Hannibal Rising - Bloody Disgusting Blu-ray SteelBook

As we’ve seen a few times now with our favorite monstrous horror franchises, the origin of our beast is rarely needed or even worth exploring. Telling the story of where the monster comes from often deflates the mystery and nullifies the terror we once felt. We knew Michael killed his sister that was enough. We didn’t need his abusive childhood home life. We knew Jason supposedly drowned but survived to see his mother’s death, that’s enough. We don’t need an origin TV series. The more padding added the less interesting the creature becomes. And so we go down this worn and trodden path with Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter for Hannibal Rising. 

In this origin story, we witness Hannibal’s tragic childhood in Lithuania, barely surviving WWII he lives only to witness his baby sister being murdered and eaten by the evil Grutas (Rhys Ifans) and his squad of profiteering soldiers. Surviving in an orphanage carved out of his family’s acnestrial home, the grown Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel) escapes to his Uncle’s estate, and his Aunt, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li) who takes him in and formally educates the young lad. Hannibal thrives in her care, but he remains haunted by his past trauma. Through chance meetings as a young medical school student in Paris, Hannibal will have the delicious opportunity to exact his revenge on the men who devoured his sister honing his unique taste for murder. 

Right off the bat, this film was never conceived with the best of intentions or circumstances. Rights holder and legendary producer Dino De Laurentis wanted to make an origin film for Hannibal to keep the movie brand going. He told novelist Thomas Harris what he was going to do with or without his input, and Harris was essentially compelled into the project. Writing the novel and screenplay concurrently, the novel and film are unfortunately the weakest entries of the franchise. Novel or film, they’re not terrible, and there is some pulpy enjoyment to be had, but they’re shadows of past efforts. Simply, this just isn’t a story that needed to be told.

I greatly enjoyed Girl with a Peal Earring and I think director Peter Webber did the best he could with what he had to work with. The problem is the story is a frustrating by-the-numbers revenge plot. There aren’t any surprises. Events and twists in Harris’ novel and the subsequent screenplay are telegraphed far in advance that by the time Hannibal becomes the man we know and love, it’s expected rather than a revelation. He learns to use a katana, by god he’s going to cut a dude’s head off! Even the presence of French Nazi-hunting detective Popil (a great turn from Dominic West) plays all of the cliched plot beats. 

Worse for the character is the revenge basis as an origin. From Red Dragon to The Silence of the Lambs to Hannibal we’re told again and again the man is a pure sociopath, a true monster. He may be cultured and have a warped code of ethics, but he’s nonetheless a fixture of pure evil. Hannibal Rising makes him a sympathetic antihero. We empathize and agree with him. We’re no longer afraid of the man in the glass cell with the terrifying piercing eyes and the monstrous intellect and unique appetite. 

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray 

Lionsgate takes a bite out of Hannibal Rising on Blu-ray with help from Bloody Disgusting for a Walmart-exclusive SteelBook. A single-disc + digital release, the disc is pressed on a Region A BD-50 disc and loads to an animated main menu with standard navigation options. Only the Unrated Cut is available running roughly nine minutes longer than the Theatrical version. The SteelBook is another stylish black, white, and red piece of original artwork. Of the Lionsgate Bloody Disgusting SteelBooks, I’d argue this is one of my favorites of the bunch.

Making landfall in the US for the first time on Blu-ray, Hannibal Rising sports an aged but respectable 1080p 2.35:1 transfer. It might not sparkle like a new penny, in fact it looks pretty much right on with my German import Blu-ray. Details are fairly good considering I don’t believe this film has undergone any kind of recent restoration effort. Textures and facial features stand out nicely, but there’s also some stylized visual enhancements that can look rather soft. Depending on the time in Hannibal’s life, colors fluctuate a bit. During WWII, they’re the typical war-film drag green/gray desaturated. By the time he gets to France things look more natural with golden overtones. Film grain can fluctuate a bit, again by era in Hannibal’s life but the result is appreciably cinematic. There’s a fair bit of compression artificating throughout, banding around tight paterns is the most notable piece, but the film often looks oddly flat without much depth.

On the audio front we have a respectably effective Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix. The film’s biggest and loudest, most dramatically immersive moments are the opening World War II scenes. You have bombs exploding in the distance, gunfire zipping throughout - it’s quite dramatic and there’s an excellent surround spread. As the film progresses the mix is a little less boisterous with the channels but there’s some nice immersive effects work keeping the sides active. Dialog is clean throughout so that’s never an issue. All around it’s a solid mix and does the film justice. 

On the bonus features side we have a fine selection of archival extras. This isn’t the most aggressive assortment ever, most of these (if not all) were on the DVD. The best of the bunch is the Audio Commentary with Peter Webber and Martha De Laurentiis, but the rest of the materials are worth checking out. You get ten minutes of rough-cut deleted scenes with an optional commentary and a brief but very cool look at the production design work by Allan Starski, and then a true-blue by-the-book making-of. 

• Audio Commentary featuring Peter Webber and Martha De Laurentis 
• Delted Scenes with Optional Commentary (SD 10:55)
• Designing Horror adn Elegance with Production Designer Allan Starski (SD 7:30)
• Hannibal Lecter: The Origin of Evil (SD 16:09)

Some stories are begging to be told but origin stories rarely require that attention, especially for a fan-favorite horror character like Hannibal Lecter. Considering Thomas Harris was essentially left with no other choice, I can’t blame him for doing Hannibal Rising his way, but it’s just not an exciting or thrilling expansion of the lore of Lecter. In fact, explaining his motives not only ruins his mystique but deflates the fear we held through three novels and multiple films. All credit to the late Gaspard Ulliel for taking the character and making it his own without trying to ape Hopkins' iconic take. The film finally comes to Blu-ray in the States thanks to Lionsgate teaming up with Bloody Disgusting and Walmart. The A/V presentation isn’t pristine but it’s effective and attractive with interesting bonus features. The SteelBook packaging also makes for an attractive shelf piece. I didn’t love this film, I wanted to, I’ve tried to like it through repeat viewings, but it is still weak dipping sauce for a bountiful franchise platter. Worth A Look