Silence of the Lambs (2 DVD Ultimate Edition)

`The Silence of the Lambs' is the classic 1990 film based on the novel by Thomas Harris. Trainee FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is asked to interview a cannibalistic killer named Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins) and ask for his knowledge on profiling to help the FBI to find a vicious serial killer known as Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine).

This has always been one of my favourite films of all time - everything about it is first class. It's without a doubt one of the creepiest, most exciting and suspenseful thrillers that I have ever seen and still stand the test of time nearly 20 years later. The presentation and setting is dark, dirty and gritty, giving it the seedy feel that the book gave me, the script is nearly spot-on to the book too with not much left out (something that is rare with adaptations) and the acting from the whole cast is performed perfectly to their counterparts from the amazing novel, making this one of the best book-to-film adaptations ever. So as you can imagine, when I heard that this was coming to Blu Ray I couldn't wait to get hold of it and watch it in high def.

Well I watched it last night and I'm sad to report that the transfer to high definition was not really worth me re-buying this and "upgrading" it to Blu Ray. The picture quality was pretty bad with a very grainy look to it throughout the whole movie. In the darker scenes it looked as if there were white dots on the black areas of the screen and the rest just looked incredibly dark. I actually compared it to my DVD copy straight afterwards and I was shocked to see that the DVD version actually looked better than the Blu Ray transfer! The sound however was noticeably better.

Overall this is one of the best films ever that I strongly recommend seeing but if you already have it on DVD you should definitely not buy this version as it would be a real waste of money.

MOVIE - 5/5
PICTURE - 2.5/5
SOUND - 5/5
OVERALL - 3/5

I won't go into talking about the film as those that are purchasing this item have probably seen the film before. The steelbook itself is absolutely beautiful and does justice to the film inside it. The HD clarity of the film is equally great and is a welcome addition to my blu-ray collection.

You've heard of this film, it's been so parodied and referenced over the years since it's release that it's become firmly embedded in the public consciousness. The reason for this? It's absolutely fantastic. It's one of the few films I haven't a bad word to say about, it's pretty damn near perfect.
The story follows a young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Foster) who's sent to interview an imprisoned serial killer, the now world-famous Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins). The interview coincides with the continuing activity of another very different killer, Buffalo Bill, and of course the two plot lines quickly become one as Lecter offers to use his undoubted psychological genius to aid the police in exchange for improving his circumstances of imprisonment.
Hopkins as Lecter is only on screen for about twenty minutes totaled up and yet he gives such a stunning performance that his presence is felt throughout the film. He is at once charismatic, dangerous, electrifying, creepy, hypnotic, menacing and deeply disturbing. The first time he stares into the camera you feel like he's staring into your very soul, and for Starling he is. He's behind glass and yet Hopkins manages to instill such a sense of danger to him that he seems infinitely more terrifying than Buffalo Bill - where Bill is deranged, confused and emotionally volatile, Lecter is cold, intelligent, darkly empathetic, and completely detached from that most basic drive that prevents us killing. That Lecter clearly has his own strict moral code based on manners and politeness makes him even more frightening.
Foster as Starling delivers a career best performance, perfectly realizing the character as both strong but vulnerable, sensitive but determined, by no means the 2D female lead the film would have produced in almost any other actress. We feel for Starling, we want her to succeed, we feel afraid for her as she becomes dangerously close to Lecter. Foster really has to drive this film, Hopkins makes us afraid but Foster has to make us care, which she achieves easily. Her performance is often overlooked in this film because of Hopkins, but they both won Oscars for their roles and both were well deserved, two of the greatest performances on film to date.
The directing by Jonathan Demme is superb, forcing his audience into every scene by keeping face-on to the dialog and way too close to the action for comfort so we feel like we're there without the need for shaky-hand-held-documentary-style work that works well in some films (e.g. the Bourne Franchise) but would have ruined this. This film is not rugged, it's precise. It's not about random violence, it's about calculated horror.
In conclusion this is an incredible film with stunning performances, intense atmosphere, perfectly calculated directing, and one of the best constructed and driven plots in cinema history. Buy it now, it doesn't matter which edition, just get your hands on this film and prepare to be blown away. Good? It's Perfect.