Manhunter--Special Edition [DVD]

Released to box-office indifference in 1986, Manhunter introduced Hannibal Lecter and established the rules of the modern race-to-find-the-serial-killer thriller five years before The Silence of the Lambs packed cinemas everywhere. This was Michael Mann's third feature, reuniting William L Petersen and Dennis Farina from his debut Thief (1981) as FBI agents hunting the killer dubbed "The Tooth Fairy". Petersen's Will Graham is the man who put "Lecktor" (as it is spelt here) behind bars, and, as in Silence of the Lambs, he is forced to consult the Doctor, played here with understated malevolence by Brian Cox.

Manhunter is an exceptionally well-photographed film: Mann's regular cinematographer Dante Spinotti creates sparse, elegantly framed, often monochromatically lit compositions essential to the shifting psychological moods. The performances are very good, and the typically 1980s, Vangelis-esque electronic score effectively sustains tension. Once the killer is introduced the scenes with Joan Allen have a genuinely unsettling, almost surreal quality, although there is at least one serious plot flaw--how does "The Red Dragon" get his letter to Lecter? Manhunter never packs the sheer excitement of Silence of the Lambs, nevertheless, it is a powerful and compelling thriller which remains far superior to the Anthony Hopkins-starring Hannibal (2001) and Red Dragon (2002). --Gary S Dalkin

DVD Special Features:

Disc One:

• Theatrical version of Manhunter
  
• x 2 documentaries - The Manhunter Look and Inside Manhunter
  
• Trailer
  
• Photo Gallery
  
• English subtitles

Disc Two:

• Michael Mann approved new hi-def colour
  
• Corrected version of the film, with the Director’s Cut missing scenes inserted
  
• Commentary with Michael Mann
  
• English subtitles

English
Region 2