Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing....yet entertaining
Review: I want to begin by saying that Dead Ringers was extremely well done, and very well acted by Jeremy Irons. The split screen technology used in the film was very well done and dual role acting is very entertaining to watch. But the story is pretty disturbing and in some ways a little too gray and grim.
Rating: 
Summary: Dead Ringers
Review: I am a huge Jeremy Irons fan. This movie is good,but can get real strange at times.be prepared for something out of the norm if you purchase this one. Very good cast/ Strange but enjoyable plot.Enjoy Lisa C.
Rating: 
Summary: Cronenberg's best
Review: This is one of the few films that ever made me cry in my adult life. Jeremy Irons plays identical twin gynaecologists Beverly and Elliot Mantle. Bev and Elli share everything: they run a fertility clinic together; they live in the same apartment; and, most importantly, they share women. This has been a lifelong habit for them, one which has carried over into their adulthood. Bev will make the woman (usually a patient) in question feel at ease, taking her to dinner and what-not, then letting Elli come in and take over... and the woman is never the wiser. Things are just fine, until they try their usual tricks on Claire Niveau (Genevieve Bujold), an actress in Toronto doing a miniseries. Claire senses right away that something is amiss (she is unaware from the start that Bev has a twin). When she finds out about their scheme, she is rightly disgusted and leaves Bev. But Bev can't stay away from her, and he quickly finds himself falling in love with this woman. Elli warns him not to get involved; he is right (to a degree): before long the pill-popping Claire has Bev indulging the same habit and making out the prescriptions. After an unsuccessful intervention, Elli begins to realize that this is the beginning of the end for him and his brother, unless they can somehow seperate themselves... Director David Cronenberg is at his best here, fashioning a film that is completely unique , but, conceptually speaking, perfectly in harmony with his own body of work as well. Irons is utterly amazing; that he took on the role to begin with is commendable, but to pull it off so brilliantly is one hell of an accomplishment. Bujold is equally mesmerizing in her performance; her Claire is vulnerable, smart, and classy. The film is aided to no end by Howard Shore's sweeping score (still waiting for the CD soundtrack), which perfectly complements Cronenberg's cool eye for composition and Peter Suschitzky's clean, neutral cinematography. If you are in the mood for something that is thematically challenging as well as classically tragic, check out DEAD RINGERS, my second-favorite movie (Roman Polanski's THE TENANT being the first). Although not for the squeamish, there is little actual gore in the film; but the film's unrelenting portrayal of the desolate hell of drug abuse and the effects it has on the mind and body make it seem grislier than it actually is. Along with VIDEODROME and NAKED LUNCH, this film is Cronenberg's favorite, which makes me proud because those are the three I'd pick myself if I had to.
Rating:
Summary: The most twisted....
Review: Late at night, some years back around Christmas, a friend and I watched this- it was the most wonderful, twisted, disturbed movie. I loved it. There was a slow twisting artistry to it- the sculptural display of gyn tools for alien women, the brothers relationships...and how they separated themselves from each other...I've been looking for this movie for years, having lost track of the title....It's a must have.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best of the '80s - Marred by poor sound
Review: Criterion's disc would be outstanding, except for the fact that the music is so distorted as to be a considerable distraction. It's a double shame, because Howard Shore's score here is achingly beautiful - a haunting personal best, I think. It depresses me because the commentary is one of the best I've ever heard - intelligent and fascinating (like the movie itself). The other features are very good as well. The fact that the music - especially at key moments - sounds like its coming from a staticy transistor radio at the bottom of a bathtub is really irritating and impossible to ignore. One expects better from Criterion.The 1975 Esquire article on the Marcus twins - which is more what the film is based on than the book "Twins" - is essential reading. It would probably be impossible to include it as part of the package, though. Pity. The film is pleasurable in spite of itself. Disturbing (who doesn't use that word for this movie?) and luxuriantly depressing. This would still be one of the great films of the 80s, even if the 80s hadn't been such lousy decade for movies. Its also one of Cronenberg's very best (along with "Crash"). While not quite perfect - it is unique, deeply emotional and strangely beautiful (still 5 stars for content and execution). In what it undertakes, the lack of ambition that characterizes most movies is thrown into relief. Irons and Bujold are both remarkable. The production design and cinematography are also great. Who can ever forget this movie after seeing it (like it or not)? Needless to say, some people really despised this movie - but in this case that could be considered a recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: o.k. movie - little disappointing.
Review: With all the rave reviews, i thought this movie would be be much better. don't get me wrong the acting and concept is superb...but the actual movie was slow and drawn out. For being "in the top ten, all-time shocking movies" it was frankly not shocking. I love the criterion collection but I was dissappointed just for the simple fact there were no sub-titles. This is such a basic feature I couldn't believe it wasn't included. Lastly, the picture is average transfer. there are blemishes that are noticable through out the movie. My [less expensive] movies have better quality (same time frame)!!! I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea. (by the way - the seventh seal - is the bench mark of criterion in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Yikes!
Review: I've been a fan of David Cronenberg for quite some time, and when I heard he had made a film about twin gynecologists, I knew I had to watch it. Cronenberg's films are visceral enough without calling women's plumbing into effect. The way I see it, Dead Ringers atones for all those movies and sit-coms in which a hapless man gets a knee to the groin. I could feel my innards knotting about themselves in absolute consternation as I watched a Jeremy Irons ask for what I think was a really scary speculum. The grotesque comes into play in other parts of the film, as well. Whether it's the rather perturbing and almost incestuous relationship between Beverly and Elliot Mantle, the sexual relationship between Beverly and Claire, the dream sequence, or the red-garbed surgeons, the movie does not fail to disturb. Yet somehow, despite the nervous, shivery, morbid apprehension (or perhaps because of it), Dead Ringers is a sexy film. I believe this is probably Jeremy Irons at his best. He's very good at playing tortured deviants.
Rating:
Summary: SLICK, MANIPULATIVE....
Review: David Cronenberg's imagination is filled with images of dread, horror and grotesquerie. This film is infinitely hypnotic, but it is also depraved and repulsive. Jeremy Irons, as identical twin psycho-sexually manic gynocologists (yup, you read that right), is, as usual, wonderfully subtle and creepy, and the real trick is that he gives each character a distinctive personality without changing a whit of his mannered voice and look. The story descends into a maddening depressive, inevitably repugnant vision of obsession, and along the way is littered with some of the most graphically disturing dream sequences put on film since Cronenberg's own squeamishly hideous The Brood.
Rating:
Summary: Cronenberg At His Best
Review: No matter how many times you watch this picture, you will never loose intrest. This is a quietly devestating movie, which shows a nerve shattering relationship between the Mantle brothers and woman that comes in betwwen them. Cronenberg likes to challenge others, and he far from wins with this tragic masterpiece. His interlectual mind captures the glory of what a film is, using the most bizzare techniques. There is also excellent acting on show and Cronenberg makes good use of his cast. He distinctivly proves that you can terrify people without using cgi effects, but using psychological genius
Rating:
Summary: Excellent transfer of an original film
Review: I am a little surprised at the Widescreen Review's assessment of 3.5 out of 5 for the image on this DVD: I would give it 4.5 at least. It is certainly better than I was expecting for a 13 year old film, and Criterion are to be congratulated on the transfer: the image is vibrant and sharp, with excellent colours. There are no nicks or scars at all. Not quite in the 'Se7en' or 'JFK' class in terms of picture quality, but pretty close. The film itself is compelling, and is a showcase for Jeremy Irons' considerable talents. He is on screen for nigh on 95% of the time as one or other (or both) of the Mantle twins, and carries the entire film. Genevieve Bujold is excellent in the only other role of note. The story itself is moderately disturbing as a psychological drama, but there is a refreshing lack of gore. The extras include an interesting look at how the split screen effects were handled to enable Irons to act with himself in various scenes. Strongly recommended.
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