Hannibal Rising Steelbook Blu Ray Review (Lionsgate / Bloody Disgusting)

Hannibal Rising is a 2007 revenge film directed by Peter Webber (Equinox, Six Feet Under, Emperor, Ten Billion, Inna de Yard, Kingdoms of Fire, and Girl with a Pearl Earring). It’s written by author Thomas Harris (The Silence of the Lambs, Manhunter, Red Dragon, Clarice, and Hannibal). It was produced by Dino De Laurentiis (Hannibal franchise, Breakdown, Army of Darkness, Blue Velvet, Maximum Overdrive, Silver Bullet, Cat’s Eye, Serpico, The Dead Zone, Firestarter, Halloween franchise, Dune, and Year of the Dragon). This is the prequel to the Hannibal Lecter franchise. The budget was $75,000,000 and it grossed $82,169,884 worldwide at the box office. Hannibal Lecter (played by: Aaran Thomas from The Rain Horse) is forced to watch his own sister Mischa (played by: Helena-Lia Tachovská from Blue Code) get murdered and eaten by crazed soldiers. The group of vicious killers which includes Grutas (played by: Rhys Ifans from House of the Dragon, Little Nicky, Spider-Man franchise, Notting Hill, The Replacements, and Berlin Station), Dortlich (played by: Richard Brake from 31, Doom, The Dark Knight, Mayor of Kingstown, The Strangers: Chapter 1, The Last Stop in Yuma County, 3 From Hell, Mandy, and Game of Thrones), Kolnas (played by: Kevin McKidd from Dog Soldiers, Grey’s Anatomy, Trainspotting, Rome, and North Square), Milko (played by: Stephen Walters from Layer Cake, Revolver, Batman Begins, Dracula, and Formula 51), and Grentz (played by: Ivan Marevich from The Grid, Ted Lasso, The Bill, and The Red Siren) abuse their power when Nazis terrorize the community. Years later, Hannibal Lecter (played by: Gaspard Ulliel from A Very Long Engagement, Paris I Love You, Moon Knight, and Saint Laurent) lives in Paris with his aunt Lady Murasaki Shikibu (played by: Gong Li from Miami Vice, Curse of the Golden Flower, Memoirs of a Geisha, Mulan, and Shanghai). He is learning at medical school which makes him even more dangerous. He trains with Murasaki to sharpen his weapon skills. He decides flesh for flesh when he tracks down his enemies from the past. Inspector Popil (played by: Dominic West from The Wire, 300, Punisher: War Zone, Rock Star, Chicago, and Tomb Raider) starts to investigate the crimes. Hannibal is getting revenge for his sister and he’s on a brutal mission to torture every person that was involved in her gruesome death. Will he get his blood thirsty revenge???? Hannibal Rising was a prequel to the highly popular Hannibal series. This was the first time since Anthony Hopkins blew up in the iconic role that he didn’t play the character since he was obviously too old for this version of the horror icon. Hannibal Rising is much different than all the other previous adaptations, it’s more of a nasty revenge feature. The script is written by creator and author of Hannibal so it’s direct from the original source. Gaspard Ulliel was surprising as the younger version of the infamous Hannibal Lecter. I never heard of him before this to be honest. He brings something different to the known villain but this time he’s more of antihero when it comes to this origin story. It shows you why he does certain things later on and how these events influenced the rest of his life. Rhys Ifans as Grutas is amazing as the leader of the cannibal soldiers that destroyed Hannibal’s existence. He’s the one starts cannibalism for the upcoming Lecter. He’s nasty to his own crew and he’s mainly all about himself. Richard Brake as Dortlich is the easiest person to hunt down from the tormentors of Hannibal. He leads him to all the others. Hannibal makes their encounter very personal as he looks for retribution. As always, Brake is a great bad guy. He’s a snake and he’s willing to do whatever it save himself. Kevin McKidd as Kolnas has changed the most from his evil squad. He’s married with kids now and he’s running a legit business. McKidd stands out when it comes to the others, they are all still the same but older now. Gong Li as Lady Murasaki Shikibu is the eye candy for this prequel. She always grabs your attention when she’s on screen. She has a very odd relationship with Hannibal. She’s the one that helps prepare him for his infamous future. Li gives one of her best performances in this. The rest of the supporting cast includes Dominic West, Stephen Walters, Ivan Marevich, Aaran Thomas, Helena-Lia Tachovská, Richard Leaf (The Fifth Element), Martin Hub (xXx), Ingeborga Dapkunaite (Mission: Impossible), Charles Maquignon (An American Werewolf in Paris), Denis Ménochet (Inglorious Bastards), and Hugh Ross (Nightbreed). Hannibal Rising has some creative and violent kills with some quality tension added to it all. The special fx are top notch from Paul Dunn (Alien 3, Shaun of the Dead, Event Horizon, and Seed of Chucky). I personally think Hannibal Rising gets a bad rep because it tries to bring some fresh air to the horror franchise plus everyone just wanted another Anthony Hopkins film at this point but it deserves more attention. It’s much better than what most people assume about it, it’s very underrated. It’s currently streaming on Paramount Plus. I’m really hoping it gets another chance and life with it’s blu ray debut in the states, RECOMMENDED!!!!Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Lionsgate! This 1080p (2.35:1) unrated transfer is from an older master but it’s still the best it’s ever looked on home video so far. I purchased the imported Canadian version when it was originally released in 2009 and this brand new steelbook release blows it away plus it’s actually uncensored with 10 additional minutes unlike that one which was the theatrical cut. It has an English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track on the disc. The audio is a nice improvement compared to all the older versions. All of the dialogue is sharp, the vengeance is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH and Spanish subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with director Peter Webber and producer Martha De Laurentiis. They chat about Hannibal Rising and it’s production here. They say everyone got what they wanted with this when it came to being creative. They point out how different this was compared to the others. They both provide lots of information and stories. They talk about the iconic character and author Thomas Harris. He’s the one that pushed to actually write the script for this prequel because he did the book. They go over the cast, locations, the shoot, various scenes, and so much more. It has almost 11 minutes of “Deleted Scenes”. It has optional commentary with this footage from the cutting room floor. “Designing Horror and Elegance with Production Designer Allan Starski” is a little over 7 minutes. The production designer chats about getting the project. He shares the story of him getting the gig plus discusses his previous work before this one. He brings up creating everything based on it’s time because it’s a period piece. He did research so it really influenced the styles and colors used for it. He is very passionate about getting all the details right. He talks about working with others on it like Dino. There’s a decent amount of behind the scenes footage in this. “Hannibal Lecter: Origin of Evil” is a little over 16 minutes. It has interviews with the cast, experts, and crew. They chat about the legendary Hannibal character. They took it seriously and they tried to make sure this younger version resembles the person everyone knows. They talk about the story that created this origin of a horror icon. They bring up the tragic events that caused all of this. They show their appreciation for the creator and author Thomas Harris. This is the first script that he actually wrote based on his work from his novels. They chat about the other characters and actors involved in this prequel. It has a variety of clips from Hannibal Rising in it. These are all extras from the original home video release. It comes with a digital copy. It’s in stunning limited edition steelbook packaging that pops with it’s artwork. This is a Walmart exclusive release, CHECK IT OUT!!!!