Seven vs Silence of the Lambs

[echo_bravo]

Okay so these two films are always compared to each other as the best serial killer movies of all time.

IMO Seven is the far superior film. Even though they were only made 4 yrs apart, its amazing how Silence of the Lambs has become so dated. I watched both of these films back to back and Silence of the Lambs just didnt hold up as good as I thought it would. Dont get me wrong, the acting is top notch but the flow and the way the film is set up isnt all that impressive. While Seven is a fuckin masterpiece all the way thru.

With that being said, the night vision scene in Silence of the Lambs is fucking awesome!

But in the end I gotta stick with Seven...by a landslide.

Who you got?

[Boner X-Ray]

Se7en, by far. I mean, like, far.

[APzombie]

Silence of the lambs for me. Though I do love both.

[Cronos]

Love both but I'd have to go with Seven.

[DrJellyfingers]

Love em both but

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/95/Heyes.jpg/300px-Heyes.jpg

[Gordon]

Se7en, by far. I mean, like, far.

...and still not a knock on Silence.

Se7en had, pretty much, perfect dialogue. Try to find a mis-used word in the whole movie. I dare you.

[Bourne101]

Both are classics, but I'm going to have to go with Se7en.

[DarthWade]

Shit...this is one hard choice. I would have to say Seven. I would say Silence, but the sequels/prequel have really tarnished what was an amazing film (to me at least, I can't watch Silence anymore without thinking of all the other stuff).

Seven is an incredible movie (to say the least).

[DaMovieMan]

Ooofff that's a hard choice.
Seven is the over-all better serial killer movie but Silence of the Lambs has Hannibal Lector, one of the best characters of all time played to perfection by Anthony Hopkins. I think it's unfair to judge Silence through the lense of the weaker sequels/prequels. It should be judged as a stand alone film.
But yeah if you put a gun to my head, it's Seven because of the story.

[Cop No. 633]

I'd choose the Silence of the Lambs. Overall a more engaging story for me. While both have great stories, the characters are much more memorable to me in the Silence of the Lambs. Clarice is a great heroine, probably the best one in 90's. There no fake sense of "I'm tough like a guy" that most male writers tend to have with female characters of this type. She felt very real to me. Not to mention Hannibal Lecter, Buffalo Bill, Frederick Chilton, and Barney. They just make up a solid cast of characters that draw you into the story.

I'm always a stickler for characters and I think that's why Silence has the edge over Seven. I like Morgan Freeman, but he didn't bring anything new to the table for me. Brad Pitt wasn't bad, but there wasn't a lot of complexity to his part. Of course, Spacey is brilliant in his role, but that's about it. Seven's got more shock value, that's for sure, but the characters are what kept me thinking about the Silence of the Lambs years later. Everyone really inhabited their roles.

For the record, I don't like the other Hannibal films much at all. But I still can't deny the greatness of the this one.

[Sonny Corleone]

SE7EN - 10/10
Silence of the Lambs - 9/10

[Le_Big_Mac]

I think they're very close in my top 25, but I prefer Se7en.

[Tweek]

Love both. But damn it, The Silence of the Lambs edges the other out.:)

[athf1980]

I love boths films but I'm going with Silence because I think Lector is more of the iconic character.

[Powerslave]

They're both among my all-time favorites, but I'd go with Se7en, by a tiny, tiny margin.

[ListersParanoia]

I have an absolute LOVE for Hannibal Lector especially after reading the Hannibal novels (goes into his psyche must deeper) but really without Hannibal how much would everyone love that movie? Not NEARLY as much, as freaky as Buffalo Bill was it was Lector that burned into everyones memory, so in that aspect I'd say that Se7en is the superior film. Each one of the characters are excellently developed and all of them keep you interested as a collection even without seeing the killer until nearly the end of the film. The cast, script, direction, story it's all gold in my opinion. I love silence but it's Se7en for the checkered flag.

Long is the way and hard that out of Hell leads up to light.

Milton-Paradise Lost

[Sigur509]

Se7en might just be the most perfect film of all time.

[bigred760]

I prefer Se7en myself, but both are classics. Silence of the Lambs has the more classic villain, but I love the style of Se7en and the story is better - serial killer killing based on the seven sins . . . brilliant concept!! Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt have great chemistry in the movie, and the ending is better in my opinion.

[ilovemovies]

Both are 10/10 masterpieces. I SLIGHTLY prefer Silence of the Lambs, but just barely and it's more for Hopkin's brilliantly chilling, unforgettable performance. Not that Foster is any slouch. And not to say that the performances in Se7en weren't brilliant because they were. But Silence by just a hair.

[AndrewDB]

Mmm..

This is a toughy.

On the one hand, I'm spell bound by the performances by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, let alone Spacey as Doe.

However, I saw Silence of the Lambs (I gave it a 7 out of 10, not sure why.. probably because it just wasn't as good as I thought it was hyped up to be) for the first time this year, and I've got to say there has never been a scene in a movie that has creeped me out more than the scene leading up to, and the, ambulance scene. Anthony Hopkins just takes the whole fucking cake and eats it too. I will never forget that scene as long as I live.

The ending of Se7en is probably my favorite ending of any "HOLY SHIT :eek:!" moments in film history, and to that effect.. I'm going to have to give my vote to Se7en.

Se7en, is, and has been, one of my favorite films since I saw it the first time in 1998 or 1999, I've never gotten tired of seeing it, though, I do get tired of Pitt's over zealottish character.

Se7en KO's Silence of the Lambs with technical excellence in story telling.

[Tweek]

You know... Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs are really completely different. Okay, not completely. There is the basic premise which is the investigation of serial killings.

It's quite hard to compare the direction. Se7en had quite a surreal look to it and (as far as I remember) didn't have a specific location. That worked. TSofL (Sorry, just don't feel like typing the whole title every time) is harder to describe for me. It's surreal, yes, but it doesn't overwhelm. Se7en was overwhelming at times.

There were more heart-stopping "Oh my Shit!" scenes in The Silence of the Lambs than in Se7en. The scene when the two officers are giving Lecter dinner up until Ardelia books it down that (hospital?) hallway... Toward the end, when you realize that Starling might be fucked as she doesn't have backup going into Gumb's house up until she shoots the hell out of him... And then there's the "I'd fuck me hard" scene which isn't really heart stopping but disturbing. LOL

One thing I really didn't care for. The lack of Scott Glenn. He has a more fleshed out character in the novel.:mad:

[outsyder]

Silence of the Lambs. It wasn't the visual tour de force that Se7en was, but Hopkins and Foster were incredible together. The script is also a tad better and I find the character parallels were far more interesting than in Se7en.

But Se7en is still a fantastic film.

[Tweek]

Silence of the Lambs. It wasn't the visual tour de force that Se7en was, but Hopkins and Foster were incredible together. The script is also a tad better and I find the character parallels were far more interesting than in Se7en.

But Se7en is still a fantastic film.

Damn you and your ability to be succinct! :p

[rocknblues81]

Okay so these two films are always compared to each other as the best serial killer movies of all time.

IMO Seven is the far superior film. Even though they were only made 4 yrs apart, its amazing how Silence of the Lambs has become so dated. I watched both of these films back to back and Silence of the Lambs just didnt hold up as good as I thought it would. Dont get me wrong, the acting is top notch but the flow and the way the film is set up isnt all that impressive. While Seven is a fuckin masterpiece all the way thru.

With that being said, the night vision scene in Silence of the Lambs is fucking awesome!

But in the end I gotta stick with Seven...by a landslide.

Who you got?

Silence of the Lambs easily. Seven is a very overrated movie. I watch programs like Cold Case and Forensic Files and all that stuff, but Seven just never did anything for me. You ever watch a movie and when it's over you say "Yeah, so what?". That's the reaction I had to this movie. I rarely found it to be intense or interesting. I was never interested in any of the characters in Seven.

[DarkKnight81]

Both are 10/10 masterpieces. I SLIGHTLY prefer Silence of the Lambs, but just barely and it's more for Hopkin's brilliantly chilling, unforgettable performance. Not that Foster is any slouch. And not to say that the performances in Se7en weren't brilliant because they were. But Silence by just a hair.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[Gordon]

I might argue Spacey was just as good or better - just with less screen time.

[bigred760]

I might argue Spacey was just as good or better - just with less screen time.

I don't know, man; I liked Silence of the Lambs mostly because of how scary Hannibal Lecter is; I love Se7en because of the characters, the directing, the style, and the ending. John Doe is good, but he's no Lecter.

[Tweek]

Didn't Hopkins have under 20 minutes of screen time all together in this one? Spacey still had a lot less though...

[Jig Saw 123]

Both were amazing, but Seven seems more of a classic for its twist and compelling story and performances. While Silence was only truly good because of Hopkins. So I'll go with Seven. "Her pretty little head" :D

[bigred760]

Didn't Hopkins have under 20 minutes of screen time all together in this one? Spacey still had a lot less though...

I think I remember Robert Osbourne saying it was 28 minutes when the movie was shown on Turner Classic Movies a few weeks ago. It is the shortest performance for a Best Actor winner apparently.

[grzgrz55]

Se7en.

Flawlessly. Recently watched on my HD-TV and I've decided its in my top 5 all time.

[Tweek]

I think I remember Robert Osbourne saying it was 28 minutes when the movie was shown on Turner Classic Movies a few weeks ago. It is the shortest performance for a Best Actor winner apparently.
oh! that's right. :)

[therealjohng]

Silence of the Lambs sucks. Seven doesn't.

[echo_bravo]

I'll even take it one step further and say that John Doe is superior to Hannibal.

John Doe has the better dialogue and is more chilling in delivering it IMO.

[DaMovieMan]

Now, that's pushing it. :/

John Doe is in one scene in the film pretty much and what like 20 minutes to the end he appears.

Hannibal is there from the start and is integral to the investigation. Plus he's an intelectual cannibal, how can you smear his dialogue?
"I had his liver with some chianti and flava beans"
"Quid pro quo"
etc.


Hmmm, well, to each his own I guess...

[echo_bravo]

David Mills: Wait, I thought all you did was kill innocent people.
John Doe: Innocent? Is that supposed to be funny? An obese man... a disgusting man who could barely stand up; a man who if you saw him on the street, you'd point him out to your friends so that they could join you in mocking him; a man, who if you saw him while you were eating, you wouldn't be able to finish your meal. After him, I picked the lawyer and I know you both must have been secretly thanking me for that one. This is a man who dedicated his life to making money by lying with every breath that he could muster to keeping murderers and rapists on the streets!
David Mills: Murderers?
John Doe: A woman...
David Mills: Murderers, John, like yourself?
John Doe: [interrupts] A woman... so ugly on the inside she couldn't bear to go on living if she couldn't be beautiful on the outside. A drug dealer, a drug dealing pederast, actually! And let's not forget the disease-spreading whore! Only in a world this shitty could you even try to say these were innocent people and keep a straight face. But that's the point. We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it's common, it's trivial. We tolerate it morning, noon, and night. Well, not anymore. I'm setting the example. What I've done is going to be puzzled over and studied and followed... forever.
_________________________


Damn that is some good fuckin dialogue.

[Tweek]

That dialogue posted wasn't chilling... Not to say that it wasn't powerful. And though you can't really have one without the other, it was the delivery that stuck out to me above all else. Gotta love that Kevin Spacey, eh? And that scene where he just walks into the station and no one notices him covered in blood yelling "Detective!"


Hopkins oddly enough, had you rooting for him as Lecter in a way. We laughed, we cried... ;)

[echo_bravo]

Whats probably so chilling about it is you kinda find yourself argeeing with him...esp about the lawyers.;)

[Dragula]

I'll flip a coin...Silence of the Lambs

[bigred760]

Whats probably so chilling about it is you kinda find yourself argeeing with him...esp about the lawyers.;)

I don't know about agreeing with him, but it's that he does "make sense." These people have broken the so-called seven deadly sins, and he felt that they needed to be punished. And he makes a damn good argument; too bad he was insane, so he has very little credibility.

[zzz179]

Silence of the Lambs i:D

[jaw2929]

Seven hands down.... Silence was good, but I liked Hannibal better. Seven was fucking fantastic, especially Spacey's brilliant performance.

[IHRTNJ]

uhhhhhh se7en... Like DUH! ... Hey weren't they supposed to make a sequel called Ei8ht? I swear I'm not making that up! I read that a few years ago. UPDATE: Oh look I found it! here's the link... http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=7064

[DarkKnight81]

uhhhhhh se7en... Like DUH! ... Hey weren't they supposed to make a sequel called Ei8ht? I swear I'm not making that up! I read that a few years ago. UPDATE: Oh look I found it! here's the link... http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=7064

Wow, check the date. That was an April Fools Day joke. And for the rest of you Silence haters, dont forget which of these movies won Best Picture. Se7en is fantastic but I'd take Silence anyday.

[IHRTNJ]

DUDE THAT SOOOO FUCKIN' SUCKS!!! LMAO :eek:
Can't believe I just got fuckin played out 3 years later than when I should have. :D
ZING I just got 3rd degree burns!

[monkeybutler]

I rember watching seven a long while back and I have to say I don't remember much of it. I am going to have to go out and buy it and watch it over again. I have watched silence of the lambs several times and Lecter is one of my favorite criminals of all time. He freaken killed a guy by talking to him. I think the impact that Silence has made in pop culture is also far greater than Seven. Just by default right now I am going to have to go with Silence, but I might be swayed when I watch Seven again.

[darknite125]

Like them both but Silence of the Lambs was absolutley brilliant I'm going to have to back my favorite canibal doctor on this one.