We’ve all said it at least once: “The book was better.” Maybe it explored the characters with more depth, or it paced the plot better than the adaptation. Sometimes it doesn’t even come down to mechanical know-how or structure. Sometimes, the book just makes you feel more.

However, some movies go beyond merely adapting a story for the screen. That’s the case with Ridley Scott’s most controversial and maligned 2001 hit, Hannibal, now free to watch on YouTube.

This article contains spoilers for both the 1999 novel and the 2001 movie adaptation, Hannibal.

On paper, Hannibal should have been a surefire success. Director Ridley Scott of Alien fame was in charge. Not only had he proven himself a visual genius with 1982’s Blade Runner, but he was also more than capable of handling macabre horror, as he did when bringing Ridley and the xenomorph to the silver screen. Furthermore, Harris's portrayal of incarcerated psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter was well loved, with the 1988 novel The Silence of the Lambs selling over 10 million copies by 1999, and the 1991 film adaptation grossing over $273 million worldwide.

With so much acclaim following the novels and Lambs , it’s no surprise that producer Dino De Laurentiis, who held the film rights to Hannibal Lecter after his 1986 adaptation of the serial killer’s story in Manhunter , wanted a piece of that very successful pie after that movie flopped. Cue Harris’ sequel (one that he reportedly did not want to write ) in 1999 and Scott’s adaptation, Hannibal , in 2001, both set several years after the previous entry.

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