There have been several big- and small-screen adaptations of Thomas Harris’ tales of brilliant sociopath Hannibal Lecter over the years, but the first adaption of his “Red Dragon” novel was director Michael Mann’s 1986 film Manhunter.

FBI profiler Will Graham (William Petersen) had a knack for being able to get into the mind of a killer, but after suffering a horrific encounter with deranged serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox), he retired from the bureau to lead a more quiet life with his wife Molly (Kim Greist) and their son. Years later, the FBI is having trouble tracking down elusive serial killer Francis Dollarhyde (Tom Noonan) a.k.a. the “Tooth Fairy”, and so Will comes out of retirement to help at the request of former boss Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina). However, over the course of the investigation, it becomes clear that Will will need the assistance of Dr. Hannibal Lecktor, the man who almost drove him insane and nearly took his life. Lecktor still hasn’t forgotten that Will was the one who got him locked up, but he likes a good game and is willing to help. However, Will’s interactions with Lecktor soon put his own family in danger. Meanwhile, Dollarhyde struggles to evade the cops as he looks for his next victim, and in the process, he strikes up the perfect new relationship with a blind woman named Reba (Joan Allen), who has no idea that he is a ruthless killer. Can Will track down Dollarhyde before it’s too late? Can any information Lecktor provides really be trusted?

I had never seen Manhunter before watching it for the first time on this Blu-ray release. I am a huge fan of The Silence of the Lambs, and had already seen two other adaptions of the “Red Dragon” source material—the third season of Hannibal and in the 2002 Red Dragon film—so it was a little tough for me to be completely impartial while watching this original version, especially when it came to seeing anyone but Anthony Hopkins playing the role of Hannibal. The film feels very much a product of the ’80s with its techno/synch soundtrack and neon-like lighting/color design. Director Michael Mann was an executive producer/showrunner on Miami Vice, and that same kind of dark, glitzy feel is present in this film as well. The film is more of a cerebral thriller than an action movie. While today there are a million criminal profiler shows on TV, before this film, there hadn’t really been any films that dealt with this idea of a person who tries to get into the mind of the killer, empathize with them, and use that to guess their next move. There is a nice building of tension throughout the film, leading up to an exciting final showdown. While I did enjoy the film overall, there were some areas of the original story that were noticeably missing or lacking, such as Dollarhyde’s tattoos and their significance.

The casting of the film was really well done. Tom Noonan is perfectly creepy as serial killer Dollarhyde—and based on the bonus material included on this Blu-ray, it sounds like he was just as creepy on-set—you never know when this guy is suddenly going to snap and go on a murderous rampage, so you’re always on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next. William Petersen is also excellent in the role of Will Graham— it’s easy to see why he later went on to play a similar character for almost 14 years on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. And while I found Brian Cox to be a convincingly menacing Lecktor, it was just tough for me to not make comparisons to Anthony Hopkins who has now given us the iconic personification of this character.

For the most part, the picture quality of this Blu-ray release is quite good. The picture is very clear and detailed, with the occasional white flecks of dust appearing randomly on the print. The only parts that look really bad are when Graham is watching some home video footage, which appears heavily pixelated and upscaled. The auto track provides clear dialogue and the nice ’80s techno/synch soundtrack, but I never really noticed much use of the surround channels throughout the film.

Shout! Factory has been doing an excellent job with the supplemental material in its line of Collector’s Edition Blu-rays, and this release continues that trend. In addition to porting over the features from the previous DVD & Blu-ray releases—still galleries, the director’s cut of the film (only in standard definition), director’s commentary, cinematographer Q&A, and a retrospective featurette—this release also offers over 2 hours of new material including new interviews with cinematographer Dante Spinotti, actors William Petersen, Joan Allen, Tom Noonan & Brian Cox, and the composer/musicians who worked on the soundtrack.

The discs come packed in a standard Blu-ray case, and the insert inside the cover is reversible, giving the viewer a choice in how to display this title in his or her collection. The alternate view for this title can be seen below.

What’s Included:

Film: (Theatrical Version 2:00:03, Director’s Cut 2:04:19)

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1 (Theatrical)
• 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 (Director’s Cut)
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

• The Making of Manhunter:
  • The Mind of Madness: Interview with Actor William Petersen NEW (18:16)
    Actor William Petersen talks about how he got cast in the film, prepping with the police department and FBI, working with director Michael Mann, the filming locations, working with the other actors, Tom Noonan’s bizarre request not to have contact outside of scenes, and more.
  • Courting a Killer: Interview with Actor Joan Allen NEW (15:54)
    Actress Joan Allen talks about working with director Michael Mann, her sex scene, doing research on how blind people behave, working with the other actors, Tom Noonan’s method acting, the tiger scene, The Silence of the Lambs, and more.
  • Francis is Gone Forever: Interview with Actor Tom Noonan NEW (22:03)
    Actor Tom Noonan talks about his acting process to get into the mind of his character for the film, the tattoo, his death scene, his lack of contact with the cast, and more.
  • The Eye of the Storm: Interview with Director of Photography Dante Spinotti NEW (35:56)
    Director of Photography Dante Spinotti talks about working with Michael Mann, mixing American and Italian crews, the use of color, and more.
• The Music of Manhunter NEW (42:22)
  Composer Michel Rubini and musicians Barry Andrews (Shriekback), Gary Putnam (The Prime Movers), Rick Shaffer (The Reds) and Gene Stashuk (Red 7) discuss how the music and score for the film came about and the direction given by Michael Mann.

• The First Lecktor: An Interview with Brian Cox NEW (40:29)
  The actor talks about the getting the role and some of the other actors who were up for the part, finding his inspiration for the character, working with the director and other cast members, the character of Hannibal Lecktor, The Silence of the Lambs and Anthony Hopkins, and more.
• Theatrical Trailer (2:05)
• Still Gallery (8:28)
  Use the chapter buttons to manually step through this gallery of 98 posters and production/promotional photos, or let the slideshow automatically advance every 5 seconds.
• Directors Cut (2:04:19)
  The director’s cut, which runs about 4 minutes longer, is presented in standard definition format.
• Commentary with Writer/Director Michael Mann (2:04:19)
  Originally recorded for a 2003 DVD release, director Michael Mann provides an audio commentary over the Director’s Cut of the film. He gives some interesting insight into the story and characters and talks about the scenes that have been added/extended, talks about some of the differences between the novel and the film’s script, and more. Unfortunately there are several times where the commentary just goes silent as he watches the film.
• The Manhunter Look: A Conversation with Cinematographer Dante Spinotti (10:04)
  Director of photography Dante Spinotti talks about how he got involved with the film, and the process of creating the look of the film. This feature was originally recorded in 2000 for Anchor Bay’s home video release and is presented in Full Frame format.
• Inside Manhunter (17:17)
  Stars William Petersen, Tom Noonan, Joan Allen and Brian Cox discuss the casting of the time, the original title, researching their characters, the Lecktor/Graham relationship, director Michael Mann, Francis Dollarhyde (The Tooth Fairy), the shoot, and the aftermath of the film had on their careers. This feature was originally recorded in 2000 for Anchor Bay’s home video release and is presented in Full Frame format.

Final Thoughts:

There have been many other adaptations of the novels of Thomas Harris over the years, but Manhunter was the firm film to introduce audiences to the character of Hannibal Lecter. While it definitely has an ’80s look, feel and sound, the film still holds up well today and features some great performances by William Petersen, Tom Noonan and Brian Cox. Shout! Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray provides solid audio and video presentation as well has a nice collection of bonus material. This release not only includes all of the bonus material from the previous home video releases, but it also includes hours of brand new material. This is a must own for fans of the film, and recommended for fans of the genre or source material.