Rating: 
Summary: Great Suspense Drama
Review: One of the best films ever made. The nightmare scene was skillfully done.
Rating:
Summary: a real shocker
Review: if you view this film with the awareness that the Cuban Missile Crisis was happening at it's time of release, you will be able to fully appreciate the impact this film must have had on the people who lived in that era. the story will definitely provoke some serious thought. it's about an elaborate communist plot to takeover the American government.as for the DVD, the layout is very relevantly decored according to the theme of the movie. it also includes interviews, audio commentary, production notes and the original theatrical trailer. the transfer is also very good.
Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic Flick
Review: This is by far my favorite kind of movie. I am a political junkie (Republican/Libertarian if you must ask), love international intrigue and Sinatra. I first saw this at a film festival when I was 13 and would not see it again until one night in college after a few too many gin & tonics. I then remembered the imagery that came back and wanted to play solitaire… okay not solitaire. But what this movie does do is it makes you realize the period. Done in era where anti-Communist sentiment ran strong and fears of war was as normal as the Today show is to us, this movie reminds me of a time when I did not live. Okay enough with the sappy metaphor and unclear logic. This movie is fantastic for so many reasons. First, Frank Sinatra, the standard bearer of my grandparents’ generation, puts on an incredible performance. For those of us younger viewers, the concept may be difficult because the acting is so stylized and the filming technique makes it feel like a movie not a documentary. But, nonetheless this guy wasn’t an actor by trade but would make you think that this was as natural as his voice is. Second, the story is incredible and truly makes you wonder why no one writes like that any more. You are taken on such a journey and are never quite sure until the end how the tale of politics, assasiniation and [...] is going to spin together. Finally, the movie has such strong acting by other characters as to realize that perhaps needing a big name on the marquis will get people in the door, but only solid acting by everyone else gets the ticket buyer (or the DVD buyer) home happy. The cast carries their roles impeccablely and truly makes this a great piece of cinema.
Rating: 
Summary: Um... This is Not Exactly a Documentary, Folks
Review: While MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE is an extremely entertaining and well-crafted political thriller, it is not a historical movie. Let's not get all worked up thinking this movie presents some historically realistic view of the Cold War as it actually unfolded. It is a nightmarish fantasy that ambitiously wants to skewer MacCarthyism and play up the gargoyle image of "Asiatic" Communists, and almost succeeds; a sort of dark underside of a James Bond film. By the way, even though I am a great fan of Henry Silva, him portraying a Korean is like Tim Roth cast as a Bruce Lee in a Lee biopic. I have screened this movie for my friends and a bunch of us fell on the floor in a spasm of laughter seeing his "karate" fight with Frank Sinatra. Not exactly convincing, but then again what do you expect from a movie in which the main character (Frank Sinatra) actually has a line about a Chinese communist's "Fu Manchu" grin? It is most tragic that Laurence Harvey had such a short career. He was a truly brilliant actor, and was also devastatingly good in another spy film DANDY IN THE ASPIC.
Rating:
Summary: John Frankenheimer rules (or at least ruled)
Review: John Frankenheim made two of the best political thriller movies of the 60s, this and "Seven Days in May". This features great performances by Lawrence Harvey, Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury. Harvey is particularly heartbreaking as a cold distant man who wants to be lovable, but whose seriously twisted family background makes that impossible. Angela Lansbury steals this movie, however, as the ultimate "mother-from-hell" The plot is hard to describe in brief, but it involves Harvey, a Communist conspiracy and Harvey's red-baiting inebriate of a stepfather, played by James Gregory with a not-subtle resemblance to Joe McCarthy. This film works both as a thriller and as a political satire, taking deft jabs at the pomposity of official Washington. Sharp-eyed viewers can spot the sly joke about how James Gregory finally settles on the number of Communists supposedly in the State Department. This film was influential enough to be remade multiple times by various television series, most notably "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Magnum, P.I."
Rating:
Summary: CLASSIC
Review: In many ways this film seems more real today than when it was made in 1962. One of Frank Sinatra's best performances is combined with a complex but really believable plot and a number of twists and turns to keep this movie interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Good thing Hilary didn't have a son!
Review: What a chilling movie. You know what, though. There's a massively bad editting sequence in the movie that I was really, really hoping the "Director's Commentary" portion of the DVD would pick up. But he didn't even mention it. When Laurence Harvey was eating dinner and laughing with his bride to be and her father, they actually moved through the short scene, recorded the 5 second (or so) part in reverse, then replayed that part again. You can actually see Laurence Harvey taking a bite of food out of his mouth with his fork, and putting it back in again. I'm sorry, but I've never been able to get over that scene. It's SOOO badly done, that the editor should be quartered and hanged for such a mistake. Yuck. But the movie still gets 5 stars. And the Angela Lansbury's character still reminded me of Hilary Clinton. What a great movie with fantastic development that made you care for the characters and enjoy all the new discoveries you were viewing. You didn't know what would happen next, and that made it all the better. You've already seen it. You didn't need this review from me to get the movie. Just get the DVD. But don't expect them to talk about the mistake. Because they don't.
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.
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