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The Manchurian Candidate

Play trailer 2:24 Poster for The Manchurian Candidate R 2004 2h 10m Mystery & Thriller Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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79% Tomatometer 208 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
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.
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The Manchurian Candidate

The Manchurian Candidate

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Critics Consensus

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

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Critics Reviews

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Will Self London Evening Standard 12/21/2017
Good as the players are, they can't make this hokum remotely believable. Go to Full Review
Nell Minow Common Sense Media 12/28/2010
4/5
Sleek remake is more violent than original. Go to Full Review
David Ansen Newsweek 07/06/2010
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. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Mar 8
4/5
…In 2004, it seemed like a vanilla cop-out for Demme’s updated thriller not to pick political sides, not putting blame on right or left, but on the oligarchical monied elite, but in retrospect, his Manchurian Candidate was on the money…. Go to Full Review
David Walsh World Socialist Web Site 02/15/2021
And yet the film as a whole fails to move deeply. One questions whether it will have a profound impact on its viewers. Go to Full Review
Norman Wilner NOW Toronto 11/10/2020
Demme's 2004 remake, which moved the action into the present day and cast Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber and Meryl Streep in the key roles...tweaked the ending just enough to make things feel even more hopeless. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Zach J. @Jenkins158 4d 8/10 See more Annette P. @smartld Oct 21 Good. But the original is far superior. Great cast. See more Blu B Sep 16 It's pretty much exactly what I figured it would be and for better or worse, this is probably the best product you could hope to come up with. Good choice for Demme in the director chair for this idea with such a distinct style. I will say though his direction here isn't bad but it's significantly weaker than his early 90's work. Sometimes you can see and feel it, and other times it feels like it just disappears because the subject matter is so abstract and surreal he doesn't know how to do it as well. The acting isn't bad but again it's a mixture of surreal, subdued, and wooden. Sinatra was better in the role than Washington is even though he has his moments. Harvey I felt was about the same as the actor here for what it's worth. Music isn't bad but a bit on the generic side. Editing is good and everything else is half decent. Like it's previous one it jumps around between the two main characters as the mystery unravels for the most part well. I will say if there is one place this had an opportunity to improve on it's the shaky first 30-40 minutes or so. However this one is just as shaky if not a bit more so which is a dissappointment. The ending which is one of the best plot twists I've ever seen in a thriller period....well the changes are...alright I guess. It makes things feel more standard and crowd pleasing which I think makes it lose almost all the gut punch feeling the original had. But I guess they had to make some change to justify this besides being in color. Frankenheimer's direction was much more fitting and surreal, and because of that it drove a feeling of paranoia that rapidly built and escalated the entire time. The black and white looking back also made it feel surreal where the color makes it seem more muted ironically. This is much more just a slow burn the entire way and consistent with it. Also I miss the playing card tie in of the original. It just doesn't feel as scary or memorable this one. It doesn't fully justify it's existance but if your a big fan of Demme or any actors in this, this may be worth checking out. Most should check out the 62' masterpiece instead. See more Ams T Jul 13 Starts of ok, but the pace is painfully slow. After midway it looses its grip, and by the end it’s laughingly stupid. Avoid this and watch the original. Other than Meryl Streep, nothing to write home about. See more revolver.0 8 @Revolver08 Jun 30 bad directed and over acted laughable cringe even by cod:black ops and alex jones standards See more Stephen C @bob25009 Jun 2 Success in 2 hours and 10 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated R for Violence and Some Language!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $65,900,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Read all reviews
The Manchurian Candidate

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The Manchurian Candidate

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Assassination The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Assassination 2:13 The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - The Implant The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - The Implant 2:13 The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Decisions The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Decisions 1:22 The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Father and Daughter The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Father and Daughter 2:10 The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Help Me or Shoot Me The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Help Me or Shoot Me 2:01 The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Dreams The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Dreams 2:13 The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - A Big Bite of Shaw The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - A Big Bite of Shaw 1:23 The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Private Eddie Ingram The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Private Eddie Ingram 1:22 The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Interrogation The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Interrogation 2:10 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis 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.
Director
Jonathan Demme
Producer
Scott Rudin, Tina Sinatra, Jonathan Demme, Ilona Herzberg
Screenwriter
Daniel Pyne, Dean Georgaris, George Axelrod, Richard Condon
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Paramount Pictures, Clinica Estetico
Rating
R (Violence|Some Language)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 30, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 17, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$65.9M
Runtime
2h 10m
Sound Mix
Dolby SRD, DTS, Surround
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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