Just perfect...

Absolutely the worst movie.

The first must-see film of the year.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Michael Mann's 1986 film "Manhunter" is a great example of the cool iciness his directing emits in "Miami Vice" and the high tech smarts of "Heat". In the film, Will Graham, a retired F.B.I. agent, is asked to return to the force to help solve a series of mysterious murders by a killer going by the name of "The Tooth Fairy". Years ago, Graham was pushed to the edge by the cannibalistic, serial killer Hannibal Lecktor, which is what caused him to snap and be forced to retire. Eventually Graham works up the courage to say yes to his new assignment, only to find out that Lecktor is the only one who truly knows "The Tooth Fairy". The chemistry between William Peterson's Graham and Brian Cox's Lecktor is electric. In fact, Lecktor only has 15 total minutes of screen time throughout the whole film-but Cox's performance leaves a strong mark on the whole film. Arguably one of the most underrated screen performances out there comes from Tom Noonan as "The Tooth Fairy". His character is incredibly twisted and psychotic, but when you see him slowly falling in love with Reba, you begin to slowly feel the guilt and pain he begins feeling during these scenes. It's as if he realizes that if he had just not gone off the deep end and held on for a while longer, he would have found true happiness with Reba, but because he went down that hole he realizes there relationship is doomed. It's a truly powerful piece of acting.From a film making standpoint, "Manhunter" is very sleek and cool visually. This is mostly because of Dov Hoenig's music video like editing and Dante Spinotti's eery camera work. Both of these combined make for a very visually pleasing film. It's easily one of the best looking films of the 80's. If there were any complaints with "Manhunter", it's that some lines feel a little too cheesy or cheap for the films own good and that the title sounds clichéd and doesn't really fit the tone of the film. But, those are two very minor gripes with a near flawless film. Highly recommended if you're looking for a definitive example of Michael Mann's direction in action or a very smart police thriller.

Dear Michael Mann, Manhunter is mainly a very stylish police procedural. The array of methods (mostly related to forensic evidence) used by the team of police personnel to identify and track down the killer were simply ingenious. You stayed true to the book and incorporated nearly all of Thomas Harris' ideas. Manhunter's status as a police procedural is punctuated by the fact that you paid a lot of attention to the sets - the police meetings are all located in places characterized by an almost sterile white corporate cleanliness. They are notably different from the sets used during the other scenes. Manhunter is also a really scary horror film. It has one of the creepiest beginnings ever with the grainy point of view shot of the killer as he flashes a light upon a sleeping couple. The scenes inside Dollarhyde's abode were genuinely frightening. It offers more than a glance into the motivations of a serial killer. William Petersen is perfectly cast as a tortured cop struggling with his inner demons. I loved the use of slow motion in the two action scenes. You channeled a bit of De Palma in the scene where Dollarhyde gazes upon his lover and another man. It was a really deft touch. A lot of people complain about the background score. But I thought it was excellent and added another dimension to this film. The film looks gorgeous on Blu Ray. Great job, Michael. Best Regards, Pimpin. (9/10)

Manhunter (1986) *** (out of 4) FBI profiler Will Graham (William Petersen) is asked out of retirement by his old boss (Dennis Farina) to try and track down a serial killer known as The Tooth Fairy. Even though his wife (Kim Greist) objects, Graham takes on the job, which also requires him to seek help from Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox), a criminal he formally brought down.MANHUNTER has the bad luck of happening before THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, which would turn out to become one of the best loved films ever made. That film would become a box office hit, win several Oscars and make Anthony Hopkins' performance of Hannibal Lecktor something of movie legend. People either forgot or didn't know that there was an earlier version so they went back to watch MANHUNTER and unfairly criticized it for not being like the Hopkins' one.I stayed away from MANHUNTER for a very long time because I wanted to give it a fair shake and I must admit that I was a little shocked at how easily I could get the "other" films out of my mind and just sit back and enjoy this one. Director Michael Mann has created a highly intelligent thriller that is rather laid back in its approach and I thought he did a very good job bringing the material to the screen. There's certainly some great cinematography as well as some great performances.Petersen is extremely entertaining and believable in the role of the profiler. The character suffers from some mental issues that Petersen perfectly captures and you have no problem believing that he's this intellectual profiler. Farina is always good in whatever he does and we also get strong support from Greist, Joan Allen and yes Brian Cox as Lecktor. It's really unfair that people bash Cox for not being like Hopkins and again it's important to note that this film was first.There are some flaws with MANHUNTER that really come out in the second portion of the film. For starters, the loud rock music really kills any sort of atmosphere and I thought it really took you out of the film. I'd also argue that the movie isn't nearly as effective when we're spending so much time with the killer. I thought the second hour of the film was much weaker than the first but MANHUNTER still has enough in it to make it an entertaining thriller.

Manhunter is a lot of underrated brilliant thriller from Michael Mann who directed also Heat and Collateral. This is very underrated original film from Dr. Hannibal Lecktor. I prefer Red Dragon (2002) over this film. Red Dragon was the first film I saw and watching this film I realized something: the film suffers from it's problems: Brian Cox's character had less screen time on it in this film. I only saw three scenes of his character and by the end of the film he disappeared without any explanation. But that doesn't mean I don't like it, I like this film, I like it a lot and it is my third favorite film from Hannibal Lector films franchise. I don't care about Hannibal Rising. To me it is a useless prequel and I want watch TV series and I really don't care about it. William Petersen as Will Graham is awesome. This is the best performance of him, I have ever saw. William was the main cast in CSI (2000) as Gil Grissom but after he left and Ted Danson took over the show, I quit watching it. Gil Grissom will always be my favorite character.Tom Noonan scared me to death, his character was a real psychopath scary villain as Francis Dolarhyde "The Tooth Fairy". I seriously thought Ralph Fiennes had better acting performance, cause I got to know his character a bit more. In this movie I honestly had no clue why Tom Noonan was terrorizing family's. He was less in the film and he had less screen time, but even with less screening time, he was really scary. I prefer Antony Hopkins over Ronny Cox and I prefer Ralph Fiennes over Tom Noonan, that is just my opinion.Things I do like about this film: Director Michael Mann used a lot of music and theme music from Miami Vice. I read a review on IDMb from a user claiming, this was a Miami Vice style. Michael Mann was producer of Miami Vice so of course he used music from Miami Vice.The songs in this movie are all beautiful. After watching this movie, the song was playing when Tom Noonan woke up, beside Reba McClane (Joan Allen) my dad rushed to me and asked about the music who was the artist of this beautiful song. I answered I really don't know, because I don't know what song was played.I love William Petersen to death as Will Graham in here, his acting skill is glorious in this movie.You have nice shootouts on the end of the film: Serial killer Francis Dollarhyde (Tom Noonan) uses a pistol gripped Remington 870 at the end of the film. He kills 2 cops, wounds Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina) and attempts to kill Graham (William Petersen) before he pumps 6 rounds into him with his Bulldog (though before Dollarhyde was also wounded by another cop's bullet).Will kills Francis on the end of the film, he saves Reba (Joan Allen) from The Tooth Fairy and tells her that he's name is Will Graham.During shootouts you hear the song playing IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA played by Iron Butterfly, I love that song.I love the shootouts on the end of the film and Will saves a hostage Reba after he saw trough window how Francis is attempting to kill Reba, he runs towards him and jumps trough the window on Francis, but Francis is to strong he cuts him and he throws him in the fridge wounding him. This scene is awesome and I love it. How Will figure it out, the motive from Francis was brilliant, I think Jack Crawford shouldn't hold him back. Brian Cox as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor was brilliant and masterful scary, he did a good job, I only wish he would had more screen time with Will Graham.I love the scene after Will visits Hannibal, he runs out of the building for been so scared of Hannibal. I also like Brian Cox in cell talking on the phone with Will that was beautiful scene.I also like the song on the end of the credits HEARTBEAT Performed by Red 7. The title of the movie "Manhunter" was credit because the film producers feared that people will think that it is a kung fu movie.I am giving Manhunter 8 out of 10 to me it is a tie with Red Dragon. I like this film a lot, a lot and it is my third favorite film in the Hannibal series. Silence will always be number one movie, it was the first movie I saw it.Manhunter is a 1986 American crime horror thriller film based on Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon. Written and directed by Michael Mann, it stars William Petersen as FBI profiler Will Graham. Also featured are Tom Noonan as serial killer Francis Dollarhyde, Dennis Farina as Graham's FBI superior Jack Crawford, and Brian Cox as incarcerated killer Hannibal Lecktor. The film focuses on Graham coming out of retirement to lend his talents to an investigation on Dollarhyde, a killer known as "The Tooth Fairy." In doing so, he must confront the demons of his past and meet with Lecktor, who nearly counted Graham among st his victims.8/10 Grade: B Studio: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group Red Dragon Productions Starring: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, Stephen Lang, Tom Noonan, Director: Michael Mann Producers: Kenneth Utt, Edward Saxon, Ron Bozman Screenplay: Michael Mann Based on Red Dragon by Thomas Harris Rated: R Running Time: 2 Hr. 00 Mins. Budget: $15.000.000 Box Office: $8.620.929