Hannibal Description
After a decade in abeyance, the courtly cannibal, Hannibal Lecter, returns to the screen, again played by Anthony Hopkins, under the direction of Ridley Scott. When F.B.I. Agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore) is blamed for a botched drug bust, her boss Paul Krendler (Ray Liotta) makes a media circus of her humiliation, which catches the attention of Lecter. Now a hardened veteran, she begins receiving letters from the twisted genius, who remains obsessed with her. Yet she's not the only one interested in drawing out the psychopath, now lecturing on the Renaissance in Florence. Italian detective Pazzi (Giancarlo Giannini) hopes to impress his young wife by nailing the reward for his capture, and wealthy pedophile Mason Verger (Gary Oldman) is eager to take revenge against the cannibal for leaving him with a hideously deformed face. But they're no match for Hannibal's coyly satanic ubiquity, which bewilders his quickly narcotized foes before he administers a punishment sufficiently grotesque to suit his sense of amusement. The odious Krendler, in particular, learns to use his gray matter for, perhaps, the first time in his life. However, all is prologue to his fated rendezvous with Clarice. A banquet for the splatterati, reveling as it does in gore and dismemberment, the film features brilliant work by a stellar cast, and the kind of meticulous art direction and lushly magnificent photography that one has come to expect of one of Scott.

"...Handsomely staged....[The] presentation is mournfully beautiful; rarely has a director used so many variations on midnight blue..."

"I should tell you...I've given serious thought...to eating your wife."--Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to Pazzi (Giancarlo Giannini)

"Hello, Clarice..."--Hannibal Lecter to Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore)

"...Gruesomely engrossing....Lecter remains a riveting figure of fear..."

"...Tantalizing, engrossing....HANNIBAL imparts its own pleasures by painting a portrait of a man of ultimate civilized refinements whose dark side always threatens to lurch out violently..."

Theatrical Release: February 9, 2001

Shooting locations: Richmond, VA, Asheville, NC, Washington, D.C., and Florence and Sardinia, Italy.

Jodie Foster, who starred in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, passed on the film, because she was dissatisfied with the manner in which the character of Clarice was handled.
Jonathan Demme, the director of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, passed on the film due to what he felt was its excessive violence.

Julianne Moore underwent basic FBI training at the organization's Quantico, VA facility, in preparation for her role.

Anthony Hopkins has stated that he based Lecter's gait on that of a cat.

Italy's Popular Political Party protested the shooting of one of Lecter's murders in the historic Palazzo Vacchio.

Red Dragon Description
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.

"...RED DRAGON lets Anthony Hopkins have more fun for fun's sake than he has ever had playing history's most urbane cannibal..."

"...Hannibal Lecter scores again in RED DRAGON....Inescapably creepy....An intense, unnerving experience..."

"...[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..."

"...A deeply atmospheric chiller that maintains a constant hum of droning menace....You'll be gnawing away at your cuticles..."

"...An exceptional thriller....Solid, well-crafted..."

Theatrical release: October 4, 2002