Alternate versions

The Finnish-dubbed VHS version removes:

• Hannibal Lecter beating Pembry against the cell's bars, and spraying liquid to his eyes (along with the shots of the cuffed guard screaming "Jesus Christ!", and a shot of him trying to break loose).
• Lecter beating a guard with a nightstick several times (reduced from 6 hits to 1!).
• A outdrawn sequence that comes right after Lecter has whacked the guards (where he plays music and walks across the dead guard's body) is completely removed (along with Lecter's dialogue Ready when you are, sergeant Pembry).
• Right after Buffalo Bill is shot by Clarice Starling there is a long-lasting (about 15 secs) shot of his bloody dead body, that in the cut version is not that long anymore.

The Indian cinema version was censored by the Central Board of Film Certification of India to remove the visuals of a doctor killing a cop with a rod was reduced to a flash and every nude shot of Buffalo Bill for an 'A' (adults only) rating.

The scene where Miggs throws sperm at Clarice is shown from the different angle in the TV network version, so the audience can't really see what Miggs is throwing.

For the TV network version, Miggs says to Clarice 'I can smell your scent' instead of 'I can smell your c*nt'. Lecter's reply "I myself cannot" is omitted.

Criterion's Special Edition on DVD features outtake footage not included in the theatrical version, including:

• a longer version of the scene where Clarice discovers Raspail's head inside Your-Self Storage;
• a longer version of the scene where Lector explains to Clarice how to identify Buffalo Bill from his rejected applications for sex change surgery. The dialogue is longer and is taken almost verbatim from Thomas Harris' novel, and plays over a scene where the camera moves inside Buffalo Bill's cellar, stopping at the edge of the pit where Senator Martin's daughter is held. This is the same scene that appears in the theatrical version, right after Starling's visit to the enthomologists Roden and Pilcher, with no voiceover but with music and sound effects and Katherine Martin's screams coming from the pit;
• a brief new scene where Starling is given a gun from instructor Brigham right before her departure for West Virginia;
• an alternate version of the car scene where Starling and Crawford are talking after the Elk River victim's autopsy. In the theatrical version, Crawford apologizes to Starling for humiliating her in front of the state troopers; the alternate take has Starling revealing that a bug cocoon was found in Benjamin Raspail's throat. In the theatrical version this information is not revealed until later, when Starling mentions it during one of her encounters with Lector;
• a longer version of the telephone conversation between FBI Director Burke, Paul Krendler and Crawford after the phony offer to Lekter has been discovered; Crawford tries to convince Krendler not to accept Lector's help;
• a new scene showing a meeting with Starling, Crawford, Paul Krendler and and FBI Director Burke; Krendler blames Starling and Crawford for Lector's escape and Burke suspends them both from the case;
• the DVD also features the complete video monologue from performance artist Jim Roche as the TV Evangelist; in the theatrical version Roche appears on a TV put in front of Lector's cell, as punishment for Miggs' death.

This film was originally released by the then-defunct Orion Pictures Corporation. After Orion went bankrupt at the time, all their films, as well as many sequel rights, were acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which produced the sequel, Hannibal, and prequel, Red Dragon. When The Silence of the Lambs was re-issued on video in 1999 and on DVD in 2001, it was released by MGM home video while the studio released the 2009 Blu-ray through 20th Century Fox. As a result, their corporate logo now precedes the Orion Pictures logo. The MGM logo in the Criterion Blu-ray in addition to the 4K UHD release from Kino Lorber, however, is plastered with the 2012 variant of the logo.