The Manchurian Candidate Streaming
Samedi, septembre 4th, 2010 |
The Manchurian Candidate Streaming.
Movie Title: The Manchurian Candidate The Manchurian Candidate is available for streaming or downloading. |
It’s about time this Cold War classic (based on the novel by Richard Condon) was re-released on DVD with a few extras. I haven’t seen the remake yet (and if I do, it’ll be purely because Denzel is in it), but it has its work cut out for it if it aims to be as good as the original.
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You can read the other reviews if you want plot details. In a nutshell: Laurence Harvey is Raymond Shaw, a sergeant in the U.S. Army captured and brainwashed in Korea along with the rest of his platoon; Frank Sinatra is Maj. Bennett Marco, who was captured and brainwashed with the others; Angela Lansbury is Shaw’s mother (even though in real life she was just three years older than Harvey!), a manipulative witch now married to Sen. John Iselin (James Gregory) and conniving to get him into the White House. The problem: the boys are all back home, Shaw has received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the platoon members don’t recall their period of captivity, and Marco is having the _strangest_ dreams . . .
The DVD transfer is clear and crisp, and the extras are okay. But the real star is the film itself, which is just absolutely brilliant and sometimes wickedly funny (e.g., exactly _how_ many Communists have been identified? Close-up of a Heinz catsup bottle . . . and the number is . . . ). The psychological tension here is excruciating; the brainwashing sequences alone will give you the willies.
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The cast performs flawlessly, with even Sinatra holding his own; Harvey is eerily disturbing and Lansbury is just plain scary. John Frankenheimer’s direction deserves all the kudos it received, George Axelrod’s screenplay is mostly excellent (the exception being that Janet Leigh’s character Rosie is strangely underdeveloped and seems ‘tacked on’), and David Amram’s score is really cool (I especially like the opening theme).
And as the existence of a remake indicates, the movie is still unfortunately timely (at least in its broad outlines) even though the Cold War is over. As anyone familiar with e.g. the history of LSD is aware, communist regimes weren’t the only governments in the world to experiment with mind control.
However good or bad the remake turns out to be, we can at least be glad it provided a commercial incentive to release a new edition of the 1962 original. Grab it while it’s available.
This is a great DVD with many excellent bonus features, including the Director’s commentary that adds so much to the understanding of how the film was made. The film was shot primarily with wide angle lenses which heightens the effect of some very frightening screens. For example is there anything more incredible than the scene where the captured, brainwashed prisoners believe they are attending a ladies’ garden party, while actually on stage as human guinea pigs in a meeting of communist cadres. Just an amazing juxtaposition of images! The storyline is well developed and never loses the taut feeling of suspense from start to finish. Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra, and Angela Lansbury are particularly fine in their roles. If there is only one criticism, it is that Harvey lapses at times into his original British accent, which is disconcerting. But given the power of his performance in this role, this is a minor detail that can easily be overlooked. The film is shot in black and white, which is far better suited to its cold war images. Just puzzled why MGM issued the cover for this DVD in color? Anyway, highly recommend this DVD!
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