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Amazon.co.uk Review
You will never find a more chillingly suspenseful, perversely funny, or viciously satirical political thriller than The Manchurian Candidate, based on the novel by Richard Condon (author of Winter Kills). The film, withheld from distribution by star Frank Sinatra for almost a quarter-century after President Kennedy's assassination, has lost none of its potency over time. Former infantryman Bennet Marco (Sinatra) is haunted by nightmares about his platoon having been captured and brainwashed in Korea. The indecipherable dreams seem to centre on Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), a decorated war hero but a cold fish of a man whose own mother (Angela Lansbury, in one of the all-time great dragon-lady roles) describes him as looking like his head is "always about to come to a point". Mrs Bates has nothing on Lansbury's character, the manipulative queen behind her second husband, Senator John Iselin (James Gregory), a notoriously McCarthyesque demagogue. --Jim Emerson
Special Features
1.75 Wide Screen
DVD 5
French\Italian\Spanish
English
English
Region 2
Mono English French German Italian Spanish
Mono
Interview With Frank Sinatra George Axelrod And John Frankenheimer
Trivia And Production Notes
Original Theatrical Trailer
Feature Length Audio Commentary
Interactive Menu Screens And Chapter Selection
Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\French\German\Italian\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Spanish\Swedish
DVD 5
French\Italian\Spanish
English
English
Region 2
Mono English French German Italian Spanish
Mono
Interview With Frank Sinatra George Axelrod And John Frankenheimer
Trivia And Production Notes
Original Theatrical Trailer
Feature Length Audio Commentary
Interactive Menu Screens And Chapter Selection
Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\French\German\Italian\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Spanish\Swedish
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
John Frankenheimer could do little wrong in the early 1960's and this political thriller, an adpatation of Richard Condon's novel, stands as probably his finest achievement. The film is dazzlingly photographed (in B&W), memorably performed (by Angela Lansbury in particular) and is blessed with a bitingly, satirical script containing surprise, humour, pathos and moments of shocking violence. There are some flaws: the plot is preposterous and Laurence Harvey makes no attempt at an American accent; but the film is so gripping from the outset that these are easily overlooked.
On the DVD, the film is presented in its original widescreen format with mono sound. Picture and audio quality are both adequate. The main extras are a commentary track from John Frankenheimer and short retrospective interviews with Frankenheimer, Frank Sinatra and screenwriter George Axelrod. Unfortunately, neither are particularly illuminating.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
More than forty years after its original release, The Manchurian Candidate has lost none of its edge. Unlike many classics it is good not just retrospectively and for its time, but will captivate the modern, jaded cinema goer even today - the mark of a real classic. With a plot that leaves the audience guessing and confused through much of the film, The Manchurian Candidate manages to keep the viewer in suspense until the very end. Nothing is what it seems in this groundbreaking story about Raymond Shaw, a US soldier brainwashed in the Korean War. Frank Sinatra puts in a stellar performance as the man trying to get to the bottom of a series of mysterious events, and Angela Lansbury, despite being only two years older than the actor who plays Raymond, is utterly convincing as his mother.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This film is now 45 years old, but still stands up as a massive achievement.
I won't ruin the plot, but an army platoon's disappearance behind enemy lines in the Korean War leads to an award for their Staff Sargeant, whose stepfather just happens to be a rabid right-wing senator. It isn't the correctness of the honour's bestowal that needs to concern you, either!
The film is lit up by Frank Sinatra, as the platoon's Major, who slowly realises something evil happened, but he can't guess what, let alone why for ages. Sinatra's face in this film is expessive beyond belief-starting like a guy with a pebble in his shoe,and mildly irritated, it gradually collapses as the enormity of what might have happened sinks in, especially when he's left alone to try and reverse the seemingly inevitable conclusion.
Laurence Harvey, as the Staff Sargeant, is perfect casting-he often acted with hardly-supressed boredom and a stony expression & that suits the man he has become. But glimpses of what he actually was break through now and again, and the question boils down to which part will do what in the climax of the film.
As if that wasn't enough, Angela Lansbury, as Harvey's manipulative mother, puts in a third cracking performance. How she got to be Miss Marple after this is beyond belief-very naughty girl indeed!!
So, that's more than enough reasons to buy it-go get that credit card now!
I won't ruin the plot, but an army platoon's disappearance behind enemy lines in the Korean War leads to an award for their Staff Sargeant, whose stepfather just happens to be a rabid right-wing senator. It isn't the correctness of the honour's bestowal that needs to concern you, either!
The film is lit up by Frank Sinatra, as the platoon's Major, who slowly realises something evil happened, but he can't guess what, let alone why for ages. Sinatra's face in this film is expessive beyond belief-starting like a guy with a pebble in his shoe,and mildly irritated, it gradually collapses as the enormity of what might have happened sinks in, especially when he's left alone to try and reverse the seemingly inevitable conclusion.
Laurence Harvey, as the Staff Sargeant, is perfect casting-he often acted with hardly-supressed boredom and a stony expression & that suits the man he has become. But glimpses of what he actually was break through now and again, and the question boils down to which part will do what in the climax of the film.
As if that wasn't enough, Angela Lansbury, as Harvey's manipulative mother, puts in a third cracking performance. How she got to be Miss Marple after this is beyond belief-very naughty girl indeed!!
So, that's more than enough reasons to buy it-go get that credit card now!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Charity shop candidate
One of the best examples out there of how not to adapt a book for the screen. Woeful direction, truly ridiculous and incompetent screenplay, and tepid acting (except from Lansbury)... Read more
Published 20 days ago by Flaco
Original and Brilliant
This is one of my favourite movies of all time. It's cold, dark and menacing.
What I love so much about this film is that it is utterly unpredictable. Read more
What I love so much about this film is that it is utterly unpredictable. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Big Andy
just watched this for the first time today :-)
I was never a fan of sinatra...
I guess thats because my only living experience of him was when he was near the end of his life... Read more
I guess thats because my only living experience of him was when he was near the end of his life... Read more
Published 5 months ago by David Mcmahon
Manchurian Candidate
I watched the remake of this film a short while ago, but, this original is a much better version. Being in black and white gave the story greater impact and having the setting in... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ms. Myra A. Jenkins
A true classic
Vedy daring and at times controversial (especialy after JFK's assassination, which was apparently inspired by final scenes of this movie), apart from it's political contest remains... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. J. M. Zielinski
Ugh!
I wasn't sure whether to buy this the original version or, having caught a bit of the remake on TV, if I should go for that. In the end I did both! Read more
Published 12 months ago by R. Lawrence
Manchurian Candidate
Some old black and white movies have become classics, and rightly so, but, disappointingly, this one didn't make the grade for me. Read more
Published 12 months ago by J. D. Garcia
A film not to be missed
This film has lost none of its edge--I personally think that the remake, although good, is not a patch on the original. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Suroor Alikhan
UK DVD specs
As usual, the specs provided by Amazon are not reliable.
Actual specs:
Runtime: 121'
Languages: English, Italian , Spanish, French (all DD 2.0). Read more
Actual specs:
Runtime: 121'
Languages: English, Italian , Spanish, French (all DD 2.0). Read more
Published 21 months ago by D. Vitale
His brain has not only been washed, as they say... It has been dry...
Some thrillers leave me cold. I had heard of this film and the only thing I knew was that it was about communists brainwashing and American soldiers in Korea. Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2009 by Peter Wade
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