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You're reading a really old version of matt-thornton's website. For example, if you're looking at the movie reviews... you'll notice that none of them are of recent films. Indeed, I leave them here for posterity's sake, but I doubt very much that they'll get updated anytime soon. So have a giggle.
You might, if you're lucky, find something recent from Matt at his blog matt's debates. Kernow bys vyken.
The Manchurian Candidate
the one line review:
conspiracy conspiracy conspiracy
the overview
Ho-hum. Manchurian: A region of northeast China comprising the modern-day provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning. It was the homeland of the Manchu people who conquered China in the 17th century and was hotly contested by the Russians and the Japanese in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chinese Communists gained control of the area in 1948. Absolutely nothing to do with this film. (In its remake guise anyway).
the plot:
Denzel is an army man who is haunted by Gulf War Syndrome. Only he's not, because the vivid dreams and outrageous claims of having been brainwashed and had a secret microchip implanted in him (and the rest of his troop) are actually true. This was done in order to gain control of the people, in order that one of them, Raymond Shaw, son of a Senator and vice-presidential nominee has a heroic war background and get to be president, and then the peeps can control him using the chip thing. Uh-huh.
the verdict:
The film itself is made well. I've not seen the original (starring Frank Sinatra no less) so can't compare, but it stands up OK as a film. Trouble is, I found the plot just a little too fantastical to really take it seriously. It's almost like Universal Soldier where the men are controllable and so on.
Denzel does a good job as the edgy possibly psycho Major who has a chip in him, and is doing his best to convince the world and his dog that he's actually not a nutbar and that these things really happened, when obviously no-one believes him, and the peeps in the know do their best to mad him up.
As a non-American all the emphasis on the political system added to some of the confusion, and whilst it's watchable, it didn't have me sat on the edge of my sofa. More sprawled. Waiting for it to end. Worth a look if you like conspiracy style thrillers, though something like The Firm does a better fist of it.
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