Happily, this extremely timely entertainment matches, even perhaps surpasses its predecessor.
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:195
Fresh:159
Rotten:36
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: While not the classic its predecessor is, this update is well-acted and conjures a chilling resonance.
Theatrical Release:19-11-2004
Synopsis: Jonathan Demme updates the original 1962 John Frankenheimer classic with plenty of new paranoid twists: This time a sinister Halliburton-style corporation is behind the brainwashing of a Gulf War... Jonathan Demme updates the original 1962 John Frankenheimer classic with plenty of new paranoid twists: This time a sinister Halliburton-style corporation is behind the brainwashing of a Gulf War hero turned vice presidential nominee, Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber). Shaw's old unit commander Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) recommended him for the National Medal of Honor, though he can't remember exactly why, and his recurring nightmares drive him to uncover a massive conspiracy. Sinister forces at work include shifty-eyed bodyguards, a love interest with questionable motives (Kimberly Elise), and Raymond's domineering senator mother (Meryl Streep). Demme infuses the proceedings with enough paranoia and uncomfortable close-ups to rival his 1991 Oscar-winner, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Layered sound, overlapping dialogue, and creepy cinematography by Tak Fujimoto (who also worked on LAMBS) further heighten the uneasiness. Demme regulars Roger Corman, Charles Napier, Paul Lazar, and Tracey Walter show up in bit parts as usual. Comedian Al Franken is a welcome face as a TV correspondent, and quirky indie rocker Robyn Hitchcock plays one of the brainwashing specialists. Needless to say, Denzel is superb. Streep is terrifying and hilarious as the maniacal Mrs. Shaw. As with the original (which focused on communist instead of terrorist fear-mongering), the events depicted here are doubly unsettling considering their uncanny resemblance to real-life politics at the time of this film's theatrical release. [More]
Starring: Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Jon Voight
Starring: Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Jon Voight, Kimberly Elise, Jeffrey Wright, Ted Levine
Director: Jonathan Demme
Director: Jonathan Demme
Screenwriter: George Axelrod, Daniel Pyne, Dean Georgaris
Producer: Scott Rudin, Jonathan Demme, Ilona Herzberg, Tina Sinatra
Composer: Rachel Portman, Wyclef Jean
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for The Manchurian Candidate
Impressively accomplished and highly entertaining, with sufficiently smart new twists to keep you guessing all the way to the nerve-wracking climax.
An intelligent, provocative blockbuster that succeeds on its own merits.
Demme’s film is far from perfect and decidedly out-of-date, but it’s a fantastic cast that make this version so successful.
This solid thriller only works if you're unfamiliar with the 1962 original, one of the best films ever made.
Demme's direction is as punctilious as it was in Silence of the Lambs, careful with details and craftsmanlike with storytelling -- although we do have to work a bit to stay on top of things.
The original film worked also as delicious satire, where this wannabe cousin to Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 ignites unintentional laughs.
With an inchoate admonition implanted in its aggrieved, post-modern heart, Demme's Manchurian Candidate is blippy and fractured and smeared with color.
The movie is playing with ideas, and they're important enough to bear thinking about now. What it's playing on are our fears. And they're real enough, and worth addressing.
This humorless and nonsensical so-called thriller--a total misread of Frankenheimer's classic original--never quite engages...
A superb piece of filmmaking by directing icon Jonathan Demme that surpasses the John Frankenheimer original in ways I didn't think possible.
What is surprising is how fresh Demme’s version is and how close it approaches the original in terms of quality.
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