... The build up of nuclear weapons and the possibility of all out war was not just talk, it seemed to be more likely to happen than not.
Playing on these fears Richard Condon wrote a novel, ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ that highlighted those fears and brought forward the terrifying idea of ... Read review
The Manchurian Candidate, a classic of paranoid cinema from the 1960s, gets a cunning ... more
update, rife with hot-topic references to corporate war profiteering and electronic voting machines. Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington,Training Day) has been haunted...
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You will never find a more chillingly suspenseful, perversely funny, or viciously ... more
satirical political thriller thanThe Manchurian Candidate, based on the novel by Richard Condon (author ofWinter Kills). The film, withheld from distribution by star Fran...
Postage & Packaging: Check Site. Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The Manchurian Candidate, a classic of paranoid cinema from the 1960s, gets a cunning ... more
update, rife with hot-topic references to corporate war profiteering and electronic voting machines. Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington,Training Day) has been haunted...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
You will never find a more chillingly suspenseful, perversely funny, or viciously ... more
satirical political thriller thanThe Manchurian Candidate, based on the novel by Richard Condon (author ofWinter Kills). The film, withheld from distribution by star Fran...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
The Manchurian Candidate is a poundingly suspenseful political thriller, and remains one ... more
of the best and brightest of modern American films.Ask Major Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) and he'll say that Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) is a hero wor...
Academy Award winners Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep, along with Golden Globe and Emmy ... more
nominee Liev Screiber, mesmerize a whole new generation of audiences in Academy Award winner Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian Candidate. As the entire nation watc...
One of the "most poundingly suspenseful political thrillers ever made " (People Magazine) ... more
and "one of the best and brightest of modern American films" (Roger Ebert). Ask Major Bennett Marco (Sinatra) and he'll say that Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence ...
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Academy Award winners Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep, along with Golden Globe and Emmy ... more
nominee Liev Screiber, mesmerize a whole new generation of audiences in Academy Award winner Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian Candidate. As the entire nation watches the presidential campaign hurtle towards Election Day, one soldier races to uncover the conspiracy behind it - a conspiracy that seeks to destroy democracy itself.
Production Year: 1992 - Thriller, Drama - Director: Uli Edel - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Anne Archer, Joe Mantegna, Willem Dafoe, Madonna, Julianne Moore, Jurgen Prochnow
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Advantages: Good plot, quite topical Disadvantages: no tension, no suspense
Back during the cold war the ever-present threat of attack from the USSR was always at the back of the minds of millions of Americans. The build up of nuclear weapons and the possibility of all out war was not just talk, it seemed to be more likely to happen than not.
Playing on these fears Richard Condon wrote a novel, ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ that highlighted those fears and brought forward the terrifying idea of brainwashed American ... ...nation.
The original film, made in 1962 and starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, is a classic film. Not only does it have two tremendous performances by the aforementioned stars but it also has one of the most terrifying scenes ever shown on a big screen, or small screen for all of us who have only ever seen it on TV. The fact that it involves a group of old ladies at their knitting club meeting a group of American GI’s will ... more
Back during the cold war the ever-present threat of attack from the USSR was always at the back of the minds of millions of Americans. The build up of nuclear weapons and the possibility of all out war was not just talk, it seemed to be more likely to happen than not.
Playing on these fears Richard Condon wrote a novel, ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ that highlighted those fears and brought forward the terrifying idea of brainwashed American soldiers being used to further the will of a communist nation.
The original film, made in 1962 and starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, is a classic film. Not only does it have two tremendous performances by the aforementioned stars but it also has one of the most terrifying scenes ever shown on a big screen, or small screen for all of us who have only ever seen it on TV. The fact that it involves a group of old ladies at their knitting club meeting a group of American GI’s will give you very little clue as to how powerful this scene is. Trust me you have to see it!
The new updated and modern adaptation stars Denzel Washington as Bennett Marco, a major in the US Army, haunted by visions and nightmares of an ambush he and his squad got caught in during the Gulf War. After being missing in action for 3 days they squad reappeared from behind enemy lines. Captain Raymond Shaw, Ben’s second in command, guiding his comrades back to safety after fighting off the enemy. All the survivors praise Shaw for his bravery and he is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour, Americas highest award.
Raymond Shaw (Liev Schrieber, Scream & The Sum of All Fears) has since followed in his family footsteps and become a Senator for New York. His father was a Senator before his death and his mother is a current, powerhouse, Senator. He is an all-American hero and a potential vice presidential candidate, the perfect poster boy of American politics!
Meanwhile Ben meets another member of the ambushed squad, a man who has suffered terribly from the same dreams and nightmares as him. His visions though have a deeper, darker side to them, leading Ben to wonder whether there is more to these dreams. As his own visions start to take on a different meaning Ben heads off to New York to visit his old friend Shaw, the only other surviving member of the squad, to try and unravel the complex images cascading through his mind.
First thing to say, if it isn’t already obvious from an earlier statement, is that I love the original film. I often try to avoid remakes of films I really like, mainly because no matter how good they might be they are not going to live up to the my opinion of the original. My mind is already prejudiced against the remake, no matter how much I try to prevent it, before I even take a seat in the cinema. The Manchurian Candidate looked interesting enough, and different enough, in the trailers to get past that mindset though and I was looking forward to seeing this. It seemed to have taken the basis of the original and updated it for a modern generation.
For me though it didn’t work, while the story was still good the direction was very routine and by the numbers. I have never really liked any of Jonathan Demme’s mainstream outings, ‘Silence of the Lambs’ is okay but Lecter has be made a pantomime character compared to the menacing, psychotic, intelligent man he is, and was in Manhunter and ‘Philadelphia’ is not the film it could, and should, have been. This time around he has somehow managed to film a script that has the potential to be very tense and exciting but fill it with scenes that possess neither. There was no time I ever really felt any sense of danger or really cared about what was going on, and that was all down to the boring direction of Demme.
Acting wise though the Manchurian Candidate is lucky enough to have some remarkable performances. Meryl Streep shows, once again, why she is one of the best actresses in Hollywood. She is the lynchpin of the film and she livens things up every scene she is in. She plays Eleanor Shaw, Raymond’s mother and a powerhouse politician in her own right.
Liev Schreiber is as good as he always is. He plays Shaw as an unemotional, almost disturbed young man. As Shaw he is good looking enough to be the all-American boy, but has that slight edge to his looks that implies there is more to him, that secrets are hidden behind that face.
Denzel Washington is okay, not up to his usual quality, but is believable enough. He seems to have hit the same problem as Halle Berry. At the moment neither of them seem to be getting, or picking, quality parts. Ever since their joint best actor/actress Oscars they have only been in mundane, run of the mill films.
Overall I was disappointed in Manchurian Candidate, it wasted an interesting story and just bored me rigid. When I’m bored 20 minutes into a film I know it’s bad, a thriller should not lose you that quickly.
Certificate: 15 Running time: 130 minutes
Director: Jonathan Demme Writer: Daniel Pyne & Dean Georgaris
Interesting Cast Members:
Denzel Washington – Bennett Marco Meryl Streep – Eleanor Shaw Liev Schrieber – Raymond Shaw Jon Voight – Senator Thomas Jordan Kimberly Elise – Rosie Ted Levine – Colonel Howard Miguel Ferrer – Colonel Garret Dean Stockwell – Mark Whiting Al Franken – TV Commentator Roger Corman – Mr. Secretary
Advantages: You learn abit about the history and political tensions of America Disadvantages: ...this could easily happen with technology of this day and age, if not worse!
The Manchurian Candidate, was a film made in 1962 based on Richard Condon's novel (1959). Described as the most "daring" (LA Times) and "fascinating" (Variety), it has been subject to contraversy. It was described by the Communist, People's World, as 'poison, the most vicious attempt yet made to cash in on Soviet-American tensions' and was even banned from public viewing for 25 years. Whilst it has been subject to much contraversy, it has even undergone ... ...me to do. so following the wise words of old English teacher of mine, ' that anything banned from public viewing is certainly something worth while watching', I thought I would give this film, a whizz and a whirl in my DVD player.
Classified as suitable for those who are 15 and with a running time of 2hours and a minute, I thought that this film was going to be easy to watch however I was wrong. In fact there is something rather disturbing about ...
silvajade 19.04.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Manchurian Candidate (DVD)
Advantages: A tightly plotted, taut thriller with great performances Disadvantages: The music can be a little intrusive
...haunted by his experiences from the Gulf War. But the most disturbing things are those he can’t remember; like how his platoon was saved from certain death by the now Vice-Presidential candidate Raymond Prentiss Shaw. As he investigates further, he discovers that he isn’t the only member of his unit to have suffered distressing nightmares and memory loss and the men previously under his command have a strange propensity for dying young. Is it merely ... ...what does the all-powerful multi-national Manchurian Global have to do with it?
Director Jonathan Demme has had a varied career in which he has had the greatest success with thrillers like “The Silence of the Lambs” and with Denzel Washington (as in “Philadelphia). So he must have seemed the ideal choice to helm a remake of cold war thriller “The Manchurian Candidate” with the aforementioned Mr Washington. I have never seen the original, so I’m ...
afy9mab 29.11.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Manchurian Candidate (DVD)
Advantages: Fine Story and Acting Disadvantages: A Bit Far Fetched
...Shaw, single handedly takes on the enemy and saves most of them. Shaw's father was a failed politician.
Shaw is a candidate for Vice President and has been helped a lot by the Medal of Honour that he received for his courage in the war. He is being pushed very hard by his mother (Meryl Streep) who is very ruthless. He often resents her interference in his life and seems to have more morals.
Things get complicated when it turns out the surviving ... ...Jonathan Demme (of Silence of the Lambs fame) and Screenplay Co-Writer Daniel Pyne.
There is also a featurette that features Tina Sinatra (yes Frank's daughter, she is one of the producers), Jonathan Demme, Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep amongst others. It compares some scenes from the original movie. They even suggest that link between large corporations and politicians today. It is quite interesting. It runs for 14 minutes.
The last special ...
lilmsnaughty1979 05.09.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Manchurian Candidate (DVD)
Advantages: entertaining. Denzel Washington Disadvantages: hard to get into
This film is set in The Kuwaiti Desert in 1991, and although it is a war orientated film, and there are some fantastic war sceens, it is not your typical War Film.
It's basically about a U.S. arrmy major, who was in The Kuaiti Desert, with his platoon during the first Gulf War.
Having 'retired' from the U.S Army, he now spends his time during the day giving talks to schools, colleges and other groups around America, about the heroic acts of his ... ...(Corporal Al Melvin), is experiencing the same dreams as him.
This spurs him on to try and find out what actually happened .
Sergent Raymond Shaw, is trying to gain Vice Presidency at the time that MajorBennet Marco starts to realise that something more sinister may have happened.
Sergeant Raymond Shaw won a medal of honour saving Marcos platoon, but did he really deserve it, or was the fact that he came from a political background.
Senator Eleanor ...
robjak 16.04.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Manchurian Candidate (DVD)
Advantages: Excellent actors, brilliant story Disadvantages: Sometimes felt as though the storyline dragged
...already.. (5 mins later)
The film is a crime-thriller, on the back of the DVD there is no informaiton at all as to what the story is about, simly a few reviews. In my opinion i thought the film was OK. Many film that i watch i can remember clearly the next day and am able to tell the story to many people, however this film i completely forgot some parts of the film. This tells you something. There's nothing that really makes you want to watch it ... ...that it, what happened at the end?" In my opinion the storyline dragged and the conclusion, which summaried the whole film was very short and confusing.
The main points of the film are:
Whilst out in Kuwait during a war something happened to the team of fighters, they were brainwashed and all had implants placed in their brains and their shoulders which supplied each person a different short term memory. The aim of this was to provide one of the ...
amy21 16.04.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Manchurian Candidate (DVD)
During a mission of the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco is knocked unconscious just as Sergeant Raymond Shaw saves his fellow soldiers. Shaw is now a vice-presidential nominee and as the elections fast approach, Marco strives to uncover the conspiracies behind his campaign.
Remake Of
Manchurian Candidate ( 1962 United States of America )
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT; TECHNICOLOR DIST. SERVICES, MGM ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS, PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT; TECHNICOLOR DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
Commentary By Director Jonathan Demme And Screenplay Cowriter Daniel Pyne, The Enemy Within Inside The Manchurian Candidate, The Cast Of The Manchurian Candidate, Theatrical Trailer, Liev Schreiber Screen Test, Political Pundits With Optional Directors Commentary, Deleted And Extended Scenes, 2 Outtakes With Optional Commentary, Interactive menu
Aspect Ratio
1.78 Anamorphic Wide Screen, 1.75 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1, Mono, Dolby Digital
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English German, Mono English French German Italian Spanish
Professional reviews
Review
A cracking conspiracy thriller. (Empire, )
Film of the Month, intelligent and engrossing. (Uncut, )
DVD Description
Jonathan Demme updates the original 1962 John Frankenheimer classic with plenty of new paranoid twists: This time a sinister Halliburton-style corporation is behind the brainwashing of a Gulf War hero turned vice presidential nominee, Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber). Shaw's old unit commander Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) recommended him for the National Medal of Honor, though he can't remember exactly why, and his recurring nightmares drive him to uncover a massive conspiracy. Sinister forces at work include shifty-eyed bodyguards, a love interest with questionable motives (Kimberly Elise), and Raymond's domineering senator mother (Meryl Streep). Demme infuses the proceedings with enough paranoia and uncomfortable close-ups to rival his 1991 Oscar-winner, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Layered sound, overlapping dialogue, and creepy cinematography by Tak Fujimoto (who also worked on LAMBS) further heighten the uneasiness. Demme regulars Roger Corman, Charles Napier, Paul Lazar, and Tracey Walter show up in bit parts as usual. Comedian Al Franken is a welcome face as a TV correspondent, and quirky indie rocker Robyn Hitchcock plays one of the brainwashing specialists. Needless to say, Denzel is superb. Streep is terrifying and hilarious as the maniacal Mrs. Shaw. As with the original (which focused on communist instead of terrorist fear-mongering), the events depicted here are doubly unsettling considering their uncanny resemblance to real-life politics at the time of this film's theatrical release.
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