Quote Originally Posted by jim goulding
Here's one we can chew on. That is, if anyone besides me has seen em both. Shouldn't be that rare. Michael Mann, before he was big time, directed the first movie based on Thomas Harris' novel, Red Dragon. It was called Manhunter and featured Brian Cox in the first thing I can remember seeing him in as a very cold Hannibal Lector. In fact, this movie IS chilling! Lector has only a small part in this picture, but you won;t forget him. William Petersen plays the investigator, injured by Lector, called back to hunt a new serial killer. The guy who plays the serial killer . . about 6'6", quiet and obviously anti-social, is perfect. An ominous figure of a man not seen before in film. BTW, Petersen dresses his ass off in this but not out of character. The remake is The Red Dragon with an all star cast of which not a one of em can hang except for Anthony Hopkins, of course. The original was probably made for about 1/15th of what the remake was made for but the original is just chilling in a way the bigger remake is not. Arguably, one might like the ending of Red Dragon better, but not me with Ina Godda Vida (I don't know how to spell it) playing in the background. Petersen has an intensity that Edward Norton does not. Same for the bad guy. It's the intensity and that chilling thing that make it the better movie.
Good call on that jim. Geez, you're gonna make me dig that one out but I think its Ralph Fiennes that plays the maniacal killer so well. And, I'll agree that it was a very well done and oft overlooked film...made even better by the fact that if you can find it, it's usually under ten bucks.