Giving opinions for several years and showing like a fine vintage
Giving opinions for several years and showing like a fine vintage
Member since:11.07.2000
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Silence of the Lambs has previously only been available in the USA in either a no frills affair or a very good criterion edition. However both releases never offered a decent transfer and sound quality. However now MGM have the rights and they've set about releasing a special edition of the film.
I'm sure everyone is familiar with the the story. Young FBI trainee agent Clarice Starling is sent to interview a chilling cannibal serial killer Hannibal Lecter. Only he may have the information needed to track down an at large serial killer by the name of Buffalo Bill who is abducting young women and skinning their bodies. The film sees Lecter get beneath the skin of Clarice by simple conversation but also shows a side to a man who is completely chilling but highly intelligent. At first I thought this film was slightly over-rated but on viewing again it's a very high calibre thriller with an excellent and incredibly scary performance from Anthony Hopkins. The wordplay and scenes between Clarice and Lecter also crackle with tension.
This
special edition comes housed on two dvd's in the same type of packaging MGM adopted for their release of The Terminator dvd. It features some nice artwork and a booklet with some good information on the production.
The first reason to buy this edition is a new transfer of the film. Now you can view it in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen which so far has been the major factor in stopping me buying a previous edition. The transfer is excellent with an solid balance of colour, the dark nature of the film's look throws up no real problems. There are a few extremely minor print blemishes but this film is 10 years old now so you can expect a few flaws. But on the whole this is the best I've seen the film and certainly beats the VHS copy I'm sure most of us have seen the film on.
The sound has also got a remix with a Dolby Digital 5.1 version included. Again I'm quite impressed. The dialogue channel is clear throughout. This isn't the kind of film that has a lot of room for rear effects but there are moments and they have punch. Overall there is a good ambience in the mix that sucks you into the film. Another thing what struck me is the fact that some films sound re-mixes have a hollow sound to them if they weren't originally produced in a digital age. I'm glad to say I noticed none of this here.
The menu on the first dvd is also quite good as we get a moody 360 degree look around the infamous lecter cell as well as an animated moth and various face morphs.
The second dvd houses the extras and once again we get some nice menus to introduce the features. The US criterion edition which is now out of print had a good audio commentary as well as some other features that looked at real life serial killers. Sadly Criterion didn't grant licence for these features to be included on this release but what we get is a great sustitute.
The main extra is a 63-minute documentary entitled 'Inside the Labyrinth'. This more than makes up for a lack of commentary with interviews from the producers, hopkins, the editor, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald and many other people involved in the film. this covers pretty much every aspect of production. Did you know that Gene Hackman was originally going to direct? It goes right up to the Oscar awards and also shows some of the gay communitys reaction to the Buffalo Bill character, something that I had no idea about until now. The only noticeable absentees from this feature are Jodie Foster and Director Johnathan Demme but they are spoke about in great length but it would have been nice to hear some of their input.
Demme and Foster feature more in the original featurette that runs for 7 minutes. It's more of a promotional piece from the time of the films release but still has some good behind the scenes footage to enjoy.
The deleted scenes section runs for about 20 minutes in total and features 21 scenes that consist of extensions and things removed for pacing etc. Some of the stuff is very brief at only a few seconds but there is some good stuff here such as Lecters escape in the ambulance and a brief scene that actually gives more weight to a scene in Hannibal between Starling and Barney. The video quality of these scenes are a bit shoddy in print quality with a lot of scratches etc but they are worth seeing.
The out-takes reel consissts of only a few goofs but is worth it just to see Hopkins doing an impression of Rocky dressed in his Lecter attire.
The stills gallery features photos of cast, crew and production and is divided into various sections. Each section of stills is accompanied by music score from the film.
Finally we have the trailers and Tv Spots for Lambs as well as the US trailer for Hannibal.
The wait has been worth it for Silence of the Lambs. It's still a great film that a lot of other other films have tried to live up to ever since. Along with the excellent forthcoming Hannibal dvd you can now invite an olf friend for dinner and have a chilling night in.
Goody Goody.
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Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster deliver knockout Oscar Winning performances in this ... more
shocking, powerful thriller. This terrifying masterpiece of suspense garnered five Academy Awards including Best Director and the coveted Best Picture.A psychopath kno...
Advantages: Anthony Hopkins is exceptional in his performance a truly thrilling film. Disadvantages: Is not in my opinion as explosive and intense as the 2001 follow up 'Hannibal'.
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