Friday, September 25, 2009

BD impressions: Manhunter

7:46 PM / BD Impressions / Comments11 Comments

BD Impressions
Blu-ray

Okay, confession time: of the two adaptations of Thomas Harris Red Dragon, I like Brett Ratner's 2002 film of the same name far more than Michael Mann's 1986 Manhunter. Admittedly, using the words "like" and "Brett Ratner" in the same sentence is probably the movie fandom equivalent of admitting you torture puppies and kittens, but I have no intention of apologising for my preference. I first saw Manhunter on TV a number of years ago and was thoroughly unimpressed by it at the time, finding its pace leaden and the performances, for the most part, wooden. Watching it again in 2009 for the first time since my initial viewing, my opinions remain the same. While I think there are some very nice visual touches sprinkled throughout, on the whole I find it dull and lifeless, and the inclusion of some truly awful 80s fashion and music doesn't make me warm to it any more. The only area in which I feel that this version is truly superior to Red Dragon is with respect to William Petersen's portrayal of Will Graham, which, while not in my opinion the tour de force that some have suggested, paints a far more convincing portrait of a burned-out cop than the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Edward Norton. On the other hand, Brian Cox's flat, thuggish Lecter (misspelled "Lecktor" here for reasons that escape me) did absolutely nothing for me and, against my better judgement, made me yearn for Anthony Hopkins' hammy performance in the more recent interpretation. (Of course, Silence of the Lambs Hopkins trounces them both.) I suspect I'm just not a Michael Mann fan. The only film of his that I really like is The Last of the Mohicans, which most seem to agree is the least Mann-like of his output.

Image quality: It might surprise you to learn that, despite being the oldest of the three titles contained in The Hannibal Lecter Collection, Manhunter is the best-looking by far (Hannibal, the most recent, looks the worst). Then again, it appears to be the only one to have been graced with a new master, so there's no reason to believe the other two films couldn't have looked equally good had they been given the proper care and attention. Anyway, it's a cliché to be sure, but I can't imagine Manhunter looking much better than it does here. The grain appears natural and unmolested throughout, detail is decent and the compression is excellent (with a bit rate this high, I would have expected no less). Any limitations (a slight sheen of softness that persists throughout) are presumably down to the source material itself rather than the HD transfer. The one digitally induced oddity I came across was some light moiré on Denis Farina's shirt at around the 01:35:30 mark. I may not have thought much of the film, but I'm extremely satisfied with its presentation on BD. 9/10

Manhunter
studio: 20th Century Fox/MGM; country: USA; region code: ABC; codec: AVC;
file size: 36 GB ; average bit rate (including audio): 42.99 Mbit/sec

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11 Comments

1. Guillaume said:

One of my favorite films from the 80's,it is somewhat the forerunner of all the CSI,procedural thrillers and tv series!
I like how the film builds a tense,haunting,oniric and disturbing mood,without showing carnage scenes or blood,just playing on the imagination of the viewer...the pre-opening scene for example is rather effective,i also like the scene where Petersen acts like the killer and sees the woman with "mirror eyes"...the "betrayal" scene ("Strong as I am"),the tiger scene are also great set-pieces.

I find it strange that you like the Rattner film more than the Mann film...Mann's film is more moody,atmospheric,more style (the use of locations and 2:35 cinematography are striking),slow burning tension and overall better performances (Petersen,Tom Noonan,Joan Allen,Dennis Farina and yes,Brian Cox)

Ah,i like the 80's soundtrack too (aside from the painful last track,"Heartbeat")!

You should try to see "The insider" and "Heat",Mann's most praised film (but i guess that if you didn't like too much "Miami Vice" and "Collateral",you should try more "Insider" than "Heat" lol)

The less Mann-like of his films are probably "Mohicans","The Keep" and "Ali",so maybe that you should try these ones,also?

(Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9:02 PM)

2. Tyler said:

The Insider is his only truly GREAT film.

(Posted on Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9:42 PM)

3. avanze said:

I would have to say, Heat, is Mann's greatest accomplishment to date.

(Posted on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 3:17 AM)

4. Daniel Sardella said:

I have to agree, I like Red Dragon better than Manhunter.
I actually like all the Lecter films by varying degrees and for various reasons, but Manhunter is by far my least favorite.
Red Dragon is actually really good and certainly the best movie Ratner has directed.
The only two Mann movies I really like are Heat and Mohicans. Public Enemies was such a wasted opportunity.
I'm curious, do the films in the Lecter box set have individual cases?

(Posted on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 3:25 AM)

5. Erik said:

RED DRAGON... I liked all the parts Ratner lifted shot-for-shot from Mann's film. Actually no, I didn't care for those either. :) Norton in "bored, waiting for paycheck" mode and Hopkins set to "full ham."

The underrated THIEF, MANHUNTER, MOHICANS, HEAT, THE INSIDER, MIAMI VICE - even most of COLLATERAL and over half of ALI. Mann's films are (IMO) consistently great. Can't wait for THE KEEP to hopefully show up on BD, even DVD, somewhere.

(Posted on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 6:41 AM)

6. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Guillaume:

I have to say, I found Tom Noonan and Joan Allen's performances very weak, particularly Noonan. While he's certainly more convincing as the awkward pariah than Ralph Fiennes in Ratner's film, I found him incredibly wooden and unconvincing. I also think that jettisoning the Tooth Fairy's back story and all but eliminating the "dragon" motif were huge mistakes on Mann's part. These changes effectively reduce the killer to a generic blank slate, making the character completely uninteresting.


Daniel:

Yes, Red Dragon is the only Brett Ratner film I genuinely like, although the phrase "Brett Ratner film" is probably something of a misnomer as he seems to be a director of the "point and shoot" variety rather than an "auteur". He was, however, clearly smart enough to surround himself with a highly accomplished technical crew, including The Silence of the Lambs' production designer, Kristi Zea, and Manhunter's cinematographer, Dante Spinotti... not to mention a great screenwriter, Ted Tally (again of Silence fame).

And, in answer to your question, all three films come in a single case.

(Posted on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 11:54 AM)

7. Marcus said:

I vastly prefer Manhunter over Red Dragon. The pure 1980s feel and look of the film alone are the reason I love it. It looks fantastic, especially the works with colors and set design. Mann was very wise in eliminating all of the "red dragon" aspects out of the film IMO as it would've been out of touch with the look and style of Manhunter.

Brian Cox's performance as Lektor is excellent IMO, he doesn't try to take over the film like Hopkins did in the remake and understands that this isn't his story. Please note that this was made before anyone associated this would become a franchise based around Hannibal Lecter.

Red Dragon IMO is a dull lifeless film, with Brett Ratner simply doing a Jonathan Demme impression (though he directly steals the best moments from Mann's film, such as the reporter's body going down the garage ramp in flames), a forgetable music score (as opposed to Manhunter's wonderful synth tracks), and the entire miscasting of all of the lead characters.

Mann was also wise to remove that ending out of the film IMO. And it also gets my award for having of the most subtly terrifying opening sequences in the history of cinema.

(Posted on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 7:34 PM)

8. Dirk Diggler said:

Red Dragon is what it is: A shite cash-in.

(Posted on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 7:42 PM)

9. BobaFett said:

Interesting discussion. I've seen "Manhunter" ages ago, but can't rememeber much of it. "Red Dragon" I've yet to see and wonder what the "dragon" motif could be. ;) I guess I'll have to (re)watch both of them eventually in order to decide which of them I prefer.

Regarding Brian Cox, I really liked his performance in "L.I.E." (should anyone know that one), but that was 15 years after he did "Manhunter". I'm starting to get really interested into rewatching that, as I can't remember anything about his version of Hannibal Lecter.

(Posted on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 12:53 AM)

10. Marcus said:

That's because Cox's role in the film is minimal. He only has one major scene (then shows up for a short time in one or two scenes). Despite being in the boxset, this isn't really what I'd call a "Hannibal Lecter film."

(Posted on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 2:23 AM)

11. Guillaume said:

Here's an interesting review where Mann explains why he cut the Red Dragon story and childhood memories...:

http://website.lineone.net/~manhunter/fantasyn.html

(Posted on Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 12:34 PM)

 
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