Blu-ray, DVD Release: The Silence of the Lambs

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 13, 2018
Price: DVD $22.99, Blu-ray $24.96
Studio: Criterion

In 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs, a chilling adaptation of the best-selling novel by Thomas Harris, the astonishingly versatile director Jonathan Demme (Something Wild) crafted a taut psychological crime thriller about an American obsession: serial murder.

As Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee who enlists the help of the infamous Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter to gain insight into the mind of another killer, Jodie Foster (Carnage) subverts classic gender dynamics and gives one of the most memorable performances of her career. As her foil, Anthony Hopkins (Hitchcock) is the archetypical antihero – cultured, quick-witted, and savagely murderous – delivering a harrowing portrait of humanity gone terribly wrong.

A gripping police procedural and a disquieting immersion into a twisted psyche, The Silence of the Lambs swept the Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor) and remains a cultural touchstone.

Criterion’s new editions of the modern classic contain the following:

* New 4K digital restoration, approved by director of photography Tak Fujimoto, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
* Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray
* Audio commentary from 1994 featuring director Jonathan Demme, actors Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, screenwriter Ted Tally, and former FBI agent John Douglas
* New interview with critic Maitland McDonagh
* Thirty-five minutes of deleted scenes
* Interview from 2005 with Demme and Foster
* Inside the Labyrinth, a 2001 documentary
* Page to Screen, a 2002 program about the adaptation
* Scoring “The Silence,” a 2004 interview program featuring composer Howard Shore
* Understanding the Madness, a 2008 program featuring interviews with retired FBI special agents
* Original behind-the-scenes featurette
* Trailer
* An essay by critic Amy Taubin along with, in the Blu-ray edition, a new introduction by Foster; an account of the origins of the character Hannibal Lecter by author Thomas Harris; and a 1991 interview with Demme