[Director's cut] Pure emotion and expression. All the rain-soaked, neon-lit, snyth-scored wavelengths you can ride. Mann uses Harris' RED DRAGON as a means to explore mood and character. MANHUNTER still has that focus on procedure and delivers on the thrills Harris' novel trades in, but the way Mann imbues this with feeling and Petersen's tour-de-force performance gives this such an interesting tension. All showcased through Spinotti's expressionistic, hypnotic cinematography. Few films can do what this does, and few films are better.

The director's cut isn't markedly different—minor additions and deletions here and there (it removes one of the best lines from Petersen). The most significant is the added bumper before the final scene, which works in the emotional context for Graham, but kind of mucks the pacing as this winds down. I prefer the theatrical cut.

"Time is luck, Will."