Hannibal Rising (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Amazon.com

Though Hannibal Rising's Lecter (Gaspard Ulliel) is a pussycat compared to Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, this sequel's story of revenge is grizzly enough to satisfy lovers of Thomas Harris's epic tale. After young Hannibal (Aaron Thomas) is forced to watch his little sister, Mischa (Helena Lia Tachovska), devoured by starving soldiers in his homeland Lithuania, Hannibal vows to avenge his sister's death by slaying those who committed not only war crimes against the Lecters, but also against other families during WW II. In detailing Hannibal's revenge plan, the film investigates the psychological implications of witnessing cannibalism to justify Hannibal's insatiable appetite for human flesh. The most interesting aspect of Hannibal Rising—its analytical connections drawn between Hannibal's childhood traumas and his murderous adult obsessions—is also the film's weak point. The links oversimplify Lecter's complex character. For example, though titillating to see flashbacks of Lecter's sister hacked up and boiled while Lecter visits a Parisian meat market, the reference is too obvious. One learns why he excels in his medical school classes dissecting cadavers, and we're given explicit explanation for why he slices off and eats his victims' cheeks. The story only complicates when Hannibal interacts with his sexy Aunt, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li). When Murasaki educates him in the art of beheading, the viewer sees Hannibal's sword fetish as a manifestation of physical lust. --Trinie Dalton

Description

(Horror/Suspense) The terrifying Silence of the Lambs prequel that reveals the history of the infamous Hannibal and how he came to be a cannibalistic murderer.

Customer Reviews:

The Producers don't want smokers to buy this DVD.......2007-09-16

I watch movies on DVD's at home and not at the Cinema, because I can smoke at home. I find it unacceptable that this DVD starts with an anti-smoking campaign advertisement. They have no right since we pay for the DVD to bombard us in the privacy of our home with their campaign.

If I wanted to see advertisements I would not pay for a DVD but switch on my TV.

I'm pleased with this one.......2007-09-07

I think this prequel answered some questions regarding Lecter's murderous start. It's worth watching for those that have enjoy the Lecter stories.

Stunning Visuals, But A Disappointing Story.......2007-09-06

As a fan of all the Hannibal Lector films, I was expecting another film I'd enjoy and thinking this would be a terrific character study of man who is one of the most famous fictional killers of all time. What I got instead was more of a simple revenge story than the character study. Oh, yeah, we do learn some background of the famous "Dr. Lector," but not enough of what really made him the weird combination of intellectual and cannibal.

Although portraying and having someone in the film label the young adult as "monster," the filmmakers (actually, author Thomas Harris) really made him more of a sympathetic character instead. They took the easiest road, out, too, making an easy target the villains: the Nazis. How often has Hollywood done that, even today 60 years after the conclusion of WWII. What we get is a revenge story of how Lector went from a child captive of the Nazis for a short time, to a medical student in Paris and how he tracked down the Nazis who killed the rest of his family.

The best part of the film was the absolutely gorgeous cinematography. This is beautifully filmed, first frame to last. Gaspard Ulliel as Hannibal was okay but certainly not as riveting in the role as the mature Anthony Hopkins was in his three performances. Why a young French actor, who has all the accents that Hopkins doesn't have, would play the role, I don't know.

Truly Shocking And Extremely Well-Made Origin Tale For Dr. Lecter.......2007-09-04

With each new entry into the Hannibal Lecter story, my appreciation for the series as a whole, and for each previous chapter, grows. And this time it's been done with a prequel that goes all the way back to Hannibal's childhood, a story that I - and probably quite a few other fans - wasn't sure was a good idea to tell. Didn't the excellent "Red Dragon" reveal enough of Lecter's backstory? Was going back further going to do anything other than take away the air of mystery to the character?

Fortunately, "Hannibal Rising" only deepens the impact of the character and his previous films. Beginning in World War II Lithuania, we see the deaths of young Lecter's family, not at the hands of Hannibal himself, but by Nazis and a band of marauding Lithuanian ex-Nazi collaborators/turned 'freelance' looters and terrorizers. Through a ghastly set of circumstances best left to be seen in the movie itself, the surviving Hannibal is found by the Russian forces moving in at the end of the war, a mute child wandering through the woods with a chain around his neck. Raised in a Soviet orphanage, the amnesiac and still-mute Hannibal seemingly develops into an unlikely defender of the oppressed ("You go against the way of nature, Hannibal", an orphanage official tells him, "Always hurting the bully"), Lecter eventually frees himself and makes his way across Europe to the residence of some disrant relatives, where the bulk of the movie takes place. The older but still mute Hannibal (played by Gaspard Ulliel in the male breakout performance of the year so far) is cared for by the widow (Gong Li, another great performance in a highly well-acted movie) of his deceased uncle, later becoming more deeply involved with her.

It's upon regaining his memory of the events in the war that the transformation really begins. The bloody path of Hannibal Lecter as we know him begins as revenge, but as we already know from the previous movies, it doesn't end there. Hannibal ends up travelling from innocent child to a dark, violent avenger, to what he is when "Red Dragon" takes place (although "Hannibal Rising" wraps up many years before Dragon commences - maybe we haven't seen the last of the pre-Anthony Hopkins Hannibal). As the end of Hannibal Rising nears, it enters extreme territory that makes the legendary 'banquet' scene from 2001's "Hannibal" look like a tranquil countryside brunch.

*WARNING - POSSIBLE SEMI-SPOILERS AHEAD*

In ways, we see Hannibal Lecter die twice in this movie. The first is in the World War II Lithuanian winter, where the little boy effectively ceases to be, and begins the path to his new incarnation as a passion-driven dark avenger. The second death though, the passing from avenger to psychopath, could be considered to be a metaphorical suicide (as opposed to the way his days as a happy child were 'murdered' when his family's lives were taken). What drives Lecter to this point - and the violence with which this path begins: the death of one of the last surviving members of his family's killers, in a fashion so savage and shocking it outdoes anything in the previous three Lecter movies; makes his dispatching of previous guilty parties seem tame; and is enough to floor even the seasoned horror fan - is the kind of thing to stay with one, to haunt you long after the movie is over. And with it the evil, fully-formed Hannibal Lecter, is truly risen. Great stuff, managing to be on par with Anthony Hopkins's Lecter movies.

Are we even Dealing with the same character as in the other books/movies?.......2007-09-03

A traumatic childhood event - okay... Revenge killings... okay....
But nothing of his past or developing personality seems to have any relationship to the Hannibal Lechter, suave, brilliant psychiatrist and killer. The mind games. Nothing like that really is even mildly conveyed in this movie. The plot is weak and confusing. The whole relationship and influence of the Aunt seemed odd. I felt as if we were seeign the development of another killer, but not once did I feel like this was HANNIBAL LECHTER. I truly wish I had never seen this.

Average customer rating:

Menace
"Now *that's* entertainment!"
"I'm giving very serious thought... to eating your wife"
WOAH
They Should Have Paid Us To Watch This

Hannibal (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: David Andrews , Frankie R. Faison , Hazelle Goodman , Zeljko Ivanek , and Ray Liotta
Director: Ridley Scott
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00003CXSP
Release Date: 2001-08-21

Amazon.com

Yes, he's back, and he's still hungry. Ten years after The Silence of the Lambs, Dr. Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins, reprising his Oscar-winning role) is living the good life in Italy, studying art and sipping espresso. FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore, replacing Jodie Foster), on the other hand, hasn't had it so good--an outsider from the start, she's now a quiet, moody loner who doesn't play bureaucratic games and suffers for it. A botched drug raid results in her demotion--and a request from Lecter's only living victim, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman, uncredited), for a little Q and A. Little does Clarice realize that the hideously deformed Verger--who, upon suggestion from Dr. Lecter, peeled off his own face--is using her as bait to lure Dr. Lecter out of hiding, quite certain he'll capture the good doctor.

Taking the basic plot contraptions from Thomas Harris's baroque novel, Hannibal is so stylistically different from its predecessor that it forces you to take it on its own terms. Director Ridley Scott gives the film a sleek, almost European look that lets you know that, unlike the first film (which was about the quintessentially American Clarice), this movie is all Hannibal. Does it work? Yes--but only up to a point. Scott adeptly sets up an atmosphere of foreboding, but it's all buildup for anticlimax, as Verger's plot for abducting Hannibal (and feeding him to man-eating wild boars) doesn't really deliver the requisite visceral thrills, and the much-ballyhooed climatic dinner sequence between Clarice, Dr. Lecter, and a third unlucky guest wobbles between parody and horror. Hopkins and Moore are both first-rate, but the film contrives to keep them as far apart as possible, when what made Silence so amazing was their interaction. When they do connect it's quite thrilling, but it's unfortunately too little too late. --Mark Englehart

Description

Anthony Hopkins is "perverse perfection" (Rolling Stone) in his return to the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the sophisticated killer who comes out of hiding to draw FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore) into a high-stakes battle that will test her strength, cunning and loyalty.

Customer Reviews:

Menace.......2007-08-28

This was an unpleasant surprise - its a very good film.
It doesn't have the same gut level horror as Silence of the lambs, but there are nevertheless some nerve shredding moments.
The cast are all good and if Julianne Moore isn't quite as good as Jodie Foster, shes very close.
The other reason this film is a success is because of director Ridley Scott. The settings in Florence are stunning and the whole look of the film is great. Ridley Scott always had a great eye for visuals!
OK so the very end is a bit unlikely, but this film will keep you entertained, and holds up to repeated viewings. You should be able to pick this up cheap now, if so buy it!

"Now *that's* entertainment!".......2007-08-11

I was pleasantly surprised by Ridley Scott's "Hannibal" given that the movie is based on the horrible book which I more than dislike. I see a writer as a God - he creates by the power of his imagination the new worlds and populates them with his creatures. Once, he created the world, he should give his characters free will; they should act by the logic of their personalities not by their creator's sheer caprice. What Harris did in "Hannibal" is unspeakable - he just showed his fans how much he despised them. Actually, he did two things wrong - the ending and his attempt to explain Hannibal, to look behind the mask. The film comparing to the book has several redeeming values: visually, it is a stunning work of a great director. I am yet to see Florence, the celebrated City of Flowers as dark, dangerous, and anti-tourist as in "Hannibal". Second, the movie did not try to "explain" Hannibal, to get inside his head and understand him. Harris attempted in the book to give us the reasons why Hannibal was what he was - it was weak and laughable. If he chose to present Hannibal as some sort of supernatural creature with almost animals' instincts, he should've left him as an eternal mystery. The best description of Hannibal belongs to Clarice. When asked, "Is it true what they're sayin', he's some kinda vampire?" - she replied, "They don't have a name for what he is". And finally, the film avoided the literally vomit-inducing, absurd, irrational, obnoxious slap in face book's ending - for this alone I think "Hannibal" is a very decent movie and a lot of fun.

3.5/5

"I'm giving very serious thought... to eating your wife".......2007-08-10

I'm reviewing this movie as it stands on it's own rather than how it fits into the series.

In this installment, we meet Mason Verger, who is the sole survivor of the good Dr Lechter. Verger is a strange character with a strange story. His intentions are fairly clear from the outset, leaving the viewer only to watch how things unfold.

The movie remains fairly interesting throughout, as the escaped Lechter is identified and opposing forces close in on him. The table is set, however, about an hour in when we see Lechter dispatch his first would-be apprehender with a touch of "historical flair".

Lechter and Clarice are soon after back in touch again and the time finally comes where they meet and communicate without the glass between them. So we have Verger with retribution at heart, Clarice with justice in her interest and Lechter with his usual intentions: a tasty recipe indeed, with a main course as bizarre as you will come to expect.

This is a must-see for fans of the original and fans of the series in general.

WOAH.......2007-08-01

ok i don't want to oversell this but:
THIS IS THE BEST FILM EVER EVER
A TRUE MASTERPIECE
BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT

They Should Have Paid Us To Watch This.......2007-07-30

I expect sequels to be somewhat close in calibre to the movies they are following. Well, HA!!! With this one, that expectation didn't even come close. To me, all this movie accomplished was gore & digust. What a shame that such a spectacular actor (Hopkins) agreed to lower himself and the character to this level. In my opinion, people should have been offered top dollar to waste their time and view this thing.

Average customer rating:

Hannibal Rising ? or Falling!
A great movie
Impossibly, it is even worse than the eppponymous "novel"
Poor Thomas Harris....You've Had The Spotlight....Let Hannibal Go Already!
Would somebody please east my face, and start with my sensorary organs first

Hannibal Rising (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Helena Lia Tachovska , Richard Leaf , Michele Wade , Martin Hub , and Ingeborga Dapkunaite
Director: Peter Webber
Manufacturer: Weinstein Company
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000NVT0SE
Release Date: 2007-05-29

Description

(Horror/Suspense) The terrifying Silence of the Lambs prequel that reveals the history of the infamous Hannibal and how he came to be a cannibalistic murderer.

Customer Reviews:

Hannibal Rising ? or Falling!.......2007-07-28

It was nice to know where it all started but the movie was sketchy at best.

I would not recommend the purchase but just a rental. After I spent the money courtesy of my husband's request, I realized that the money could have been spent more wisely elsewhere.

A great movie.......2007-07-15

I loved this one. The explanations for the character-creation of Hannibal was very interesting. Not for children.

Impossibly, it is even worse than the eppponymous "novel".......2007-07-15

Would Amazon be so kind as to offer negative stars? Having reviewed the "novel" (actually a poorly written novelization of the movie script) a few weeks back, I decided to rent the movie on cable. First of all, not a single scene after the first twenty minutes or so (the Soviet and German combat) was even remotely plausable. Hannibal is able to track down and kill the killers of his sister because one of them just happens to be an intelligence officer in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic who just happens to be alerted that Hannibal is in Lithuania, and who just happens to find Hannibal on the grounds of his family's estate- Hannibal somehow manages to walk freely around all kinds of interesting area in the Police State of the Soviet Union. At just the right moment the intelligence officer finds and tries to kill Hannibal. A minute earlier or a minute later and we probably have no movie (which would have been preferred). Guess what- it gets worse! Every character- except maybe the police inspector in France and possibly Lady Murasaki- is as one dimensional as the ideal line segment. I could go on and on but I will just say this: Thomas Harris used to be a very good writer. Black Sunday, Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs were all very good novels. Everything following is cartoonish nonsense. He must be laughing all the way to the bank- he gets millions of dollars for two "novels" and "screenplays" about Hannibal Lector that are better suited to for the world of manga- bad manga at that. Scary? It was a joke. What kept me "interested" is waiting to see if it could possibly get worse- it does! It continues to get worse! I think this movie couldn't have been worse if i the dialogue was in Tibetan and the subtitles were in ancient Sumerian....

Poor Thomas Harris....You've Had The Spotlight....Let Hannibal Go Already!.......2007-07-12

So, this is how it all began. This is what made Hannibal the monster he became. A war torn Germany, a fleeing family, unfortunate events that leave Hannibal all alone and eager for revenge.

If I knew nothing of Hannibal and his legacy, Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, and Hannibal, if I had never read those books or seen those movies, then I would say this is an excellent introduction. Yeah, the accents are a bit heavy. There's quite a bit more gore. And a lot of things don't match up to what we already know about Hannibal, but for someone new to Thomas Harris' creation this wouldn't be a problem.

I believe that what Harris intended to show us just didn't translate very well to the screen. In the book, we really get inside of Hannibal's mind. Harris takes us there. We know how he feels, we know his reactions, his pain. On the screen, we constantly have to be told by the authorities that Hannibal is a monster. But besides the brutally of killing his victims, he's quite normal. The older Hannibal we know so well thanks to Anthony Hopkins is much scarier, both physically and emotionally.

By now, we've become too relaxed and too accustomed to the violence in movies. If you look back at the other films, Hannibal spends most of his time behind bars or in hiding. We are only told about the horrible things he's done. We aren't shown. That's what makes him so scary. We know what he's capable of, and maybe some of us secretly want to see him in action. Besides a few scenes like where Hannibal escapes and kills two policemen in Silence or the way he kills the Italian inspector in Hannibal, that's all we get. And yet those scenes seem like something very grand because it's what we've been eager to see. We love it.

In Hannibal Rising, we see young Hannibal kill almost everyone. It becomes predictable. It's boring. The mystery is gone. So what's left? We could pick up with Hannibal in medical school and later becoming a psychiatrist when he tortured most of his victims. Let's call it "Hannibal PhD". Or what about Hannibal and Clarice settling down in France together as lovers and we'll call it "Husband Hannibal." Following the footsteps of Friday the 13th, in the next film Hannibal dies and goes to hell to battle the devil..."Hannibal After." Pretty silly, huh? That's my point.

We know too much about Hannibal already to take this movie seriously. For those of you who are fans, sit through it if you can just to say you've seen it. For Thomas Harris, leave Hannibal alone. You've made your millions. Thank you for the extraordinary character you introduced to the fiction world. We like him. We embrace him. We gave Hopkins an Oscar for it. The End.

Would somebody please east my face, and start with my sensorary organs first.......2007-07-08

Everything about this movie, except the dude in the lime light, was diabolical. The ensemble had a range of shoddy accents, which automatically demanded the adoption of subtitles, which in retrospect drastically reduced the quality of my viewing experience. The lines were innane, slip shod, incoherent and had all the impact of an intestinal handbrake slip.

I thought Hannibal Lecter was a sophisticated character. I was mistaken. I have no clue how accurately the movie captures the essence of the book, but if it is faithful you can share the star I gave this movie with the associated book.

Average customer rating:

Menace
"Now *that's* entertainment!"
"I'm giving very serious thought... to eating your wife"
WOAH
They Should Have Paid Us To Watch This

Hannibal (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Anthony Hopkins , Julianne Moore , Gary Oldman , Ray Liotta , and Frankie Faison
Director: Ridley Scott
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00026L7O0
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

Menace.......2007-08-28

"Now *that's* entertainment!".......2007-08-11

"I'm giving very serious thought... to eating your wife".......2007-08-10

WOAH.......2007-08-01

ok i don't want to oversell this but:
THIS IS THE BEST FILM EVER EVER
A TRUE MASTERPIECE
BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT

They Should Have Paid Us To Watch This.......2007-07-30

Average customer rating:

Hoffman is the best
A perfect 5 stars
A comic tragedy
Hoffman is excellent as usual, but not enough to carry this.
Powerful Drama

Love Liza
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman , Kathy Bates , J.D. Walsh , Jimmy Raskin , and Stephen Tobolowsky
Director: Todd Louiso
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: B00008WI9N
Release Date: 2003-05-27

Amazon.com

A finely detailed character study, Love Liza offers yet another excellent performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Written by Hoffman's brother Gordy (who won the Best Screenplay award at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival) and directed by first-timer Todd Louiso (an actor best known for memorable roles in Jerry Maguire and High Fidelity), this poignant, offbeat drama focuses intently on Wilson Joel (Hoffman), a computer programmer whose wife has recently committed suicide, leaving Wilson a sealed note that he can't bring himself to read, despite the urgings of his grieving mother-in-law (played to perfection by Kathy Bates). As Wilson huffs gasoline fumes to numb his emotional anguish, Love Liza unfolds as a patiently measured study of grief and loss (like the similarly themed Moonlight Mile), and Louiso shows great promise as a sensitive observer of authentic human behavior. With humor and heartbreak, Love Liza taps into what Hoffman does best. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Following the unexplained suicide of his wife, Liza, website designer Wilson Joel (Hoffman) turns to gasoline fumes and remote control gaming while avoiding an inevitable conflict with his mother-in-law (Bates). Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman (Punch-Drunk Love, 25th Hour, Magnolia), Academy Award Winner Kathy Bates (About Schmidt, Primary Colors, Titantic).

Customer Reviews:

Hoffman is the best.......2007-09-12

This was outstanding. As a person who has had many, many, many losses in their life - including 2 as a result of suicide, I can totally understand how beat down and broken this character is. ANYTHING with Philip Seymour Hoffman is worth watching...., this movie is for those who have deep sorrow and a screaming pain inside because of those sorrows.

A perfect 5 stars.......2007-06-27

If you're looking for a movie which makes you rethink your life, this is a movie for you. Philip Seymour Hoffman is phenomenal and commands compassion without sappy pity. Kathy Bates is also excellent. The sad story is counteracted with moments of humor through awkwardness or absurdity. It's a wonderful 'laughing through tears' effect. The soundtrack flawlessly steps up to say what the script can't throughout the film. Fantastic cinematography and a contemplative ending round this movie off to make it a perfect 5 stars.

A comic tragedy.......2007-03-09

As a person who has suffered some difficult losses, I can emphasize with the character. His addiction seems rather silly but don't most? Philip Seymor Hoffman perfectly encarnates Wilson Joel who can't seem to recover from his wife's shocking suicide.

This is a great film because we really want to know what will happen to this fine man who is being destroyed by his own demons. How will he get a new life and with whom will he share it? As we see his encounters with other characters in the story, we are always wondering if he will connect with someone. I won't give away the ending but what is important is the excellent acting all around and the fine direction.

Great film for mature audiences who are prepared for the subject matter.

Hoffman is excellent as usual, but not enough to carry this........2007-01-04

Love Liza (Todd Louiso, 2002)

Much was made of Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance in Love Liza before the film came out. Then it did come out, and very quickly faded from view. Those tracking it down these years later will quickly figure out why: while Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance is, in fact, exceptional, there's not a single other thing about this movie to recommend it.

Hoffman plays Wilson Joel, a web designer whose wife Liza (Runaway Jury's Annie Morgan) commits suicide. She leaves a note, which Wilson is afraid to open. Liza's mother Mary Ann (Kathy Bates) tries to find new ways to broach the subject with every conversation. Feeling cornered, Wilson turns to drugs, and his life quickly begins to spiral out of control. Adding to the pressure is co-worker Maura (That Thing You Do! beauty Sarah Koskoff), who's attracted to Wilson. He takes refuge in developing a new obsession with model aircraft, which only makes things worse.

Hoffman does a fine job with what is, in essence, a really demented role. But so little of what goes on around him works that even that can't be counted a success. This was obviously meant as a comedy, however black it may be; its comic timing fails to fire every time. No, really, every time. Not a laugh to be had, however nervous or guilty that laugh might be. Instead, there's a vague sense of discomfort, the kind you get when someone's told a horribly offensive joke without in any way realizing there's an offensive component to it. **

Powerful Drama.......2006-06-09

Love Liza is one of the best dramas I have ever seen. There is little that is funny about it but there are three scenes in the film where one's EQ is brought under a major hammmering. My favourite scene in the film would be the one where Hoffman goes for a swim in a pond. Especially since "Corpus Christi Carol" by Jeff Buckley is going on in the background. The epic song was used perfectly. I love depressive films and it's been a while since I saw one of the stature of Love Liza. There are not many characters in the film which makes it ever so interesting. No Background instrumental music but yet the soundtrack by VA rocked. I was wondering why the letter contained the matchstick towards the end. Excellent interpretation of emotions.

Love Liza shows how a distraught man rebounds into a further state of extreme emotions. Hoffman can not act any better. I rate this movie higher than "as good as it gets" but I don't even know why I'm comparing the two.

P.S - the whole fetish for inhaling fuel was rather interesting

Average customer rating:

Hannibal
Mature At His Funniest
Hannibal After Too Many Cocktails
Love among the elephants
Pyhric Hannibal at Best

Hannibal
Starring: Victor Mature , Gabriele Ferzetti , Rita Gam , Milly Vitale , and Rik Battaglia
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer , and Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia
Manufacturer: VCI Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002VEU4O
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Description

VCI is very pleased to present this epic motion picture, which has been mastered from the original negatives and presented in all its widescreen glory for the first time on home video! Love and war intertwine in this fanciful adaptation of history. The brilliant Carthaginian general, Hannibal (Victor Mature) despises Rome. Fueled by vengeance, he drives his army of elephants through the treacherous, frozen Alps into Italy, crushing anyone who dared to oppose him. As a strategy to break the morale of his enemies, Hannibal captures the beautiful Sylvia of Rome (Rita Gam) so she may see the might of his army and spread the news of impending doom to her people. However, a love grows between the two that will eventually be his undoing. This big-budget spectacle produced by Warner Bros. was shot in Technicolor and SuperCinescope and literally features a cast of thousands... over 4,000 foot-soldiers, 1,500 horsemen, 45 elephants and a vast assortment of war machines were employed in the historic battle of Cannae alone. Bonus Features: Anamorphic Widescreen Enhanced for 16 x 9 Monitors, Photo & Poster Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailer, Bios, Scene Selection Menu. Specs: DVD9; Dolby Digital Mono; 100 minutes; Color; 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1960; SRP - $14.99.

Customer Reviews:

Hannibal.......2007-05-13

Watch it and make you own option. I think this would have been a great movie for the drive-in back in the day.

Mature At His Funniest.......2005-08-14

First thing first! Peter O'tool would make Mature look like a N.Y. back street boy in disgrace. This character is not even worthy of Mature's tallents. For Hannibal being one the 5 greatest generals in the world over of all time in line with Rommel, Patton, Mcarthur,and Napoleion is made a complete joke when portrayed by Mature. It takes a man of staunch mobility such as Russle Crowe, Charleston Heston or Henry Fonda to take on this awesome character's event.

The film had some ok action sequences. Not very dramatic love scenes. crappy sound and picture quality. Needs Steven Spielburg's attention bad.

Don't even bother with it. Blackbeard even in all his glory looked better in a patch!

Hannibal After Too Many Cocktails.......2005-06-18

A very contrived rendition of the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome in the 3rd century B.C. The fact that Victor Mature plays the lead role is enough to discourage anyone from buying this shallow film. This film is also outmatched in every respect except color by another production and so not really worth one's time or money unless you're a die-hard Mature fanor accept only the color medium for a film.

The screenplay is disjointed as it doesn't really convey the reasons why Hannibal hated Rome so much or why he led an army of almost 100,000 men to trample over the Italian countryside for 18 years. The battle reenactments are small, sparing, and second-rate. The acting stinks especially by Mature whose presence always appears as if he just came out of a cocktail lounge around 3:00 a.m. Victor Mature was barely competent as a back-up actor not to speak of a lead role in a historical epic. Even more shame on the Italians who contrived this silly film about their own history. The direction is purely conventional for the period and so unimaginative. The screenplay is terrible and focuses on a ridiculous love story instead of the historical events for dramatism. History here is simply the backdrop for the romance. The anachronisms of the film themselves would require modern anachronisms to interpret as this film is horribly out-of-date. Wayne's 'Genghis Kahn' is better than this film. At least you have The Duke instead of 'Manure' to watch in a bad film.

A vastly superior film on Hannibal is Carmine Gallone's 1939 'Scipio Africanus' that looks at the conflict from the character Scipio's point of view in which the climax comes with Hannibal's defeat at Zama. Unlike this film, 'Scipio' primarily emphasizes on the history for the drama as opposed to romance. Although the few romantic scenes in 'Scipio' are truly arch-melodrama as one reviewer has commented, they are fortunately fewer than in this film. The character of Hannibal is treated as a tragic hero and honorable foe who, like his Roman antagonist and unlike Mature's character, doesn't waste much time on trivial romance when the life or death of his nation is at stake. Although not in color, at least 'Scipio' was done on an epic scale with 50 elephants, over a thousand horses, and 30,0000 extras under the direction of a competent Gallone. The battle scene for Zama was more a replication rather than a re-enactment and so exceptionally brutal even by some of today's standards. I guarantee you that few professional stuntmen of today would be doing what ordinary guys did in that reenactment. So lavish are the sets and battles that they remained unmatched in film until no sooner than Kubrick's 'Spartacus' or Mankiewick's 'Cleopatra' 25 years later. Despite the film's occasional overdrama, believe me, you will get a lot more accuracy, lavishness, and a breathtaking battle scene from that film on Hannibal. This one with Mature isn't even worth seeing free as it is just a waste of time.

Love among the elephants.......2005-02-11

This makes a good addition to the Victor Mature section of your film library. But I was mostly disappointed in just about all the aspects. First the music in the background did not match the situation. Then the movie starts in the middle of Hannibal's life as he started over the mountains if you do not know the history then you will be lost thru the movie. The dubbed voices reminded me of the voices in "Fractured Fairytales." The were all sort of squeaky and of course as in the tradition of dubbed Italian movies did not match the speech timing. The one exception was Victor he would show the right or left profile and read his likes perfectly. I don't know how he kept a straight face. By the way he was 45 at this time.

After he makes it over the mountains it becomes a love story between Hannibal and Sylvia the niece of the Roman representative who is determined to do Hannibal in. Even Hannibal's men think they are in trouble because Hannibal is gaw gaw over a Roman girl. Her uncle thinks she is a traitor but still loves her like a daughter.

A few wars with some so so elephant scenes and a lot of obviously fake blood. Hannibal's ex turns up and Sylvia runs off.

Will Hannibal and Sylvia ever get their lives together?
Who wins the war?
Why did they stop the story so abruptly?

The real Hannibal of course makes a couple of comebacks. He even gets to try it navy style. He gets cornered as an old man and eventually does himself in to avoid capturing.

Pyhric Hannibal at Best.......2004-11-25

Anyone expecting a really good view of the Punic Wars in Italy will certainly not find it here. That being said, there are a number of interesting and amusing scenes that make it half-way worthwhile. Victor Mature sleeps his way through the role of the great Carthegenian general. Mature seems never to have taken his own acting skills that seriously, and that is evident here with his lethargic style.

Probably one of the best parts of the film is the extended scene showing the crossing of the Alps. This was surely one of the great feats of ancient warfare and we get a decent look at how tortuous it must have been here. The Punic soldiers crying out in English somehow lacks something, but this was a 1960 Italian dubbed film! Some of the battle scenes with the elephants are not too bad, but the overall effect is on the poor side. The most vigorous battle shown, Cannae in 217 BC is a joke! There is some attempt to show how the Romans were destroyed here, but somehow it gets lost in the details.

I give the film some credit for staying somewhere near the history, but many details are wide off the mark, and almost purposely so. The romance with Mature and Rita Gam is required of course for this period of movie, but it seems half-hearted at best. Again, Mature's Hannibal seems to almost doze through the scenes! No doubt Hannibal did console himself with a few Roman women for the many years he was in Italy, but what we get here is standard hollywood filler for the time. This film might be fun to watch along with the Italian Propaganada epic, Scipio Africanus. Both have the same lame style, although the older facist film has the production value which this film really lacks. Still, both make for some light viewing in the classic sword and sandal style.

Hannibal (Collector's Edition Steelbook)

Average customer rating:

Menace
"Now *that's* entertainment!"
"I'm giving very serious thought... to eating your wife"
WOAH
They Should Have Paid Us To Watch This

Hannibal (Collector's Edition Steelbook)
Starring: Anthony Hopkins , Julianne Moore , Gary Oldman , Ray Liotta , and Frankie Faison
Director: Ridley Scott
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000OPOAMA
Release Date: 2007-06-05

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Customer Reviews:

Menace.......2007-08-28

"Now *that's* entertainment!".......2007-08-11

"I'm giving very serious thought... to eating your wife".......2007-08-10

WOAH.......2007-08-01

ok i don't want to oversell this but:
THIS IS THE BEST FILM EVER EVER
A TRUE MASTERPIECE
BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT

They Should Have Paid Us To Watch This.......2007-07-30

Children of Hannibal (Figli di Annibale)

Average customer rating:

NO ES LA GRAN COSA

Children of Hannibal (Figli di Annibale)
Starring: Diego Abatantuono , Silvio Orlando , Valentina Cervi , Flavio Insinna , and Ugo Conti
Director: Davide Ferrario
Manufacturer: Tla
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Best of Youth

ASIN: B0000CC88B
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Description

Unemployed Domenico decides to rob a bank in Italy and escape to Switzerland. Everything goes horribly wrong and he takes a hostage. The man he chooses, Tommaso, is more unscrupulous than Domenico. He hates his wife, his business is doing poorly and the kidnapping appears to be a good way to disappear and start over again. The victim takes over the plans and becomes the leader as things go from bad to worse. Children of Hannibal is both an unpredictable caper film and an often hilarious road movie.

Customer Reviews:

NO ES LA GRAN COSA.......2007-04-11

EN LO PERSONAL ESTOY ARREPENTIDO DE HABER COMPRADO LA PELICULA PERO .... HAY GUSTO PARA TODOS

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