American
color
Directed by Michael Mann
Starring William Peterson, Brian Cox, Tom Noonan, Joan Allen
(watched via VHS cause I'm old school yo!)
The Plot Basically Breaks Down Like This:
Will Graham once worked for the FBI and was amazing and caught killers like Hannibal Lector but then he got horribly injured and decided to retire and build boats and get tan in Florida. Unfortunately some psycho killer has started murdering entire families and the FBI can't catch him without some help so Will gets pulled into the craziness. Video tapes get watched, cannibals get interviewed, Joan Allen goes on some dates, a tabloid reporter gets set on fire, and eventually a psycho killer gets whacked.
My Thoughts Basically Break Down Like This:
While Brian Cox is not my first Hannibal Lector, William Peterson is my first Will Graham, and Tom Noonan is my first Francis Dolarhyde. I saw this version of Red Dragon way before the newer movie with Edward Norton and that Fiennes guy (I can't remember off the top of my head the name of the right one though I can totally picture him in my head). And I loved it as I love all great 80's horror films with the terrible synthesized music and the weird moody staring and the random flashy neon lights. I'm sure some people can only think of Anthony Hopkins in the Hannibal the Cannibal role, but I think Brian Cox did a pretty good job. Especially considering that he played the part first. He may not seem quite as intense and cultured as Hopkins, but his Lector is still a creepy crawly serial killer to the nth degree who I wouldn't want to meet in a kitchen full of sharp knives anytime soon. And while the Fiennes guy (seriously I should look that up cause it is gonna bug me until I can remember his name) probably looks more like the Francis from the novel, Tom Noonan was way more bizarre and frightening. I was in a gas station in the middle of the night once with a cashier that looked just like that and I spent several minutes trying to see if he had a William Blake tattoo anywhere on his person. Just in case. This version of Red Dragon might not be as polished and fancy looking as the newer one but I love it and think it stands up pretty well to the test of time. Especially as the 80's are coming back, bros, which makes this a classic.
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