#How to Watch Chronologically and By Release Date

Table of Contents

“How to Watch Chronologically and By Release Date”

Author Thomas Harris wrote four novels about the diabolical cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter: The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Hannibal Rising, and Red Dragon. Five movies have been made based on these works, along with a TV series many believe to be the best Lecter adaptation.

Red Dragon was adapted twice to the screen. First, director Michael Mann’s film Manhunter was based on Harris’ Red Dragon. There were no sequels, but five year later the next adaption, The Silence of the Lambs, was so popular that the filmmakers adapted the entire series of books, eventually leading to another adaptation of Red Dragon. For most viewers, Silence of the Lambs was their first time seeing the evil Dr. Lecter, as played by Anthony Hopkins, who would become synonymous with the role for many. These are the Hannibal Lecter movies in chronological order, followed by a list in order of release date.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Hannibal Movies in Chronological Order

Go to Hannibal Movies by Release Date

Hannibal Rising

Hannibal Rising is the origin story of Hannibal Lecter and how he came to be a cannibal serial killer. In the aftermath of the second world war, there was chaos and lawlessness across Europe. Young Hannibal and his sister are attacked by a group of militiamen thugs, including the super creepy Enrika Dortlich (played by Richard Brake, who went on to appear in several Rob Zombie movies), who has a maniacal and terrifying grin. The men realize that they need to eat to survive, and they choose Hannibal’s younger sister to butcher and eat.

Several years later, after being admitted to and excelling in a French medical school, Lecter tracks down the men responsible for his sister’s death one by one. He enacts some gruesome revenge, even eating the face off of a living, screaming man. Hannibal Rising has excellent performance from Gaspard Ulliel as a young Hannibal, and the film is incredibly dark and disturbing, even by the standards of Hannibal Lecter movies. This prequel to Hannibal’s world has been the last film about the cannibal, though Hannibal on NBC was an excellent TV series with Mads Mikkelson taking on the role.

Manhunter

Manhunter is completely different from the other Hannibal films. William Peterson played the lead detective, Will Graham, Hannibal Lector is played by Brian Cox, and the villain, Francis Dollarhyde, was played by Tom Noonan. The name was changed from Red Dragon to Manhunter (which director Michael Mann hated) because the producers had recently made a disastrous bomb called Year of the Dragon, and wanted to distance this film from that one and other martial arts movies.

The story follows a dangerous serial killer called the Tooth Fairy Killer, who murders entire families at a time, with the psychotic intention of undergoing a transformation. He identifies with a William Blake picture titled The Red Dragon. Will Graham is called out of retirement to assist in this case, promising not to get too involved, which of course he does, with Hannibal Lecter’s help. The Tooth Fairy gets involved in a relationship with a blind woman who does not judge him for his cleft palette that had to be surgically corrected and left a scar, and gives Noonan’s character some emotional depth.

Related: Hannibal Creator Regrets Not Exploring a Romantic Connection Between the Show’s Leads

Manhunter is a great film, very stylish like the director’s best, and well-acted, filled with fear and tension. Tom Noonan is incredibly creepy as the Tooth Fairy, and Brian Cox brings Hannibal to life. All in all, Manhunter is an excellent thriller with a sensational, very ’80s film score and a rich atmosphere, but the film was a box office bomb, barely making half of what it cost to produce, and put film studios off the idea of a Thomas Harris adaptation. As such, it exists in its own little world, but essentially takes place in the chronology of Lecter movies right before Silence of the Lambs.

Back to Top

Red Dragon

Red Dragon is the second film based on the book of the same title, and is a direct prequel to Silence of the Lambs with essentially the same plot as Manhunter. Here, Brett Ratner directs, and Anthony Hopkins reprises his role as Hannibal, and his performance is just incredible. It is such a joy to watch the demented madman manipulate everyone in the film, all from the trappings of his cell. Ralph Fiennes is the disfigured psychotic Tooth Fairy this time around, with Blake’s Red Dragon tattooed all over the back of his body. His performance is sinister, and in one memorable scene, he glues a news reporter (played with perfect sleaze by Philip Seymour Hoffman) to a wheelchair, which he sets on fire and sends down a busy street. It is a stunning and savage act.

Detectives, played by Ed Norton (as Will Graham) and Harvey Keitel, go to the imprisoned Hannibal Lecter to get his advice on the Tooth Fairy. The whole thing is a cat and mouse game to the imprisoned doctor, and he works with the FBI to catch the Tooth Fairy before he can kill his blind co-worker played by Emma Watson. Red Dragon is based on the same novel as Manhunter, but it has a much different ending that is more thrilling and exciting, so what it lacks in style it makes up for in substance. The ending directly leads into Silence of the Lambs, with a female detective (Clarice) coming to visit Hannibal.

The Silence of the Lambs

In Silence of the Lambs, Jack Crawford of the FBI tries to get convicted cannibal Hannibal Lecter to help him find a serial killer named Buffalo Bill, played by a disturbing Ted Levine and based on several multiple real-life killers such as Ed Gein. He kills women and skins them, and the only way the FBI can catch him is by turning to Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins in an Academy Award-winning performance. Crawford sends over agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) to extract the information, and help get into Buffalo Bill’s head.

Related: Best Book to Film Adaptations, Ranked

Lecter’s prison cell is essentially an underground dungeon, and it is very creepy, as is the slimy Dr. Chilton who oversees the treatment of Hannibal. Buffalo Bill has made the mistake of abducting the daughter of a US Senator, so the heat is on to find and stop him. The film is terrifying, suspenseful, and exciting, and it deservedly became one of only three films to sweep the five major Oscar categories. The twist at the end is unexpected and brilliant, and leads to a terrifying and psychologically cathartic stand-off between Clarice and Buffalo Bill.

The Silence of the Lambs was the first of the Anthony Hopkins Hannibal films, and it remains the best movie about the character, an absolute classic horror film that should be studied in film classes. The sequel, Hannibal, may not be as brilliantly executed, but is just as exciting and thrilling, and gets pretty wild.

Hannibal

Hannibal, the sequel to Silence of the Lambs released in 2001, was written by the great playwright David Mamet and directed by Ridley Scott. That level of talent was needed to make a worthy sequel. Jodie Foster bowed out, and Julianne Moore replaces her as Clarice Starling. The creepy villain, Mason Verger, played by Gary Oldman, has offered a $3 million bounty for Hannibal after he escaped custody in the end of Silence of the Lambs.

Hannibal is on the loose in Italy, where a local detective is on his tail, interested in the reward money offered by the loathsome surviving victim of Dr. Lecter. The good doctor had drugged the incredibly wealthy Mason Verger and convinced him to slice his own face off. The result is a face that looks more like a monster than a man. He has men training wild boars to eat humans so that he can get revenge and feed Hannibal to the animals. Meanwhile, returning to America, Hannibal develops a strange relationship with a police officer played by Ray Liotta, and after drugging and brainwashing him, Hannibal gets him to engage in activities so deviant and shocking that your mouth will fall to the floor.

The film is technically told from the villain’s perspective, as Hannibal is seen as the protagonist, an antihero being hunted by a rich deformed pedophile obsessed with Lecter. Gary Oldman is unrecognizable as the mutilated Verger, and his creepy performance is unforgettable. In fact, Mason Verger seems to be more evil and sadistic than Hannibal, which is not an easy task. Apparently Anthony Hopkins penned his own unmade sequel script which would have killed the character, but it has unfortunately never been made, so the future of Hannibal Lecter remains open, 15 years after the last film.