Please be warned, there are spoilers right here for each Captain America: Courageous New World and The Manchurian Candidate, which we will’t erase with any brainwashing.
I lastly had an opportunity to see Captain America: Courageous New World now that it’s streaming with a Disney+ subscription. I missed it in theaters, and after studying the middling opinions, I made a decision I’d keep affected person and keep away from renting it. I’m glad I waited, however I’m shocked by how a lot I loved it. One piece of the plot that grabbed me was the persevering with story of tremendous soldier and Korean Conflict vet Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) and the way it recalled The Manchurian Candidate.
In Courageous New World we study that Bradley, who was first launched to the MCU within the Disney+ present The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, was brainwashed by the villain, Samuel Sterns, and is activated whereas visiting the White Home and makes an attempt to assassinate the now-President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). The plot took me again to the unique The Manchurian Candidate from 1962, starring Frank Sinatra.
Brainwashed Troopers In The Korean Conflict
If you happen to’ve ever seen The Manchurian Candidate (and I’m speaking in regards to the authentic adaptation of the stage play from 1962), you recognize it’s a couple of platoon of troopers who’re captured by the Chinese language and North Koreans throughout a raid. The platoon is tortured and brainwashed for days earlier than being launched. The troopers haven’t any reminiscence of the brainwashing, however as an alternative consider the story advised to them underneath hypnosis that they acted as heroes.
Sinatra performs Main Bennett Marco, a member of the ill-fated platoon, and now an intelligence officer within the military. Laurence Harvey performs Raymond Shaw, the hero of the faux story, who earns a Medal of Honor on account of all of the members believing the story of heroism. Harvey is, in reality, a sleeper agent who could be triggered into motion by seeing the Queen of Hearts in a pack of playing cards. Ultimately, he’s activated and despatched to kill a presidential candidate.
I Beloved The Manchurian Candidate
I spotted as I used to be watching that I’ve by no means truly seen the entire movie. I thought I’d seen it, and I’ve undoubtedly seen bits and items through the years, however I’ve by no means sat down and actually watched. It’s improbable. Even in 2025, a lot of the film feels related regarding the politics, and the Chilly Conflict stuff additionally scratches my itch for mid-century historical past.
The solid is fantastic. It’s led by Sinatra, however Angela Landsbury (who was nominated for an Oscar) steals the present because the film’s true villain. Harvey is completely creepy, scary, and sympathetic because the brainwashed Shaw, and Janet Leigh is bubbly and pleasant as Shaw’s love curiosity. The dialogue is impactful and well-paced, and general, the film, which you’ll watch with the MGM+ addition to your Amazon Prime subscription, is deserving of the excessive reward it has acquired through the years.
The Connection Is Apparent
I don’t assume I would like to speak a lot in regards to the connection between Courageous New World and The Manchurian Candidate. Each are about Korean Conflict vets was brainwashed assassins who try to take the lifetime of a politician. Within the former, it’s a solution to advance the plot and provides Captain America a mission (and a function), however in each circumstances, the soldier is helpless with out his mates serving to him perceive what it happening; to tragic leads to the Sixties basic, much less tragic within the fashionable superhero flick.
There may be one other Manchurian Candidate adaptation from 2004 starring Liev Schreiber as Shaw and Denzel Washington as Marco. That’s subsequent on my record to revisit.