Hannibal Lecter anthology announced

[Bruce Morrison]

According to TheDigitalBits site, Fox/MGM have announced a 'Hannibal Lecktor BD Anthology' for September 15th, which will contain 'Manhunter', 'The Silence Of The Lambs' and 'Hannibal'.

This is pretty frustrating for those who have already bought 'The Silence Of The Lambs' on BD but, as 'Manhunter' is one of my favourite films, I will probably spring for this set.

I'm wondering which cut of 'Manhunter' will be included. The last MGM DVD release was of the theatrical cut at about 120 minutes, but Anchor Bay previously released Michael Mann's "preferred director's version" at about 124 minutes. This is not a simple matter of one cut being an extended version of the other - each cut contains entire scenes and extra dialogue not included in the other cut. However, most of the extra scenes and shots in the director's preferred version were of lower technical quality on the Anchor Bay release. Unless they have been improved, it seems likely that the theatrical cut will be chosen for this BD release; on the whole, this is the cut I prefer anyway.