''Red Dragon'' is a 2002

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...

film based on the 1981 novel by

Thomas Harris William Thomas Harris III (born September 22, 1940) is an American writer. He is the author of a series of suspense novels about Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, including '' The Silence o ...

. It was directed by

Brett Ratner Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the Rush Hour (film series), ''Rush Hour'' film series, ''The Family Man'', ''Red Dragon (2002 film), Red Dragon'', ''X-Men: The Last Stand'', ''Tower Heist ...

and written by Ted Tally. A prequel to ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

'' (2001) and '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991), it is the third film of the ''Hannibal Lecter'' franchise. It is the last film of the series distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

and the last film to star

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

as Lecter. It is followed by a prequel, ''

Hannibal Rising ''Hannibal Rising'' is a psychological horror novel by American author Thomas Harris, published in 2006. It is the fourth and final novel in Harris's series and the first novel in chronological order of the novels of Thomas Harris centered aro ...

'' (2007) which depicts Lecter's youth. The film sees

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agent Will Graham (

Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. After graduating from Yale College in 1991 with a degree in history, he worked for a few months in Japan before moving to New York City ...

) enlisting the help of serial killer

Hannibal Lecter Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character created by American novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a cannibalistic serial killer and former forensic psychiatrist; after his incarceration, he is consulted by FBI agents Will Graham and Clarice Starling ...

(

) to catch another killer, Francis Dolarhyde (

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ralph Fiennes, various accolades, including a British Academy Film ...

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor and film producer, known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running associatio ...

Emily Watson Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar Ware ...

, Mary-Louise Parker, and

Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character actor, character roles—eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical productio ...

also star. It is considered the fourth of the five released films regarding Hannibal Lecter. The novel was previously adapted into the film '' Manhunter'' (1986). Both films feature the same cinematographer,

Dante Spinotti Dante Spinotti, ASC, AIC is an Italian cinematographer. He is known mostly for his collaborations with directors Michael Mann and Brett Ratner. He received Academy Award nominations for ''L.A. Confidential'' (1997) and ''The Insider'' (1999 ...

. After turning down the ''Silence of the Lambs'' sequel, ''

'' (2001), ''The Silence of the Lambs'' screenwriter Ted Tally returned to write ''Red Dragon''. It was released on October 4, 2002 to generally positive reviews from critics, who deemed it to be an improvement over ''Hannibal'', but inferior to ''The Silence of the Lambs''. It was a box office success, earning $209 million worldwide against a $78 million budget. An origin story, titled ''

'', was released in 2007.

Plot

In 1980,

agent Will Graham visits forensic psychiatrist

to discuss a case. Graham has been working with Lecter on a psychological profile of a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

; Graham is certain the killer is a

cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecology, ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well ...

, based on the fact that organs taken from the victims are often used in cooking. He then discovers a bookmarked

sweetbread Sweetbread is a culinary name for the thymus or pancreas, typically from calf or lamb. Sweetbreads have a rich, slightly gamey flavor and a tender, succulent texture. They are often served as an appetizer or a main course and can be accompani ...

s recipe in Lecter's study that includes those organs, revealing Lecter as the killer. Lecter stabs him, but Graham stabs him back with arrowheads and shoots him before falling unconscious. Lecter is tried, found not guilty by reason of insanity, and imprisoned in an institution for the

criminally insane The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to a psychiatric disease at the time of the criminal act ...

. Graham, traumatized, retires to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

with his family. Several years later, another serial killer nicknamed the "Tooth Fairy" has murdered two families in different cities,the Jacobis and the Leedsesduring full moons. With another full moon approaching, special agent Jack Crawford persuades Graham to review evidence and provide leads. Graham decides to consult Lecter for further insight after telling Crawford that the Tooth Fairy has "no face" to him, and he cannot determine how he was choosing the victim families. The Tooth Fairy is Francis Dolarhyde, who kills as directed by his alternate personality, which he calls the Great Red Dragon, after the

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

painting '' The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun'', which is tattooed on his back. He believes that each victim brings him closer to becoming the Dragon. His psychopathology originates from childhood abuse by his grandmother. A letter from the Tooth Fairy, written on toilet paper, is discovered in Lecter's cell, expressing admiration for Lecter and suggesting that Lecter reply through the

personals A personal advertisement, sometimes called a contact ad, is a form of classified advertising in which a person seeks to find another person for friendship, romance, marriage, or sexual activity. In British English, it is commonly known as an adve ...

section of the ''National Tattler''. Lloyd Bowman deciphers Lecter's reply, which is Will Graham's home address, sending his family into hiding. To lure out the Tooth Fairy, Graham gives an interview to Freddy Lounds, a ''National Tattler'' reporter, disparaging the killer as an impotent homosexual and that Lecter was only feigning interest in him. Enraged, Dolarhyde kidnaps Lounds, glues him to a wheelchair, forces him to recant his allegations on tape, and sets him on fire, killing him. At his job at Chromalux, a St. Louis based home video conversion business, Dolarhyde reluctantly begins a relationship with blind co-worker Reba McClane. He struggles with genuine affection for her and his alter ego's demands that he kill her. Desperate to stop the Dragon's control over him, Dolarhyde goes to the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, tears apart the Blake painting, and eats it. Graham realizes that the Tooth Fairy knew the layout of his victims' houses from their home videos and concludes that the killer must be a Chromalux employee. He immediately goes there and is spotted by Dolarhyde. Panicked, Dolarhyde goes to Reba's house, suspecting that she may have betrayed him. He kills co-worker Ralph Mandy, takes a drugged Reba to his house, and sets it ablaze. Unable to kill her, he apparently shoots himself and Reba escapes. Graham is able to read Dolarhyde's journal and realizes he was made into a monster by systematic abuse. After an autopsy, it is revealed that Dolarhyde used Ralph's body to stage his own death. Dolarhyde infiltrates the Graham home in Florida and takes Will's son Josh hostage. To save Josh, Graham provokes Dolarhyde with his grandmother's abusive words and he attacks him. Both are wounded in a shootout, which ends when Will's wife Molly finally kills Dolarhyde. Graham, now on a sailboat with Molly and Josh, receives a letter from Lecter praising his work and bidding him well. Lecter's jailer, Dr. Frederick Chilton, tells him that he has a visitor, a young woman from the FBI.

Cast

Production

The 1991 film '' The Silence of the Lambs'', starring

as Lecter, was a critical and commercial success, winning five

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

. Hopkins was the only major member of the ''Silence of the Lambs'' team to return for the 2001 sequel, ''

''; it was also a commercial success, but received less positive reviews. Both films were adapted from novels by

. Husband-and-wife producers Dino and

Martha De Laurentiis Martha De Laurentiis ( and credited as such until 1995; July 10, 1954 – December 4, 2021) was an American film producer. De Laurentiis was known for producing films such as '' Breakdown'', '' U-571'', ''Hannibal'', and '' Red Dragon'' with her ...

decided to produce a film based on the 1981 novel '' Red Dragon,'' the first Hannibal Lecter novel, as a prequel to ''The Silence of the Lambs.'' Dino said that people thought he was "crazy" for adapting the book, as it had been previously adapted as ''Manhunter'' (1986), with Brian Cox as Lecter. Both ''Manhunter'' and ''Red Dragon'' had the same cinematographer,

, and both featured

Frankie Faison Frankie Russel Faison (born June 10, 1949) is an American actor known for his role as Deputy Commissioner, and, later, Commissioner, Ervin Burrell in the HBO series ''The Wire'', as Barney Matthews in the ''Hannibal Lecter'' franchise, and as Su ...

. Hopkins hesitated to sign on, worried that three Lecter films might be too much. Screenwriter Ted Tally, who wrote ''The Silence of the Lambs'' but not ''Hannibal'', had turned down many offers to write more serial killer stories. He said he liked the idea of Hopkins' Lecter films forming a trilogy: "If it ends here, it will end gracefully. I would hate to see this become ''Hannibal Lecter XIII''." To satisfy expectations, Tally added Lecter scenes not in the novel, describing it as a "commercial reality". He had the support of Harris, who sent Tally dialogue and ideas for scenes.

and

admired ''The Silence of the Lambs'' but had not enjoyed ''Hannibal.'' The cast were persuaded to join by Tally's screenplay; Fiennes felt it worked "only on suspense", without overt violence. Norton and

disagreed on the scene in which Graham approaches the incarcerated Lecter for the first time. Ratner wanted Norton to incorporate a gesture or look to indicate Graham's fear, but Norton felt the audience would not need this if it were filmed correctly. They compromised by showing Graham's sweat stains when he removes his jacket in the next scene. Whereas Fiennes wanted to avoid overplaying his serial killer character, Hopkins aimed to play Lecter with more "danger and rage" than before. Fiennes spent 90 minutes of each day for months building his physique, and wore a prosthetic to give him a

cleft palate A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate (the roof of the mouth) contains an opening into the nose. The ...

. The tattoo on his back took around eight hours to apply.

Soundtrack

''Red Dragon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was composed by

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...

, and produced by Mark Helfrich and

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

released it on September 24, 2002, in the United States and Canada.

Reception

Box office

''Red Dragon'' was released on October 4, 2002, and opened in 3,357 theaters in the United States, grossing $13,478,355 on its opening day and $36,540,945 on its opening weekend, ranking #1 ahead of '' Sweet Home Alabama'' with a per theater average of $10,885. It went on to achieve the highest October opening weekend, beating ''

Meet the Parents ''Meet the Parents'' is a 2000 American comedy film written by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg and directed by Jay Roach. It stars Ben Stiller as Greg Focker, a nurse who suffers a series of unfortunate events while visiting his girlfriend's paren ...

''. This record was surpassed by '' Scary Movie 3'' the following year. On its second weekend, it remained #1 and grossed $17,655,750 – $5,250 per theater. By its third weekend it dropped down to #3 and made $8,763,545 – $2,649 per theater. In the UK, ''Red Dragon'' collected $4.6 million during its opening weekend, ranking in first place at the box office above ''

Lilo & Stitch ''Lilo & Stitch'' () is a 2002 American animated Science fiction film, science fiction comedy-drama film, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It was written and directed by Chris Sanders and De ...

''. ''Red Dragon'' grossed $93,149,898 in the United States and Canada and $116,046,400 in other territories. In total, the film has grossed $209,196,298 worldwide.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, ''Red Dragon'' has an approval rating of 69% based on 191 reviews, with an average rating of 6.40/10. The site's consensus said the film is "competently made, but everything is a bit too familiar". On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of ''Film Comment ...

of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' gave the film a positive review, stating: "This darkly seductive, flawlessly acted piece is worlds removed from most horror films. Here monsters have their grandeur, heroes their gravity. And when they collide, a dance of death ensues between two souls doomed to understand each other."

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

of '' Variety'' also gave the film a positive review, saying that the "audiences will be excused for any feelings of déjà vu the new film might inspire. That won't prevent them from watching it in rapt, anxious silence, however, as the gruesome crimes, twisted psychology and deterministic dread that lie at the heart of Harris' work are laid out with care and skill."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' gave the film 3.5 out of four, praising

's directing and the film's atmosphere. He stated: "To my surprise, Ratner does a sure, stylish job, appreciating the droll humor of Lecter's predicament, creating a depraved new villain in the Tooth Fairy (

), and using the quiet, intense skills of Norton to create a character whose old fears feed into his new ones. There is also humor, of the uneasy he-can't-get-away-with-this variety, in the character of a nosy scandal-sheet reporter (

)." David Sterritt of the ''

Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper b ...

'' gave the film a positive review, stated that "the most refreshing aspect of ''Red Dragon'' is its reliance on old-fashioned acting instead of computer-aided gizmos. Hopkins overdoes his role at times—his vocal tones are almost campy—but his piercing eyes are as menacing as ever, and Ralph Fiennes is scarily good as his fellow lunatic." David Grove of ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...

'', who gave the film four stars out of five, said: "Is ''Red Dragon'' a better film than ''Manhunter''? I don't know. I think it stands on its own, but I wonder how much people who are intimately familiar with ''Manhunter'' will be shocked by it, although the ending is altogether different and much more realized, I think". Rick Kisonak, who also wrote for ''Film Threat'', also gave the film a positive review, but he gave it three stars out of five, saying: "The only downside to this delectable third course? The regrettable likelihood that Lecter fans will have to make do without dessert." Edward Guthmann of ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', gave the film a mixed review, saying that "in Hollywood, where integrity is rapidly consumed and careers defined by market value, there's trash and there's trash with a pedigree." Stephanie Zacharek, for ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

'', also gave the film a mixed review, stating: "If you buy the overprocessed headcheese of the serial killer as refined genius, you'll love ''Red Dragon''. Or maybe not. Even Hannibal Lecter devotees may lose patience with this picture's grandiose, self-serious ponderousness—that's Lecterese for, 'It's kind of boring in patches, actually.'" William Arnold of ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

,'' who gave the film a mixed review, said that the film "basically lives up to the old adage that the final work in a trilogy is invariably the weakest." Michael Atkinson of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' gave the film a negative review; he stated: "''Red Dragon''s formula is so risible and rote by now that the natural reaction to scenes of peril, torture, and suffering is flippant laughter."

Home media

The film was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on April 1, 2003. It was released in two extras-packed DVD editions, a single-disc package and two-disc "Director's Edition". The single-disc package includes deleted scenes, director's commentary by Brett Ratner, Interview with FBI profiler John E. Douglas, Four featurettes: "The Hannibal Lecter Story," "The Making of Red Dragon," "The Art of Criminal Profiling" and "The Making of a Killer". The Director's Edition includes Ratner's video diary, featurette "The Red Dragon Tattoo", screen and film tests, and storyboard-to-final-feature comparisons. On October 24, 2023, Kino Lorber released a 4K Blu-ray featuring a HDR/Dolby Vision Master from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative. It includes all previously released special features on the Blu-ray.

Awards

''Red Dragon'' was nominated for 14 awards, and won several, including Empire Award for Best British Actress (Emily Watson) and Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actor Age Ten or Younger (Tyler Patrick Jones).

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Red Dragon 2002 films 2002 horror films 2002 crime drama films 2002 crime thriller films 2002 psychological thriller films 2000s horror thriller films 2000s psychological drama films 2000s serial killer films American crime drama films Films about psychopaths and sociopaths American crime thriller films American horror thriller films American psychological drama films American psychological thriller films American serial killer films English-language German films German horror thriller films 2000s English-language films Films about cannibalism Fiction about familicide Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Films scored by Danny Elfman Films based on American horror novels Films set in Baltimore Films set in St. Louis Films set in 1980 Hannibal Lecter films Interquel films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Brett Ratner Films with screenplays by Ted Tally Films produced by Dino De Laurentiis Films produced by Martha De Laurentiis German psychological thriller films 2000s American films American prequel films German prequel films 2000s German films English-language horror thriller films English-language crime drama films English-language crime thriller films Universal Pictures films