A tale of political manipulation that makes the real thing look like a model of idealistic cordiality.
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08/02/04
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The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
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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:Jul 30, 2004 Wide
Box Office: $65,898,487
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
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Reviews for The Manchurian Candidate
Some originals should be allowed to rest in peace;"The Manchurian Candidate" is a prime example.
08/02/04
Even in Hollywood, the more things change (technology, end of the Cold War, corporate influence), the more things stay the same (greed, avarice, powerlust).
08/02/04
...like sitting inside Michael Moore's head.
08/02/04
... un excellent thriller, sérieux et adulte.
08/02/04
With barrels aimed directly on the Democratic establishment, Demme unloads a quesy social argument seamlessly mixed with blockbuster appeal and suspensful paranoia.
08/02/04
The whole film has the creepy quality of a nightmare about it. Maybe that is why it works so well, despite the plot holes.
08/01/04
As much a rethinking as a remake of the 1962 movie, this is a top-notch political thriller for our times.
08/01/04
Marks a real revitalization of the political thriller, and with its plot climax occurring in conjunction with an American presidential election, the film could not be any more 'of the moment' and cautionary.
08/01/04
Its wishy-washy approach to these grave problems depicted lacked the artistic freedom of the original and thereby failed to say anything new or mind-bending.
08/01/04
Provides enough heart-racing, whodunit moments to make it one presidential race worth closely following.
07/31/04
Get over this being a remake of a true classic and you'll find it's a movie more suited to today's sensibilities.
07/31/04
The film draws a line between the corporation and the government, sustaining a hope that the U.S. system might be salvaged by an honestly free election.
07/31/04
Ratchets up the tension in a way that meshes smoothly with these polarized political times.
07/31/04
For now the goal is not world domination to further an ideology, but political power to boost profits. Such a comedown.
07/31/04
Presents a world awfully close to the one we live in, which makes everything that happens all the more disturbing, helping turn this Manchurian Candidate into a winner.
07/30/04
This newfangled 'Manchurian Candidate' delivers old-fashioned mesmerizing entertainment.
07/30/04
A picture that purports to have a galvanizing, liberal-minded theme (big business is taking over our country and our lives) but is really just ploddingly pedestrian.
07/30/04
Top CriticA stylish hoot: entertainingly edgy and ludicrous all at once.
07/30/04
Top CriticIt shunts through the material, doing some interesting synthesizing, some genetic recombining, but it all adds up to something less powerful and interesting than the original.
07/30/04
Top CriticLatest News for The Manchurian Candidate
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