popzit

I haven't seen a movie this bad in many years. Two things certainly helped coming to this conclusion: 1. Only days before shooting the Morocco parts of the film, the director admitted that NONE---read that NONE-of the characters had been cast. 2. Having multiple yawn, boring, and trite story lines caused this film to drag like a dog with no legs. Yes, I know many other readers thought this film was the cat's meow, but PLEEEEEEEEZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This film bored me so much that I turned off the DVD player and started watching the TV Guide channel. Avoid this yawner at all costs. And, Brad Pitt, whom I love as an actor, did not give a rousing performance. I liked him better in The Mexican.

A work associate told me that the movie Manhunter "pulled together" the missing pieces from S O T L and Red Dragon. After watching RD and Manhunter, I realized that they are the same film. DUH!!!! for me. However, RD and MH were both disappointing. Although Brian Cox is a great actor, in this film he didn't pull off Lecktor's character like Anthony Hopkins did in S O T L. But William Peterson was magnificent as the tortured FBI agent. Overall, Manhunter was a little better than RD but not much. In RD, Anthony Hopkins was too mechanical and Edward Norton was not right for the part he played. Manhunter was more dramatic and scary than RD, and for that I gave it a 6-just above mediocre. In my book, not worthy of having in my DVD collection. "Of course, that's just my opinion-I may be wrong." (Dennis Miller quote.)

The other reviews detail the opinions of others and the plot outline, so I won't duplicate their efforts. The movie has always been one of my favorites since I first saw it in the theatres and the dearth of a DVD version has saddened me for many years. With the release of a DVD, the wait is now over. I have owned, and wore out, several VHS copies of the movie, and they all had a kind of "fog" surrounding the video presentation. I could never figure that out. On the other hand, the DVD producers have managed to make the DVD version with a crystal-clear video presentation and very acceptable audio presentation. In addition, the Dave Grusin soundtrack is superbly reproduced. Thanks to those who took the time to let "our" wishes for a DVD become known to the studio, and special thanks to the producers who took some extra time to give this film it's due.