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The Manchurian Candidate (Widescreen Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Jonathan Demme
Actors: Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Kimberly Elise, Jeffrey Wright
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $9.97 (100%)
New (102) Used (286) Collectible (5) from $0.01
Rating:  203 reviews
Sales Rank: 13380
Format: Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 129
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: PARD336894D
ISBN: 1415702225
UPC: 097363368946
EAN: 9781415702222
ASIN: B0006210ZG
Theatrical Release Date: July 30, 2004
Release Date: December 21, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Guaranteed to play. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.
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Product Description
A gulf war veteran is suffering from crippling nightmares about the day his platoon was saved by a man who could be involved in a conspiracy that could lead all the way to the white house. An unthinkable conspiracy. An unbreakable hero. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 02/13/2007 Starring: Denzel Washington Meryl Streep Run time: 129 minutes Rating: R
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 198 more reviews...
 How Much Do People Control a Democracy? October 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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 October 2, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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 June 28, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
A new incarnation that works well June 16, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Manchurian Candidate is closer to the original, at least in spirit, than might be expected. But it's not the exact movie, and it hardly could have been. The relevance of the original to today's events counts little to an audience with little sense of history, and that has a hard time drawing meaning from any social context out of its experience. One glimpse of black and white films stock, men in felt brim hats, and cinematic conventions from an earlier era, and most teenyboppers under the age of thirty grab for the remote. Since they will only sit through a first run, it is good that they have one. Fortunately, the update stands on its own.
The new is less dialog-driven, which tends to make it less literate. But this film runs more on mood than on dialog, and Jonathon Demme's just-barely-odd framing and pacing provoke discomfort on a subliminal level. It is not cozy, and is laid out with less detailed explanation. The resulting sense of uncertainty may also be part of why the film is not universally liked.
The remake does solve some of the problems of the first. Gone are the swarthy, vaguely foreign-looking actors standing in for Russians and Chinese agents. Gone are the poorly choreographed ju-jitsu moves that might provoke giggles in a present day audience, used to world-class martial artists on screen, and the multi-racial world commonly reflected on film now, vs the early 1960's.
The new film retains the acting strengths of the original. Every performance is fine. Liev Schrieber's work is worthy of Laurence Harvey's original, a gut kicking performance, though Harvey still holds the edge. Washington's craft is more than a match for Sinatra's unevenly inspired work. (One of the wonders of the first is realizing that Sinatra -could- act, that he did things with rhythm and cadence because those were his only tools, and it worked. He was no method actor, but he very much had something going on.) Streep's scenery chewing is, frankly, perfect. Because unfortunately, really disgusting people actually do exist, and in positions of power. And unlike an actor's performance, criticism of real public figures whose behavior is over-the-top are rarely heard. Seen any Fox commentators recently? Streep's Senator Shaw may well be over-the-top, but the only thing that distinguishes her from the real thing is that she is only playing the role, not embodying it every day of her life.
Make no mistake, both original and remake are thrillers in the paranoid vein, and the overly literal person will likely say of either, "preposterous" -- though the original is a classic. But the literal representation of reality is not what movies are ever about, and such criticisms fail to register with me.
So is this as excellent a film as the original, adjusting for the times in which each was made? No, but it is a good film. It hits in the right places, horrifies us with an incredibly cynical vision of what our nation is becoming, and yet it is offset by the thinnest sliver of a wild, earnest Patriotism.
Remake of "Candidate" undone May 20, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Despite a great cast headed by Denzil Washington,Meryl Streep & Jon Voight, this remake is extremely disappointing. Washington is excellent but changing the plot and making the chief character to be a politician drains the film of whatever suspense and tension the original did have. Demme is no John Frankenheimer, his direction is competent but plodding and I found myself waiting for this film to end rather than being tied up in knots as I did with the original. Washington may be a better actor than Sinatra yet the original contains proof that Frank was a fine film actor (also check out "Man with the Golden Arm" to verify this!)and he delivers. Rent the original and give this one a pass.
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