Hannibal

SOME SPOILAGE BELOW....KINDA....

I agree with TWT on this one. I too was disappointed. After ten years (not just movie time -- WE waited ten years too), Clarice and Hannibal finally meet again, and frankly, she's pretty much doped up on morphine the whole time and Hannibal doesn't seem as infatuated with her as we KNOW he is. He's too busy serving dinner and poking around Ray Liotta's brain.

I just felt as if the big buildup of those two meeting again was a let-down.

And I also think that Oldman's character of Mason could have been a much better foil/anti-hero, but they lost on that one as well.

I think the first half of the script was far better than the second half. It almost seemed as if the second half they were making up as they went along. "Silence of the Lambs" had far more intricacies of plot, and you really had to pay attention to realize the significance of stuff that happened, and that continued throughout the entire movie.

In "Hannibal," there weren't the same subplots to think about. It was so straightforward as to be predictable, when compared with the first film.

Julianne Moore wasn't bad, but no Jodie Foster, who just exudes uptightness and fear so much better than Moore.

Hopkins very nearly saves the film with his creepiness, and Oldman does well too. But frankly, in some spots (the dinner/brain scene, for instance), Hopkins almost seemed like one of his butler characters.

I'd call the movie, "Human Remains of the Day."



Linda

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I've already talked to Chris about this, but oh well. I didn't think the end scene was goofy at all. I loved it. I thought it was perfect to the character of Hannibal. He does everything I wish I could do. By that I don't mean to kill and eat people, but just the way he acts and conducts himself, I think hes such a cool character. The end scene was a better adaptation from the book, so that made me like it even more. I just kept smiling during the end scene and making little comments to my friends while the rest of theater squirmed. Also Chris thought the movie was gory and gross, I didn't think it was really. The scenes were gory insense, but I didn't think they were as explicit as they could have been. As they were in the book. I guess you just have to read the book to like the movie more than you did.

As for the pickpocket scene, in the book it is very, very elaborate and suspensful. It takes several days and involves more than one pickpocket.

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I preferred Silence, but that doesn't mean that Hannibal wasn't excellent.

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Silence of the Lambs was probably a better movie, I liked Hannibal better though.

I liked Hanibal as a whole, The script was borderline black comedy from beginning to end, Ridley Scotts visuals as usual are perfect & the end to me seemed like a homage to classic gorefests of the past like Reanimator & BloodSucking Freaks.
I thought Julianne Moore was superior to Jodie Foster in every way & Gary Oldman too was worthy of note. It sis worth also noting I wasnt a big fan of the Silence of The Lambs thought Manhunter was the better film both in style & substance. Micheal Mann,Ridley Scott & Johnathon Demme is certainly the odd one out. Both book ends to the trilogy are visually stunning as well as entertaining cinema.

Micheal Manns Manhunter 8/10
Johnathon Demme's SOTL 6/10
Ridley Scott's Hanibal 7/10

If they absolutely insist on going ahead with remaking Red Dragon it should be done in the style of Henry:Portrait Of a Serial Killer.

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Hannibal, just so you know, racked up $58 million during it's opening 3-day weekend - here's a list of it's accomplishments due to that massive opening:

- The biggest opening weekend ever for an R-Rated movie.
- The third-biggest opening weekened ever, behind The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Star Wars: The Phanton Menace.
- More than films 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 that weekend combined.
- More than 8 times as much as the second place film, The Wedding Planner.

Saw it in the theatres again yesterday, by the way.

Why'd you see it again if you didn't like it the first time?

Wanted to see some parts again, and I really really really like movie popcorn. Dad/brother/aunt were going anyway, so I tagged along.

What did Jeremy think of it?

Greetings..

I'm on my second viewing right now, and I have to say, I have gained some perspective with each respective screening.

I did enjoy Julianne Moore's performance. I have enjoyed her perfomances since "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" and was especially looking forward to this one. However, I am not sure how she stacks up to Jodie Foster as the great Clarice? Still kind of conflicted about that, as the "shock" of seeing the film hasn't worn off yet

Oh, and by the way, hi.

Angela.

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spoilers...





mebbe we should remove the spoilers messages? there was no real ending, at least that i saw. when i was waiting to go in there was a couple going out, with a (id guess) 3 year old, and a stroller, and the kid wasnt the least bit upset by the movie, not a good sign.

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He says he loved it.

[red]Welcome to MovieForums, AngelFood![/red]

LordCrank: naw, no big deal. I'll just leave it the way it is, can't be TOO safe when it comes to spoiling movies!

I just saw it yesterday, gotta say I absolutely loved it!! One thing that struck me as being particularly effective is the fact that classical music was used constantly throughout the movie (or at least the more memorable bits I can remember), which served as a great contrast to the violent and brutal character of Hannibal. Anthony Hopkins was amazing in the role, even better than Scilence of the Lambs (since the whole three hours or so was devoted to him as opposed to 20 minutes), and it had me rooting for him all the way.

The thing that bugged me about the movie was Julianne Moore's performance, which I must admit was almost terrible (as compared to Jodie Foster). She definitely had an attitude problem which I don't recall Foster having, and after seeing Scilence first, Julianne Moore just doesn't fit in. She got on my nerves a lot of the time.

Appart from that, no flaws whatsoever. The ending sequences were brilliant, and conveyed the suspense very effectively. The part with Ray Liotta had me squirming and chuckling at the same time, as it was very fitting for Hannibal!

My overall rating is 9/10 (thanks to Moore), otherwise it would have been a perfect 10!

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Couldn't disagree more - very little as added to Hannibal's character - he was almost totally the same, only he was free, and killing a bunch of people.

I wanted to see more sides to him - go more in depth on his "weakness" for Clarice and the reason he is intruiged by her. I was expecting to find out why she caught his fancy, and I didn't.

The book, I believe, has childhood flashbacks of his concerning his sister which might have held some insight into this, but they were obviously never included.

As for the Liotta scene: I thought it was goofy and out of place...

Yeah, I guess that's what gave it the extra dimension that I loved! To see such a genius actually use all his intellect in the real world...

I too wanted to see his weakness for Clarice explored more, and that is partly (though not too great) the script's fault, and partly Moore's fault. I think I just attributed this lack to Moore's poor acting, which aggravated me even more!

Chris, sounds like you didn't have too much fun at the movie?!

Well, I could appreciate some of it - saw it twice actually. It's SOTL meets any slasher flick.

I wanted to see more "thinking drama" - I wanted to think, and be impressed, etc. Gore alone was not enough for me. That said, Moore was plain - not bad, just plain. Movie wasn't about her anyway.

Before this thread disappears altogether, I would just like to add my two centavos about HANNIBAL.

I loved this movie. No, it wasn't perfect -- some of the transitions were fuzzy and the motivations unclear (how did Hannibal find everybody's house so fast, why did Mason's caretaker do what he did) but on the whole, I found this movie quite thought-provoking. The lectures on the literary relationship between hanging & avarice (including Pazzi's eventual gruesome reward), the way Dante's sonnet in La Vita Nuova is echoed throughout the film ...

"Joyous Love seemed to me, the while he held
My heart within his hands, and in his arms
My lady lay asleep wrapped in a veil.
He woke her then and trembling and obedient.
She ate that burning heart out of his hand;
Weeping, I saw him then depart from me."

Remember Hannibal carrying Clarice out of the pig barn? (in his arms, my lady lay asleep) Clarice waking up in her house and obeying Lecter's cell phone instructions? (He woke her then and trembling and obedient) The tears on Clarice's face when Lecter asks if she can love him? She says NO, Doggone it! (Weeping, I saw him then depart from me)

Aside from the literary conceits, I loved all the things Ridley threw in this movie:

1. The super quick image of Lecter's face being formed by pigeons in the plaza.
2. Pazzi washing his bloody hands at a real "boar" fountain in Florence, El Porcellino.
3. The incomparable soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, particularly the way Blue Danube is used to startle and then to amuse us.
The best sequences: Gourmet Valse Tartare, Let My Home Be My Gallows, and Vide Cor Deum. BUY THE CD!

4. The whole look of Florence, beautiful & gritty & violent at the same time. I'd live there but I can't afford a palazzo and the hot water is iffy.

5. The tastefully done bowel-splat scene on the cobbled pavements of Florence. THIS IS SIMPLY THE BEST BOWEL SPLAT SCENE IN THE HISTORY OF FILM !!!

As for the performances, Hopkins was wonderful as usual and I thought Julianne Moore was exceptionally appealing. Can you imagine Lecter kissing virginal unawakened Jodie Foster in that scene at the fridge? I think not. Julianne Moore's Clarice, on the other hand, has certainly been around; she is a true sexual being. Giancarlo Giannini as Pazzi was also durn great !!!

Basically, I consider HANNIBAL to be a love story, not a thriller. Why does Pazzi do what he does? One reason: Madame Pazzi. Why does Lecter do what he does? One reason: Clarice.

MY SCORE: 8/10

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Wow Pigsnie, Dante is one of my favourite poets, especially La Vita Nuova and Hell!! I never would have noticed the association, but come to think of it, it does make sense !!

I also loved the music, and the bowel splatter scene, while gruesome, was really well made! It's a great film, except for some of the weaknessess in Moore's performances, but overall, 9/10.

Ya know, after I saw this the second time, I liked it a bit less in some respects, because I was no longer shocked or scared at all. The "nurse part" (you know what I mean) really, literally, made me jump a bit, and the other scenes shocked me a bit.

Watching it a second time, I found that without any surprises, the movie really isn't as interesting. Not really the same with "Silence of the Lambs" - more replay value.

Actually, I was your opposite, Commish; I found HANNIBAL more & more interesting with each viewing. I certainly wouldn't have caught a lot of the Dante references if I'd only seen it once. BTW, HANNIBAL has made about $30 million in the UK, a huge amount of money and many people think it will be the 2001's top grosser (so to speak) on our fine and cultivated little island. (Yup, we Brits caught on to the Dante real fast, hee hee.)