Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		5.0

The Manchurian Candidate Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 15, 2016

John Frankenheimer's "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new video interview with actress Angela Lansbury; new video interview with director Errol Morris; new video interview with historian and author Susan Carruthers; archival audio commentary with John Frankenheimer; and archival video interview with John Frankenheimer, Frank Sinatra and George Axelrod. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles are for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Brainwashed

John Frankenheimer’s The Manchurian Candidate is a prime example of a film that is every bit as brilliant as the novel that inspired it. It is most unfortunate that the Academy members never saw it as such.

The film opens up during the Korean War and follows closely Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey, Darling, The Alamo) after he returns home as a hero. Shaw is enthusiastically greeted by his influential mother, Eleanor Shaw Iselin (Angela Lansbury, Please Murder Me!, Death on the Nile), and his stepfather, Senator John Yerkes Iselin (James Gregory, A Distant Trumpet), but before they can fly him back home he announces that he has accepted a job with one of their political opponents. Then, while trying to reacclimatize to civilian life, Shaw begins to experience intense flashbacks that quickly evolve into horrific nightmares.

Around the same time, Shaw’s former captain, Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra, Ocean's 11), who has also struggled with nightmares after returning home from Korea, is ordered to begin a complex investigation. While gathering information, Marco meets Shaw and discovers that their nightmares are oddly similar.

Like Richard Condon’s terrific novel, the film oozes paranoia and moral ambiguity. Indeed, numerous events are seen from different angles and for a long period of time one remains uncertain how to deconstruct them. There are unusually quick character transformations that also seem completely out of sync.

Then everything begins to make sense -- slowly, yes, but the scattered pieces of the puzzle gradually become bigger and easier to arrange. One begins to understand how Shaw’s brain functions, who the people in his nightmares are, what the purpose of the solitaire game is, and where America is headed. The finale is stunning but, sadly, proved prophetic.

The brilliance of this film comes from the incredible vision of its creator. It is carefully structured as a pseudo-documentary -- the unusual camerawork and sharp editing routinely give it an edge and pace that feel strikingly contemporary -- but it has the visual elegance of a classic noir picture as well. More importantly, the dissection of America’s socio-political reality of the late ‘50s is so precise that it seems odd that at the time the powers that be were not alarmed by its message. (Or maybe not so much, because the exact same political hysteria that makes the film so fascinating to behold is now again part of our reality and yet very few appear to be alarmed by its presence).

There are brilliant performances as well. Harvey is tremendous as the emotionally unstable hero. Sinatra is equally convincing as the former captain looking for logical answers. Gregory also leaves a lasting impression as the overly ambitious senator. The true star of the film, however, is Lansbury, whose astonishing performance should have earned her an Oscar award.

Frankenheimer shot the film with acclaimed cinematographer Lionel Lindon. The atmospheric soundtrack was created by David Amram (Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass, The Arrangement).

In 1994, The Manchurian Candidate was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The Manchurian Candidate Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.75:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative at Deluxe in Culver City, California. A previous video transfer supervised by John Frankenheimer was used as a reference for the new master. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, noise management, jitter, and flicker.

Colorist: Lee Kline/Criterion, New York.
Scanning, Deluxe, Culver City, CA."

The release is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration. The first thing that is immediately noticeable is that there is more visible information on the bottom and on the sides of the frame. Grain is much better distributed and resolved as well. Especially during the daylight outdoor footage the difference is quite substantial -- the visuals are better balanced and have an overall smoother appearance. (This is natural smoothness that is not accomplished with digital tools). Contrast levels are better balanced and as a result there are better and more pleasing nuances (you can compare screencapture #22 and screencapture #19 from our review of the British release). However, the film now also looks slightly darker. There is one particular sequence -- the one where Laurence Harvey and Frank Sinatra open a couple of bottles of champagne and get drunk -- where some light crushing is present as well. During this specific sequence, however, there are also noticeable inherited density fluctuations (compare screencapture #17 and screencapture #14 from our review of the British release). Image stability is very good. There are no large debris, damage marks, or cuts, but a few tiny blemishes remain. All in all, the new restoration offers various very good improvements over previous presentations of the film. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Manchurian Candidate Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio has been newly remastered and it immediately shows. Indeed, the light background hiss that was present on previous releases of the film has been removed and as a result clarity is even better. (See the sequence with Laurence Harvey and Frank Sinatra that begins around the 01.02.30 mark). Depth remains pleasing throughout the entire film and separation is excellent. There are no audio dropouts, pops, or digital distortions to report in this review.

The Manchurian Candidate Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Angela Lansbury - in this brand new video interview, actress Angela Lansbury discusses her work with John Frankenheimer (their first collaboration was on All Fall Down), the creative atmosphere during the shooting of The Manchurian Candidate and John Frankenheimer's working methods (with some excellent comments about his interaction with Frank Sinatra), the famous mother/son scene (Angela Lansbury/Laurence Harvey), etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in November 2015. In English, not subtitled. (11 min, 1080p).

• Errol Morris - in this brand new video interview, director Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line, A Brief History of Time) discusses the socio-political environment in America after WW2 and the major ideas John Frankenheimer channeled through The Manchurian Candidate. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in November 2015. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• Susan Carruthers - in this new video interview, historian and author Susan Carruthers discusses the origin of the term brainwashing, the emergence of the Red Scare during the 1950s, the socio-political environment in America at the time, the idea about the invisible enemy and its presence in The Manchurian Candidate, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in New York in November 2015. In English, not subtitled. (21 min, 1080p).

• John Frankenheimer, Frank Sinatra and George Axelrod - in this archival interview, John Frankenheimer, Frank Sinatra and George Axelrod discuss the production history of The Manchurian Candidate, the shooting of key scenes from the film (including the notorious karate fight during which Frank Sinatra broke his finger), some of the political overtones in the film, etc. The interview also appears on the MGM release. In English, not subtitled. (8 min, 1080i).

• Audio Commentary - in this audio commentary, director John Frankenheimer explains how the rights to Richard Condon's novel were secured, how specific sequences were shot (with some excellent comments about a very difficult segment with Frank Sinatra that was left in the film "as is" despite the fact that it appears slightly out of focus), how large portions of the film were edited, etc. Indeed, this is a very technical commentary that reveals what an enormously challenging project The Manchurian Candidate was. The commentary also appears on the first U.S. release of the film.

• Trailer - original theatrical trailer for The Manchurian Candidate. Music only, with English text. (2 min, 1080p).

The Manchurian Candidate Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is scary to see how accurately John Frankenheimer predicted the future in The Manchurian Candidate. And it is deeply unsettling to know that in the wired world we live in the film feels even more relevant today, as seemingly daily we learn how easily some people are brainwashed by dangerous terror groups. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release of The Manchurian Candidate is sourced from a brand new 4K master and looks very good in high-definition. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.