• Title: Hannibal Lecter bespoke collection 
• Format: 4 x Blu-ray & 1 x DVD 
• Country: UK / Region B / Region 2
• Certificate: 18
• Contents: Manhunter (1986), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal (2001), Red Dragon (2002), and Hannibal Rising (2007).
• Features running time: 10hrs 14mins approx + bonus material

I recently talked about a few bespoke collections I’ve put together for various Marvel Legacy movies. These collections included Daredevil, amongst others and proved to be space-saving sets which give me all the non-MCU Marvel movies I want while fitting neatly on my shelves.

Today I want to highlight another bespoke, space-saving collection I’ve put together. This set is for the Hannibal Lecter movies.

The set includes five films stretching a 21-year period from 1986 to 2007. The films include Manhunter (1986), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal (2001), Red Dragon (2002), and Hannibal Rising (2007).

Now, before you ask, a five-film set of the Hannibal movies is NOT currently available. Due to various different distribution rights, the Hannibal films have not been officially collected together, so you can’t just pop to a shop and pick up a box set.

In the UK, a three-film set is available (Silence/Hannibal/Dragon) but that’s it. The two additional films (Manhunter and Rising) are solo releases only and in the case of Hannibal Rising both the DVD and Blu-ray releases are out of print.

It’s also worth noting, whether as part of a collection or not, all five films are housed in individual cases (yes, even the three-film box set). This means multiple cases on the shelf when one could do.

So, this bespoke set I’ve put together not only brings the five films together under one roof, it also cuts down on the need for five individual cases. This is pretty handy for me, as my shelf space is limited thanks to my ever-expanding physical media collection, and I’m always happy to streamline where possible.

When putting this set together, I already owned four of the films on Blu-ray. The only film I didn’t own was Hannibal Rising, and this is largely because I’m not a huge fan of this Hannibal movie.

However, because I am consolidating my existing releases and combining discs, it made sense to pick up a copy of Hannibal Rising to complete the set. After all, a new, multi-disc case to house five films takes up the same amount of space as a new multi-disc case to house four, so the completist in me felt compelled to include this title.

It also helps that Hannibal Rising can be picked up super-cheap on the secondary market with no hassle. I managed to grab a pristine copy on DVD for just £2, although I’m sure if I hunted around I could have gotten it even cheaper.

And yes, you read that correctly – a DVD copy and not a Blu-ray. Hey, I might have felt compelled to add Hannibal Rising to this set, but I don’t need it to be in HD.

Anyway, with Hannibal Rising all present and correct I started moving all the discs from their individual cases into a single, five-disc case. Now, normally I’d pick up a new five-disc case on eBay for such an occasion, but for once I didn’t need to as I already had a spare case from a previous switch-a-roo.

With the discs in their new home, I then needed to decide on what artwork to use. This decision proved a little trickier than I anticipated, because I wasn’t sure which to choose.

The Silence of the Lambs is the most critically acclaimed movie in the series and it is arguably the first film anyone thinks of in connection to Hannibal Lecter, but as I have a separate all-bells-and-whistles 4K set of The Silence of the Lambs from Arrow, I don’t need two sets on my shelf with the same artwork. I then briefly considered using the artwork from Manhunter as the cover, as it is the first film in the collection, but Manhunter doesn’t scream Hannibal to me.

After some consideration, I felt the best option was to plump for the Hannibal artwork. Nothing says Hannibal like Hannibal, so I kept this artwork for the cover and retained the Manhunter artwork for the reverse.

With the switch over complete, I now have a collection of Hannibal Lecter movies which take up a lot less room than they did before. For those interested, here’s what is in this bespoke, slimmed down Hannibal set:

Manhunter 

• 1 x copy of Manhunter in HD
• Director’s Cut
• Director’s Cut commentary
• Inside Manhunter
• The Manhunter look
• Theatrical trailer

The Silence of the Lambs

• 1 x copy of The Silence of the Lambs in HD
• Inside the labyrinth
• The Silence of the Lambs: From Page to Screen
• Scoring the Silence
• Original 1991 ‘Making Of’ featurette
• Deleted scenes
• Anthony Hopkins phone message
• Breaking The Silence feature
• Understanding the madness
• Original theatrical trailer

Hannibal

• 1 x copy of Hannibal in HD
• Feature commentary with director Ridley Scott
• Breaking the Silence: The Making of Hannibal
• Deleted scenes with optional directors commentary
• Alternate ending with optional directors commentary

Red Dragon

• 1 x copy of Red Dragon in HD 
• Feature commentary with director Brett Ratner and writer Ted Tally
• Music score commentary with composer Danny Elfman
• Lecter’s FBI file and life history
• Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer – hosted by John Douglas
• Anthony Hopkins: Lecter and Me
• The Making of Red Dragon
• A Director’s Journey
• Brett Ratner’s student film
• Visual effects
• Screen and film tests
• Makeup application
• The burning wheelchair
• The Leeds’ House crime scene
• Storyboards to final comparison
• Additional scenes

Hannibal Rising

• 1 x copy of Hannibal Rising in SD
• Audio commentary with director Peter Webber and producer Martha De Laurentiis
• Ten deleted scenes
• US teaser
• Trailer
• The Origin of Evil
• Making of Hannibal Rising

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