The Manchurian Candidate (Widescreen Edition)
by Jonathan Demme
(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Kimberly Elise, Liev Schreiber, Meryl StreepDirector: Jonathan Demme
Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
Producer: Jonathan Demme
Producer: Ilona Herzberg
Producer: Peter Kohn
Writer: Daniel Pyne
Writer: Dean Georgaris
Writer: George Axelrod
Writer: Richard Condon
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 129 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-12-21
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of The Manchurian Candidate (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: Fantastic Political Intrigue
Summary: 3 Stars
The film begins with soldiers gambling. The flames suggest the Iraq war of 1991. There is an ambush. Sergeant Raymond Shaw won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in the battle. Years later Major Marco tells the Boy Scouts about this event. Corporal Melvin tells of his bad dreams. A news program tells of problems for the American people. Congressman Raymond Shaw makes a speech to cheers. "We can prevail." [Who is "we"?] Politicians pick the party ticket. Elly Shaw pleads for her son Congressman Shaw as the VP. It works. Does Major Marco recover a forgotten memory? "Don't touch me." Marco gets his orders and meds. Shaw practices his rhetoric on the public. Later he has a strange experience. What about his brain? "Do you remember me?"
Marco meets Eugen?e Rose on the train to New York city. Who would implant a chip in his back? [Does the film start to drag here?] Does the conversation between Shaw and Marco seem real? Is the confrontation too dramatic? "He hit me!" Did the Army experiment on its soldiers? Will that physician work on Marco? Can a brain be rebooted from a crash? Can he recover his memory? [Is the story becoming weird?] Marco reads about "Manchurian Global". Senator Thomas Jordan explains it to Marco. Later he discusses this with Raymond and Eleanor Shaw! Does Jordan have a suggestion to regain the VP slot? Will this problem be neutralized? Jocelyn runs out of the house without a cell phone or firearm! Does it look like an accident?
Is the Shadow Unit watching Marco? Could a powerful corporation use scientists to create global changes? Will friendship trump sworn duty? Does Elly have more balls in her game? There is another meeting between Shaw and Marco. Was this foreseen? Is there a diabolical plot? Will the country be saved? Will there be a dramatic and shocking ending? [You know its coming.] Will the plan go wrong? And so another "lone gunman" changes history again. Will history be rewritten again?
This more complex recreation of the original isn't as good. But it is good enough if you never saw the 1962 film or read the novel by Richard Condon. Was the personality of Elly based on a well-known politician? There was no need for "Manchurian" in the title given the extensive changes in the story. "The Corporate Candidate" would be more apt. Corporations have been controlling politicians since the Civil War era. Before that the privilege of limited liability was reserved only for those who served the public need (water supplies, canals, railroads).
[I wonder if the original story of a lost patrol that led to political success was a subtle parody of PT-109? What would happen to America if someone became President because his father was a powerful politician or Executive?]
DVD Review: A Missed Opportunity...
Summary: 3 Stars
1962's "The Manchurian Candidate" was an outstanding classic of an earlier era of movies, crisply shot in black and white and featuring a talented cast and a tightly wound, haunting plot firmly embedded in the tensions and paranoia of the Cold War. 2004's remake also features a talented cast in Denzel Washington, Liev Schrieber, Meryl Streep and Jon Voigt, but misses badly as a movie. Produced for an audience that might only dimly remember the Cold War, the substitute premise of a rogue corporation selling arms fails the plausibility test, while a major change in the plot undercuts the credibility of one of the principal characters.
Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) is a veteran of the Gulf War, suffering from nightmares that seem to present an alternate version of a fire fight in which his life was saved by a Sergeant Raymond Shaw. Shaw, played with disquietingly detached deameanor by Liev Schrieber, is now on a greased path to political stardom, coached by his ambitious and prominent mother, played by Meryl Streep. Marco's attempts to resolve his nightmares lead him to contact Shaw and to suspect that his experience in the Gulf was an illusion. Marco's quest for the truth will lead him into a nasty conspiracy involving brainwashing, with a shocking outcome for Marco and Shaw.
"The Manchurian Candidate" has a good build-up, as Marco relentlessly seeks the truth of his experience in combat. However, the movie loses its way in its closing stages. An effort to be original by introducing changes in the basic story makes for an incoherent and implausible ending. 2004's "The Manchurian Candidate" may well be a perfectly acceptable movie for someone who had never seen the original. For those who saw and appreciated the original, this remake is a missed opportunity, worth a look mostly for the outstanding cast.
DVD Review: 2.5 stars out of 4
Summary: 3 Stars
The Bottom Line:
As far as remakes of beloved films go this one isn't too bad, with good performances by Streep and Schrieber and a reasonably successful updating of the original's premise; however, the ending is such an uninteresting copout that the film as a whole is just barely not worth recommending.
DVD Review: Amazing!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this movie. It is suspenseful and kind of creepy to think that our government could do such a thing (as you will find out once you watch the movie). It kept my attention and I just wanted to know what would happen next. I really enjoyed it and felt that it should be a part of my small DVD collection. DVD Review: Denzel at his best!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent movie. Very much like the original but with differences that are done very well. I highly recommend this movie. The acting is fantastic.
Description of The Manchurian Candidate (Widescreen Edition)
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.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
Thrillers DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in Thrillers DVDs
Angels & Demons (Two-Disc Extended Edition)Son; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $20.29
Price in other shops:
![Ronin [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Ronin-Blu-ray-B000OPOAJS-X.jpg)
Ronin [Blu-ray]DE NIRO,ROBERT; Release date: 2009-02-24; DVD
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
Quantum of SolaceTCFHE/MGM; Release date: 2009-03-24; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
![Live Free or Die Hard [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Live-Free-or-Die-Hard-Blu-ray-B000VNMMQ6-X.jpg)
Live Free or Die Hard [Blu-ray]WILLIS,BRUCE; Release date: 2007-11-20; DVD
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops:
![The Boondock Saints [Blu-ray] Image](/images/The-Boondock-Saints-Blu-ray-B001AQT130-X.jpg)
The Boondock Saints [Blu-ray]Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-02-10; DVD
Best price: $12.25
Price in other shops:
![G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] Image](/images/G-I-Joe-The-Rise-of-Cobra-Two-Disc-Edition-Digital-Copy-Blu-ray-B002NXSRX4-X.jpg)
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]Par; Release date: 2009-11-03; DVD
Best price: $18.69
Price in other shops:
![Angels & Demons [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Angels-Demons-Blu-ray-B002O5M4SU-X.jpg)
Angels & Demons [Blu-ray]Son; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops:
![The Departed [Blu-ray] Image](/images/The-Departed-Blu-ray-B000M5AJQI-X.jpg)
The Departed [Blu-ray]DICAPRIO,LEONARDO; Release date: 2007-02-13; DVD
Best price: $13.13
Price in other shops:
Angels & Demons (Single-Disc Theatrical Edition)Son; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
![Quantum of Solace [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Quantum-of-Solace-Blu-ray-B001PPLIFU-X.jpg)
Quantum of Solace [Blu-ray]20th Century; Release date: 2009-03-24; DVD
Best price: $14.96
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
License to KillPLATINUM DISC LLC; Release date: 2004-03-04; DVD
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Syriana (Widescreen Edition)WARNER HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2006-06-20; DVD
Best price: $1.45
Price in other shops:
Mercury RisingRelease date: 1998-09-22; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Out of TimeWASHINGTON,DENZEL; Release date: 2004-01-06; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
The HurricaneWASHINGTON,DENZEL; Release date: 2000-07-11; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Deja VuDisney; Release date: 2007-04-24; DVD
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops:
Inside Man (Widescreen Edition)WASHINGTON,DENZEL; Release date: 2006-08-08; DVD
Best price: $4.90
Price in other shops:
The Bone CollectorUniversal Studios; Release date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $3.38
Price in other shops:
The Interpreter (Widescreen Edition)KIDMAN,NICOLE; Release date: 2005-10-04; DVD
Best price: $0.79
Price in other shops:
The Manchurian Candidate (Special Edition)LEIGH,JANET; Release date: 2004-07-13; DVD
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops: