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Dead Again Dvd [1991]

Kenneth Branagh , Emma Thompson , Kenneth Branagh    Suitable for 15 years and over   DVD
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Andy Garcia, Derek Jacobi, Wayne Knight
  • Directors: Kenneth Branagh
  • Writers: Scott Frank
  • Producers: Charles H. Maguire, Dennis Feldman, Lindsay Doran, Sydney Pollack
  • Format: PAL
  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish
  • Dubbed: German, Czech
  • Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.85:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 18 Mar 2002
  • Run Time: 103 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005UO5G
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 10,684 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

Product Description

Private detective Mike Church (Kenneth Branagh) tries to help the amnesiac Grace (Emma Thompson) recover her memory by having her visit a hypnotist (Derek Jacobi). Grace then experiences a series of memories in which she is Margaret Strauss, the world-famous pianist who was murdered in 1948. Could Grace be Margaret's reincarnation? Church, who has now fallen in love with the young woman, resolves to find out.

Product Description

The film begins with opening credits intercut with pans across newspaper clippings about a society murder committed by conductor-composer Roman Strauss (Kenneth Branagh). Most of the articles were written by Gray Baker (Andy García), who visited Strauss on the day of his execution. The gates of a mansion in the past fade into the same gates in the present day, now the grounds of a Catholic orphanage. Mike Church (also Branagh) is a smart-alecky Los Angeles private investigator whose jobs usually involve running down deadbeats and finding missing persons. He is called in by Father Timothy (Richard Easton), the priest in charge of the orphanage where Mike was raised, to help identify a woman (Emma Thompson) who showed up in a state of shock, unable to speak, and with amnesia. Mike takes the woman, whom he calls Grace, to stay at his apartment, where he discovers she is terrified of scissors. The two uncover clues to her identity but nothing concrete. Grace regains her voice during a hypnotic session with Franklyn (Derek Jacobi), an antique dealer who claims she is having a "past-life" experience. Under hypnosis, she recalls a couple who lived during the 1940s, a famous composer and his pianist wife, as if she were part of their history. Margaret was brutally murdered, and Roman was executed for her murder. As Mike and Grace fall in love, Grace is upset by the similarities of their courtship to that of Roman and Margaret. Grace becomes afraid of Mike and is unconvinced by his assertions that he's "not Roman." Franklyn hypnotizes Mike, leading to the revelation that Mike is not the reincarnation of Roman, but of Margaret. Now, Mike becomes afraid of Grace. Mike consults with Cozy Carlisle (Robin Williams), a disgraced psychiatrist who lost his license and now works in a shop. Grace consults with Franklyn; each is advised to kill the other. Meanwhile, Mike's friend at the newspaper, Pete (Wayne Knight), uncovers Grace's true identity: Amanda Sharpe, an artist.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Noir-ish, Stylish, and Very Memorable 15 Feb 2003
Format:DVD
Although he received tremendous praise for his memorable film production of Shakespeare's HENRY V, DEAD AGAIN was the film that really introduced actor/director Kenneth Branagh to mainstream American film, and for a time he and then-wife Emma Thompson were the most celebrated acting couple since Olivier and Leigh. The marriage did not last, but fortunately this film did--and I say fortunately, for although it is somewhat forgotten today, DEAD AGAIN is an overlooked jewel of a film: classy, noir-ish, stylish, and very memorable indeed.
The story is fanciful. In the late 1940s noted composer Roman Strauss was convicted of mudering his noted pianist wife Margaret, and was sentenced to death. Some forty years later, a young woman suffering from amnesia falls into the hands of a no-nonsense Los Angeles private eye--and under hypnosis she recalls not her immediate past, but the lives of Roman and Margaret. Is this reincarnation? Is she Margaret Strauss? Is the private eye to whom she is attracted but of whom she is also strangely fearful the reincarnation of Roman Strauss, Margaret's killer? Is history repeating itself?

Scott Frank's clever script makes for a fast-paced, twisting, and fascinating plot-driven film--and it is flawlessly played by Branagh and Thompson, who assume dual roles as the 1940s Roman and Margaret Strauss and the 1980s Mike Church and Grace. The supporting cast is also excellent, with memorable performances by Andy Garcia and Derek Jacobi--and a truly exceptional cameo by Robin Williams, who here for the first time demonstrated that his talents went far beyond comedy. The shifts between past and present, nightmare and reality are exceedingly well done, and although the plot becomes more and more fantastic the entire film is so perfectly executed that one buys into it every step of the way.

If DEAD AGAIN has a flaw, it is that some of the twists and turns are predictable--but in the film's favor I must admit that it sweeps you along so quickly that you seldom have time to analyse that failing while you actually watch the film. It is also to a certain extent a "one trick pony" film; the film is at its most powerful upon a first viewing, when one is oblivious to what is coming. But even so, it is tremendously effective and it holds up as well today as when it first appeared on the big screen. The DVD includes little in the way of extras beyond commentary tracks by producer Lindsay Doran, writer Scott Frank, and director-star Kenneth Branagh--and these are as hit-and-miss as commentary tracks usually are, but they hit more often than miss. The picture and sound quality is overall very good. Recommended!

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars One for Film Noir lovers 26 Oct 2000
By A Customer
Format:VHS Tape
When I first saw this movie - I was just captivated - the flashback sequences are beautifully filmed and the storyline is really solid. The idea of being reincarnated in order to sort out what happened in a past life works really well and Branagh, Jacobi and Thompson are brilliant. And just when you think you understand who did what and how...there is a twist that you just don't see coming - a great film with a nailbiting climax!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Hammy - but exceptionally enjoyable. 30 Jun 2003
By A Customer
Format:VHS Tape
I don't understand the bad review of this. It's as if the reviewer mistakenly thought that you're supposed to take this film seriously.
I'm a huge fan of ghost stories and all things horror - the hammier, the better. This film is perfect - a good rattling yarn, an overblown script and melodramatic performances.
I've seen it a few times, and always find it engrossing and fun. I've always assumed that hyperbole was intentional. I may not be Branagh's greatest fan, but it's obviously an homage to overdone scream-flicks.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the BEST movies I have ever watched
This movie is a work of art KB at his best! It is, without a doubt, one that captures your attention from the first second to the last - no getting up for popcorn in this one!
Published 20 months ago by sandee37064
4.0 out of 5 stars Good acting, original story and quite gripping...
Not a bad movie for the price. Loved the storyline as it is quite original.. its basically a who-done-it movie which covers the subject of past-lives. Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2010 by Mr. S. J. Carter
5.0 out of 5 stars These are for you
This movie is a cut above the standard reincarnation story.

A mysterious woman (Emma Thompson) shows up with amnesia. Read more
Published on 2 May 2010 by bernie
4.0 out of 5 stars A first-rate murder mystery with Branagh and Thompson
This is one of the best murder mysteries to come out of the Nineties, and probably for some time before or since. It's Hitchcockian without being an homage. Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2007 by C. O. DeRiemer
2.0 out of 5 stars Hokey
Considering the high caliber of the British cast (Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Derek Jacobi), DEAD AGAIN is notable for being so corny. Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2004 by Joseph Haschka
3.0 out of 5 stars dead again
This is a film of muddled genre. Tries to be Hitchcock, but does not really succeed.
It is though very watchable, with a fine cast, all hamming it to the hilt. Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2002 by page gobbler
1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible misfiring noir comedy
I remember going to see this at the cinema and laughing alone at the more absurd bits, until about half way through when the rest of the audience realised how utterly preposterous... Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2002 by Neil Lewis
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