Young Hannibal moves in with his aunt and begins plotting revenge after his baby sister is killed during World War II. Based on Thomas Harris’ novel.

For thoughts on Hannibal Rising, please check out our video here.

Video Quality

Hannibal Rising debuts domestically on Blu-Ray courtesy of Lionsgate which looks nice enough despite this more than likely being an older master. Surprisingly, this was shot on film, and this transfer does a fine job of retaining its organic qualities. Some of the flashbacks have an intentionally variable grain field that renders nicely. A 4K UHD Blu-Ray upgrade would have been nice after all of this time, but most will be satisfied with completing their Hannibal collection in HD.

Color saturation is respectable with the natural color palette capturing the numerous locales with the appropriate richness. Skin tones are natural to the lighting conditions, although exposed skin has a way of finding blood dripping down it on occasion. Black levels are more than passable yet succumb to the occasional digital noise and sporadic banding. A good portion of this film takes place in darkness or shadow. No matter the environment, the transfer has ideal clarity throughout with unsettling flourishes in the production design and makeup effects. The bits of practical effects hold up better than the supplemental digital designs. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has done fine work here.

Audio Quality

Lionsgate brings Hannibal Rising to Blu-Ray with a lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track that executes the soundscape with a rewarding consistency. This outing has more overt force than your typical Hannibal story as it starts amid a war. There are some enormous sounds such as bombs exploding and heavy gunfire that really put the track to work. You feel the low end in your subwoofer, and the track keeps things fully immersive with sounds coming from the appropriate direction. The movie uses environmental sounds to great effect, and the track retains strong detail even in the most momentous developments. Dialogue comes through clearly with none of the information feeling drowned out by the the sound effects. The score flows through the room with perfect fidelity. This track is a sonic treat for fans. Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles are provided.

Special Features

Lionsgate has provided Hannibal Rising with a sleek new SteelBooks in collaboration with Bloody Disgusting available exclusively at Wal-Mart. Video of the SteelBook can be found above.

Audio Commentary: Director Peter Webber and Producer Martha De Laurentiis provide a decent commentary track in which they discuss the production in detail including the location shooting, the production design, the work of writer Thomas Harris, and more.

Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary: There is an array of unused scenes totaling 11 minutes of material featuring optional commentary with Peter Webber.

Designing Horror and Elegance with Production Designer Allan Starski: A nearly eight-minute featurette in which the production designer discusses coming on board this project, developing the look of this period piece, working with Dino De Laurentiis, and more.

Hannibal Lecter – The Origin of Evil: A 16-minute featurette in which various subjects discuss the iconic nature of this character and the events that led to his descent into evil.

Final Thoughts

Hannibal Rising is simply a film that never needed to be made, and the results on the screen only solidify that opinion. This iconic character is unsettling because we don’t know a lot about him, and what we learn here is utter lunacy. If you had a thousand guesses, you would never guess some of the places this story goes, and none of it is that satisfying. The great Anthony Hopkins portrayed the most recognized version of this character, and our main actor here cannot hold a candle to him. There is a morbid curiosity factor that may make you want to seek this one out, but most won’t make it beyond a single watch. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has delivered a new Blu-Ray release featuring a good A/V presentation and a solid selection of special features in a snazzy new SteelBook. If you are a franchise completist, this is a technically sound release.

Hannibal Rising is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray SteelBook exclusively at Wal-Mart.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Lionsgate Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.