To think Anthony Hopkins was a rubbish Hannibal Lector?

[SinkGirl]

I saw all the films when I was younger - I always thought Brian Cox was better, but Hopkins just wasn’t in the least bit frightening to me (and I’m a wimp when it comes to horror films) and I never got the acclaim.

Having seen the series Hannibal, in which Mads Mikkelsen is so incredible, I tried rewatching The Silence Of The Lambs and he’s just so bloody hammy (not to mention his wobbly accent which is very annoying). His performance is more parody than horror. By the time you get to Hannibal and Red Dragon it’s just daft.

I must admit I loved SOTL when it came out in 1991,but I was young (20) & impressionable
Looking back Manhunter was a far superior film (& that was made in '86).Brian Cox was a brilliantly chilling Lector,but I've always rated him as an actor. Plus William Petersen was excellent too.
All the subsequent films based around the Thomas Harris books were poor,in my opinion.
But Hannibal (tv series) was just amazing. Both the lead characters were so well cast.Hugh Dancy plays a tortured soul so beautifully & Mads,well what can I say!! Wow.I love how he played Lector,but I may be biased,as I'm a massive Mads Mikkelsen fan.
Has anyone seen him in the new Netflix film,Polar?

I love both SOTL and Hannibal..comparing the 2 Lecters is a bit like comparing the British Wallander with the main Swedish one (there is more than one)... same character, both excellent, but very different. You should watch Hopkins in "Titus Andronicus" - magnificent! Incidentally, I don't think Ted Levines portrayal of Buffalo Bill has aged.. timelessly creepy.

Not a fan of silence of the lambs I always thought it was over rated, and I agree that Hopkins wasn't very scary as Hannibal, but I loved him in Remains of the day, and 84 Charing cross road. I think he does reserved, sad and brooding very well. He was in a movie years ago where he played a farmer who's son borrowed money to expand and they ended up losing the farm. It was very moving and I thought he was wonderful in it.

Thought he was OK in Silence of the Lambs, though he doesn't actually have many lines (least screen time ever for an Oscar winning actor I think?)

He hammed it up so much in Hannibal though, half expected him to burst in to song

Oooo & Tom Noonan as Francis Dollarhyde was petrifying!

Shatners, that's a good point

I love Hannibal the TV series too. Mads is just divine, and it's a fabulous performance. The final series was rubbish though

YADNBU. Manhunter is a way better film, and Brian Cox is utterly chilling as Lector. I may possibly bore people by telling them this at every opportunity

I saw him as Titus Andronicus at the RSC round about the same time, and it's genuinely one of the most unsettling stage performances I've ever seen.

All too scary for me, but might watch Dawn French, so thanks for that recommendation!

Those French and Saunders send-ups were ingenious! The little cry of 'crackerjack' floating out of the cell of Lecter's fellow-maniac Miggs, and as for the 'House of Idiot' (those sketches of their designs and the bloody penny-farthing scooting backwards and forwards) brings a laugh even remembering it.

Sorry, but really I can't hear a word against Anthony Hopkins. He can really turn in an OTT, camped-up, theatrical-style performance when called for, and I don't think he overacts despite some shouty earlier roles. But he's never better than when he plays morose, introverted, inhibited. I think it's that compelling Welsh voice. Aside from Richard Burton and Timothy Dalton (just what is it about the Welsh intonation?) I think he has possibly the most attractive speaking voice of any actor in memory. He only has to purr 'Clariiiccce' in those dulcet Celtic tones of his and my entrails turn to liquid!

(here's where I give myself a hard shake and go off for a cold shower ....)

Someone before said that it’s a different interpretation - Hopkins is playing a man you wouldn’t look twice at or believe he was a serial killer. I must say I completely disagree - even accounting for time spent in solitary, his madness is so overblown that I can’t believe anyone ever trusted him as their psychiatrist or found him charming. I guess they don’t have to show it though, and it’s why he’s more toned down in the other films where he has to exist outside of a mental hospital. Mads on the other hand I totally bought as believable outside the hospital.

In TSOTL he’s just too much a cartoon villain for me personally.

One of my favourite ever films. I know most of the lines in it too.
Sometimes when DP is shirtless after the shower I’ll give his back a stroke and say ‘hey, are you about a size 14?’

Brian Cox was the best Hannibal.
Closely followed by Mads Mikklesen 😍

Another thing about SOTL is that Jack Crawford (Clarice's boss) is definitely grooming her. That boss-subordinate dynamic hasn't worn well.

I agree that AH is a fine actor, but I still think Brian Cox's quieter Lector was superior.

chickensaresafehere yes I've seen Polar, enjoyed a particular scene ehem...

Mookie81 he's just divine isn't he

This is like comparing Sherlock Holmes from the 1940s to Robert Downey Jr to Benedict Cumberbatch. They all bring different things to the role.

I like AH - Magic is a great horror where he plays a complicated character. His HL performance was fine. Brian Cox was good. I haven’t seen the new one.

Not really - TSOTL was 1992, hardly from a bygone age! And frankly I much prefer older incarnations of Sherlock Holmes.

I watched Hannibal yesterday (the film) since they’re all on Netflix and he really is like a different character, even in killing mode there’s about 5% of the insanity on display while having a chat in TSOTL. It all just feels a bit one-dimensional to me, but that’s just my opinion obviously :)