Happily, this extremely timely entertainment matches, even perhaps surpasses its predecessor.
Comment
06/24/06
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
82
%
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... [More]
Starring: Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Jon Voight
Director: Jonathan Demme
Reviews for The Manchurian Candidate
Top CriticImpressively accomplished and highly entertaining, with sufficiently smart new twists to keep you guessing all the way to the nerve-wracking climax.
04/01/06
Top CriticAn intelligent, provocative blockbuster that succeeds on its own merits.
12/07/04
A polished remake of a 60s classic.
11/16/04
Top CriticDemme’s film is far from perfect and decidedly out-of-date, but it’s a fantastic cast that make this version so successful.
11/14/04
A rare case of the remake being as good as the original.
10/23/04
This solid thriller only works if you're unfamiliar with the 1962 original, one of the best films ever made.
09/19/04
Click to read the article
04/29/09
Click to read the article
11/20/08
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.
10/18/08
The original film worked also as delicious satire, where this wannabe cousin to Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 ignites unintentional laughs.
08/07/08
...an above-average contemporary remake...
04/26/08
No review available.
12/27/07
Demme's filmmaking has lost none of its jazz.
09/27/07
With an inchoate admonition implanted in its aggrieved, post-modern heart, Demme's Manchurian Candidate is blippy and fractured and smeared with color.
09/09/07
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.
09/27/06
This humorless and nonsensical so-called thriller--a total misread of Frankenheimer's classic original--never quite engages...
08/27/06
A superb piece of filmmaking by directing icon Jonathan Demme that surpasses the John Frankenheimer original in ways I didn't think possible.
01/11/06
What is surprising is how fresh Demme’s version is and how close it approaches the original in terms of quality.
12/06/05
the ending is mother of all disappointments
08/12/05
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