8.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
An FBI trainee enlists the help of an infamous Serial killer, to gain insight into the mind of another killer.
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony HealdDrama | 100% |
Thriller | 91% |
Crime | 76% |
Horror | 72% |
Psychological thriller | 71% |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Thai: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Thai
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Bonus View (PiP)
Region free
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Believe me, you don't want Hannibal Lecter inside your head.
Add one to the number of films now available on Blu-ray that boast of multiple Oscar wins, including
Best Picture. The Silence of the Lambs not only swept the major categories at the 1991
Academy Awards, but it stands as one of the most deserving of all the Best Picture winners in the
81-year history of the Award. Earning a total of seven nominations and leaving with five statues,
the film is something of an atypical major-category, multiple-Oscar winner in that it is a film heavily
influenced by and containing many elements of true Horror filmmaking. The majority of Best
Picture winners fall squarely into the Drama genre, and while The Silence of the Lambs
does offer all the earmarks of a good Drama, there is no doubt that its dark atmosphere, terrifying
characters, and grisly visuals dominate the film. While that sounds like it could describe most
better-than-average Horror pictures, The Silence of the Lambs seals the deal
with the plethora of A-list talent in front of, and behind, the camera, each delivering a Herculean
effort that makes The Silence of the Lambs arguably the best Horror film of all time.
Welcome to Hannibal's. May I take your liver, er, order please?
The Silence of the Lambs finally debuts on Blu-ray with an MPEG-2 encoded 1080p high definition transfer, presented inside a 1.85:1 frame. The image is fairly grainy, and black backgrounds generally see a spike in the level of visible noise. The film has a bleak, depressed look about it through much of the runtime, setting the tone for the feel of the film and the grisly characters that inhabit it. Colors, too, are slightly dulled in some scenes but a bit brighter in others. They are always stable and strong and never too harsh and overblown or underdeveloped. Fine detail is adequate but not stunning. The rough textures of Lecter's cell walls and the pit where Bill keeps his victims are fairly well defined, but there are no earth-shattering levels of fine detail seen here. Other objects look better under the right conditions, a tape recorder and several drawings seen in Lecter's Tennessee holding cell, for example, offer higher levels of visible detail than do those in darker, danker, grimier locales. Flesh tones look good throughout. Blacks, aside from seeing a rather heavy level of noise, are dark but not always deep and inky, and there is occasionally a slight loss of fine detail in the darker corners of the image. The Silence of the Lambs offers a bland visual style that will never sparkle on any format, and it is reproduced fairly well on this Blu-ray release.
The Silence of the Lambs chews into Blu-ray with a stable but not overly impressive DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music and effects sound slightly rough around the edges and somewhat undefined; the tussle in the prison after Starling's first meeting with Lecter, for example, features a ruckus from the prisoners who rattle their cages and beds while shouting obscenities, but it's never all that clear and pitch-perfectly defined in its presentation. Gunshots, heard primarily during training sessions at Quantico, are loud enough but seemingly lacking in the utmost clarity. Some sound effects move around the front of the soundstage with decent precision and clarity, speeding vehicles for example, which make for a bit of a reprieve from what is otherwise a front-heavy and dialogue-centric audio experience. In a film like The Silence of the Lambs, the audio presentation is meant to do little more than reinforce the story, and it does so admirably here. It's fine where it counts, offering strong dialogue reproduction, decent sound effects, and appropriately-placed and clearly-presented musical cues. None of it will push a sound system to its limits, but many viewers will likely be too enthralled in the story to notice what is a fairly lackluster sound presentation, though one that seems to stay in line with filmmaker intent.
The Silence of the Lambs features a nice array of bonus materials. Breaking the
Silence (480p, 1:58:37) is a picture-in-picture feature that runs intermittently over the
length
of the film, offering viewers text-based trivia and interview clips with primary members of the
cast
and crew as they recount their experiences in making this Academy Award-winning film.
Understanding the Madness (1080p, 19:35) takes viewers into the real world the
Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI and the work they conduct to solve crimes. Inside the
Labyrinth: Making of 'The Silence of the Lambs' (480p, 1:06:28) is a ten-year retrospective
look back at the film, beginning by examining the time in which the film was made and America's
obsession with serial killers, and moving on to look at the construction of some of the sets and
effects, the performances of
the cast, the praise and the criticism the film received after its release, and much more.
The
Silence of the Lambs: Page to Screen (480p, 41:17) is a piece hosted by Peter Gallagher and
examines how author Thomas Harris' chilling and grisly novel became one of the most respected
films of all time. It documents the actor's careers before the film, their foray into the world of the
FBI, their transformation from actor to character, and the film's and actor's post-release
successes and controversies. Scoring the Silence (480p, 16:00) features a look at the
contributions of Composer Howard Shore. Original 1991 'Making Of' Featurette (480p,
8:07) is a brief throwback piece that makes for a interesting watch insofar as seeing the
differences between the making-of features of then and now, but otherwise offers no
major information that was not revealed in the previous features. Next up are a series
of more than twenty deleted scenes (480p, 20:29), outtakes (480p, 1:46), and a
phone message from Anthony Hopkins (1080p, 0:34). Concluding the supplements are eleven
TV spots (480p, 5:55), a teaser trailer (480p, 1:05), and a theatrical trailer (480p, 1:49)
advertising the film.
The Silence of the Lambs represents filmmaking and all that encompasses -- storytelling, acting, direction, pace, and thematic importance and structure, to name a few -- at its pinnacle. The film is a classic in the truest sense of the word, a picture that remains as intriguing, frightening, and compelling as ever thanks to its virtually flawless presentation, made possible by the contributions of top talent performing at their very best. MGM's Blu-ray release is a good one, but by no means a perfect one. The disc features an adequate video transfer that bests previous iterations of the film but fails to truly surpass them, though considering the film's inherent style, the transfer seen here seems a fine representation of the film's calculated appearance. Likewise, the soundtrack is sufficient but not stellar, though again, it seems in-line with the intended presentation. Finally, the disc is supported by a fine selection of bonus materials. Although the visuals and the accompanying soundtrack won't wow any Blu-ray viewers -- those both new to the format and those with several hundred titles under their belts -- the strength of the film and its place in cinematic history makes this disc a must-own. Highly recommended.
1991
DVD Packaging
1991
San Diego Comic-Con 2013 Exclusive
1991
MGM 90th Anniversary Edition
1991
1991
1991
Awards O-Ring Slipcover
1991
1991
1991
Se7en
1995
2002
2001
2015
2013
2013
2002
1991
2011
2012
2011
2007
1971
2009
2014
2007
2014
2016
1997
1976