Rent The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
3.3 of 5 from 298 ratings
2h 5min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- When his army unit was ambushed during the first Gulf War, Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) saved his fellow soldiers just as his commanding officer, Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington), was knocked unconscious. Brokering the incident for political capital, Shaw eventually becomes a vice-presidential nominee, while Marco is haunted by dreams of what happened,or indeed didn't happen, in Iraq.Searching for peace from his nightmares, Marco discovers that Shaw's story is beginning to unravel; whatever the truth, the sinister Manchurian Global corporation is desperate to prevent him finding it...
- Actors:
- Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Jeffrey Wright, Pablo Schreiber, Anthony Mackie, Dorian Missick, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Teddy Dunn, Joaquin Perez-Campbell, Tim Artz, Robyn Hitchcock, Antoine Taylor, Joseph Alessi, Raymond Anthony Thomas, Bill Irwin
- Directors:
- Jonathan Demme
- Writers:
- Richard Condon, George Axelrod
- Aka:
- El Embajador Del Miedo
- Studio:
- Paramount
- Genres:
- Thrillers
- Collections:
- 2005, 2006, A History of Films Set In The Future, Getting to Know: Denzel Washington, JFK on Screen
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 19/01/2009
- Run Time:
- 130 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 5.1, English DTS 5.1, German Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles:
- Danish, Dutch, English, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- Bonus:
- Commentary by Director Jonathan Demme and Screenplay Co-writer Daniel Pyne
- The Enemy Within: Inside The Manchurian Candidate
- The Cast of The Manchurian Candidate
- 5 Deleted/Extended Scenes with Optional Commentary by Jonathan Demme and Daniel Pyne
- Outtakes with Optional Commentary by Jonathan Demme and Daniel Pyne
- Liev Schreiber Screen Test
- Political Pundits with Optional Director Commentary
- TheatricalTrailer HD
More like The Manchurian Candidate
Reviews (3) of The Manchurian Candidate
Complicated, but not bad - The Manchurian Candidate review by CP Customer
The first time I got confused and fell asleep. Not a good sign! But second time round, I actually thought it was pretty clever and kept me engaged. Have to pay attention though!!
3 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
Non-memorable - The Manchurian Candidate review by A
At the time I saw it, I didn't actually think it was a bad movie... but now I couldn't suddenly remember at all that I've ever seen this movie...
1 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Remote Control - The Manchurian Candidate review by Steve
This remake of John Frankenheimer's seminal conspiracy thriller (1962) is surprisingly decent, with more realism and still plenty of suspense. Denzel Washington is now the army vet investigating Leib Schreiber's old money war hero with his eyes on the White House; and both are marginal upgrades on Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey.
While Meryl Streep isn't quite the equal of Angela Lansbury as the conservative psycho-mother driving the whole crazy intrigue; she's still quite creepy even if not as scary. Some new themes are introduced, like the malign influence of party donors, the entrenched political divisions and an impression of the constant cycle of 24 hour news...
Only now this is the aftermath of the war in Kuwait rather than Korea, so some contrivance is required to retain the title. The plot is faithful and while it mostly still functions, the twist will inevitably amaze fewer viewers now, if only because of the massive influence of the original and Richard Condon's novel, which are part of the wider culture.
Besides, how dystopian can any conspiracy seem once Trump has been president for real? Unbelievable tweets now constantly flood the zone... Still, there is some interest in the reflections on US society, like the poverty of the Gulf War veterans and the hypocrisy of their exalted media status. It's a must... for anyone who won't watch b&w films.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.