I wanna meet the guy (or gal) who asked “I wonder why Hannibal Lecter eats people?” Was it the series author Thomas Harris? Was it a film producer? Was it just ramblings of the collective unconscious that somehow physically manifested itself as a sales pitch? It’s difficult to say. It’s even more difficult to think that the film, which centers on the origins of one of the most compelling fictional serial killers wasn’t stopped in pre-pre-production by someone asking “is this necessary?” But it wasn’t. Hannibal Rising was created, screened, and now exists for home viewing.

Starting with Jonathan Demme’s incredibly well-received and Oscar-winning The Silence Of The Lambs, (count the bling – Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Picture) the Lecter trilogy continued with Ridley Scott’s intriguing Hannibal, which recieved mixed response from fans, and closed with Brett Ratner’s prequel Red Dragon (a remake of Michael Mann’s Manhunter, Hopkinized for the modern generation). When this third film was released, the Lecter saga was effectively done. The story was told. That is, until that one person asked “I wonder why Hannibal Lecter eats people?” And so our story begins.

In war-torn Lithuania, little Hannibal, his sister Mischa and their parents are forced to relocate, but unfortunately momma and poppa don’t survive the war and die when a fighter plane and tank collide right in front of their hideaway. Hannibal attempts to take care of his sister alone in an isolated inn, but they soon have new flat mates in the form of stranded Nazis. To make matters worse, these Nazis get very hungry and as they say… sister Mischa looks good enough to eat.

Years later, Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel, A Very Long Engagement) is living in his parent’s old castle again, which has been occupied by the Soviet Union and turned into a housing project for orphans. Hannibal has been rendered mute by all the trauma, and neither he nor the audience knows what has happened since that fateful night. Unable to live under the conditions, he flees to France in hopes that his uncle and aunt will take him in. His uncle also fell victim to the war, but he finds his widowed aunt Murasaki Shikibu (Gong Li, Curse Of The Golden Flower) a welcoming soul.

It’s here that Hannibal Rising starts getting down to brass tacks. Through his aunt, Lecter finds a confidant, a caretaker, an educator and ultimately an illicit lover. These feelings spur him in a multitude of emotional directions. At first, it’s simply him coming out of his shell and being able to talk again. In the Japanese articles of war she teaches, he learns the value and history of vengeance. This first arrives with an awesome scene where a racist war criminal makes crude sexual comments at Lady Murasaki’s expense, and Hannibal serves up vengeance with the sharp edge of a samurai sword. Ultimately, as he grows older and he starts attending medical school, he learns how to be more creative in his killings.

The problem with the film isn’t the course of the plot. It isn’t that it somewhat glorifies Hannibal’s actions by making his victims despicable and, by relation, himself an anti-hero. The problem is, specifically, that it takes too long to get there. At least twenty minutes of the continuously dragging prologue could have been removed, particularly the scenes in the castle-made-orphanage. The point is made within a couple of scenes, so getting a move on certainly would have hurt no one. Likewise, I feel that the dénouement leaves little to be desired. After an explosive finale that is right out of a James Bond or Mission: Impossible film, an epilogue involving a final victim in Canada seems rushed only for the sake of attempting to be sly and coy at the same time.

But before I sound overly critical, I feel that I must emphasize that Hannibal Rising has far more “right” going on than it does “wrong.” Probably the most surprising element is that Gaspard Ulliel was far more capable of holding the character than I ever expected. Sure, he’s no Anthony Hopkins, and playing this character one can’t help but compare the two, but he still holds his own. For a pretty boy, he is able to hold back a lot of cynicism that has become a trademark of the character, and even convincingly come across as a work-in-progress towards the seductive manner that Hopkins delivered. He certainly is growing as an actor, bettering himself over his underutilized performance from A Very Long Engagement. Also, the set design is fantastic. It’s hard to believe that the film wasn’t 100% filmed on location. Everything looked perfectly as if it belonged in that time and the overall look to the film would make you think it had at least twice the budget it did. In fact, there is a subplot that’s so awesome I wish it was expanded on. An inspector named Popil (Dominic West, 300) is on to Hannibal although he doesn’t have any real evidence. He further lost a lot of his own family to the War and relates to a lot of Lecter’s internal pain. He’s a good character, but the film is half over when we really start getting to know him, so he ends up prevalent, but not enough of a focal point.

But watching Hannibal Rising is interesting not because it’s a great movie (which it isn’t) but because it isn’t a horrible one. Whoever started squeezing this dry teat of a franchise managed to get some milk that wasn’t sour and, as a result, the film still manages to be compulsively watchable even without the Anthony Hopkins presence we’ve grown accustomed to associate with our favorite cannibal. Not bad for the series’ second prequel.

I have a feeling that fans are going to be split over this film but I encourage anyone interested to give it a chance.

The DVD Presentation
The widescreen presentation on this DVD is among the best I’ve ever seen. Much of the film is very dark and meticulously lit so only objects in the foreground can be seen. This DVD has those background blacks beautifully captured, so if you will be watching this on any halfway decent television you are going to marvel at it. The 5.1 English surround mix is also well done. Hannibal Rising isn’t a particularly loud movie, but does get that way towards the finale, and even before that, the score and dialogue are placed very well so that you get a very ambient experience. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish for those that need them, although I did notice several misspellings in the English text. As a whole though, this DVD presentation is a benchmark everyone should strive for.

Note: I reviewed the “unrated” version of this film which is apparently 13 minutes longer than the theatrical cut. However, as I did not see that version, I can not judge what is so different about it. The theatrical cut of the film is also available separately on DVD, but that version is only available in a regrettably pan & scan full-screen transfer.

And the Extras Are?
Audio Commentary with director Peter Webber and Producer Martha De Laurentiis –
This is a wonderful commentary track, which came as a great surprise to me. The director and producer have a lot to say about many nuances of the film, working with the actors, the training that Gaspard Ulliel had to go through for the fight sequences made for interesting discussion. Both participants had a lot to say about how they were in constant discussion with Thomas Harris on changes that needed to be made while filming, which frustrated Harris as he was writing the novel to be released near concurrently. There are also some great thoughts about the differences between the screenplay and the released novel. The commentary was enough to make me want to read the book.

Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary – (4:17)
Five deleted scenes are included here but with a combined running time of less than five minutes they don’t amount to much. Imagine what scenes like “Hannibal Gets Off The Truck” or “Boiling The Photo Album” would bring to the table. The drawing point here is the optional commentary where director Peter Webber tells us why these scenes were either shortened in the film or deleted outright. While I don’t think these scenes would have necessarily harmed the flow, except for the extended exposition of the “Prison Sequence”, Webber was probably right to have them removed since Hannibal Rising certainly doesn’t need them.

“Hannibal Lecter: The Origin of Evil” – (16:08)
More of a talking heads featurette, this features interviews from most of the principle cast and crew talking about their various roles in the film. Participants include producer Martha de Laurentiis, actors Gaspard Ulliel and Rhys Ifans, stunt coordinator Lee Sheward and production designer Allan Starksi. Gaspard Ulliel takes the usual route talking about how difficult it is to attempt to fill Anthony Hopkins shoes. While decent for what it is, I would have very much liked Thomas Harris to have been part of the discussion. I mean, a featurette with this title would really mandate input by the writer who dreamed him up. Gong Li is also very noticeably absent from the discussion. That aside, I never felt bored watching this.

“Allan Starski: Designing Horror and Elegance” – (7:29)
The polish designer walks us through his history, as well as how he designed the sets of Hannibal Rising to appear as close to authentic as possible. I found his French chateau house particularly interesting as he points out all the cheats that were taken to essentially rebuild the original house.

Theatrical Trailer – (2:28)
Teaser Trailer – (1:09)
Had I seen the theatrical trailer previously, I would have been interested enough to catch this theatrically. It does a pretty good job of showing what you expect from this type of film without spoiling the main events. The teaser is classy enough, but doesn’t reveal much about anything. Both trailers are presented in non-anamorphic widescreen.

Previews –
Non selectable, forced non-anamorphic trailers are provided when you play the DVD after you get through a shitty Truth.com commercial. These trailers are for other Weinstein projects, and include 1408 (which isn’t really the number similar themed “haunted house” films released the past three years, though it feels like it), Nomad: The Warrior (which I can’t even find on the IMDB), and the remake of Black Christmas.

The Bottom Line
I dug the hell out of Hannibal Rising, and I went in expecting very little out of the film. If you are a fan of the series, and can get over the fact that you are not going to have your beloved Anthony Hopkins in it, you will probably be able to find enjoyment as well. It’s a fun little thriller, while light on any real mystery or endgame suspense (since you know Hannibal will live), but I dug watching the story unfold and was very entertained.

This unrated DVD offers incredible video and audio. The interesting featurettes and commentaries are just icing on the cake. If you are going to purchase Hannibal Rising to complete your Lecter collection, you definitely won’t be disappointed with the DVD and it comes with a very easy recommendation.