The Manchurian Candidate

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2:24

The Manchurian Candidate

R

2004

2h 10m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

79%

Tomatometer

208 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mysterious implant embedded in his back, the memory of what really happened begins to return.

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Critics Consensus

While not the classic its predecessor is, this update is well-acted and conjures a chilling resonance.

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Will Self

London Evening Standard

12/21/2017

Good as the players are, they can't make this hokum remotely believable.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

12/28/2010

4/5

Sleek remake is more violent than original.

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David Ansen

Newsweek

07/06/2010

Jonathan Demme's new Manchurian Candidate is a gourmet-popcorn movie--a hugely entertaining thriller shot through with dark shards of agony and paranoia. It takes nothing away from the original while delivering pleasures all its own.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

03/08/2025

4/5

…In 2004, it seemed like a vanilla cop-out for Demme’s updated thriller not to pick political sides, not putting blame on right or left, but on the oligarchical monied elite, but in retrospect, his Manchurian Candidate was on the money….

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David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

02/15/2021

And yet the film as a whole fails to move deeply. One questions whether it will have a profound impact on its viewers.

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Norman Wilner

NOW Toronto

11/10/2020

Demme's 2004 remake, which moved the action into the present day and cast Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber and Meryl Streep in the key roles...tweaked the ending just enough to make things feel even more hopeless.

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Jonathan Demme

Director

Denzel Washington

Army Major Ben Marco

Meryl Streep

Eleanor Prentiss Shaw

Liev Schreiber

Raymond Shaw

Jon Voight

Thomas Jordan

Kimberly Elise

Rosie

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Assassination

2:13

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - The Implant

2:13

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Decisions

1:22

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Father and Daughter

2:10

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Help Me or Shoot Me

2:01

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Dreams

2:13

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - A Big Bite of Shaw

1:23

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Private Eddie Ingram

1:22

The Manchurian Candidate: Official Clip - Interrogation

2:10

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The Manchurian Candidate: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mysterious implant embedded in his back, the memory of what really happened begins to return.

Director: Jonathan Demme
Producer: Scott Rudin, Tina Sinatra, Jonathan Demme, Ilona Herzberg
Screenwriter: Daniel Pyne, Dean Georgaris, George Axelrod, Richard Condon
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures, Clinica Estetico
Rating: R (Violence|Some Language)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 30, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 17, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $65.9M
Runtime: 2h 10m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)