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Amazon.co.uk Review
The Manchurian Candidate, a classic of paranoid cinema from the 1960s, gets a cunning update, rife with hot-topic references to corporate war profiteering and electronic voting machines. Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington, Training Day) has been haunted by nightmares ever since a firefight during the first Gulf War--a battle in which he believes he was saved by the heroism of Sgt. Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber, Kate & Leopold). But Marco's nightmares suggest otherwise and drive him to investigate what happened, which may threaten Shaw's candidacy for vice-president. Meryl Streep plays Shaw's mother, a senior senator who manipulates everyone around her with an iron will and a sharp tongue. The Manchurian Candidate loses steam towards the end, but up until then director Jonathan Demme keeps the movie rolling fluidly, crafting some creepy paranoia of his own while Streep tears into everything in her path. --Bret Fetzer
Product Description
Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, Kimberly EliseDirector: Jonathan Demme
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The decline of Jonathan Demme into derivative hackery has often been put down to the curse of Oscar, but it's to be hoped that after his horribly misguided remake of The Manchurian Candidate the only way is up. Even were the original not such a terrific movie, this one would fall on its lack of wit or imagination, not least because of a strikingly poor script by Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris that not only fears what's best in the novel and the original film but also lacks logic, momentum, satire, characterization or, most crucially for a thriller, suspense or even cheap thrills. There are a few positives: the red menace now becomes Haliburton - sorry, Manchurian Global - the romantic interest has a more valid reason for involving herself with an obvious psychiatric case and there is one neat switch in the finale. Unfortunately they're all thrown away, with an epilogue that is truly absurd, while the political commentary is never embedded in the narrative but crudely pasted on in the form of news reports. And is it just me, but why do the hands-on villains have to be Brits? Can any nation have treated their allies in not one but two Iraq wars with such open contempt?
Even on a technical level, at times it's strikingly clumsy, be it the often crude editing, the inane nightmare sequences or the literally unbelievable sound mix (those cheers on the nomination speeches set a new low in credibility). But the biggest problem, along with chronic overlength, is that you never care about anyone in the film. Whereas Laurence Harvey's pathetic cold fish latched onto Frank Sinatra's Marco even though he knew he despised him out of a terrible and desperate loneliness born of self-loathing in the original, Demme and Levine keep the two apart for most of the film, denying both of them the relationships with `normal' characters that highlighted their damaged psyches in the original. Nor are the actors able to draw you in much either. Denzel Washington is on poor form for much of the film until his paranoia takes him over Parallax style. Liv Schreiber fares better, but seems to be channelling Robert Foxworth circa 1978. But the real nail in the coffin is Meryl Streep, an actress who may have heard of subtlety once but has since gone out of her way to avoid it at all costs, giving the worst performance of her career, displaying an unbelievable assortment of ridiculously over the top mannerisms that put you in mind of a drunken Robert Newton playing Widow Twankey in a rundown seaside town's annual Christmas panto. Her every scene is just painful to watch in a rather silly, drawn out film that aspires to be average and almost makes it.
Even on a technical level, at times it's strikingly clumsy, be it the often crude editing, the inane nightmare sequences or the literally unbelievable sound mix (those cheers on the nomination speeches set a new low in credibility). But the biggest problem, along with chronic overlength, is that you never care about anyone in the film. Whereas Laurence Harvey's pathetic cold fish latched onto Frank Sinatra's Marco even though he knew he despised him out of a terrible and desperate loneliness born of self-loathing in the original, Demme and Levine keep the two apart for most of the film, denying both of them the relationships with `normal' characters that highlighted their damaged psyches in the original. Nor are the actors able to draw you in much either. Denzel Washington is on poor form for much of the film until his paranoia takes him over Parallax style. Liv Schreiber fares better, but seems to be channelling Robert Foxworth circa 1978. But the real nail in the coffin is Meryl Streep, an actress who may have heard of subtlety once but has since gone out of her way to avoid it at all costs, giving the worst performance of her career, displaying an unbelievable assortment of ridiculously over the top mannerisms that put you in mind of a drunken Robert Newton playing Widow Twankey in a rundown seaside town's annual Christmas panto. Her every scene is just painful to watch in a rather silly, drawn out film that aspires to be average and almost makes it.
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Some years ago Robert Redford came out with two movies one after the other. The first was "The Last Castle" and the other was "Spygame". These both were brilliant.
Denzel Washington has joined a prestigious group of people able to pull off the same feat!
Hot on the heels of "Man On Fire" ( that was breathtaking! ) he follows up his performance with "The Manchurian Candidate". The tag line should have been "How do you trust?" The story is about a group of soldiers who return from the gulf war. One of them becomes a presidential candidate after having saved his unit during a firefight and receiving a medal for his heroism. Or did he? Denzel Washington is the unit leader who remembers events out of sequence but his fears are confirmed when the rest of his men experience a disconnection with the events of the firefight. How do you trust when you cannot even trust what you remember?
This is a must for the DVD collection. I look forward to his next movie with anticipation.
Denzel Washington has joined a prestigious group of people able to pull off the same feat!
Hot on the heels of "Man On Fire" ( that was breathtaking! ) he follows up his performance with "The Manchurian Candidate". The tag line should have been "How do you trust?" The story is about a group of soldiers who return from the gulf war. One of them becomes a presidential candidate after having saved his unit during a firefight and receiving a medal for his heroism. Or did he? Denzel Washington is the unit leader who remembers events out of sequence but his fears are confirmed when the rest of his men experience a disconnection with the events of the firefight. How do you trust when you cannot even trust what you remember?
This is a must for the DVD collection. I look forward to his next movie with anticipation.
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The original Manchurian Candidate was released in 1962 and not only had I not seen it, I hadn't even heard of it.
So, unlike recent releases such as Dawn Of The Dead, The Italian Job and Assault On Precinct 13 I had very little idea what to expect on viewing this film.
What you do get is a fine blend of Jacobs Ladder style paranoia, conspiracy and US Goverment post 9/11 anti-terrorist propaganda.
So, unlike recent releases such as Dawn Of The Dead, The Italian Job and Assault On Precinct 13 I had very little idea what to expect on viewing this film.
What you do get is a fine blend of Jacobs Ladder style paranoia, conspiracy and US Goverment post 9/11 anti-terrorist propaganda.
The assembled cast is second to none, Denzil Washington, Jon Voight, Liev Shreiber are all superb but the star of the show is Meryl Streep as the powerecrazy, control freak mother/Senator Eleanor Shaw:
"Make no mistake, the American people are terrified, they know something's coming, they can feel it"
Remind you of anyone?
A top quality cast, fine performance's and a fairly rivetting plot make The Manchurian Candidate highly recommended viewing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not perfect but entertaining enough past the half way point
Pretty much as the title says, that's how I'd best describe this film.
It starts off a bit slowly and doesn't really get interesting until about the half way mark. Read more
It starts off a bit slowly and doesn't really get interesting until about the half way mark. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Paul Stevens
Manchurian Candidate - Where ???
Generally a good exciting picture but let down a little by some silly moments and a predictable plot. An excellent cast, well made etc ... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Shrewlord
The Manchurian Candidate
I was aware of the basic premise of this film before watching it and not having seen the original I didn't come to this with any preconceptions. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Spider Monkey
The Manchurian Candidate
I was aware of the basic premise of this film before watching it and not having seen the original I didn't come to this with any preconceptions. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Spider Monkey
Stay alert!
Brilliant film. Concentrate or you may get lost. The two leads play their parts extremely well.
Published 23 months ago by S. Nicolas
Remake of a Classic
Denzel never gets it wrong in this great remake. Thought provoking thriller film with a good storyline and great casting. If you liked the original I suggest you watch this too.
Published on 2 Jan 2010 by R. Spencer
Not a bad way to pass the time
I saw this in the cinema first not realising it was an old film which was a good thing as I was seeing it not knowing what was going to happen but I found it really enjoyable with... Read more
Published on 29 May 2008 by Aaron Mulholland
Difficult to see the plot to start, but a good completion
I watched this with my wife and 15 yr daughter and they struggled to understand what it was all about until it was 3/4 through. Read more
Published on 10 May 2008 by Ar Jennings
A candidate for de-selection
Why was this film made? All the wit, satire and, yes, excitement of the original have been deftly removed. What's left is plodding and over-long. Read more
Published on 2 April 2008 by Bill
Unbelievably unbelieavable
Unbelievably unbelievable! With Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep involved in a remake of a classic movie you might hope for something worth while: but this is a severe let-down... Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2007 by Michael Wide
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