Hannibal

Trivia: At the end of the opening credits, just after "Screenplay by David Mamet" and before "directed by Ridley Scott", look at the right hand side of the screen - you can see Hannibal's face drawn by pigeons. (00:04:25)

Trivia: In the scene where the pickpocket is trying to get Hannibal's fingerprint on his bracelet, the cinema in the background has a poster for Gladiator - also directed by Ridley Scott.

Trivia: Not a mistake, just a bit of irony....there is a vegetarian cookbook on top of the refrigerator that Hannibal has Clarice trapped against, also a guide to Southern Cooking.

Trivia: "The Silence of the Lambs" director Jonathan Demme was approached to direct and had expressed interest in directing a sequel for some time before the publication of the novel. However, he opted not to return, feeling the novel was too gory and excessive compared to "Silence..." and he didn't feel it would make a good film. Producer Dino de Laurentiis also suggested that Demme was also nervous to make a sequel, given the first film's reputation as potentially one of the greatest films ever made. "Silence of the Lambs" star Jodie Foster also refused to return, feeling the character of Clarice Starling was "betrayed" in the novel of "Hannibal."

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: According to Jodie Foster, she didn't return due to a scheduling conflict with another film.

Foster herself has said that the "scheduling conflict" excuse was just the polite "official" reason she went with to not throw shade at the production, but wasn't the actual reason. A lot of times, "scheduling conflict" is used as a fall-back explanation when someone drops out of a project. Her intense disliking of the original novel and first few drafts of the script is very well-known, and why she turned it down.

TedStixon

Trivia: Not a mistake, but something I just noticed on about the 5th viewing. In the very creepy 'I've given very serious thought...to eating your wife' bit, during the ominous pause in the middle a fly crawls down the back/side of Anthony Hopkins' head, then flies around a bit. Can't be helped, and barely noticable, but it does wreck the mood a bit. (01:14:59)

Jon Sandys ★

Trivia: The part of Verger was originally offered to Christopher Reeves, however he declined, not wanting to play a paedophile.

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Mistakes

Factual error: At the end of the film, Ray Liotta wouldn't be able to raise his eyebrows as the frontalis muscle had been divided. (01:57:10)

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Quotes

Hannibal Lecter: On a related note I must confess to you, I'm giving very serious thought... to eating your wife.

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Questions

Question: How did Hannibal manage to make it onto a commercial airplane at the end of the movie? Even if he had a fake ID, wouldn't being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list make it virtually impossible for him to get through a high security place like an airport, where the feds would likely instruct security staff to stop anyone that even remotely resembles him? The fact that he cut off his own hand at the end of the film would make him easier to spot, as the FBI would definitely share that new detail about him.

Phaneron ★

Answer: As seen in the first film and in this one, Lecter demonstrates an almost supernatural ability for eluding the law and seemingly being in two places at once. This film was made in the year 2000, before airport security became extremely tight in late 2001. At that time (before 9/11), it was still possible to enter an airport's main concourse through the baggage claim or even from the tarmac without passing through rigorous security. As ingenious as Lecter was, he could have accessed the airport in a number of ways back then. Relieving another passenger of his boarding pass and identification would be no problem for Lecter, either (simply leave the passenger's body in an airport toilet and assume his identity). For the most part, it was Lecter's calm, self-confident charm that allowed him to slither through society always ten steps ahead of the law.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: Perhaps he bribed his way through security onto the plane. Or maybe he murdered anyone who even remotely challenged him. He was probably wearing a disguise. It's possible that he had been planning this whole thing for an unspecified amount of time. And don't forget: he is a genius. And determined. He wouldn't let a little thing like protocol get in the way of his escape.

Alan Keddie

Answer: There is an assumption that he cut his hand off in the end. Ask yourself this for a very graphic movie why did they not show the chopped of hand. You just hear the chop but no sound from Lecter and only an emotional reaction from Starling. It is only alluded to and even if he did happen to chop it off he would be in so much pain as he acknowledged this was going to hurt he would not have been able to escape without help from Starling.

On the plane, you only see him use his right hand, and his left arm is in a sling. Further explaining, he did cut his own hand off to be freed. If he cut Starling's hand off, she would have possibly bled to death, or at least enough that she couldn't have run for him.

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