Red
Dragon (Director's
Edition)
(Universal Studios Home Entertainment)
DVD
Release Date:
April
1, 2003
Length:
124 mins.
Rated:
R
Format:
Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio:
English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Subtitles:
English Captions, French Subtitles, Spanish Subtitles
Extras:
Commentary
by Director Brett Ratner and writer Ted Tally, Criminal Profile
of Hannibal Lecter, Deleted Scenes, Renowned Profiler John
Douglas' Theories, Life History of Hannibal Lecter from
Childhood to Present Day, DVD-ROM features, Brett Ratner's Video
Diary, Ratner's Student Films, Screen and Film Tests, The Dragon
Tattoo, Storyboard to Final Feature Comparisons
This movie impressively met some lofty
expectations. Though it was quite wordy to start as the plot was set
up, scenes still retained interest by way of a forced level of
intensity. During this stretch, the aggressive visual and aural
assault was almost too much. But once things got rolling along, a
genuine enthusiasm took hold and never loosened it's grip. Tension
grew as clever reveals surfaced. Strong characterizations from a
formidable cast then cemented the film, making it one of the best of
the genre.
A two disc set, the movie was found on the first along with a decent
promotional making-of featurette, fourteen deleted or alternate scenes
(with optional commentary), mildly captivating video with a real
profiler, text on the history of Hannibal Lector, a brief interview
with actor Anthony Hopkins, cast and crew information and production
notes. The second DVD held an exceptional behind-the-scenes featurette,
a rather dull student film from director Brett Ratner, several
uninteresting screen tests, a look at how a crime scene was created,
examples where visual effects were used, a peek at make-up
application, several storyboard comparisons, video of a stunt and a
pair of trailers for the film. There were two commentary tracks. One
from Ratner and screenwriter Ted Tally was highly informative,
touching on all aspects of the film-making. The other from composer
Danny Elfman featured the score, with a few words on what effect each
piece had.
This film delivered on what I consider this franchise's strength, the
thrill of the chase.
