jij98111 Everyone who knows this was a remake of one of the best spy thrillers ever made ... a movie that was in tune with the reality of the times. Where there were headline real threats almost daily and our nation's citizens felt on the edge of a possible new world war. That was the real deal. Tinseltown has always had a far left bias in its movies so it should not be a complete shock that the villains were completely reversed in this film. Ironically Putin was in power when this 'remake' was made. You can or can not draw your own conclusions if you saw the original. This remake was completely morphed into a right-wing conspiracy movie from its original communist/cold war very real roots. The remake was mediocre at best but the complete betrayal of its context from the original is unforgivable.

Matt Greene What it lacks in subtlety it makes up for in blandness. The performances are great, but they spend so much time uncomfortably staring directly through the screen and into my soul that I can't ignore the overtly broad and ridiculously conspiratorial dialogue. I really should've watched the original first.

zafar142007 This movie can really boast about its acting department. Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber have done stellar work here. It is not often you see such strong performances from all of the protagonists of a film. I haven't seen the original one, nor have I read the book, but this is a fine film. The story follows a bit of a cliché--innocent soldiers caught in the web of maneuvering politicians and corporations--but it manages to create its moments of surprise and thrill. However, Meryl Streep could have been given a tad more screen time. She could have lifted off the film even more. I think the subplot of the FBI agent was a little stretched out and not too important to the main story. Overall, an excellent film.

Tss5078 The remake of The Manchurian Candidate is one of the few Denzel Washington films I've never seen. To be honest, the story just didn't interest me that much, but it started streaming this month, so I gave it a shot. As expected, it's a someone complex story, that at times was difficult to understand, however an all-star cast manages to pull it together at the end. The story begins in Iraq during the Gulf War, when a U.S. Army platoon goes missing for three days. Even they were unaware of what happened to them, until one of the men starts having nightmares, and bodies start turning up. Denzel Washington plays the commanding officer, who takes it upon himself to investigate the strange deaths of his men, almost a decade later. As always, Washington is at the top of his game, giving off that infectious intensity, that keeps you on the edge of your seat through every step of the investigation. Washington is paired with Liev Schreiber who is one guy that has always just rubbed me the wrong way. It's not that he's a bad actor, there is just something about him and the characters he plays that is inherently unlikeable. He wasn't bad in this film, but being a similarly intense actor, meant that the chemistry with Washington was almost non-existent. The story is complicated and in the beginning of the film, it's going to be somewhat hard to watch. As the film proceeds and the elements become more clear, the film gets easier to watch, and the ending really pulls everything together. The Manchurian Candidate is one of those films that you think is going to be a bust, some people may even turn it off, but those who stick with it will see that it just gets better and better until a surprise ending brings it all together. If I were the writer of this film, I would have made the beginning of the film more intense and less confusing. The truth is the most important parts of a film are the beginning and the end, and without a strong opening, a lot of people will be turned off to the film and have the wrong attitude throughout. If you manage to stick with it, The Manchurian Candidate is great, but it does take a while to get there.