Rating: 
Summary: HYDRANGEAS ANYONE?
Review: The very best film of its kind and a must see for Hydrangea lovers. Ever wonder where "Wo Fat" from "Hawaii 5-0" fame came from. See this movie and you will have no doubts except about reality itself. This film also features tour-de-force performances by Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury and Lawrence Harvey. The kind of thriller that you'll enjoy more than once to be sure. [colonel video]
Rating:
Summary: Great thriler
Review: This is one of the rare cases where a movie is as good as or better than the book it was based on. Great cinemetography and a tense plot.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning film, an all-time classic thriller
Review: Everything works superbly in this movie from the political satire to the thriller elements of coommunist brainwashing and Cold War plotting, from the psychological study of the mother-son complex to the dream sequences - which are some of the most convincing ever put on film. Sinatra and Harvey come up trumps (I think the latter's British accent is deliberately there to create the impression that he's an oddball), and Angela Lansbury is unbelievably effective as the Lady Macbeth type. Stands the test of time magnificently well.
Rating: 
Summary: Creepy and Disturbing (movie 5 stars, dvd 4 stars)
Review: A very well-crafted thriller classic from John Frankenheimer ("Ronin"). Creepy and disturbing. It's not the kind of movie you sort of sit back and just watch waiting to be entertained, considering this movie takes somewhat a more darker look at espionage, brain-washing, assassinations, and politics. Considering there are also no distinguishable cookie-cutter bad guys add to the foreboding darkness of the situation. Well-written, good acting from all the cast, fine work from Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, and I found the dream-sequence particularly clever. As for the DVD, it is fairly okay, but nothing particularly new in terms of extras. The sound quality is good, but might've been improved a bit.
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Summary: Sinatra can act!
Review: Most striking thing about this movie is that Sinatra can act. He also does a pretty credible fight scene for the time. Looks like a little Hollywood style Shotokan, possibly. Also, the Murder She Wrote woman is chillingly evil as the power hungry Mother. The "girlfriend" is very pretty, I wonder if she made any other movies.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling, bizarrely surreal political thriller...
Review: There are elements in this eerie thriller that verbally challenge description. Angela Lansbury fascinates as a RED QUEEN-like woman utterly driven by Will-to-Power. Her son, her husband...and the nation itself... are pawns in her Luciferic self-apotheosis in betrayal. Laurence Harvey is equally engaging as gnomic, anti-anti-hero brain-washed by Red Chinese inquisitors, and programmed to be a master assassin. Harvey's character is portrayed as so humorless, and woodenly robotic that one feels the Commies's only had to frost an already well-baked "cake". Frank Sinatra is excellent as Major Marco whose nightmares about a Korean combat action...which "earned" Harvey the Medal of Honor...prod him to explore inconsistencies which unveil a conspiracy of staggering import. James Gregory is marvelously repugnant as Lansbury's dufus demagogue of a husband whose McCarthyesque antics are prepping THE PEOPLE for his violent ascension to the (puppet) PRESIDENCY. Director Frankenheimer has produced a fantastic cinematic excursion into political schizophrenia and rampant paranoia. Many "reality" sequences (Harvey literally "jumping in the lake" in response to a deep-seated hypnotic trigger; Lansbury's Malice-in-Wonderland Garden Party; a Clouseau/Cato-like Karate brawl between Sinatra and Harvey's Communist "plant" valet) are as disturbing as the film's classic BRAIN-WASHING segment. (Here the Communists are "perceived"... by Sinatra/Havey's hypnotized-drugged Korean combat platoon... as silk-and-laced dressed to the 9's Club Ladies attending a garden party explaining the cultivation of hyacinths under "adverse" circumstances.) The scene ends with Harvey, as Sergeant Shaw, strangling one man and blowing-out the brains of a smiling boy-Private at point blank range...splattering a picture of Comrade Stalin with bloody gore. (This is all effected with delicacy and grace to demonstrate to "The Ladies" that the American Pawn, their MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE has indeed been cultivated and ready for deadly action.) Black-and-white color-lessness of the film accent the bizarre "reality" of the story while blurring the distinction between what happens; what is imagined and what is recalled to have happened. An ambience of insanity and menace permiates the entire film, radicalized by the epicene quality of Harvey's character and the overt Freudian elements that the film exploits. It is said that Tragedy recapitulates itself as farce and nothing human is beyond demonic malice. When this film was first released its parallels with McCarthyism were its obvious signum. Today the viewer may be treated to a PARALLEX VIEW. Again the focus returns to Angela Lansbury's UBERFRAU, Mrs. Shaw-Iselin. One might wonder who THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE now satirizes as target of its bizzare and nightmarish SURREALITY......
Rating:
Summary: Fresh and Appealing With Every Viewing
Review: Two actors made this film top notch: Laurence Harvey and Angela Langsbury. Although only a year apart in real life age, it was completely believable that Langsbury played Harvey's mother in the film. There is even a malevolent incestuous air about the pair that you can't shake off from the very beginning with Harvey as her helpless, hapless victim. Harvey returns from the Korean war a decorated hero, much to everyone's surprise, since he's known to be both a mama's boy and a royal pain. Incredibly, all the men in his unit parrot the same high praise about him and how he is the most wonderful, brave human being they've ever known, despite the fact that they hated him! His mother is married to a U.S. senator who he despises and, worse yet, his mother and this toad have presidential aspirations. Suddenly, other men from his Korean unit start experiencing hideous nightmares and somehow these dreams relate back to him. We see them all sitting in a library during the war at a garden club meeting but is that where they really are? Korean military men start popping up in the dreams too instead of the elderly garden club ladies. In 1962, when this film was released, the country was first learning about brain washing that had occurred in the Korean War. Thus, this film was extremely timely. It was pulled from distribution for many decades though following President Kennedy's assassination. The supporting cast, including Frank Sinatra and Carol Lynley, is all quite good. Harvey was an under appreciated actor in his time and it is good to see that his talent has held up splendidly throughout the ensuing years. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't Live Up to the Hype
Review: I was told that this is one of the best films of all time, so I rented it with fairly high hopes. For that reason, and that reason only, I sat through the whole thing. I found the characters flat, and the story unbelievable. The suspense just seemed boring, and I didn't feel grabbed by the plot. There were a few surprising plot twists, and this is one of those films that one sees simply because it's a "classic", which is why I've given it two stars instead of one. Overall, however, I felt this was an over-hyped and fairly dull movie.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie, but only a decent DVD
Review: There's not much new to be said about this film. One of the classics of its era, it's just as riveting and suspenseful now as it was in 1962. If you've never seen it, do yourself a favor and see this masterful film. Frankenheimer established himself as one of the most influential filmmakers with this movie. (Take a look at "Ronin" to see a recent example of how he hasn't lost his touch.)My only complaint about this disc is the quality of what's included. There's an "interview" on there with Axelrod, Frankenheimer, and Sinatra, and while it's interesting, it's far too short. Showing 20-30 minutes would have been far more interesting. The audio commentary by Frankenheimer is interesting, but he's quiet through far too much of it. He focuses on telling a few stories that are for the most part only mildly interesting; the coolness comes when he discusses the little things (like the white page boy in the black soldier's dream sequence). Of course, that wasn't enough to knock any stars off for me. This is one of my favorite films, suitable for watching when you're in the mood to pay attention to details and think about what's going on.
Rating:
Summary: Why don't you pass the time with this film?
Review: Still relevant and shocking after all these years. The brain-washing scenes are both harrowing and chillingly amusing, and the entire cast shines. They should have cut the Janet Leigh subplot, but this is a minor misstep in what is otherwise a tour de force.
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