Review Detail

9.9 5 10
reddragondefinitive_front
FanFix February 13, 2023 862
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Ah, Red Dragon. Such a missed opportunity. Based on what's likely the best Hannibal Lecter novel, guess it was obligatory to re-adapt with Anthony Hopkins despite having been made into a very good film already in 1986 (Manhunter), given the post-Silence of the Lambs popularity of the character as played by Hopkins. Also, it could have been a proper apology to the audience after the awful Hannibal by Ridley Scott. Unfortunately... they gave it to Brett Ratner. A complete hack. And since hacks gonna hack, the movie came out totally flat and uninspired, feeling a hundred per cent generic and undistinguishable in its directing from any run of the mill Hollywood thriller. A far cry from the powerfully raw Silence or the amazingly stylish Manhunter.

Of course not much can be done to improve the directing, or the miscasting of about half of the characters (ffs, they gave Dolarhyde to Ralph Fiennes when they had Philip Seymour Hoffman, who REALLY wanted the role, right there?), but still, from the very opening moments of this edit the difference is abysmal. Gone is, of course, the whole ponytail thing (Hannibal would for sure have eaten Ratner for the offense of depicting him in such a tacky way - with McDonald's fries and a Coke, as fava beans and Chianti would have been way too refined for this), and now the film opens with an old-timey song over the credits that sets the mood perfectly. The trims and slightly reordered narrative do work wonders for the movie overall. It still feels too generic, particularly towards the end, but it flows so much better. It is now an inferior Silence of the Lambs rather than a mockery of it. In fact, I had considered editing this one myself but abandoned the idea out of fear that it would still come across as pretty dull. However, this edit kept my interest all through!

And the de-aging works better than I expected. Superior to quite a few professionally made in Hollywood ones that I've seen. Sure, if one wants to nitpick it's still a digital effect so there's still a slight uncanny factor to it, but it's Hannibal we're talking about. He's uncanny by default. So, success.

Video and audio quality, as well as the editing itself, are completely flawless. The result is, most definitely, the best that this movie will ever be. Highly recommended for any Hannibal fans.
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