Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #212256 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English

Amazon.com essential video
Based on Thomas Harris's novel, this terrifying film by Jonathan Demme really only contains a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's most painful memories, creating a bizarre but palpable intimacy that liberates them both under separate but equally horrific circumstances. Demme, a filmmaker with a uniquely populist vision (Melvin and Howard, Something Wild), also spent his early years making pulp for Roger Corman (Caged Heat), and he hasn't forgotten the significance of tone, atmosphere, and the unsettling nature of a crudely effective close-up. Much of the film, in fact, consists of actors staring straight into the camera (usually from Clarice's point of view), making every bridge between one set of eyes to another seem terribly dangerous. --Tom Keogh

Amazon.com essential video
Based on Thomas Harris's novel, this terrifying film by Jonathan Demme really only contains a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's most painful memories, creating a bizarre but palpable intimacy that liberates them both under separate but equally horrific circumstances. Demme, a filmmaker with a uniquely populist vision (Melvin and Howard, Something Wild), also spent his early years making pulp for Roger Corman (Caged Heat), and he hasn't forgotten the significance of tone, atmosphere, and the unsettling nature of a crudely effective close-up. Much of the film, in fact, consists of actors staring straight into the camera (usually from Clarice's point of view), making every bridge between one set of eyes to another seem terribly dangerous. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker
Adapted from a novel by Thomas Harris, Jonathan Demme's thriller is artful pulp-tabloid material treated with intelligence and care and a weird kind of sensitivity. The heroine, Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), is an earnest F.B.I. trainee who is selected to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a psychiatrist who is also a famous mass murderer; her superiors hope that Lecter's twisted expertise can somehow be used to help them catch a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill, who flays his victims. In the course of the movie, these conversations between the trainee and the psychiatrist turn into edgy, complex transactions in which she reveals pieces of her inner life in return for his hints on how to find the killer. Hopkins plays the monster with a fine, cold relish: he gives the character a mesmeric animal stillness, the terrifying opacity of a cobra. And the impact of his performance is heightened by its contrast with everything surrounding it: the scrupulous realism of Demme's style, the mundane details of police procedure, and, in particular, the emotional transparence of the heroine. Demme keeps our attention on Starling and her shifting reactions to the world, and his most striking achievement in this picture is his direction of Jodie Foster. The suspense of this manhunt isn't of the straight-ahead kind we're used to: it's reflective, oscillating between approach and avoidance-it has an unnerving intimacy. Also with Scott Glenn, Ted Levine (as Buffalo Bill), Anthony Heald, and Brooke Smith. The screenplay, which is extremely faithful to the novel, is by Ted Tally. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Silence of the Lambs
I purchased the Criterion Edition for one reason only, that being the commentary provided by the director, writers and actors in the movie, which for some strange unfathomable reason, is not on any other edition.

It was worth the wait to purchase and view this DVD, it being denied the full 5-star rating because it does NOT include a sub-title track so that one can listen to the commentary and follow the dialogue on-screen. This is a personal foible of mine, but may not be relevant to other purchasers.

Otherwise a superlative product, which I recommend highly to anybody.

it puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again
Anthony Hopkins' Oscar-winning performance has made Hannibal Lecter one of the 3 most famous horror character icons born during The Age of Cinema. The other 2 of course (in no particular order) are Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates and Robert Englund as Freddie Krueger. Of course, I excluded characters invented before movies were invented, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. But, Hopkins' portrayal of the brilliant shrink who has a taste for cannibalism is nothing short of exquisite. Just a casual conversation with Lecter sends a chill up your spine. Someone else portrayed the character in an earlier movie, but no one noticed. Hopkins perfected the role and made it his own. Jodie Foster also won an Oscar for her role as Clarice Starling, the FBI trainee who is sent to question Dr. Lecter in his underground cell in a mental institution for the criminally insane. She wants Lecter to help profile and maybe identify a serial killer who has been skinning young girls after killing them. The killer known as Buffalo Bill is also admirably portrayed by Ted Levine. (my title for this review is one of Buffalo Bill's famous lines from this film) There is not a lot of blood, violence or gross stuff shown in this flick. There's a little, but not much. This isn't supposed to be a slasher flick, but rather a psychological thriller that gets its bone-chilling effectiveness from the script, the actors and the suspense which is beautifully created by the patient director, Jonathan Demme. Effects such as close-up conversations with Lecter speaking right to the camera (as if the audience has Clarice's close-up view while speaking to him) helps with the spooky atmosphere of the film. I was never a huge Jodie F. fan, but she definitely deserved her Oscar in this film for her role as, the bravely-trying-to-hide-her-fear-and-do-her-job, smart and professional in the grim face of danger Clarice. Supurb script, acting and directing make for a suspenseful, spooky psychological thriller without much blood or grotesque imagery...again there is a little, but not too much. I'll admit I like blood and carnage and slasher flicks. But, I can greatly admire a film that can be spooky without going that route...especially a movie that is as finely crafted as this one. This movie is excellent at maintaining the spooky mood while building tension and suspense. It keeps you rivoted. Believe me, if you miss this movie, you'll eat your heart out. Or if you DON'T eat your heart out, maybe someone else will!

Good Movie
Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite movies. Amazon .com had it sent to me in a timely fashion and good working order