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Click above to purchase "The Silence Of The Lambs Special
Edition (widescreen)" at amazon.com
The Silence Of The Lambs
Special Edition
(Widescreen)
review by Zach B.
Rated R
Studio: MGM
Running Time: 118 minutes
Starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn,
Ted Levine
Screenplay by Ted Tally
Based on the book by Thomas Harris
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Retail Price: $24.98
Features: Inside The Labyrinth Documentary, 1991
Making-Of Featurette, Photo Gallery, Deleted Scenes,
Outtakes Reel, Anthony Hopkins Phone Message, Hannibal DVD
Trailer, TV Spots, Theatrical Trailer, Collectible
Booklet
Specs: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English 5.1 Dolby
Digital, French Stereo Surround, Spanish Mono, English
Closed Captions, English Subtitles, French Subtitles,
Spanish Subtitles, Chapter Search (28 Chapters)
Released: August 21st, 2001
Insert Your Favorite Hannibal Quote Here
There is so much to "The Silence Of The Lambs", I have no
clue where to begin. But I suppose I'll start with the
basics. This movie is a big fan favorite, but upon the
original release it garnered critical acclaim and big box
office. The movie ended up winning five Academy Awards®,
those five being "the big five" as people have called it. It
won for direction, Best Actress for Jodie Foster, Best Actor
for Anthony Hopkins, Best Screenplay Adaption and of course,
Best Picture. But beyond all that, it's a movie that has
fitted its way into pop culture and is instantly
recognizable. It's a rare kind of piece where all the right
notes come together to make a beautiful song. Let's take a
look inside this film, shall we?
For those unfamiliar with the film, "The Silence Of The
Lambs" is the film adapation of Thomas Harris' novel of the
same name. The story follows Clarice Starling, an agent sent
by the FBI to investigate a serial killer known as Buffalo
Bill, who's trademark is keeping pieces of the skin from the
women he kills. She is first sent to Dr. Hannibal "The
Cannibal" Lecter, a mad former psychaitrist who is locked up
who does hold clues to the case. Starling is warned to be
careful of him, but as the film goes on, he manipulates her
to get what he wants while Starling tries to pinpoint the
information Hannibal halls. The two make an unlikely match
but this make for an intriguing, disturbing and incredible
fascinating thriller complete with character studies that
boggle the mind. There's a lot of great FBI stuff in this
movie as well as an interesting portrait of serial killers
and their psyche.
A reason "The Silence Of The Lambs" works so well is
because of the actors. Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, who
I mentioned both won statues from the Academy for their work
here, have such great chemistry. Foster is perfect and raw
as the vulnerable Starling, but her delivery and character
is strong. She makes her really believable. Still, Anthony
Hopkins takes the cake as Hannibal Lecter creating one of
the most memorable characters to grace the screen. While
it's true Brian Cox originated the characters five years
earlier in "Manhunter", when people think of Hannibal, they
think Hopkins. It's obvious that some of Cox's performance
is in Hopkin's performance, there is that sort of influence
and you experience it. Hopkins is chilling and amazing as
Lecter, his performance will thrill your spine. He's creepy,
he's brilliant and he's disturbing. Truly a great
performance, everything out of his mouth amazes me. The way
he does it... there is so much passion and so much creepy
energy in him. This is one of my favorite performances of
all time in film, actually. Words can't describe what
Hopkins brings to this movie... you just have to watch it
and then you'll understand. The chemistry between the two is
also vital to this movie. They play off one another really
well. The supporting and much smaller performances are
great. As far as I'm concerned, the acting in this movie is
perfect and gets everything across nicely. My only complaint
is that there could have been more Hopkins, and it has been
argued his role was more supporting. But hey, as I've
mentioned before, the Academy is crazy.
Jonathan Demme directed this movie and won an Oscar®
for his work, and he really creates something magnicificent.
The way he moves the camera and sets the story up is great.
He tells it in a lean way without being flashy, and lets the
viewers use their instincts and feelings to search through
the script and meaning of the film then showing us.
Sometimes he doesn't show things visually, but through the
words of the characters we can clearly see the powerful
images. This is quite an accomplishment if you ask me. He
really tells this story with much power, quite thrilling
moments and develops things well. An Oscar® well
deserved.
The editing in this movie is fantastic, and while
nominated for an Academy Award®, it did not win it. This
is one of the best edited movies I've ever seen, so to me
that loss is a bit disappointing. The way shots are conveyed
and set up are magnicificent. It adds to more of an eerie
feel to everything, it's layered really nicely. Howard
Shore's score is memorable, and really adds a lot to key
scenes. I felt he was robbed of an Oscar® nod. Ted Tally
also cooks up a terrific adaption of the book by Thomas
Harris, complete with great dialogue and a nice structure to
everything. He taps right into the book and jusices out a
ton of it. A job well done there.
"The Silence Of The Lambs" is a true film classic and
after all these years, I still find it bold and refreshing.
It really holds the test of time. Whenever I see it, I
always enjoy it and I find something new and exciting within
the context. The acting is great, the direction is solid and
the adaption from Ted Tally is pretty amazing. This is a
one-of-a-kind film, where everything just comes together so
perfectly. This movie is really memorable and will entertain
audiences for years to come. If you haven't seen it, take
out the fava beans and chianti and enjoy.
This new special edition of "The Silence Of The Lambs" is
available in two seperate versions. Depending on your
preference, it's in pan and scan (boo!) and widescreen
(yay!). The anamorphic widescreen version looks lovely, and
is in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1, but seems a little more
like 1.78:1. It's the best shape I've ever seen the film in
while capturing its pure essence. Colors are gritty, moody
and dark and are well saturated. Blemishes pop up here and
there but are never distracting. I did notice some edge
enhancment that wasn't too much of a big deal, but sometimes
I found the overall image really grainy. The layer switch is
noticeable but the image can be a bit soft sometimes, while
other times quite sharp. Still, this a great transfer that
holds up well considering the age of the film.
I was quite excited to hear that this new DVD edition of
"The Silence Of The Lambs" would also include a 5.1 Dolby
Digital remix. This new mix is not earth-shattering by any
means, but suits the film well. Dialogue is clear and crisp
and never muffled or overpowered by other sounds. Surrounds
are never too aggressive, but there is some good stuff in
the form gunshots and the more action filled scenes. Little
sounds like footsteps or slight movements are subtle. Howard
Shore's score sounds really nice, but I think I expected
more of a punch. Don't get me wrong, this is a very good
mix, but I was just hoping for stronger and more fuller
surrounds. You won't be disappointed probably. A Spanish
mono track and a French Stereo Surround track is included.
English closed captions are on the disc, plus French,
Spanish and YES, English subtitles. Finally, English
subtitles for this movie. A bit shocking too, since MGM
usually doesn't include English subtitles on their discs.
We know how Criterion is, they like to keep their
supplements to themselves usually (unless someone else owns
them) and are never really willing to share for other
editions. I am a proud owner of the Criterion "Silence"
disc, and while it has a lot of great stuff that is not on
this new edition, MGM has put together some cool new
supplements fans of the movie will enjoy.
I guess the big draw to this special edition is the new
documentary Inside The Labyrinth. It lasts just about
an hour, and it ranks as one of the best documentaries on
DVD I've ever seen. This documentary focuses on all sorts of
things in a great manner, it divides things up evenly and
there's a ton of information you can absorb. It covers the
book, getting it to screen, the horror genre, the story and
all sorts of things about the movie. It features stills and
clips from the movie, but of course, the interviews are what
makes this great. They offer a load of great stories that I
loved, and after watching this, I got a ton out of the
making of the film... some stuff not covered before in the
Criterion commentary track. Great insight, references and
thoughts from everybody, this is a well made documentary
that is not promotional and really does focus on the film,
what it means and the making of it all. Interviews are with
Ted Tally, Anthony Hopkins, former Orion exec Mike Medavoy,
producer Ron Bozman, Brooke Smith and loads, and I mean
loads more. Do not miss this documentary whatever you, fans
of the film are going to love this. A great way to spend an
hour, it was very fulfilling.
The Original 1991 Making-Of Featurette is also
included, and lasts about ten minutes. It's presented in
full frame and features clips from the movie,
behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Jonathon
Demme, Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, among others. It's
sort of promo but not exactly, as they talk about the movie,
serial killers and give some informative stuff. Not bad at
all.
There is a Photo Gallery that features a good
amount of stills. "Jodie Foster/Clarice Starling" has 20,
"Anthony Hopkins/Hannibal Lecter" has 15, "Johnathon Demme"
has 17, "Buffalo Bill/Catherine Martin" has 16, "Portraits"
has 5, "FBI" has 7, "Special Effects" has 18 while "Behind
The Scenes" has 20 stills. Some nice things to look at here.
The Deleted Scenes sections has two pages worth of
deleted scenes in non-anamorphic widescreen. The image
quality varies, and as far as I know, just about all the
Criterion scenes are here. To my surprise, this DVD features
a lot of new ones not found on the Criterion version which
did make me happy. You can view them seperate or play them
all together. This is a great inclusion and worthwhile to
watch, so fans of the movies will want to check these out.
On the second page, an Outtakes Reel is included
which does draw some amusing laughs but is rather short
(they are in non-anamorphic widescreen too), Eight TV
Spots, a Hannibal DVD Trailer, the original
Theatrical Trailer in full frame and two channel sound
and last but not least, a great Anthony Hopkins Phone
Message for your enjoyment and that you could probably
use. Also, there are some fantastic menus that fit perfectly
with the film, and inside there is a Collectible
Booklet.
I am personally thrilled to finally have this fantastic
movie in anamorphic widescreen complete with a worthy 5.1
remix and English subtitles. While it lacks a good deal of
the terrific Criterion supplements, MGM has put together
their own package which is great. Even if you own the
Criterion edition, "Silence" fans should not miss this.
 (4.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
(4.5/5)
 (3.5/5)
 (3/5)
 (4/5,
NOT an average)
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