The Manchurian Candidate

Critics Consensus

While not the classic its predecessor is, this update is well-acted and conjures a chilling resonance.

80%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 209

63%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 68,401

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The Manchurian Candidate Videos

The Manchurian Candidate: Trailer 1

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - A Cold War

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - I Wanted a Killer

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The Manchurian Candidate Photos

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

(Left to right) Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw and Meryl Streep as Senator Eleanor Shaw in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Third from left) Director Jonathan Demme and (front, center) Denzel Washington on the set of "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Left to right) Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw and Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Meryl Streep as Senator Eleanor Shaw in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Kimberly Elise as Rosie in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Left to right) Director Jonathan Demme and Meryl Streep on the set of "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Center) Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Center, left to right) Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco and Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Left to right) Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw and Vera Farmiga as Jocelyn in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Center, left to right) Meryl Streep as Senator Eleanor Shaw and Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Left to right) Jude Ciccolella as David Donovan, Meryl Streep as Senator Eleanor Shaw and Dean Stockwell as Mark Whiting in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Left to right) Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco and Meryl Streep as Senator Eleanor Shaw in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Left to right) Jon Voight as Senator Jordan and Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Left to right) Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco and Kimberly Elise as Rosie in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Left to right) Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco and Jeffrey Wright as Al Melvin in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Director Jonathan Demme on the set of "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Left to right) Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw, Jon Voight as Senator Jordan and Meryl Streep as Senator Eleanor Shaw in "The Manchurian Candidate."

(Left to right) Denzel Washington as Major Ben Marco and Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw in "The Manchurian Candidate."

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

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Movie Info

Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mysterious implant embedded in his back, the memory of what really happened begins to return.

Rating:

R (Violence|Some Language)
Genre:

drama, mystery and thriller
Original Language:

English
Director:

Jonathan Demme
Producer:

Scott Rudin
Writer:

Dean Georgaris, George Axelrod, Daniel Pyne
Release Date (Theaters):

Jul 30, 2004 wide
Release Date (Streaming):

Aug 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA):

$65.9M
Runtime:

2h 10m
Production Co:

Paramount Pictures
Sound Mix:

Dolby SRD, DTS, Surround
Aspect Ratio:

Flat (1.85:1)

Cast & Crew

Denzel Washington
Army Major Ben Marco

Meryl Streep
Eleanor Prentiss Shaw

Liev Schreiber
Raymond Shaw

Jon Voight
Thomas Jordan

Kimberly Elise
Rosie

Jeffrey Wright
Al Melvin

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News & Interviews for The Manchurian Candidate

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Critic Reviews for The Manchurian Candidate

All Critics (209) | Top Critics (47) | Fresh (167) | Rotten (42)

Good as the players are, they can't make this hokum remotely believable.

December 21, 2017 | Full Review…

Will Self
London Evening Standard
Top Critic
Jonathan Demme's new Manchurian Candidate is a gourmet-popcorn movie--a hugely entertaining thriller shot through with dark shards of agony and paranoia. It takes nothing away from the original while delivering pleasures all its own.

July 6, 2010 | Full Review…

David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic
Happily, this extremely timely entertainment matches, even perhaps surpasses its predecessor.

June 24, 2006 | Full Review…

Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic
A polished remake of a 60s classic.

November 16, 2004 | Rating: 3/5

Nev Pierce
BBC.com
Top Critic
Demme serves the picture completely.

August 28, 2004

Stanley Kauffmann
The New Republic
Top Critic
Strikes me as a very artful cover -- about the cleverest imaginable transliteration of the story from its historical moment to ours.

August 13, 2004 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…

Cliff Doerksen
Chicago Reader
Top Critic
Disappointing remake of the classic 1962 thriller.

June 18, 2020 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
What gets less attention but is no less true is how effective Demme can be when focusing on people stripped of their humanity, either by choice or force.

February 25, 2020 | Full Review…

Tim Stevens
The Spool
The surprises surprised me so much that I am not sure I have quite mastered the plot yet. It is all excellent fun but, as with the original, not serious.

January 30, 2018 | Full Review…

Mark Amory
The Spectator
If it isn't the original's equal, The Manchurian Candidate conjures up an air of menace sufficient to make most modern thrillers look like romantic comedies.

May 27, 2011 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Film4
Sleek remake is more violent than original.

December 28, 2010 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
This humorless and nonsensical update of The Manchurian Candidate - a total misread of Frankenheimer's classic original - never quite engages, devolving the original's camp and satire into self-serious melodrama.

August 19, 2010 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…

Jay Antani
Cinema Writer

View All Critic Reviews (209)

Audience Reviews for The Manchurian Candidate

Jul 11, 2018

The opening gambit is one farfetched sci-fi idea: that you can be programmed to kill your loved ones against your will. But, past that, due to the professionalism of the participants, here is one decent fantasy thrill ride about a secret government coup by a multinational corporation. Jonathon Demme keeps the story fluid while Washionton, Streep and Schreiber, amongst others, make it all seem believable. Decent.

Kevin M. W Super Reviewer
Apr 29, 2016

It's an enjoyable, thrilling-enough watch, but it's not entirely memorable and suffers from an intriguing but convoluted premise.

Matthew Samuel M Super Reviewer
Feb 23, 2014

I know that the original is a beloved suspense film, but this is a solid remake. Excellent casting choices. The ending is great too.

Stephen S Super Reviewer
Apr 22, 2012

An above-average psychological thriller with some great performances, The Manchurian Candidate delivers its fair share of creepy moments before ending a little unremarkably. It is, of course, a remake of the 1960s thriller of the same name starring Frank Sinatra. I haven't seen the original, but I was impressed by just how exciting and entertaining this remake is. It's sort of a political thriller sprinkled with just enough creepiness and mystery to make it consistently interesting. Meryl Streep gives a fantastic performance as Liev Schreiber's sinister, conspiring mother and the primary antagonist of the movie. Schreiber is also great as a young senator and Gulf War veteran who is mind-controlled as part of a far-reaching political conspiracy. The story becomes a little muddled in the ending, but everything leading up to it is thrilling and very enjoyable. It's imperfect, but Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian Candidate has a lot to offer in terms of excitement and entertainment, and that's more than enough to make it a worthwhile movie to watch.

Joey S Super Reviewer

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The Manchurian Candidate Quotes

Sgt. Raymond Shaw:	sgt. shaw, raymond shaw......raymond printess shaw
Eleanor Prentiss Shaw:	Sergeant Raymond Shaw.

Eleanor Prentiss Shaw:

But... but when you smile... oh darling, when you smile, that's what I live for. When you smile.

Major Bennett Marco:

This isn't an election, this is a coup.

View All Quotes

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