ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray January 2018: The Criterion is from a "New 4K digital restoration, approved by director of photography Tak Fujimoto". This package includes a second Blu-ray with supplements. It is very evident to see the improvement of the Criterion transfer, with max'ed out bitrate in AVC, to the 2009 MGM/Fox Blu-ray. It is far crisper, has a green leaning but skin tones are cooler and more accurate. It looks superb in-motion.

Criterion go DTS-HD Master for stereo and a 5.1 surround bump (both in 24-bit) and  the score is by Howard Shore (Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars, Scanners and The Brood, Tim Burton's Ed Wood, Fincher's The Game and Se7en etc.) and it certainly benefits from the uncompressed transfer adding that suspenseful atmosphere infused with classical music and pop like Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' American Girl.  It sounds wonderful and the streo option is appreciated. There are optional English subtitles on the Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

Criterion include the audio commentary from 1994 featuring director Jonathan Demme, actors Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, screenwriter Ted Tally, and former FBI agent John Douglas. There is a new, 18-minute, interview with critic Maitland McDonagh exploring our cultural fascination with serial killers and The Silence of the Lambs and thirty-eight minutes of deleted scenes, plus a trailer on the first Blu-ray.

Blu-ray 2 has a 52-minute, three-part, 2005, documentary by Laurent Bouzereau entitled Jonathan Demme and Jodie Foster - a featuring interviews with Demme and Foster, Inside the Labyrinth - a 1-hour, 6-minute, 2001 documentary by Jeffrey Schwarz featuring interviews with Foster; Hopkins; screenwriter Ted Tally; production designer Kristi Zea; editor Craig McKay; studio executive Mike Medavoy; producer Ron Bozman; costume designer Colleen Atwood; Demme's mentor Roger Corman, and many others. Page to Screen is a 2002 episode of the Bravo tv show "Page to Screen" featuring key members of the film's cast and crew discussing Thomas Harris's source novel and the production. It runs 41-minutes. Scoring the Silence is a 2004, 16-minute, interview with composer Howard Shore, Understanding the Madness is a 20-minute 2008 program featuring interviews with retired FBI agents Richard L. Ault Jr., Roger L. Depue, James R. Fitzgerald, Robert R. Hazelwood, R. Stephen Mardigian, and Michael R. Napier. There is a 8-minute behind-the-scenes featurette and the storyboards piece found on previous editions. The Criterion include a book featuring an introduction by Foster, an essay by critic Amy Taubin, pieces from 2000 and 2013 by author Thomas Harris on the origins of the character Hannibal Lecter, and a 1991 interview with Demme.

The Silence of the Lambs remains an iconic film advancing the 'serial-killer' curiosity craze that still exists today in modern TV. One of the more re-watchable films of its genre and Criterion have created the definitive Blu-ray edition with the 4K-restored transfer and substantial extras. Our highest recommendation! 

Tack onto the above statement that I cannot have positive opinions about many issues regarding these DVDs - especially color. I'll still contend that the Criterion has reddish skin tones and, most likely, had black/red levels boosted to improve sharpness. On advanced systems the, long out-of-print, Criterion will fall short as it is not anamorphic (16X9 enhanced). The new CE has a much higher bitrate and the image appears slightly darker. If I am forced to guess (and in this case it is a guess!) I suspect that the new CE is the best (meaning most theatrically accurate) of the three releases. It shares the DVD with nothing - all supplements on the 2nd disc. It doesn't have the greenish haze of the original MGM and skin tones seem fairly true. I find no evidence of manipulation on the progressive/anamorphic transfer.