Synopsis:

This cut rearranges the scene order to tell a thought provoking, subtle, compelling story. The result is more of a slow burn-- with gradually escalating conflict (and a little less Hannibal).

Intentions:

The theatrical cut of Red Dragon didn’t leave much to the imagination and its direction might be best described by Hannibal himself: it “fumbles at your head like a freshman pulling at a panty girdle".

Change List:

Change List: 1. Complete color regrade to address scenes with hyperblues, blown-out highlights, the white point set to glowing blue, and other issues. The look now leans more natural. 2. VFX to make Hannibal look a bit younger and fitter throughout to better match his appearance in Silence of the Lambs. 3. Removed Hannibal's roughly 10 minute intro showing his pre-incarceration dining activities, fancy ponytail, and how he was apprehended by Will. Now there is more initial mystery in Will's connection to Hannibal that we learn about over time. 4. For the opening credits newspaper/scrapbook montage, replaced the in your face (and on the nose) scoring with some vintage music from the 1940’s (something Francis’ grandmother might have played). Now it has a more relaxed, confident vibe. 5. Removed the overt opening grandmother/teeth visual and most of the photos of Will. 6. Added in new disturbing/artistic visuals for the opening credits to shift the heavy handed focus from Will over to a more subtle focus on themes about The Red Dragon. We also see a hand caressing a newspaper photo of Hannibal. 7. Less filler and expository in the first conversation between Will and Crawford pre-establishing Will as “imaginative.” 8. The first time we see Francis is the darkroom scene at Chromalux, and it's moved significantly earlier to just after Will briefs the FBI team; Francis is now initially shown as just a quiet, awkward man. 9. Other scenes with Francis (acting relatively normal) also happen sooner now. 10. Fans of the Deftones might appreciate scoring added while Francis watches Reba in the rain from his van. 11. In the meeting with Will, Hannibal does not say he has “oodles” of time. Hannibal does not need to be cute and relatable. 12. While Will is watching the home video of the Leeds, we cut to Francis arriving home where he begins watching the home video of another family, a definitive but more subtle confirmation he is the killer. 13. In the tree, removed Will’s comment about the Red Dragon symbol carved into the bark. 14. Cut Francis putting red marker across Freddy’s face on the newspaper clipping. We don’t need this hint. 15. Trimmed and rearranged Will meeting with Hannibal on his weekly “walk” in chains. Now Hannibal does his lunge move right away when he first approaches Will, and the scare is much more effective. 16. Hannibal says the carved symbol is the Red Dragon without Will saying it first. 17. Cut Hannibal’s contrived malarkey about Will controlling his fear. 18. Cut the clumsy exchange about Hannibal wanting to view the Leeds family videos. 19. When Hannibal’s message to Francis is decoded, we first hear what it says from Crawford. 20. Added missing muzzle flashes to Molly’s target practice scene. 21. Moved the Francis workout scene to later, right after he kidnaps Freddy the reporter. This very first glimpse of Francis in the theatrical cut had very quickly established him as severely disturbed, which I wanted to avoid happening too early on. Cut this way it now heightens the tension of the captive reporter scene. 22. Francis does not tell Freddy, “you owe me awe.” Sounds too much like “all” with those dentures and the effect is lackluster. Instead Francis gets close up and intimidating. Added SFX. 23. Moved the most horrific flashback dialogue from good old Grandma so that Francis is in bed dreaming about her abuse now, prompting him to put the shotgun in his mouth. Saving this revelation for the end is important for building up to Francis’ dramatic action here. 24. Blood VFX added when Francis clubs the librarian; cut her dropping to the floor. 25. The art eating scene ends as Francis is still munching on the paper. Cut the other woman entering the room and Francis leaving. 26. Added some camera/ color VFX and SFX for dramatic impact to depict Francis’ transformation as he eats the artwork. 27. Trimmed end of conversation on plane discussing Francis’ adventure at the museum. 28. Trimmed down Will’s prolonged joke about Reba’s hair. 29. No more unnecessary ending teaser for Silence of the Lambs. 30. New end credits music, a classical rendition of the Deftones.

Other Sources:

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