I'll never forget a post on another message board not long after Red Dragon's release by a "fan" which went something like:
...I'm a huge Hannibal Lecture fan. The first 15 minutes was the best...
I'd seen Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal before I read the books. I'm not sure if I read Red Dragon first before I saw manhunter, but I know I read the books in order.