Posted February 12, 200718 yr http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/09/Hannibal_Rising_(shot).jpg its actually alright better than the critics said. however i have never seen Silence of the Lambs or any of the other films. I suppose if Silence of the Lambs is suppose to be such a iconic five star film that the critics say then i can understand why they have given it one star/two stars. however compared to something like The Omen (666) the film not that bad and not a complete f***up like that film was. it doesnt do too badly in disgusing the Czech rep. i suppose you could get away with having a place called Bar Tabak. however in Czech this translates as Bar Tobacco as the sign on the street is actually telling you that the establishment is a bar, a place that sells fags and a restuarant. as for Gaspard Ulliel, maybe it would have been better if he had taken the lead in Perfume and done a swap with Ben Whishaw, as Ulliel's performance was slightly 'El Chombo' at times. You couldnt connect him to the perfomance of Anthony Hopkins* and actually rather than imagining him turning into the Hannibal of Anthony Hopkins, it was more like he was was gonna turn into the Thin Man from Charlie's Angel. http://www.filmstew.com/Users/Features/11216/thinman.jpg even though the film was 2 hours long i wasnt as bored as i was in Music and Lyrics, and i guess didnt look at my watch as much as i did in Babel. but then again i suppose this might be due to me not finding Rinko Kikuchi as attractive as Gong Li. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1e/Gong_Li.jpg yes!!!! Gong Li is very tasty :lol: :wub: (just a pity she's playing a Japanese character as no doubt Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer could have then had Hannibal using the line 'Tonight I'm eating Chinese" in an Epic Movie 2 spoof, oh well!!! :lol:) *not seen the film but seen clips on TV list shows obv.
February 13, 200718 yr its actually alright better than the critics said. however i have never seen Silence of the Lambs or any of the other films. Well, I reckon that's the reason why you think "Hannibal Rising" is 'alright' then..... :lol: Saw it today.. Has its moments and the idea is a decent one, but the execution is appalling... Harris, it seems, just cannot be arsed anymore and is just cashing in on his creation... Go read the actual books Alex, you will see an absolute dramatic drop in the quality of the storytelling from "Red Dragon" and "Silence of the Lambs" to "Hannibal", shocking.... I haven't even bothered to read "Hannibal Rising", but seeing as how Harris actually wrote the script for the film as he was writing the book, I cannot imagine the book being any better than the film script (which is a dreadful, hack-written piece of sh!t....). About the only thing that saves this film is the quality of the acting from unkown actor Gaspard Ulliel as the young, incredibly conflicted Lector... He manages to be convincing, the rest of the film however, is not. In the slightest... As for Gong Li, yet AGAIN, woefully miscast (cant they actually find ANY Japanese actresses to play Japanese characters ffs..? <_< ); Christ, cant they actually find an appropriate role for her to play...? First a Japanese Geisha in "Memoirs of a Geisha", then she turns up as some sort of Cuban/Chinese Drug Dealer in "Miami Vice" and now she's playing a ruddy Japanese Samurai it seems....... :wacko: Oh, and let's just forget the HUGE leap in logic that contrives to have this supposed 'mistress of the martial arts' who teaches Hannibal the fine art of Japanese sword-play can so easily be caught and abducted by a few second-rate villians.... Yeah, right..... :lol: :lol: One of so many silly plot-holes, the film looks like Swiss cheese... 4/10 from me, the critics are spot on....
February 13, 200718 yr Author About the only thing that saves this film is the quality of the acting from unkown actor Gaspard Ulliel as the young, incredibly conflicted Lector... He manages to be convincing, the rest of the film however, is not. In the slightest... As for Gong Li, yet AGAIN, woefully miscast (cant they actually find ANY Japanese actresses to play Japanese characters ffs..? <_< ); Christ, cant they actually find an appropriate role for her to play...? First a Japanese Geisha in "Memoirs of a Geisha", then she turns up as some sort of Cuban/Chinese Drug Dealer in "Miami Vice" and now she's playing a ruddy Japanese Samurai it seems....... :wacko: Oh, and let's just forget the HUGE leap in logic that contrives to have this supposed 'mistress of the martial arts' who teaches Hannibal the fine art of Japanese sword-play can so easily be caught and abducted by a few second-rate villians.... Yeah, right..... :lol: :lol: i cant see why you have such a problem with Gong Li and Ziyi Zhang? why does it matter so much to you if a Chinese national is playing a Japanese national? Esp when Gaspard Ulliel gets praised for playing Lector and Ben Whishaw got praised for playing Jean-Baptiste Grenouille??? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/Zhangziyihero.jpg
February 13, 200718 yr i cant see why you have such a problem with Gong Li and Ziyi Zhang? why does it matter so much to you if a Chinese national is playing a Japanese national? Esp when Gaspard Ulliel gets praised for playing Lector and Ben Whishaw got praised for playing Jean-Baptiste Grenouille??? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/Zhangziyihero.jpg Because Chinese and Japanese are totally different cultures, totally different racial/ethnic characteristics too.. Ben Wishaw and Gaspard Ulliel are white Europeans playing other white Europeans, not much difference in terms of culture or racial characteristics between British and French and Belgian and Lithuanian... Saying Chinese is like or 'similar enough to' Japanese is both ignorant and totally false... You'd may as well say Arabs are like Hindus or Latinos are like Koreans... It's also incredibly lazy of casting directors as well.... The mentality behind it stinks as well.. It's basically Hollywood saying "we cant be bothered to cast this role appropriately because there are no really high-profile Japanese actresses, so we'll try and get away with it by going with this relatively famous Chinese actress and hope no one will notice....".
February 14, 200718 yr I will definately be watching this although the lead doesnt look believable enough from the trailers ive seen.
February 15, 200718 yr Author Because Chinese and Japanese are totally different cultures, totally different racial/ethnic characteristics too.. totally! and tbh I didnt realize she was supposed to be playing a Japanese character till half way though (i didnt read the review before watching the film seeing as it got 1 star. i was puzzled about the comment in the fishmonger about her being Japanese). but for a disposable 1 star film like this? Ben Wishaw and Gaspard Ulliel are white Europeans playing other white Europeans, not much difference in terms of culture or racial characteristics between British and French and Belgian and Lithuanian... well if thats true why dont all the girls in this country look like Karolina Kurkova then??!!!! :lol: http://images.askmen.com/imagesmodel/2003_feb/karolina_kurkova/karolina_kurkova_150.jpg but even though you are correctly saying that the Han Chinese shouldnt be mistaken for Japanese, you seem to be pigeonholing every 'white' :puke2: culture and race in Europe (& an asia???) into one block when surely this shouldnt be the case? obv there are gonna overlaps between different European cultures (and obv the imposed global imperialism of american culture that everywhere gets) and language (obv mostly being of indo-european linages) but i dont think it is simple as they are all 'white europeans'. Saying Chinese is like or 'similar enough to' Japanese is both ignorant and totally false... You'd may as well say Arabs are like Hindus or Latinos are like Koreans... its a pity threads can only be moved to other parts of buzzjeck as they would love this on imdb (home of million 'How Jewish is Scarlett Johannson' threads and the famous 'Priyanka, isnt she too dark to be a Bollywood leading lady' mass debate) http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20041214/nat1.jpg It's also incredibly lazy of casting directors as well.... The mentality behind it stinks as well.. It's basically Hollywood saying "we cant be bothered to cast this role appropriately because there are no really high-profile Japanese actresses, so we'll try and get away with it by going with this relatively famous Chinese actress and hope no one will notice....". well i dont know to what extent it is being lazy or just the need to get 'names' attached to a role that might help boxoffice (esp since Gaspard Ulliel is supposed to rate as an unknown) and the project along (obv you must have read loads of stories about general production hell and the insecurities of the business). and btw oh look a Russian playing a German, who'd have thought that :lol: :lol: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/The_Queen_movie.jpg
February 22, 200718 yr Just seen this. It's not actually such a bad film - it just has no relevance to the rest of the Hannibal series. Also, I refuse to believe this was how Hannibal became who he was. Silence and Red Dragon/Manhunter were about the psychology of murder and were something that was in some ways close to reality. Hannibal Rising makes Hannibal's story a Batman style of creation - which I cannot accept as how he became who he did.
February 22, 200718 yr I watched this film last nite. It was quite a good film, not brilliant but watchable.
February 22, 200718 yr I must say though, the film doesnt really relate well to the other Hannibal films.
February 22, 200718 yr Silence and Red Dragon/Manhunter were about the psychology of murder and were something that was in some ways close to reality. Hannibal Rising makes Hannibal's story a Batman style of creation - which I cannot accept as how he became who he did. You've pretty much nailed the reason why "Hannibal Rising" is such a crock of sh!t.... It has no relevance to anything that Harris has written previously... It's like he couldn't be arsed actually delving into the psychology of a young Lector to anything like an in-depth degree and coming up with any real answers to what made the monster, and just churns out this utter SH!TE about his family being killed a'la "Batman"-style and coming up with the corniest, most cliched, most hackneyed plot device in literature/films.....
February 22, 200718 yr Yeah, in that sense it is $h!t. But as a film on it's own, it has some redeeming factors. Gaspard Ulliel was superb I thought, although it was a shame he made his big debut in this film. Also, during the film, I was never bored and did enjoy it. The director (forgot his name, did Pearl Earing I think) did a good job with what he had and handled all the period stuff well. It's just when you look at this in relation to Silence that you realise how c**p it is. Not only because it doesn't really compare cinematically, but because it is just a blatant milking of the series which actually serves to undo a lot of the good work done by Manhunter and Silence. It's all Harris' fault. He wrote the book so it could be made into a film, in fact I think the film deal came before the book did.
February 23, 200718 yr Yeah, in that sense it is $h!t. But as a film on it's own, it has some redeeming factors. Gaspard Ulliel was superb I thought, although it was a shame he made his big debut in this film. Also, during the film, I was never bored and did enjoy it. The director (forgot his name, did Pearl Earing I think) did a good job with what he had and handled all the period stuff well. It's just when you look at this in relation to Silence that you realise how c**p it is. Not only because it doesn't really compare cinematically, but because it is just a blatant milking of the series which actually serves to undo a lot of the good work done by Manhunter and Silence. It's all Harris' fault. He wrote the book so it could be made into a film, in fact I think the film deal came before the book did. If you'll notice, pretty much ALL of my criticism is of Harris as opposed to the perfectly competent technicians and actors who made the film.... You could make a technically brilliant film, but if the script/story is nonsense, then it'll be a pile of sh!t no matter what you do... "Hannibal Rising" is a shameful waste of the talents of LOT of people, especially Harris, who is capable of SO much better....
February 25, 200718 yr Author You've pretty much nailed the reason why "Hannibal Rising" is such a crock of sh!t.... i wouldnt say its a crock of sh!t, its no masterpiece obv average at the most. however it shouldnt be rated as low as something like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/02/Epicmovieposter.jpg remember how i said that rather than growing up to become Anthony Hopkins he will grow up to become Crispin Glover?? Well Epic Movie is so clueless that they employ Crispin Glover and miss out an obv Back To The Future reference in the X-men does chicken skit. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Epicmoviewillywonka.jpg If you'll notice, pretty much ALL of my criticism is of Harris as opposed to the perfectly competent technicians and actors who made the film.... You could make a technically brilliant film, but if the script/story is nonsense, then it'll be a pile of sh!t no matter what you do... "Hannibal Rising" is a shameful waste of the talents of LOT of people, especially Harris, who is capable of SO much better.... i was thinking of doing a thread called '1 Star films, who is to blame? Studios? prods? Directors? Actors? the public? etc etc
February 25, 200718 yr i wouldnt say its a crock of sh!t, its no masterpiece obv average at the most. however it shouldnt be rated as low as something like this: i was thinking of doing a thread called '1 Star films, who is to blame? Studios? prods? Directors? Actors? the public? etc etc I would argue that it's below average in terms of actual plot and scripting to be honest mate.... I detest the film so much because of the brilliance of the first two books... And the fact that the first two Lector films (Michael Mann's "Manhunter" and Johnathan Demme's "Silence of the Lambs") are such truly exceptional pieces of cinema.... Even Ridley Scott's "Hannibal" manages to somewhat transcend the limitations of the source material... As for "Red Dragon".. Completely unnecessary and unwelcome in my opinon, Mann accomplished a much better piece of cinema, even if he did take liberties with the book... As for the whole '1 Star Film' thing, in the case of "Hannibal Rising" the blame can be pretty much laid at the door of Thomas Harris.....
February 25, 200718 yr Author I would argue that it's below average in terms of actual plot and scripting to be honest mate.... I detest the film so much because of the brilliance of the first two books... And the fact that the first two Lector films (Michael Mann's "Manhunter" and Johnathan Demme's "Silence of the Lambs") are such truly exceptional pieces of cinema.... Even Ridley Scott's "Hannibal" manages to somewhat transcend the limitations of the source material... As for "Red Dragon".. Completely unnecessary and unwelcome in my opinon, Mann accomplished a much better piece of cinema, even if he did take liberties with the book... As for the whole '1 Star Film' thing, in the case of "Hannibal Rising" the blame can be pretty much laid at the door of Thomas Harris..... well i suppose Epic Movie could be seen as a No Star film, however i rated it as 1 star as it looks like you havent seen it if you just leave it blank. btw seen you havent contributed to this thread so im guessin the cineworld pass wasnt used to see just how bad it was :lol: and man its several levels below Hannibal Rising. actually i've used my pass twice to see it, saw the end of it as i was waiting to watch something else and nothing else was on. then watched the beginning after the other film just to see where Borat actually fited into the script http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26543
February 25, 200718 yr well i suppose Epic Movie could be seen as a No Star film, however i rated it as 1 star as it looks like you havent seen it if you just leave it blank. btw seen you havent contributed to this thread so im guessin the cineworld pass wasnt used to see just how bad it was :lol: and man its several levels below Hannibal Rising. actually i've used my pass twice to see it, saw the end of it as i was waiting to watch something else and nothing else was on. then watched the beginning after the other film just to see where Borat actually fited into the script http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26543 The trailer I saw for "Epic Movie" was really enough for me to get the idea that it was not the sort of film that I would waste 90 minutes of my life on.... :lol:
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