Audience reactions
Does anyone who saw this in the theater remember what the audience reactions were like?
shareI'd love to know that too.
I regret not having seen this in a theater.
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MovieChat Forums > Hannibal (2001) Discussion > Audience reactions
People liked it in general
shareGreat discomfort at the themes I imagine. So it did its job well as a cruel and unusual horror.
shareWhile I didn't watch it in the theater, I've seen this movie time and again in the company of different people. They've enjoyed it, and reacted to the brain eating scene pretty much the way you would imagine somebody reacting to this sort of stuff. I take it that it wasn't so different back in 2001 when this came out.
shareI remember seeing this film in theaters when I was a Sophmore in High School. I was never familiar with "Silence". I believe it was going around that a sequel was being made. I was told that I must "Silence" as it was one of the greatest thriller films of all time.
A week or so before the movie came out I had the toughest time trying to track down a copy of this. I went to video stores and it was completely checked out. I found luck at my local Circuit City. (remember those?)I went ahead and purchased the dvd.I thought it could not hurt since the word of mouth was so positive.
So flash forward to opening night. I go with some friends and one of their dads. I remember getting my ticket torn and also their being an attendant at the door to check for anyone trying to sneak in.
The theater was packed. I think completely sold out when we arrived inside. From the audience reaction the only thing I remember was people being shocked over Paul's head being fed to himself.
Good memories. Hope this helped.
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I saw it Feb 01. It was a very big deal at the time. Not only the long awaited sequel to Silence (although I dont think people really expected a sequel to ever happen) but it being Scotts follow up to Gladiator (and his first horror since Alien). No Foster was a major downer though. Be like if they'd recast Ripley in Aliens or Sarah Conner in T2 (they shouldn't have done the movie without Foster really. Just kept rewriting it until she agreed). Empire magazine gave it a negative review which wasn't promising. However I thought it was a great film. Full of dark ethereal disturbing atmosphere, Ridleyesque shots, great score, fine acting, lol moments, and gross out FX. It felt as though it was like a 'fine wine' of a movie.. like you were watching something very important - an intellectual psychological thriller/horror with oodles of subtext and deeper meanings (Hannibal was almost like the Hunchback of Notre Dame/Phantom of the Opera to Starling). Very different feel/tone/genre to Silence, but equally 'adult' (unlike Red Dragon which felt more like a 'for the masses' movie, like a 'blockbuster' version of Silence. reflected somewhat in its UK rating - a 15 not 18 like Hannibal/Silence)
shareCool. Thanks for posting.
Also, personally I thought Moore did a great job but, that aside, regarding Foster and your comment, from what I've read, it sounds like she wasn't going to end up in this film regardless of the re-writing (if the salary demands they stated she requested are true, etc. - but hey who knows for sure...)
Foster reacted very differently. (She declined to be interviewed for this story.) Some say she had sequelitis. Others contend that she either disliked the book, didn't want to do it without Demme and/or was slated to direct another film. A final possibility is that when she saw the film's profits already being divided up between Harris, Dino, Hopkins, and Scott, it got her back up.
"I call the agent of Judy Foster," recalls Dino, who comically mispronounces the actress's name. "He say to me, 'I have instruction. She no want to read the script if you no give her an offer of $20m and 15% of the gross.' And I say, 'Give my love to Judy Foster, goodbye.' That's a crazy demand." Besides, he says, "I don't believe Judy Foster from day one was right when I read the book."
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wow that is a big demand.
According to his bio Hopkins got $15m (and no doubt some % of the gross)
they shouldve matched her with whatever Hopkins got (although maybe they did that and she just didn't want to do it as she didn't like the book/script whatever)
whatever happened it was a huge loss to the movie. far more than when they recast for other stuff (Rachel in TDK, Savvik in Star Trek III, even Jack Crawford in Red Dragon etc) as she was the star (along with Hopkins).. so itd be like if theyd done Star Trek The Motion Picture with William Shatner and some other guy as Spock or a Butch Cassidy sequel with Paul Newman returning as Butch with Steven McQueen as Sundance or brought back The X Files with Ducovny but Jessica Chastain as Scully
I went to see it opening night but I don't remember anything.
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