenes documentary. This is split into five sections (development, production, make up, music and premiere) and chats with all the major players in the film, from actors to producers to special effects crew. There are 13 deleted and extended scenes, which, while at times repeating scenes from the film with added dialogue (in the extended parts) give view adding up to around 34 minutes, all of which can be viewed with a commentary from Scott giving reasons for why they were cut, and alternative ending that gives more clues to Lecters' final movements in the film and also portrays him as still genuinely nasty. There is also a multiple angle section, including a breakdown of the fish market scene (where you can watch the footage filmed on four different cameras - either all together or individually), a storyboard sequence with an interview with Scott and notes by Nick Livesey, and an exploration of how the unique opening titles were shot, with alternative voice overs and angles. Added to this are the usual promotional materials - trailers, TV ads, poster concepts, photo galleries and strange animated menus. All in all, a glorious package to own on digital format!