Red Dragon (2002)

A retired FBI agent with psychological gifts is assigned to help track down "The Tooth Fairy", a mysterious serial killer; aiding him is imprisoned criminal genius Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter.

Director:

Brett Ratner

Writers:

Thomas Harris (novel), Ted Tally (screenplay)

Stars:

Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes

6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Hopkins	...	Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Edward Norton	...	Will Graham
Ralph Fiennes	...	Francis Dolarhyde
Harvey Keitel	...	Jack Crawford
Emily Watson	...	Reba McClane
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Molly Graham
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Freddy Lounds
Anthony Heald	...	Dr. Frederick Chilton
Ken Leung	...	Lloyd Bowman
Frankie Faison	...	Barney Matthews
Tyler Patrick Jones	...	Josh Graham
Lalo Schifrin	...	Conductor
Tim Wheater	...	Flautist
John Rubinstein	...	Dinner Guest
David Doty	...	Dinner Guest

Storyline

FBI Agent Will Graham has been called out of early retirement to catch a serial killer, known by authorities as "The Tooth Fairy". He asks for the help of his arch-nemesis, Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter, so that he can be able to catch "The Tooth Fairy" and bring him to justice. The only problem is that "The Tooth Fairy" is getting inside information about Graham and his family from none other than Dr. Lecter.

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Plot Keywords:

Fbi | Fbi Agent | Hannibal Lecter | Killer | Cannibal | 

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Taglines:

FBI Agent Will Graham Is About to Enter the Mind of a Killer. He Must First Let Hannibal Lecter Inside His Head.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, grisly images, language, some nudity and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official page [es] UIP [de]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English French

Release Date:

4 October 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dragón rojo

Filming Locations:

4160 Country Club Drive, Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$78,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$643,759 (Japan) (14 February 2003)

Gross:

$6,317,081 (Japan) (14 March 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Dino De Laurentiis Company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Anthony Hopkins was more than 10 years older than the first time he played this role, the film takes place before the first one. To help make him look younger some of his wrinkles and crow's feet were removed digitally for the close-ups, and he had to lose an substantial amount of weight.

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Goofs

The Chinese character "zhong" seen in the film doesn't actually mean "Red Dragon". It means "center" or "middle". Red Dragon is an odd translation used just in Mah Jong when played in English; in Chinese the tile is called the "center tile".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Hannibal Lecter: Think to yourself that every day is your last. The hour to which you do not look forward will come as a welcome surprise. As for me, when you want a good laugh, you will find me in fine state, fat and sleek, a true hog of Epicuru's herd.

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Crazy Credits

Thanks to the men and women of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

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Connections

References Rush Hour 2 (2001)
casino named Red Dragon, foreshadowing Brett Ratner's next film in his plans.

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Soundtracks

"Ready Eddy"
Written by Barney Bigard
Performed by Barney Bigard and His Orchestra
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label, a unit of BMG Music
Under license from BMG Special Products

User Reviews

Not as good as "SILENCE...", but better than "HANNIBAL".

Only having seen "Manhunter" once, years ago, and not remembering much about it, I won't attempt to compare that film to it's remake, "Red Dragon". I've also never read any of the Thomas Harris novels that they are based on, so I won't compare them to the books either. But I will compare it to the other, more recent films in the Hannibal Lecter series, "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal".

I think most would agree that, "Silence..." is a classic. It's one of those movies where everything came together beautifully. The director, the actors, the story, etc. It's to serial killer, suspense films as "The Godfather" is to mafia movies. I feel the only other movie of it's type to have even come close after "Silence of the Lambs"' release was "Se7en" with Morgan Freeman & Brad Pitt. So, it was with a lot of disappointment that I left the theater after seeing the long awaited sequel to "SOTL", "Hannibal". Jodie Foster didn't return to play the part of Clarice Starling, Jonathon Demme didn't direct, and worst of all, Sir Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter was almost cartoonish. On top of that, the film was just "ugly". It felt nastier and dirtier than it's predecessor. More concerned with gore and blood than telling a decent story.

Well, I'm happy to report that "Red Dragon" has put the series back on track. This time around, Hopkins plays Hannibal, more as we first remember seeing him in "SOTL". meaning more subtlety and slyness and less of the scenery chewing and over-acting that went on in "Hannibal". Edward Norton is just fine as FBI agent, Will Graham, who puts Lecter behind bars and then comes out of retirement to help solve the case of "The Tooth Fairy". Ralph Fiennes gives a very creepy and effective performance as Francis Dolarhyde, so good is he IMHO, that I expect him to get an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor next year. It helps that his character is more fleshed out, pardon the pun, than Ted Levine's serial killer in "SOTL".

The director, Brett Ratner, has done a fine job of ending, (hopefully), this series on a high note. I say, hopefully, because as much as I enjoyed "SOTL" and now, "Red Dragon", one more trip to this well, will probably produce nothing but mud.

The only thing that stands in the way of higher praise on my part, is that it's a sequel, er prequel, to a well loved and admired film. We've seen some of these characters and situations before. The meetings between Graham and Lecter are good, but they don't enthrall me the way they did between Starling and Lecter. All in all, a fine job on everyone's part. It may not be as groundbreaking as the original "SOTL", but it has helped to wash away the "bad taste", sorry, left behind by "Hannibal".