From DVDFile

MGM will also reissue three Hannibal Lecter favorites (The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Manhunter) at a new low price $14.95. Note that both Lambs and Hannibal are the same versions as previously released, although Manhunter is a new full frame-only release of the theatrical cut only, plus a trailer. No word on whether MGM will be releasing the extended/director's cut previously issued by Anchor Bay. Stay tuned...


First, I thought Universal had the US rights to Manhunter? Is this a shared box?

Second, are they that stupid to put out a full frame only version of Manhunter? My Hannibal collection is sorely missing the theatrical cut of Manhunter. Whoever owns this needs to get it in gear!

what about red dragon?

thanks for the news. probably won't be picking these up, happy with all the DVDs of the Lector Trilogy. thinking about picking up that LE version of Manhunter though if I can find it cheap enough.

Universal owns the dvd rights to Red Dragon.

Manhunter original release
SOTL SE
SOTL CC
Red Dragon SE

I'm sure many already own the above (including the double dip on SOTL) so no further purchasing necessary. Nice thought, though.

hmm, davisdvd has a different story on these releases:

Manhunter, by the way, joins extras-less fullscreen versions of The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal under the "Hannibal Lecter Series" banner. All are due on August 24th and retail $14.95 each.

The way I read this, it means that that all three will be released as fullscreen versions with no extras. So who knows exactly what to make of it. But it doesn't matter anyway, I've already got all of them anyway.

The problem is the true theatrical cut of Manhunter has never been released in Region 1. If they've got a master, they least they could do is make it a dual sided disc and give us a WS transfer of the theatrical.

I recently saw the Limited Edition for $11.99 at my local Borders. They had around 8 copies and with 20 % coupon floating around, you can easily get it for less than $10

thanks! I didn't know it was going for so little. Will definately have to pick it up sometime.

Yeah, i got my copy of MH:LE for under $10! I didnt know it was that cheap either out there.

So it appears I should just get the current 'directors cut' to see the film in WS for the time being?

Dammit MGM,what is the problem? Release both P&S & WS versions on the dvd. How hard is that?

dvdanswers.com has just posted the specs for these releases:

Title: Hannibal Series
Starring: Anthony Hopkins
Released: 24th August 2004
SRP: $14.95

Further Details
MGM have sent over artwork for the new single disc releases of Manhunter, Silence of the Lambs and of course Hannibal. Each of these classic titles will fall under the new Hannibal Lecter Series banner, with each film (except Manhunter) being presented in anamorphic widescreen along with Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Early press material indicates that Manhunter will be available in full screen only. We'll try and get confirmation on that very shortly. Each of the discs will be a barebones affair I'm afraid, with no extra material included whatsoever. That does reflect in the price though, as you should be able to pick them up for around $14.95 a pop.

http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?...3882&n=1&burl=





There is no reason for these releases. The current single disc of Manhunter can be readily found in the Wal-Mart $5.50 bin (and I'm sure this new release won't improve on the transfer) and I've seen Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal going between $10 - $15 in most stores. So the lower price doesn't do all that much.

So what will happen to the current SOTL SEs?

Will MGM keep them available or discontinue them?

I also don't really see the point of these releases. Why not just knock the MSRPs down on the pre-existing discs? (Hell, Universal has the 2-disc "AI" for a $14.95 MSRP, so I don't see why MGM can't do the same.)

SOTL looks exactly like the current MGM release except on the cover it says "Lector Series". Will the anamorphic transfer be better, and will the soundtrack be true 5.1? Also what about extras? Hopefully the commentary track from the CC edition?

Doubtful on the CC commentary. Criterion is pretty tight with their extras unless the studio trades them something.

And I see the 2 disc Hannibal sets going for as low as 7-8 bucks in the used shops I visit, so I don't think there's much of a market for another release.

A 16x9 transfer of the true theatrical cut is the only thing Region 1 is waiting on, and it looks like that's going to be the biggest mistake of these releases.

No extras, read the whole summary already posted:

Further Details
MGM have sent over artwork for the new single disc releases of Manhunter, Silence of the Lambs and of course Hannibal. Each of these classic titles will fall under the new Hannibal Lecter Series banner, with each film (except Manhunter) being presented in anamorphic widescreen along with Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Early press material indicates that Manhunter will be available in full screen only. Each of the discs will be a barebones affair I'm afraid, with no extra material included whatsoever. We'll try and get confirmation on that very shortly. That does reflect in the price though, as you should be able to pick them up for around $14.95 a pop.

The only real version (true theatrical cut) of Manhunter is available in France/Italy, and for those wanting NTSC try Japan (that version has DTS).


MGM release all those versions so maybe the North America rights have moved to them.

www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008NEFG/

I've seen all the Anchor Bay DVDs and they're a mess compared to the true theatrical cut. I suppose the Anchor Bay discs (and Momentum for the UK) are good for the extras.