The Manchurian Candidate

[show 42]

Just got back from seeing this flick.........actually, hubby and I saw two films today, the other being "The Village".......but that's another review.

I don't know why, but I have never seen the original "Manchurian Candidate".....I'm glad I haven't yet, because it made the remake more enjoyable for me. Denzel was good as always, not great, but solid. Streep was the classic "Mother from Hell", but the actor who for me made the movie was the actor who played the role of Raymond, Liev Schreiber, the "future vice president"......He was awesome in a subtle way, his eye's show emotions more clearly than other facial expressions........I do recommend this movie...........42

[heyang]

Just saw Joel Siegel's review on ABC news. He gave this movie a thumbs up. I haven't seen the original. Gotta check TiVo to see if it'll be on again soon.

[Vash01]

I just saw the 2004 version. I have not seen the old version, though I plan to rent that video sometime. I think we cannot really compare movies of old vs. movies of new. The main story line may be same or similar, but they have to make changes, or there will be even more direct comparison.

I decided to watch the movie as itself, rather than a remake of something. It was confusing, and even boring in the beginning. Slowly the pieces started to come together but I left the theater still feeling unsure about what really happened. I don't think I want to sit through it again to find out. I read a discussion on the imdb board and others sounded just as confused because I read several different interpretations of what happened and how. May be it is worth seeing again, afterall....it's food for brain.

The positives were: good adaptation to modern times, and excellent acting by Denzel, Meryl, and Liev (also John Voigt does well in a small role).

I came away feeling slightly disappointed, even without comparing it with another movie. May be it's just not the genre I find interesting.

Vash

[BronzeisGolden]

Overall, I thought this was a very strong film. As someone said above, Denzel Washington is quite solid (thought not spectacular). Meryl Streep really was the one that made this a great movie going experience for me. She never overdid it. She was so subtle and composed...and so quietly sinister! I loved it! I'd recommend this film.

[Vash01]

Meryl Streep fills the screen with her presence. I found her disgusting, which means she acted really great, but then when is she not great? She really carried this movie, even more so than Denzel. I may rent a DVD eventually and figure out exactly how it ended.

[heyang]

Haven't seen the new one, yet - but the original was on PBS last night. Angela Lansbury and Frank Sinatra gave excellent performances. Can't remember the name of the actor who portrayed the Candidate, but he was excellent, too.

I can see why this considered a great film.

[show 42]

I haven't seen the original yet, but I found a copy on Amazon.com and sent for it. As to the remake, I think what happened is a company of soldiers was captured (by the government or corporate America, whichever is the scariest) with the sole purpose of brainwashing. Implants were injected into their brains and underneath their skins. They were now "human robotoids" so to speak and carried out direct orders, (they were tested by being ordered to kill their own platoon buddies). One of these soldiers was being groomed for the white house, so it had to be believed that he was a hero with the Congressional Medal of Honor........he makes it as far as the vice-presidency, and Denzel is programed to kill the President elect so the VP with the implant will be the first "puppet president" controlled by a corporation called the "Manchurian Group", hence the name "Manchurian Candidate". It backfires and Denzel shoots and kills the VP and "Mommy Dearest" as well. I am guessing Denzel gets reprogrammed in the end..........42

[RealtorGal]

Can't remember the name of the actor who portrayed the Candidate, but he was excellent, too.

LAURENCE HARVEY

[Joesitz]

just saw the remake and the two are comparable. Frankeheimer and Demme both directed well. Acting was great in both films, Story much clearer at the end of the original; not so, for me, in the remake. Why an incestuous mother would get her son involved in assasination plot for the sake of a budding company is unbelieveable. The faux communist threat was much more believeable. The black and white caught the McCarthesque character perfectly as it did for the others in the cast. The color in the remake takes away the sinister goings on, and the remake is full of hi tech whereas the original was more like it was.

And like many films today, the extreme dolby sound actually takes me away from the action.

Rent the Original and yes, Lawrence Harvey was special in those days.

Joe

[Vash01]

I haven't seen the original yet, but I found a copy on Amazon.com and sent for it. As to the remake, I think what happened is a company of soldiers was captured (by the government or corporate America, whichever is the scariest) with the sole purpose of brainwashing. Implants were injected into their brains and underneath their skins. They were now "human robotoids" so to speak and carried out direct orders, (they were tested by being ordered to kill their own platoon buddies). One of these soldiers was being groomed for the white house, so it had to be believed that he was a hero with the Congressional Medal of Honor........he makes it as far as the vice-presidency, and Denzel is programed to kill the President elect so the VP with the implant will be the first "puppet president" controlled by a corporation called the "Manchurian Group", hence the name "Manchurian Candidate". It backfires and Denzel shoots and kills the VP and "Mommy Dearest" as well. I am guessing Denzel gets reprogrammed in the end..........42

I understood all of that. The confusion is about exactly what happened at the end and how......................

....SPOILERS ahead....please do NOT read if you want to see this movie....

There are different opinions about this, and different possibilities depending on how you interpret the details of what happened- for example- Shaw moves away from the star on the floor, whether he intentionally let Marco kill him and his mother, did the eye contact between Shaw & Marco mean anything? Were they both acting on programming, or just one of them? Did they act using the deeper mind that Marco mentioned in their meeting? Did Shaw stand on the star too long or not long enough? Was Marco instructed to shoot Shaw or the President? Some think he was programmed to shoot Shaw but Shaw was programmed to move out of the way so that the president would get shot. Why did Shaw want to get killed (that is, if he intentionally signaled to Marco). There are endless possibilities. Also Marco was programmed to kill himself after killing the president but Rosie got there in time and she shot his arm/shoulder. I was also not clear how Marco's pic on the security tape got superimposed with a different one. The only sure thing is that the chip in Marco's brain was surgically removed at the end, hence the shaven head. The washing away of the picture meant letting go of the painful past and moving on, for Marco.

............................

END of SPOILERS.......................................... .........

Sounds like the movie is actually interesting. I will certainly rent the DVD to study it in detail.

Vash

[show 42]

...........Why don't they make "Cliff Notes for movies?" My understanding is that Shaw purposely put himself in harms way, and pulled his mother in close so that they would both be killed by the bullet. Shaw seems to be in somewhat more control than Marco at that point. I felt that Shaw was looking up to where Marco was positioned waiting for him to pull the trigger. I didn't feel Marco was making eye contact back, just hesitating while he got a clear shot of the President elect. Shaw kept getting himself out of position. Apparantly, some part of his brain that controlled his free-will was getting through and he wanted to end the sickening charade that his life had become and "Mommy"s as well.............just my take on it of course.....

The Feds apparantly cropped the video tape picture with a known international fugitive in order to protect Marco and absolve him from any wrong doing.......I guess they felt they had to salvage someone from the covert operation.....42

[Joesitz]

There was no such loose ends in the original and you must get a copy of it. Now that you've seen the remake the original ending won't be as shocking but it will be clear. There's no color in this version. The black and white shadows makes it very spooky. It's Shaw who is programmed to kill the president nominee, and his mother is sitting with his step father who is to be nominated as the vice-president. Marco spots Shaw from the floor and rushes up to stop him.

In the remake I was confused too with the ending. as far as Marco was concerned. I saw him being shot by the Fed girlfriend and then he reappears with an arm in a sling. Didn't get that.

Joe

[BronzeisGolden]

*****SPOILER*****

Joe,

Marco was about to shoot himself when the Fed girlfriend walked in...she shot him in the shoulder in order to "save" him in a sense.

[Joesitz]

Broze - Ah, that makes some sense. In the original there is a suicide but not Marco,. There were no implants in the original. It was just olf fashion brain washing.

Joe

[show 42]

Received my copy of the original "Manchurian Candidate" from Amazon last week and finished the movie the other day. I must say that I am impressed. This version completely kept the viewer abreast of "why and when" as the story went along. I am wondering why the remake's ending was very much different from the original. The dream sequence at the beginning with the ladies at the flower club meeting was brilliant..........I was surprised to see that both "moms" were given that extra touch of "evil" by giving their sons "lingering" kisses near the end of the movie........not a big deal in 2004, but must have created a stir when it was originally filmed in the 50's..........I still like the remake, though, but the Sinatra, Harvey flick is a must see..........42