John Lau wrote:
> Sometimes however, movies can improve on the book. I
would
> suggest Michael Mann's MANHUNTER over Thomas Harris'
RED DRAGON.
I thought the movie was a letdown -- they lopped off the last
quarter of the book, after the cops finally learn who the
killer is. Harris was able to amp up the excitement and the
conflict with surprises and reversals and chases, some of the
best parts of the book. The killer
<SPOILER> fakes his death and takes off to steal (and
devour) the artwork that was the focus of his derangement,
and the reluctant protagonist then finds his and his family's
lives in danger (courtesy of Hannibal Lecter), none of which
figured in the movie.
Michael Mann lightly touched upon important elements of the
novel without explication. The film barely introduces or
explains the killer. There is no backstory (at least that I
remember). And while there are a couple of brief shots of his
enormous tattoos, there is no explanation of what they mean
or why they fit into his story, and into the story.
Ridley Scott and the DiLaurentis people are looking next into
remaking Red Dragon as a prequel. I'd like to see what they
can do.
> Likewise the movie's ending of HANNIBAL is superior
to the novel's. I
> thought that Steven Soderbergh's version of OUT OF
SIGHT a vast
> improvement over Elmore Leonard's underdeveloped
novel. I'm embarrassed
> that the name of the screenwriter who did the
adaptation eludes me at the
> moment.
Scott Frank, I believe.
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