MovieChat Forums > Manhunter (1986) Discussion > This movie has much more personality tha...

This movie has much more personality than Red Dragon (minor spoiler...)


Red Dragon just felt generic and there wasn't really anything that made it stand out unlike Manhunter, with it's brilliant 80's synth soundtrack, neon colours and Terminator-esque shootout at the end.

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Damn...i prefer Red Dragon myself but you make good points
I guess Red Dragon just felt more 'polished' and slick...plus i love Ed Norton
But yeah, the synth 'track in this is tough to beat!
And the final act...Iron Butterfly AND a shotgun?!?
Hmm...great stuff!

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Red Dragon is an horrific waste of some talented actors.
Ed Norton was completely wrong as Will Graham and Hopkins acting was shocking in this, it was as if he was doing a parody of Lecter! He was far, far too old to play Lecter by this point.

Manhunter is a beautiful film and Red Dragon is shite.

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This movie was more like Harris's RED DRAGON than the actual movie by that name. I enjoyed it and it's still the better version of the original story, although I can never say anything bad about Ralph Fiennes.

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Yep I agree, much better than Red Dragon and more like the novel in a lot of ways. About the only real criticisms I have are that Mann discarded Dolarhyde's tattoo of the Red Dragon and eliminated the shock ending of the novel which Ratner's Red Dragon reinstated.

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I thought Red Dragon was a disappointment. I thought the casting was all wrong and it just didn't work. I was shocked to find out how much better Manhunter was.

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I haven't seen either version but have read the book, I'm just going to stick with that.

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I think Manhunter is just a little bit better than Red Dragon

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Manhunter was the better version. Given the cast assembled for Red Dragon, the final product was extremely bland. Norton is one of my favourite actors. However, he sleepwalks through the movie, delivering none of the intensity of Peterson's performance in Manhunter. Hopkin's produces a parody of his previous Lecter. It felt like he was channeling Stan Laurel.

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