THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
Rating: PG-13
Studio: MGM
MSRP: $19.99 but you can get it on Best Buy’s website for $16.99
Running Time: 126 minutes
What’s Going On?
Korean War veteran Raymond Shaw returns to the United States after saving his imprisoned team. Shaw does not know that he has been brainwashed by Communists as a political assassin. Meanwhile, Bennett Marco, one of Shaw’s fellow soliders, believes his recurring nightmare is connected to Shaw and it has him racing against time to figure out how to “unlock” Shaw before the impending Presidental Convention.
Who’s In It:
From director John Frankenheimer, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE features a fantastic performance from Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury as one of the most evil women in all of cinematic history and definitely one of the worst mothers. The film also stars Laurence Harvey and Janet Leigh.
If You Like…:
Other thrillers with a conspiracy bent like THE CONVERSATION, BLOW OUT, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, or THE PARALLAX VIEW.
Special Features:
The special features here are all ported over from the Special Edition DVD, but they’re all pretty good.
There’s a commentary with Director John Frankenheimer; it’s a bit sparse, but he discusses the relative ease with which he bought the rights to the book on which the film is based, the editing of the dreaming sequence, and how he shot mostly on location, which wasn’t the norm at the time.
There’s A Little Solitare, in which Director William Friedkin (THE EXORCIST and THE FRENCH CONNECTION) discusses Frankenheimer’s documentary style, Sinatra’s tendency to be a “one take” actor and how James Gregory’s portrayal as Senator Iselin was essentially a take on Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Queen of Diamonds is a discussion with Angela Landsbury about Frankenheimer’s technique as director, and Sinatra’s impact on the film.
There’s also a 1988 interview with John Frankenheimer, Frank Sinatra, and writer/producer John Axelrod, in which they talk about their experiences on the film and even discuss President Kennedy’s interest in the novel and the film.
The Technical Gist
The film looks pretty fantastic, even in the darker scenes. It’s so refreshing to see a solid transfer.
The Verdict
This is definitely worth the UPGRADE, and if you haven’t seen it, I really recommend it. The film still really holds up as a thriller and a conspiracy films, although I did find the portrayals of some of the Korean and African American characters are a bit stereotypical, the movie itself is still great. Definitely a MUST QUEUE if you’ve never seen it.
