Barnes & Noble

One of the most gripping and horrifying thrillers ever, The Silence of the Lambs introduced moviegoers to the screen's most blood-curdling antihero: brilliant, urbane, softspoken Hannibal Lecter -- a psychotic killer and confirmed cannibal. As depicted with three-dimensional fidelity by Anthony Hopkins, Lecter's a shrewdly manipulative but devilishly charming fiend to whom maximum-security incarceration is merely a temporary setback. Jonathan Demme's bone-chilling adaptation of the bestselling novel by Thomas Harris initially focuses on FBI agent Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster), following her exhaustive but ineffectual search for a serial killer. She approaches Lecter for help, persuading him to give her valuable insights into the workings of a similarly affected criminal mind. But the importance of Starling's quest recedes dramatically when the evil genius escapes, and Demme tantalizes viewers with her dilemma: Can she find the killer before Lecter finds her? An intense, unforgettable thriller that confounds genre expectations, Silence draws its effectiveness from a beautifully crafted screenplay rich in characterization, Oscar-winning performances by Hopkins and Foster; and the sure-handed direction of Demme. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

In the multiple Oscar-winning thriller Silence of the Lambs, Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy whose shrewd analyses of serial killers lands her a special assignment: The FBI is investigating a vicious murderer nicknamed Buffalo Bill, who kills young women and then removes the skin from their bodies. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into this case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out. Lecter does indeed know something of Buffalo Bill, but his information comes with a price: in exchange for telling what he knows, he wants to be housed in a more comfortable facility. More important, he wants to speak with Clarice about her past. He skillfully digs into her psyche, forcing her to reveal her innermost traumas and putting her in a position of vulnerability when she can least afford to be weak. The film mingles the horrors of criminal acts with the psychological horrors of Lecter's slow-motion interrogation of Clarice and of her memories that emerge from it. Mark Deming

Chicago Sun-Times

It has been a good long while since I have felt the presence of Evil so manifestly demonstrated as in the first appearance of Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs. Roger Ebert

Product Details

• UPC: 027616071514
• Source: MGM (VIDEO & DVD)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed
• Time: 1:58:00
• Sales Rank: 6,487

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Hannibal Lecter Collection
• MGM Best Picture Gift Set
• Boston Strangler/the Silence of the Lambs/the Vanishing
• Hannibal Lecter Anthology
• Jodie Foster Star Collection

Features: