The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:47
Fresh:46
Rotten:1
Average Rating:8.6/10
Consensus: A classic blend of satire and political thriller that was uncomfortably prescient in its own time, The Manchurian Candidate remains distressingly relevant today.
Runtime: 3 hrs 6 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: John Frankenheimer's brilliant adaptation of Richard Condon's Cold-War satire, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE is the director's best film, both a coruscating thriller and a razor-sharp satire of... [More]
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh
Director: John Frankenheimer
Get This Movie
Reviews for The Manchurian Candidate
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
 4/4 |
a benchmark of the United States' coming of age in the 1960s Full Review |
||
|
|
Among a strong cast, Lansbury is wonderfully wicked as Shaw's despicable mother. Full Review |
||
|
|
powerful experience, alternately corrosive with dark parodic humor, suspenseful, moving, and terrifying. Full Review |
||
|
|
Every once in a rare while a film comes along that works in all departments, with story, production and performance so well blended that the end effect is one of nearly complete satisfaction. Such is The Manchurian Candidate. Full Review |
||
|
4/4 |
...goes down the rabbit hole, though never too far to lose its satirical relevance to the insanity of real-world politics. Full Review |
||
|
4/4 |
With spry editing and camerawork, [Frankenheimer] fuses together a documentary-like realism and more expressive stylizations to create a hybrid thriller-satire Full Review |
||
|
|
A masterpiece. Full Review |
||
|
7/10 |
even when taken out of its historic context, this film is a thought-provoking piece of quality filmmaking Full Review |
||
|
5/5 |
No review available.
|
||
|
5/5 |
No review available.
|
||
|
5/5 |
People have called The Machurian Candidate the greatest political thriller ever made. People would be right. Full Review |
||
|
5/5 |
No review available.
|
||
|
4.5/5 |
A volatile work, part thriller, part quasi-science fiction, part vicious satire. Full Review |
||
|
3.5/4 |
It's both exciting and disheartening that a 42 year-old satire like this still works as pointedly as it does. Full Review |
||
|
|
Frankenheimer’s TV shooting style is only adequate, but it’s the McCarthyist and Freudian undertones that make Candidate a winner. Full Review |
||
|
A |
Frankenheimer easily ranks as the pre-eminent director of political intrigue. Full Review |
||
|
4/4 |
It's heady stuff in a nail-biting chiller that still has the power to make viewers perspire profusely. Full Review |
||
|
8/10 |
Mystery drama. Cold-War political farce. Spine-tingling thriller. Read it how you will...takes us for a wild ride through the mother of all conspiracy theories. Full Review |
||
|
|
Still well worth a look, its reliance on the events of its time has undeniably diluted its power. Full Review |
||
|
4/5 |
No review available.
|
CommentRT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.
Last week, Moviefone offered us their worst films of the 2000s. Now see their 40 best!
Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.
The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.
Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds