Manhunter

Michael Mann does a stunning job in bringing Thomas Harris' RED DRAGON to life in this 1986 classic. He did such a great job many still feel this be far superior to the recent version. For the few who have not yet seen it I don't wish to spoil anything by going in to plot details. What I will mention is Brian Cox is brilliant as the first to play Dr. Hannibal Lecter and some (I'm not one of them!) still prefer him to Anthony Hopkins. William Petersen is his usual brilliant self as the lead profiler on the case and I'm sure this role was well in Anthony Zuiker's mind when he cast him as Grissom in the CSI series. Dennis Farina and many other Mann main-stays are present here as well and Tom Noonan gives his all as the head sicko here. Pay close attention to Mann's use of architecture...one of his signature tricks and it is extremely effective in this one.