Customer Reviews
Worth seeing but nothing to rave about - By: Chris Wood, 19 Jun 2008 
This is an entertaining enough effort, but cashesin too strongly on The Silence of the Lambs. Hopkins is good as usual, & Edward Norton is particularly good, but the rest feels a little contrived. Not enough of this gels, & it doesn't have the same unsettling vibe as "Manhunter."
Still worth seeing for some good bits, though.
boring - By: martin thomas, 07 Jun 2008 
bland & dull this boring & pointless film sees antony hopkins return to his signature role.
Don't waste your time and money on this, watch Manhunter - By: Dazman, 06 Jun 2008 I agree with some other reviews after having owned Manhunter for sometime now I can't help but compare these 2 films.
As a film on it's own it's okay I guess, but it really does grind on me the amount of times that the dialogue from Manhunter is repeated word for wordin parts, so annoying!!
None of the cast is on form here, I respect the work of Sir Anthony Hopkins, Phillip Seymour Hoffman & Harvey Keitel alot, but even they are unconvincingin their roles, to be fare to Hoffman he's barelyin the film which is a real shame as he can act unlike Edward Norton who's atrocious & Ralph Fiennes who putsin yet another dire performance.
The "music"in this film often tries to add tension to the film where none exists, give me Manhunter, Silence of the lambs or Hannibal any day of the week & twice on Sunday over this poor excuse of a film, if you do watch this make sure that you have not already watched Manhunter as you'll only be disappointed. 2 stars as a stand alone film, 1 when compared to Manhunter.
fantastic thriller - By: Camilla Lea, 06 Mar 2008 
I loved Red Dragon, I thought it was mentally & emotionally engaging, with the plot & its various twists keeping you on your toes. As with any thriller it kept the suspense, tension & anticipation high throughout the film so be prepared for a bumpy ride.
Edward Norton is fantastic as the cop hunting down the killer & Feinnes is scarily-convincing as the schitzophrenic psychopath. Of course, Hopkins is his usual brilliant self & is chilling as Hannibal Lecter.
For anyone whol likes a film that keeps them on the edge of their seat, this is the film for you.
Red Dragon - money in the bank - By: Eddie, 21 Jan 2008 So was Dino de Laurentis short of cash? Doubtful. Was he trying to recoup money lost on the box office failure of Manhunter, Michael Mann's superior version from 1986? Possibly. Did he feel that Mann's version lacked artistic integrity & wanted to improve on it? Very doubtful but if he did, he was utterley misguided. Or did he simply want to line up all the Leckter based filmsin order to complete the set with Anthony Hopkins? I doubt that too.
More likely he just wanted to make more money from those who would pay to see yet another inferior remake. Yes, that must be it. Many who saw Manhunter fail to recognise it as an exceptionally well crafted piece of film-making & comparisons to it are inevitable. Certainly Red Dragon is an acceptable piece of entertainment when viewed as a stand-alone piece, butin comparison to Manhunter it is considerably inferior. Mann has a strong visual style which uses composition & colour to great effect & the use of music is considered without becoming overwhelming. The director here, Brett Ratner, offers nothing specialin the way of style, attempting to emulate the feel of Silence of the Lambs & frequently the music getsin the way of any intended suspense. It is interesting to note, however, that the same cinematographer, Dante Spinotti, worked on both films.
Anthony Hopkins is beginning to look tiredin his role as Leckter although the depth that he gave the rolein Silence of the Lambs made for a truly frightening character. I always preferred Brain Cox (although his was hardly a starring role), but he had the power to chill, something which Hopkins' Leckter does not. Edward Norton is here badly miscast & while he is a fine actor who is always watchable, here he looks too young & fresh to make the Will Graham character convincing as someone who is able to 'get inside the head' of the killer, something thatin the story he has done to the point of being seriously psychologically affected by it. Norton coasts easily through the role, as does Harvey Keitel & while Ralph Fiennes offers up an acceptable killer with a deranged psyche, he pales agains Tom Noonan's Dollarhyde from the earlier film. Noonan was terrifying as the killer yet he evoked sympathy, a synthesis which serves to disturb the viewer far more than any graphic murders which thankfully we were spared. This was especially evidentin the bedroom scene following Reba's seduction. The scene with the tiger, incredibly poignantin Manhunter, simply falls flat here, as does the moment of revelation when Graham finally places the last piece with the film canister labels. This sense of flatness pervades the whole film.
Red Dragon does however, include fragments of Dollarhyde's past. This was fairly extensivein the book & non existantin Mann's film (again, Noonan's performance made it unnecessary), but here it simply provides a convenient way for Graham to extricate himself from the situation which precedes the final showdown, itself made predictable at a point much earlierin the film. And of course,in the way of Fatal Attraction we have the now well overused false ending but don't worry, I haven't spoilt anything, you'll be expecting it.
The story itself is generally much the same asin the earlier film but lacks everything which made that film special. If you've not seen Manhunter, Red Dragon is standard serial killer fare: see it then watch the original. If you have seen the earlier version, don't bother.
