Review of Manhunter (1986) by Shawn W — 11 Jun 2016
Michael Mann's adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon entitled Manhunter is one of best police procedural and criminal profiling movies you're ever likely to find. The movie is soaked in the timeframe that it was filmed in, but it doesn't really matter.
The film tells the story of Will Graham, who was a retired criminal profiler for the FBI, but is brought back onto a case after nearly losing his life solving his previous case. He goes after the serial killer known as The Tooth Fairy, but in order to get inside the mind of the killer in order to find him, he must revisit his previous case, namely, Hannibal Lektor (changed from Lecter in the original novel).
The film is famously known as the film that introduced Hannibal Lecter to the world prior to the success of The Silence of the Lambs, but this is a superior film in a lot of ways. I think that The Silence of the Lambs is a masterpiece in its own right, but Manhunter is a much darker and much more involving thriller.
The color palette of the film is tremendous, using lots of blues, reds, and greens, and the cinematography is always interesting to look at. It's just a masterpiece of storytelling.
This review of Manhunter (1986) was written by Shawn W on 11 Jun 2016.
Manhunter has generally received positive reviews.
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