I'd say watch them in the order in which they were being released except not seeing Manhunter first...

So that's...

Silence of the Lambs
Hannibal
Red Dragon
Manhunter
Hannibal Rising

At lease that's what I did but I have not seen Hannibal Rising.

I'd say see Red Dragon before Manhunter because I think it's a better adaptation of Thomas Harris's novel and you would wanna see a continuity Hopkin's Lecter before switching to Brian Cox and Gaspard Ulliel impersonations.

red dragon and manhunter are pertty much the same thing but hopkins does not play in manhunter brian cox does

Disciple wrote: Who said he was in Manhunter? no 1 just making a point

Manhunter is better than Red Dragon.  Red Dragon is a remake of Manhunter.  Red Dragon was made so they could make more money off of Anthony Hopkins more popular take on Hannibal

Anybody enjoy Hannibal? i find myself reaching for that on the shelf more than any other Lector movie.

Chris Gould wrote: It was better than Red Dragon, but I don't own it. I don't have a shelf, but if I did it would hold the Anchor Bay limited edition of Manhunter and the Criterion release of SOTL. That's all the Lecktor/Lecter I need.
I'd suggest the Criterion just for the excellent commentary track and the MGM two-disc SE for the presentation and other extras since the Criterion disc isn't anamorphic. The AB Limited Edition of Manhunter is nice all around.