Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

With all of the hysteria surrounding the "birther" conspiracy, it is almost fitting that MGM chose to release The Manchurian Candidate at this time. Director John Frankenheimer touched a nerve with his 1962 political drama; Frank Sinatra led a campaign to have the film taken out of circulation following the assassination of President Kennedy a year later, and it took decades for the film to be exhibited again in a public theater.

Frank Sinatra made a number of really good pictures when presented with a solid script (From Here to Eternity) but he surprised a lot of people with his outstanding performance as Major Marco; a Korean War veteran who begins to go crazy from a series of dreams about his last battle. What Marco doesn't realize (SPOILER) until later in the film, is that his unit was captured by an elite Sino-Soviet airborne unit attached to a special brainwashing project and that one of the other men in the unit (played by Laurence Harvey) has been trained as an assassin whose mission back home is unclear.

Harvey's character wins the Congressional Medal of Honor for an act of heroism under fire that never actually takes place, but the pieces don't start falling into place until we are introduced to his mother and step-father; a Washington power couple on the verge of taking the White House.

Angela Lansbury is truly frightening as Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin; one of the great performances by any actress in the 1960s. Frankenheimer uses Lansbury and James Gregory (Senator John Iselin) as his "McCarthy" couple whose mission is to rid America of the Communists who have infiltrated our ranks. Senator Iselin is an idiot, but with the calculating and devious Mrs. Iselin pulling the strings, there is no limit to how far he can go. Frankenheimer slices through the "red scare" with a sickle and stunned audiences with his brutally violent final scene.

What makes The Manchurian Candidate so chilling is that some people believe that a parallel conspiracy exists today in 2011; just switch Muslim for Communist. A powerful film that loses none of its intensity regardless of how many times you view it.

The Picture

MGM's Blu-ray transfer has a fairly high bit rate (36 MBPS) and the differences between the DVD and the 1080p release are quite noticeable; significantly deeper blacks with excellent levels of detail present, higher contrast levels, and superior clarity. That being said, I did find that the sharpness levels were somewhat inconsistent; there are a few scenes where the image looks blurry and then the next is razor sharp. The issue is not prevalent throughout the film, but you're not crazy if you think the image looks a tad out of focus in a few spots.

The film has a nicely organic grain-structure that offers a lot of detail without looking overly clean, and I really think the Blu-ray transfer is a worthwhile upgrade from the original DVD release. The Blu-ray's image quality might disappoint some, but it is not that big of a letdown to me.

The Sound

While it is nice that MGM has offered a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix on this Blu-ray transfer, I'm not sure that it was necessary. The film's brilliant screenplay is all you need to focus on and I found the occasional use of the surround channels distracting. The lossless recording gives the dialogue a lot more midrange punch and I think it should have ended there. Less is more. Some of the pans front right to left don't sound completely clean and I wondered on two occasions if Sinatra had walked off the set and bumped into something; most likely the lovely Janet Leigh.

The overall sound quality is quite good and a major improvement over the DVD, but the surround mix seems like overkill in this case.

The Extras

Almost all of the bonus content from the DVD is included on the Blu-ray transfer and while it would have been nice to watch it all in HD, the content more than makes up for its SD presentation. The feature commentary with director John Frakenheimer is direct and intently thought-provoking; Frakenheimer wastes no time talking about himself and just focuses on the story and the fantastic cast who made this film so special.

The short interview with Frankenheimer, Frank Sinatra, and screenwriter George Axelrod is from 1988 (Sinatra would pass away ten years later) and well worth your time just to remember what Sinatra looked and sounded like in his later years. There is an additional fifteen minute interview with Angela Lansbury where she comes across very well; insightful, politically savvy, and quite gracious. The rest of the bonus material includes a short featurette with Lansbury discussing the final scene and another featurette with Oscar-winning director William Friedkin who discusses the film's importance from a historical perspective. The material is top-notch. Nice job MGM.

Final Thoughts

There are only a handful of political dramas that are truly timeless, and it is next to impossible to not include The Manchurian Candidate on that select list. Frankenheimer's film is a masterpiece from beginning to end and one of the finest American films of the 20th Century. MGM's Blu-ray transfer is not perfect, but the film has never looked any better and it remains as powerful today as it was in 1962. Highly recommended.

Where to Buy:

• The Manchurian Candidate Blu-ray at Amazon.com