Denzel Washington stars in "The Manchurian Candidate" (2004), a political thriller directed by Jonathan Demme. This is an update of the famous 1962 film of the same name that starred Frank Sinatra and was directed by John Frankenheimer. Although I personally prefer the original, I nevertheless found the remake entertaining and thought-provoking in its own right. In fact, one of the most interesting things to me was how the makers of the new movie took familiar material and reshaped it so it seemed fresh.
Both new and old versions of "The Manchurian Candidate" are about sinister schemes to gain control of the U.S. presidency using assassination. In both movies, the scheme is set in motion by abducting a small unit of American soldiers and brainwashing them. The abduction occurs in 1952 during the Korean War in the original, but in 1991 during the Gulf War in the remake.
Major Ben Marco, the tortured hero of "The Manchurian Candidate," was played by Frank Sinatra in the original, but is portrayed by Denzel Washington in the remake. Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, and Kimberly Elise take on loose equivalents to the roles played by Angela Lansbury, Laurence Harvey, and Janet Leigh, respectively. I would say that the acting is noticeably better in the remake than it was in the original. In particular, I don't think any of the performances in the old movie are at the level of those given by Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep in the new one.
I won't spoil your fun by discussing the details of the story in the new "Manchurian Candidate." However, as someone familiar with the old version, I will say I was pleasantly surprised that they changed things just enough in the remake to keep me pleasantly surprised throughout.
To my way of thinking, what made the 1962 "Manchurian Candidate" so good was that it was an unusual combination of suspense-thriller, satire, and black comedy, and even had a bit of romance. I would say the 2004 remake is a better suspense-thriller, but the other elements of the original are mostly absent. To mention a specific example, the lampooning of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the old movie is unforgettable, while the new one offers nothing to match it.
"The Manchurian Candidate" DVD provides a feature-length audio commentary track with director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Daniel Pyne. Both men are very good at talking about their work on the film, and I found their commentary worth listening to. They spend quite a bit of time discussing differences between their updated version and the original.
The DVD also contains a 14-minute making-of where you can see what director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Daniel Pyne look like. In addition, there's a 12-minute featurette on the movie's cast, which is mostly about the way Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, and Liev Schreiber play Major Ben Marco, U.S. Senator Eleanor Shaw, and candidate for U.S. Vice President Raymond Shaw, respectively. I found these two featurettes reasonably interesting.
There are also on the DVD five deleted/extended scenes with optional commentary, all of which I thought were good. In addition, there are two outtakes that consist of interviews of Senator Eleanor Shaw, and I found these a great chance to watch some impressive work by Meryl Streep.
On the next page, I've listed all the special features of "The Manchurian Candidate" DVD.
Continued on the Next Page: DVD Details
