The manchurian candidate (2004)
As Eugenie rushes through the celebration crowd trying to find Marco, Shaw looks up at the vent where Marco is and gives a nod of clearance to kill him. However, the trauma of Jocelyn's death gives Shaw the strength to resist the mind control.Īt the climactic moment, Shaw deliberately places himself between Marco and the President-elect.
Eleanor admits to Shaw that she voluntarily gave him to the brainwashers for the good of the country. Eleanor, who is deeply linked with Manchurian, uses trigger words to control Marco's mind, giving him commands to assassinate the President-elect so that Shaw can become President. The meeting takes place just as Governor Arthur and Shaw win the White House, and Shaw receives a phone call from Eleanor for Marco. They arrange a meeting between Marco and Shaw to convince Shaw of his condition. They found an implant in Melvin, who died like all of Shaw and Marco's squadmates under mysterious circumstances. Jocelyn is also killed when she tries to stop an entranced Shaw.Įugenie reveals herself to actually be with the FBI, which has been monitoring the conspiracy for years. Instead, Eleanor "activates" Shaw and orders him to kill Jordan. Marco brings his findings to the attention of Jordan, who, although he doesn't entirely believe the story, confronts the Shaws and suggests that Shaw bow out of the campaign. Atticus Noyle, a former Manchurian geneticist-turned-mercenary, from one of his nightmares. Marco researches Manchurian and recognizes the South African man as Dr. After having the one taken from Shaw analyzed, Marco realizes that it is a nanotechnological experiment connected with Manchurian Global, a powerful private equity firm with major political connections. A woman named Eugenie (Kimberly Elise), an outgoing supermarket clerk with whom Marco interacts frequently, sits with him on the train and ultimately offers him a place to stay.Īs Marco investigates, he discovers an implant in his back and, soon thereafter, one in Shaw's after a confrontation at campaign headquarters. Marco begins investigating what really happened during the war, and travels to New York. Marco begins to also have dreams about being captured on that raid and brainwashed by scientists led by a mysterious South African man (Simon McBurney), and of himself and Shaw murdering their fellow soldiers. He is clearly mentally ill, but he shows Marco some images he has drawn from his dreams. One of Marco's former NCOs, Corporal Al Melvin (Jeffrey Wright), contacts him and says that he experiences confusing memories and "dreams" about their lost Army unit.
Shaw is withdrawn, but he opens up only to his mother and his childhood sweetheart, Tom Jordan's daughter Jocelyn (Vera Farmiga). Congressman and, thanks to the influence of his mother, Virginia Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw (Meryl Streep), is nominated as the Vice-Presidential candidate over the favorite Connecticut Senator Tom Jordan (Jon Voight). For his role in that mission, Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) was awarded the Medal of Honor for single-handedly defeating the enemy and rescuing all but two of his men. My vote? I think Angela Lansbury’s performance was so cold and evil, it bested Meryl Streep.Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) is a war veteran who commanded a famous U.S. “Is this Captain Marco? Captain Bennet Marco? Bennet Ezekiel Marco? Listen.” “Why don’t you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?” Our brain cells got obliterated, Raymond.” Neurons got got exposed and circuits got rewired. “Somebody got into our heads with big steel-toe boots, cable cutters and a chainsaw and they went to town. “Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”
The conspiracy, brainwashing, and greedy shenanigans seemed relevant in the Cold War classic as in the modern version. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it included an all-star cast with Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, and Jon Voight. The remake of this classic substituted a Korean War veteran with a Gulf War veteran and gave it a modern twist. Cold War political thriller and starred Angela Lansbury, Frank Sinatra, Janet Leigh, and Laurence Harvey. The original 1962 film, The Manchurian Candidate, was a U.S.