Rating: 
Summary: A Gooey Wonder!!!
Review: David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers, like many of his other films, received limited mainstream acceptance, perhaps because it is vague or extremely disturbing and even disgusting. These traits, however, are exactly what make Cronenberg and this film extremely fascinating. Cronenberg's brand of science fiction (it's debatable whether Dead Ringers is science fiction at all) is unlike any other. His films favor the organic rather than the technical wonder of science, and at their core, is a strong sense of humanity, sometimes an eroding humanity. To describe the basic plot elements of Dead Ringers is to give it away, but it is safe to say that the film, whether it engages or disturbs, is highly original, with a great performance by Jeremy Irons. At a time when science fiction and horror films have become formulaic pop, Cronenberg still stands as a visionary in a world of his own. If you enjoy this films, in all of its gooey glory, I recommend Cronenberg's recent eXistenZ . Note: Buy the Criterion version of this film, for it has a superior transfer.
Rating: 
Summary: no one captures despair like jeremy irons
Review: Irons like Karloff makes monsters sympathetic creatures who do hideous acts out of a need for love and here cronenberg allows some soul and not just flesh into his picture.But this is Jeremy Irons best work to date,two men obsessed with the interior of women because their own heart(a shared heart) has lost it's passion.This one and The Dead Zone give Cronenberg a more enlightened view on the beauty of despair.
Rating:
Summary: Shocking lurid odysey
Review: "Dead Ringers" is a fabulous film detailing the self destruction of one of a pair of identical twins who share...everything. The film has a surreal quality which makes it very enjoyable. Jeremy Irons portrayal of Bev and Elly is flawless and you forget that you are watching only one actor. Genevieve Bujold is perfect as the selfish love interest. The film is very dark and depressing and somewhat hard to watch due to those frightening "tools for mutant women". Watch it if you enjoy films about those poised on the brink of madness, or Cronenberg films in general.
Rating:
Summary: May well be Cronenberg's masterpiece...
Review: ...although I probably love CRASH even more, it's hard to debate the near-perfection represented by every aspect of DEAD RINGERS. And this DVD is a beautiful presentation of it, although I have one complaint: Why is Cronenberg's short film CRIMES OF THE FUTURE, which was on the Criterion laserdisc edition, not on this (otherwise identical) DVD. Rights problem? Anyway, for those of you who have the LD, don't toss it out; still, this is an outstanding DVD (in fact, it was the very first disc I bought when I purchased my player two years ago!)
Rating:
Summary: Compelling but not for everyone
Review: David Cronenberg once said that he was certain he would never make a film as popular as "E.T." Every film he makes seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy in that regard: they deal with subject matter so bizarre and creepy, and in such a clinically detached manner, that they make any chances of "crossover" success virtually impossible. That being said, his movies have more genuine intelligence, wit, power and ugly fascination under their skins than almost anything else out there."Dead Ringers" (idiotically rechristened from the more poetic "Gemini" at the behest of the studio suits) derives its story from the apparently factual life and death of a pair of identical twin gynecologists, Beverly and Elliot Mantle. Elliot is the more reserved and shy of the two; Beverly the "public face," who taught his brother a good deal about life (and especially about women). Their relationship begins to foment when one helps the other seduce a famous actress (Genevive Bujold) -- unfortunately, neither of them is capable of providing what the other truly needs, and the two self-destruct together. The first half of the film is nearly perfect, and uses great care and some astonishingly seamless camerawork to put Jeremy Irons onscreen next to himself. This is the single best dual role put on film yet. Unfortunately, the second half of the film is less coherent and convincing, and seems little more than a catalog of how the brothers destroy each other and themselves, with fetishistic unpleasantness thrown in simply as fuel for the movie's engine. (At one point, obsessing over the actress's "plumbing," one of the brothers commissions a series of weird surgical instruments that wind up in a gallery exhibition. Another odd touch has one of the brothers visiting the actress while she's being made up for a role with bruises and flesh wounds.) The movie "works," if only in the sense that it evokes the same state of mind we imagine the brothers themselves must have been going through: helplessness, obsession, despair, and a good deal of psychotic depravity. Whether or not you want to subject yourself to it is of course an open question. If you're still reading this, you probably will.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth the wait!
Review: I placed the order for this DVD at the beginning of April. I received it at the end of August. But boy, was it worth the wait!! I remember seeing this film a while back on television and loving it. Jeremy Irons is one of the world's finest actors, and he sure shows it in this film. As usual, Criterion- the creme de la creme of DVDs presents an amazing DVD. And with a combination of Irons and Cronenberg, how can you go wrong? I must warn, that people may find this film disturbing, to say the least- especially women. If you can get past that factor, this is a must-see film Jeremy Irons plays both Elliot- the playboy- and Beverly- the more work obsessed of the two- identical twin gynecologists, and things start to fall apart when a soap star(played brilliantly by Geneviève Bujold) enters the boys' lives- in particular, Beverly(For Elliot, It's just another fling) As usual, Criterion spare nothing when it comes to extras. DEAD RINGERS has to have one of the best commentary tracks I have ever heard. I don't think there is ever a moment where no one is not talking! There's Director-David Cronenberg; Actor-Jeremy Irons; Editor-Ron Sanders; Production Designer-Carol Spier; and Director of Photography-Peter Suschitzky Other cool features include "Mathematics in Metal" and "Instruments for Operating on Mutant Women"- a gallery of photos and designs that were made for the film; The designs for the opening sequence(I just adore that music!!!!) A good featurette that is quite lengthy compared to others, and a trailer. And one of my favorite features- how the twinning effects were done. A brilliant, but at the same time, disturbing film!
Rating: 
Summary: Film owes everything to Iron's riveting performance.
Review: This film is essentially about two things, the downward spiral into madness and the special bond between twin brothers. Some parts of this film were slow and not quite believable. Overall, though, it was pretty well done. There are a few good laughs, in particular when Irons has a middle-aged lady in the stirrups; watch for that scene. Irons is absolutely fascinating and convincingly portrays two look-alikes with different personalities/habits. Worth watching just to see Irons' flawless performance of the twisted brothers.
Rating:
Summary: JER AND ME
Review: For the majority of us, we appreciate two kinds of beauty : the beauty of a face or of a body and the beauty of a mind that some call the moral beauty. For canadian director David Cronenberg, there is a third kind of beauty : the beauty inside. When I say inside, I mean REALLY inside, that is the hidden parts of your body, your viscera for instance. This theme is a constant in David Cronenberg's filmography and you have to accept it if you want to discover this director. In DEAD RINGERS, Cronenberg associates this theme to another disturbing subject : the twins. And the result is one of the strangest movie of the eighties : DEAD RINGERS. The movie is going to arouse a lot of debates in front of your television set because it doesn't let anyone indifferent. The thematic of the Double is here widely explorated by an inspired Cronenberg who will drive you once again in a labyrinthic world of metallic buildings and cold hospitals. No street scenes to be expected here. At the end of the movie, you still won't know why, in the case of twins, when you cut them in half, the result is two and not four. A perfect copy from Criterion with very interesting extras such as a Cronenberg commentary and a museum of the strange medical instruments invented by the brothers. A DVD for your library.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but I wouldn't want to watch it again
Review: This seemed like a really intriguing movie to me, and I was quite looking forward to seeing it. I rented this movie because I am a Jeremy Irons fan, and because it really interested me that he plays two people. Irons was excellent, and most of the time, you forget that it really is just one man playing both of the brothers. But at times, I was a bit confused. The brothers assume each others identity depending on the situation, and sometimes I couldn't tell which brother was which. The movie started out pretty good, but half way through, I started losing interest. Both of the brothers get involved with drugs, and that kind of brought down the movie. Sometimes it got a little hard to watch. And by the end of the movie, I just wanted it to end, and I was extremely disappointed with how it ended. It got really weird and the subtle intrigue of the movie was lost, and the movie became gory and violent. So, it was OK to watch once, but I would never want to watch it again, at least, not any time soon. The first half was really good, but then drugs come into the movie, and it starts to get weird and tedious. I can't even recommend this movie to Jeremy Irons fans, because it's so bad, he's not even worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Probably Cronenberg's best, and Iron's strong contender.
Review: I sat through watching this movie wondering how it was at all possible this was a true story. I realized there is a lot of truth in movies most people find disturbing, that the reality is we don't know what we're capable of until too late. This is painfully true in the case of Doctors and siblings Berverly and Elliott Mantel (Irons). In one of his finest performances ever, Irons portrays identical twins who, until meeting Bujold, share everything from clinical work to women. When Beverly becomes increasingly fond of Bujold, an actress despairing over being barren, he is drawn into the volatile world of psychological manipulation and chemical dependency, eventually dragging his worried brother Elliott with him. And as Beverly becomes more and more dependant on Bujold, he finds himself obsessed with separating himself from his brother, and a clinical pursuit under the influence of mind-racking drugs and depression. I recall Irons saying that it was his best performance ever, I think I agree with him. It is a beautiful film, and rare in the respect that it truely captures a downward spiral worthy of a Reznor-ballad to end Irons throbbing head-trip into the darkness of obsession. What we can gather from this tale of a brutal and surreal existence is that we'll never know how far we can can descend without being able to come back, or what we'll learn about ourselves on the way down...
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