Product Description

Serving together in the Persian Gulf War, Captain Bennett Marco and Sgt. Raymond Shaw were part of a platoon of soldiers kidnapped and brainwashed. Ten years later, Shaw gears up for his vice presidential campaign while Marco eventually remembers being kidnapped and discovers Shaw's powerful mother played a big part in that scheme. Determined to reveal the truth behind everything, Marco must first convince Shaw that the brainwashing really happened.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15500 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2004-12-21
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 129 minutes

Amazon.com
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

From The New Yorker
The famous original, from 1962, written by George Axelrod, from a Richard Condon novel, and directed by John Frankenheimer, was a satire of Cold War anxieties that cut both ways, attacking both the far right and the far left. Acidulous and brazenly absurd, the movie was a one-of-a-kind mainstream picture, with startling oddities that people talked about for years. This updated version, written by Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgias and directed by Jonathan Demme, is doggedly, wretchedly earnest. A shadowy big company reminiscent of Halliburton or the Carlyle Group attempts to take over the White House by placing a computer chip in the brain of a war hero turned congressman (Liev Shreiber) who is under the control of his reactionary mother (Meryl Streep), a senator unaccountably made up to look like Hillary Clinton. What was satire of paranoia in the old movie has been turned into just plain paranoia. The bad memories of the hero (Denzel Washington), who suspects that the war hero is a fake, are accompanied by the conventional horror-film frights of painted faces, spooky doctors, and smoky, distorted cinematography. The movie is overwrought and unfocussed, and there isn't a joke in it anywhere. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

How Much Do People Control a Democracy?
Jonathan Demme's version of "The Manchurian Candidate" was a favorite film of mine that recently came to my DVD collection as the result of a great price. Demme won the Oscar for directing "Silence of the Lambs" in 1991. I enjoyed watching the DVD extra interviews with him, only wondering why he didn't use a razor. :)

There is no doubt that with two Oscars for "Kramer vs. Kramer" in 1979, "Sophie's Choice" in 1982 & numerous other nominations, Meryl Streep is one of the most acclaimed actresses of our time. However, it was this film for which she was nominated by the British Academy Awards & the Golden Globes that really made me a Streep fan. To watch her glide through Eleanor Shaw with elegance, polish and the cold-blooded instincts for political survival was incredible. The scene where she's wearing purple sunglasses and swirls around lecturing the other Manchurian Global bigshots was breathtaking.

Liev Schreiber who I recently enjoyed in The Painted Veil does an excellent job as Congressman Raymond Shaw. Schreiber has been nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actor in a TV movie or miniseries for "RKO 281." As Shaw, he does a masterful job of playing the polished politician with perhaps too strong ties to his mother's apron strings.

That said, Denzel Washington turns in another blockbuster performance as Maj. Bennett Marco. Washington has two Oscars for "Glory" in 1989 & "Training Day" in 2001. The levels he achieves -- from the stable military commander to the unstable programmed assassin to a confused man trying to figure out a puzzle -- result in a varied & excellent performance. Demme particularly complimented Washington on the scene where Marco tells Shaw that there is a strong bond between the two of them.

Jon Voight who won his Best Actor Oscar for "Coming Home" in 1978 as a stressed out veteran does a good job here as Sen. Thomas Jordan who gets squeezed out of a vice presidential nomination. Vera Farmiga who I'm enjoying in the DVD Never Forever and who played in "The Departed" performs well in the cameo appearance as Jocelyn Jordan, the daughter of Sen. Shaw and the past romantic interest of Raymond Shaw. Her demise is as strangely beautiful as it is violent. Kimberly Elise who was in "The Great Debators" plays Rosie with depth, the F.B.I. agent who becomes sympathetic to Washington's Bennett Marco. Jeffrey Wright who has recently played in "Casino Royale" as well as the new James Bond film "Quantum of Solace" does a masterful job as the unstable Al Melvin who is haunted by his dreams, writes them down in a journal and scribbles disturbing drawings on the wall of his flat.

Demme keeps the pace moving, the intrigue breathtaking up to the final shots in the film. This was a great picture whose performances make it worth viewing. I also found the issues of just how much control the people actually have in a democracy when those elected constantly try to control the outcome to be relevant to present day. Enjoy!

The Manchurian Candidate, an updated political thriller
The political importance of The Manchurian Candidate, a movie based on the novel written by Richard Condon, is excellent because it teaches us how power corrupts and absolute power has the ability to corrupt people, process and society absolutely. Lina Navarini and I set out to see the version played by Frank Sinatra in 1962, followed by this remake by Denzel Washington.

The first movie takes place during the aftermath of the Korean War, but now the plot takes place after the Gulf War. Now played by Denzel Washington, Bennet Marco is an infantryman who experiences recurring nightmares because he was kidnapped and through an implant on his back and another in his teeth, the enemy is able to plant false memories in his mind and in particular, in the mind of Raymond Shaw. Mr. Shaw, candidate to Vice President of the US, upon receiving a phone call that triggers his mind to do whatever he is told, is capable of murder, without "guilt or fear" therefore, little risk of being discovered.

The purpose behind altering the neuron connections and re-wiring the brain of these Americans is a desire to place a man in the White House that would do anything the enemy desires. Imagine the power the enemy would have if they were to control the United States of America.

But Bennett Marco is haunted by dreams with images that make him question reality. The platoon told the world that Sergeant Raymond Shaw, played by Liev Schreiber had rescued the platoon soldiers, to the exception of two who perish. He has told the world that Raymond Shaw saved them, when in his dream, he remembers Shaw murdering one of the soldiers.

Shaw is decorated as a war hero, given the medal of honor, a distinction that is rarely awarded, but his dreams make him question whether they have been brained washed to believe Shaw had saved them. At first, Sinatra feels that he may be going mad and goes to see military medical personnel in search for help and support. They too believe he is experiencing post traumatic disorders, and they remove him from any duty, asking him to go on vacation and to rest.

But another member of the platoon is also having the same type dreams and soon they realize that there is more to this story than meets the eye. Denzel Washington becomes Mr. Shaw's nightmare as he gets close to him and unravels a rather sad personal story, where we learn that Shaw's mother has manipulated her son's life in search for fame and glory for she has plans for him, to transform him into the President of the United States. The mother's role is masterfully played by Meryl Streep, now a Senior Senator who took over the vacant seat left by her husband. She is ruthless, displaying a Machiavellian attitude that the end justifies all means to get her son elected and we soon find ourselves hating this manipulative, controlling, and mad woman. As with the first version, this movie is simply a magnificent political thriller, don't miss it!

Had Potential
I was disappointed. Meryl Streep was the star of this one, she really didn't need the supporting actors. They could have done a lot with this movie which had my attention in the beginning, but once I figured out what was going on (35 minutes into it) it became boring and predictable. I agree with another reviewer, Denzel did what he could with what was given to him, his pitiful character was sad to watch. They could have done more with Kimberly Elyse as well.

The movie wasn't horrible, it's just one that I won't watch again or recommmend.