Hannibal - The Complete Season 3 - Blu-Ray

Film: After the bloody events at the end of the second season, Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), along with his therapist Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson), has decamped to Italy, where he has adopted a new identity in his own special way. But Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) aren't deterred by the long distance and do everything they can to find out Lecter's whereabouts. They're not the only ones: Mason Verger (Joe Anderson) also has a score to settle with Lecter, and he's willing to pay any amount of money to settle it.

After only three seasons, Hannibal sadly says goodbye to its fans. However, while it would have been exciting to see the way in which this great series approaches the adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs, it must be said at the end of this season that the farewell could not have been better. The final episodes are extremely strong and provide a well-rounded conclusion to a series that has always pushed its boundaries. Even the season opener is visually one of the most unusual things ever seen on American network TV. The episode takes place on three different time and narrative levels, which differ from each other not only dramaturgically, but also visually (color scheme, image format). Of course, we won't give away any more than that at this point. Only this much: this first episode makes it clear that season 3 will differ in many respects from the two predecessor seasons and thus represents not only a continuation of the story, but also a creative development.

While in the first six episodes elements from the novel Hannibal, which was already filmed as a sequel to The Silence of the Lambs by Ridley Scott, were processed, the second half of the season belongs entirely to the Red Dragon. This novel has already been filmed twice for the cinema. Therefore, it was enormously important to the series makers around Bryan Fuller to gain new facets from the well-known material. And they succeeded very well. Of course, some important aspects from the novel, which are also known from the other two film adaptations, may not be missing. But overall, something completely original has been created here from the familiar, which will also captivate fans who have read the book and seen both film adaptations.

The actors again play a significant part in making the series work so well. Mads Mikkelsen is just great in the role that made Anthony Hopkins so memorable. Hugh Dancy is no less convincing as an investigator on the brink of insanity. And Richard Armitage (The Hobbit) also gives his character of the maniacal killer a psychological depth that is simply disturbingly good. All the good actors, the sometimes really artistic imagery, the mixing of delusions, dreams and reality, the perfectly used music - all this makes Hannibal a really outstanding series. However, the last season is again not for the faint of heart. Because apart from the gloomy-destructive atmosphere and the sometimes very high tension level, there are again some very drastic moments in some episodes, which could hit squeamish viewers on the stomach.

With some outstanding episodes and an almost perfect finale, the series says goodbye to its fans on a very high level. Whether it will be a goodbye forever is something Bryan Fuller leaves open. Should another broadcaster - or a streaming service like Netflix - perhaps at some point be interested in continuing the story as planned, Fuller and his cast would definitely be back. But even if that doesn't happen, they've left fans with three excellent seasons of first-rate TV fare and a more than worthy adaptation of Thomas Harris' novels. And for that, then, they give it a: Absolutely Worth Watching!!

Picture + Sound: The colour scheme is extremely atmospheric, with the very different hues of different scenes capturing the oppressive mood of the story very well. Image sharpness is at a good to very good level for a recent TV series. Even in gritty scenes, smaller details come through properly. The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix is also pleasantly atmospheric, with voices sounding very directional. However, ambient noises and sound effects also keep the surround channels getting something to do as well, providing a comforting goosebump. Good!

Extras: In addition to interesting audio commentaries on most episodes, the third Blu-ray also has plenty of video extras to offer. Starting things off is a very detailed documentary about the way the novel Red Dragon was adapted in the second half of this season. In a little more than two hours (!) the production is discussed as well as the differences to the two cinema adaptations of the novel. A really good documentary that fans of the series and the novels shouldn't miss.

Continues with four featurettes about the stylistic as well as dramaturgical changes in season 3 (approx. 18:51 min.), about the filming locations in Toronto and Florence (approx. 20:23 min.), about the loyal fans of the series (approx. 18:37 min.), as well as about the making of the season (approx. 16:53 min.) But that's not all: The disc also contains 14 very interesting post-mortem interviews with Scott Thompson (approx. 1 hour in total), as well as some cut scenes (approx. 9:37 min.) and an amusing gag reel (approx. 8:43 min.). This is really the full pack of extras - very good!!

Conclusion: With the third season, Hannibal is already saying goodbye to its fans. But even if it is sad that these are already the last episodes of this excellent and multi-layered thriller series, at least it ends on a very high level. The Blu-ray presents the visually impressive episodes in very good picture and sound quality and also has heaps of great extras on board. There applies then of course without any doubt: Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp