Movies / Manhunter (1986)
Runtime: 119 min
Languages: English
Countries: USA
Though it will always be remembered as the movie featuring the "other" Hannibal Lecter, Michael Mann's 1986 thriller Manhunter is nearly as good as The Silence of the Lambs, and in some respects it's arguably even better. Based on Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon, which introduced the world to the nefarious killer Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter, the film stars William Petersen (giving a suitably brooding performance) as ex-FBI agent Will Graham, who is coaxed out of semiretirement to track down a serial killer who has thwarted the authorities at every turn. Graham's approach to the case is a perilous one. First he seeks counsel with Lecter (Brian Cox) in the latter's high-security prison cell--an encounter that is utterly horrifying in its psychological effect--and then he begins to mold his own psyche to that of the killer, with potentially devastating results. As directed by Mann (who was at the acme of his success with TV's Miami Vice), this sophisticated cat-and-mouse game never resorts to the compromise of cheap thrills. Predating Anthony Hopkins's portrayal of Lecter by four years, Cox plays the character closer to Harris's original, lower-key conception, and he's no less compelling in the role. Petersen is equally well cast, and as always Mann employs rock music to astonishing effect, using nearly all of Iron Butterfly's heavy-metal epic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" to accompany the film's heart-stopping climactic sequence. All of this makes Manhunter one of the finest films of its kind, as well as further proof that Harris's fiction is a blessing to any filmmaker brave enough to adapt it. --Jeff Shannon
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Directors (1) | Credit |
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Michael Mann | ... |
Writers (2) | Credit |
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Michael Mann | (screenplay) |
Thomas Harris | (novel "Red Dragon") |
Composers (2) | Credit |
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Michel Rubini | ... |
The Reds | ... |
Editors (1) | Credit |
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Dov Hoenig | ... |
Cinematographers (1) | Credit |
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Dante Spinotti | ... |
Actors (70) | Credit |
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Alex Neil | Eileen |
Annie McEnroe | Stewardess (uncredited) |
Benjamin Hendrickson | Dr. Frederick Chilton |
Bill Cwikowski | Ralph Dandridge |
Bill Smitrovich | Lloyd Bowman |
Brian Cox | Dr. Hannibal Lecktor |
Brian Kelly | Jacobi Boy #2 |
Bryant Arrants | Leeds Child #2 |
Charles Yarbaugh | SWAT Team Member |
Chris Cianciolo | Attendant |
Chris Elliott | Zeller |
Christopher Arrants | Leeds Child #3 |
Cynthia Chvatal | Airport Waitress |
Dana Dewey | SWAT Team Member |
Dan Butler | Jimmy Price (as Dan E. Butler) |
Daniel T. Snow | State Trooper |
David Allen Brooks | Mr. Leeds (as David A. Brooks) |
David Fitzsimmons | Bill |
David Meeks | Dr. Warfield |
David Seaman | Kevin Graham |
Dawn Carmen | Child on Plane |
Dennis Farina | Jack Crawford |
Dennis Quick | Storage Guard #2 |
Elisabeth Ryall | Mrs. Leeds (as Lisa Ryall) |
Frankie Faison | Lt. Fisk |
Garcelle Beauvais | Young Woman Housebuyer |
Gary Chavaras | Guard |
Greg Kelly | Jacobi Boy #1 |
Gusmano Cesaretti | National Tattler Photographer (uncredited) |
Hannah Caggiano | Sherman Child #1 |
Jason Frair | Leeds Child #1 |
Jim Zubiena | Spurgen |
Joan Allen | Reba McClane |
Joanne Camp | Mother on Plane |
John Posey | Mr. Jacobi |
Keith Pyles | SWAT Team Member |
Ken Colquit | Husband Housebuyer (as Ken Colquitt) |
Kim Greist | Molly Graham |
King White | Swat Man |
Kin Shriner | Mr. Sherman |
Kristin Holby | Mrs. Jacobi |
Leonard Johnson | SWAT Team Member |
Lindsey Fonora | Sherman Child #2 |
Lisa Winters | Secretary #2 |
Marshall Bell | Atlanta Policeman (uncredited) |
Melvin Clark | SWAT Team Member |
Michael D. Roberts | The Runner |
Michael Russell | SWAT Team Member |
Michael Talbott | Geehan |
Michael Vitug | SWAT Team Member |
Michele Shay | Beverly Katz |
Mickey Lloyd | Atlanta Detective |
Mickey Pugh | Lear Jet Technician |
Norman Snow | Springfield |
Patricia Charbonneau | Mrs. Sherman |
Pat Williams | SWAT Team Member |
Paul Perri | Dr. Sidney Bloom |
Peter Maloney | Dr. Dominick Princi |
Renee Ayala | SWAT Team Member |
Robert A. Burton | Doctor |
Robin Moseley | Sarah |
Robin Trapp | Secretary #1 |
Ron Fitzgerald | Storage Guard #1 |
Ryan Langhorne | Jacobi Boy #3 |
Sherman Michaels | Technician |
Stephen Hawkins | SWAT Team Member |
Stephen Lang | Freddy Lounds |
Steve Hogan | Helicopter Pilot |
Tom Noonan | Francis Dollarhyde |
William Petersen | Will Graham |