The Silence of the Lambs Blu-ray offers solid video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
A psychopath nicknamed Buffalo Bill is murdering young women across the Midwest. Believing
it takes one to know one, the FBI sends Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) to interview a
demented prisoner who may provide clues to the killer's actions. That prisoner is psychiatrist
Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant, diabolical cannibal who agrees to help
Starling only if she'll feed his morbid curiosity with details about her own complicated life. This
twisted relationship forces Starling not only to face her own inner demons, but leads her face–
to–face with a demented killer, an incarnation of evil so overwhelming, she may not have the
courage or strength to stop him. Horrific, disturbing, spellbinding. This thriller set the standard
by which all others are measured.
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?
FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster, Nim's Island) is given
a big break when she is assigned to interview and construct a psycho-behavioral profile of the
deranged killer, Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins, Nixon). Starling
assumes correctly that her assignment is more than she is told, and she enters into a brief battle
of wits with the clever and manipulative Lecter, who finally surrenders to her a clue that may
lead her
down a path towards catching the notorious killer "Buffalo Bill." When Bill kidnaps the daughter
of a prominent U.S. Senator, Lecter's knowledge of the killer becomes central to the
investigation.
His budding rapport with Starling leads him to agree to a deal that may ease the harsh
restrictions placed on him as one of the world's most infamous criminals in exchange for sharing
his knowledge of the Buffalo Bill case, assuming the kidnapped girl is recovered alive.
Based on the novel by Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs is a story about a
descent into hell, into both the deepest, darkest and most unforgiving crevices of both the Earth
and
of the human psyche. Hannibal Lecter is housed in a crude, unforgiving, windowless cell that
offers roughly-textured stone walls, a filthy toilet, sink, and cot, and an impenetrable clear
window that offers him no access to the outside world beyond his cage, the man denied even
the bars that allow a criminal's hands and arms to experience brief moments of reprieve outside
containment. Access to the cell is through rather plain and unassuming corridors and stairwells,
until visitors are greeted by a harsh red light and a subtle yet foreboding rumble that signals the
entrance into one of the world's most unforgiving prisons. Buffalo Bill's abode, like the
hallways and staircases that lead to Lecter's cell, is ordinary and modest. Behind the pedestrian
appointments of his living room and kitchen lies a labyrinthine, crude, musty, and inhospitable
path towards both depravity and certain death, the grisly location ending at a deep, dark, and
impossibly steep pit where the innocent await their deaths at the hands of a man as psychotic as
perhaps any the world has ever known. Indeed, each locale suits its inhabitant and the themes
of
the film; Lecter and Bill are equally though differently deranged, Lecter in a smooth and almost
unassuming intellectual fashion and Bill showing less physical control, his emotional make-up
perhaps at odds with his deeper psychological and physical depravity. Each man lives in an
Earthly representation of hell, and each man's mind, too, in their own unique way, exist almost
in another plane of existence where reason, compassion, and morality no longer figure into the
human condition.
Director Jonathan Demme (The Manchurian
Candidate) and Cinematographer Tak Fujimoto (The Sixth Sense)
smartly frame The Silence of the Lambs around a plain,
unassuming visual style that reinforces the themes of depravity and the superficial simplicity but
deeper complexities of the story, Demme's direction earning him a Best Director Oscar. The film
is
consistently drab, visually, even on the surface and
far away from either Lecter or Bill. Bleak, depressing, cold, and unforgiving, the film represents
basic filmmaking at its best, conveying a simple story that is wonderfully disturbing, one that
draws audiences into a world too frightening and stripped of humanity to endure first-hand,
where only movie magic may suffice in leading audiences through a world so depraved as this.
It's part escapist entertainment at its best, and part nightmare that is both horrific and riveting,
one that is too finely constructed from which to warrant -- or desire -- interruption or reprieve. It
takes audiences into a world that seems too grisly for most to comprehend, but does so both
competently and assuredly, crafting along the way a tour into the darkest and most grotesque
levels of humanity where cannibalism, murder, and the absence of even the most fundamental of
human consciousness is absent.
The Silence of the Lambs offers audiences a first-rate story directed with precision and
chilling effectiveness, but it is the performance of its pair of lead actors that makes the film the
unmitigated classic it is, and will continue to be, for generations to come. Hopkins' performance
is
rare, one of the finest in the history of motion pictures, his a complete transformation not
physically but rather emotionally and psychologically, the actor exuding all the qualities of the
Lecter character, those both admirable and despicable. Hannibal is a fascinating villain, a highly
educated man with an impeccable memory and vocabulary, an uncanny ability to manipulate
others, and able to fully read and understand other human being completely and precisely. From
identifying their preferred brands skin cream and perfume to describing, in detail, the personal
histories of others after only the briefest of encounters, Lecter may be one of the smartest and
most refined men in the world, a man of exemplary taste with only the nasty habit of consuming
his fellow man standing between him and greatness. Clarice Starling is the perfect match for
him. She lacks his physical stature, experience, and unsurpassed sense of the world around him
that Lecter feasts on when toying with his captors, but she is astute and insightful in her own
right, and more so than most. She is willing -- and able -- to stand toe-to-toe with Lecter not
necessarily intellectually but psychologically. Jodie Foster is astounding in this role, playing it
perfectly as she lends a sense of shaky confidence to the part. As fine as her performance is,
however, it is devoured by Hopkins' gargantuan and career-defining effort. Both Hopkins and
Foster earned Academy Awards for their performances.
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.
The Silence of the Lambs: Other Editions
2-disc set $27.66
Blu-ray bundles with The Silence of the Lambs (2 bundles)
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Even though 'The Silence of the Lambs' was the winner of five Academy Awards (including Best Picture) in 1991, its greatest accomplishment has to be the film's ability to teeter at the edge of reality without falling into chasm of science fiction. With so many ...
MGM Home Entertainment in conjuction with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring the Academy Award-winning film 'Silence of the Lambs' to Blu-ray on March 3rd. Video will be presented in 1.85:1 1080p AVC accompanied by a 5.1 DTS-HD ...
