Image: TMDB
About This Quiz
Denzel Wasington and Liev Schreiber anchored this 2004 remake of a classic political thriller, about a plot to place a "sleeper" agent in the highest office in the land. Take our quiz and find out how much you recall about this nail-biter of a film!
"Manchurian Global" is an evil worldwide corporation. This was an update of what group in the 1962 original?
the Communists
Don't laugh about the Catholic Church, though -- JFK's candidacy sparked fears that the Vatican would run American politics.
the Illuminati
the Roman Catholic Church
Satanists
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Whose shoes did Denzel Washington fill as upstanding Major Marco?
James Dean
Brock Peters
Roy Scheider
Frank Sinatra
The singer had a substantial body of work in Hollywood.
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In what country does the action of "Manchurian Candidate" open?
Afghanistan
Kuwait
Marco's unit is seen playing cards in the opening shot. This is a nod to the importance of cards in the original.
Iran
Iraq
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Whom is Major Marco speaking to, when the action shifts back to the States?
Army Intelligence
a Boy Scout troop
He's describing how Sgt. Shaw (Schreiber) saved their unit after an ambush.
a Senate hearing
a therapist
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What is the nickname the media gives to Marco and Shaw's unit?
the Lost Patrol
They were gone for several days. Later, we find there's a good reason for that.
Marco's Men
Shaw's Survivors
the Shaw Squad
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What item does the troubled Private Melvin leave behind after talking to Marco?
his cell phone
his contact information
his notebook
Melvin has drawn a woman with a tattooed face. This is a figure that he and Marco both see in their dreams.
his wallet
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What is NOT an item Marco buys regularly at the grocery store?
bananas
No-Doz is for his bad dreams. Cup Noodles, meanwhile, appear throughout the film. It's a really egregious example of product placement!
Cup Noodles
No-Doz
romance novels
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What is the name of the presidential candidate about to pick a running mate?
Arthur
Jordan is the front-runner for VP, while Senator Prentiss is Shaw's mother. "Prentiss" is also Shaw's middle name, and part of the key to activating his brainwashing.
Jordan
Prentiss
Utly
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Who played Shaw's domineering mother?
Glenn Close
Ellen Burstyn
Michelle Pfeiffer
Meryl Streep
As Sen. Prentiss, Streep just about blasts her male co-stars off the screen. Many people thought she based her performance on Hillary Clinton, whose hairstyle Prentiss wears.
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What other than his military service qualifies Shaw to be a VP candidate?
he's built a successful business
he's served two terms in Congress
Of course, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor doesn't hurt, either.
he founded a nonprofit
he's a political journalist
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Why does Eleanor Prentiss resent Jocelyne Jordan?
just because she's Tom Jordan's daughter
she ran against Raymond for his congressional seat
she and Raymond had a relationship in their youth
It was Senator Prentiss who "ran Jocelyne off," as Raymond refers to it.
she's younger than Eleanor and very beautiful
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In Marco's nightmares, who is killing Private Baker ?
Private Ingram
Sgt. Shaw
It was Marco himself who killed Ingram. He retrieves this memory with the help of electroshock therapy.
the tattooed woman
himself
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From where does Marco know Eugenie Rose, whom he meets on the train?
the grocery store
She approaches him on the train and eventually brings him to her cousin's place in New York City. Of course, it's not really her cousin's home, but we don't realize that until later.
his apartment building
his Army service
the talk he gave to the Boy Scouts
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What does Marco hallucinate on the train?
the British contractor who went missing in Kuwait
a bullet hole in Eugenie's forehead
the tattooed woman
both #1 and #2
The second hallucination causes Marco to flee to the bathroom. This is where he might or might not have an encounter with the rogue geneticist, Noyle.
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Where does Marco find the implant?
his upper back
He digs it out after showering at Eugenie's "cousin's" place.
his upper arm
his temple
his ear
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What happens to Marco's transplant right after he finds it?
he puts it back, to disguise the fact that he found it
he crushes it underfoot
he drops it down the sink drain
Of course, now he doesn't have it show to the Army brass and thus prove his story.
it self-destructs
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From what country is Noyle, the geneticist?
England
Germany
Argentina
South Africa
To American ears, Noyle's accent would probably sound German. The South African accent is heavily influenced by Dutch colonialism.
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Where was the field hospital where Marco and the unit were brainwashed?
deep underground in the Middle East
unidentified snowy peaks
on a ship
a sandbar in the ocean
Marco remembers seeing it after he has electroshock therapy.
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Where is Private Melvin's body eventually found?
in his apartment
in the Chesapeake Bay
in the Potomac River
Marco had given up on finding him and broken into his apartment.
in a Dumpster
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Who is Eugenie Rose really working for?
Eleanor Prentiss
the FBI
Marco initially believes she's working for Manchurian; this is because he spots a video camera in her bathroom vent.
the Manchurian Corporation
the U.S. Army
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How does Marco get the implant out of Shaw's back?
he bites him
Impressively, he then "cheeks" the implant through his entire interrogation by Army Intelligence and the feds. He removes it from his mouth after his release.
he uses his penknife
he uses a powerful magnet
he uses a biopsy needle
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What is Marco's middle name?
Ezekiel
This might be a homage to the fictitious Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins. Denzel Washington played him in "Devil in a Blue Dress."
Washington
Francis
Michael
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How does Shaw kill Senator Jordan?
he shoots him from a rooftop
he poisons his coffee
he stabs him in an elevator
he overturns his kayak and holds him underwater
Shaw also drowns Jordan's daughter Jocelyne when she tries to intervene.
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Where is the polling station at which Shaw votes?
Capitol Hill
a Sons of Liberty hall
a private home
a public school
Afterward, Marco and Shaw meet in an empty classroom. There, Marco himself is brainwashed by Eleanor Prentiss over the phone.
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What (unintentionally) comic image is shown on a screen at the Arthur-Shaw victory party?
an Army recruiting advertisement with Shaw in it
a picture of Arthur and Shaw as the couple in "American Gothic"
Mount Rushmore, with their faces added
The 1962 film was more satirical. Here, the image is a rare break from the tense plot line.
an advertisement for "kayaking adventures!"
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Why does Marco fail to shoot president-elect Arthur?
the writing on his hand reminds him who the real enemy is
his rifle jams
his PTSD makes it impossible to pull the trigger
Shaw causes Arthur to miss his onstage "mark"
It's Shaw, not Marco, who is beginning to overcome his mind control.
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Why isn't Marco identified as the shooter in the Prentiss-Shaw assassinations?
the footage of him entering the building mysteriously disappears
the FBI implicates a Manchurian employee instead
However, it's implied that Manchuria isn't going to suffer any long-term consequences.
The FBI implicates a Secret Service agent instead
he is, but his status as a war hero protects him
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What does Marco place in the surf at the movie's end?
his dog tags
Shaw's Congressional Medal of Honor
a photo of their unit
both #2 and #3
Eugenie Rose takes him back to the sandbar where the brainwashing took place. This is for closure, presumably.
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Who played Shaw's mother in the 1962 original?
Angela Lansbury
In both versions, the role required a scene with some really-not-OK mother-son touching.
Hedy Lamar
Florence Henderson
Polly Holiday
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Who played Senator Tom Jordan?
Gary Busey
Gene Hackman
Martin Sheen
Jon Voight
Jordan is the good-guy politician to whom Marco takes his evidence.
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Which actor/actress was handpicked by Paramount's head for their role?
Liev Schreiber
It'd be easy to guess Streep, though, given her powerhouse performance as a controlling mother.
Meryl Streep
Jon Voight
Denzel Washington
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In what premium-cable series do both Liev Schreiber and Jon Voight appear?
House of Cards
Orange is the New Black
Ray Donovan
Schreiber plays the title role. Fans will be pleased to know Showtime has renewed "Ray Donovan" for a fifth season.
Shameless
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Who directed "The Manchurian Candidate"?
Jonathan Demme
The original was directed by John Frankenheimer.
Francis Ford Coppola
Martin Scorsese
Kimberly Peirce
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Who wrote the novel on which both movies were based?
Richard Condon
The novel had the same name as the films -- why mess with success?
Lee Child
Walter Mosley
Mario Puzo
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Which of the following celebrities had a cameo in "The Manchurian Candidate"?
Al Franken
Fab Five Freddy
Anna Deavere Smith
Sidney Lumet
all of them
Roger Corman and Gayle King also briefly appear.
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You Got:
/35
TMDB