Description

Goldie Hawn delivers a critically acclaimed performance as Adrienne Saunders, someone whose perfect life as a wife, mother, and career woman disintegrates into a confusing world of betrayal and deception. After her husband (John Heard -- HOME ALONE, AWAKENINGS) apparently dies in a mysterious auto accident, Adrienne discovers a series of shocking truths about him -- and chilling evidence of a deadly scheme that threatens her life! From the first startling plot twist to the heart-stopping climax, DECEIVED is a riveting suspense-filled thriller that will entertain you in the spirit of Hitchcock's best! ... Read more

Reviews (10)

No deception here; this is a great movie!
This is definitely one of my wife and my favorite movies. I just wish we could go back again and watch its twisty, surprising plot for the first time. Who would have thought that the bubbly, giggly Goldie Hawn (Wildcats, Private Benjamin, among others) would excel in this serious leading role, assisted by an awesome John Heard as her husband with a dark, mysterious background. I don't want to give away too much of the story; suffice to say, this is a great suspenseful drama. It also has some neat eerie background music. I highly suggest buying this title on DVD and curling up in the dark. Enjoy that first screening!

Hoping for a Widescreen DVD!
Deceived is one of my favorite Goldie Hawn movies. Most of Goldie's movies have been comedies but this is a dramatic mystery and suspense movie and Goldie is terrific as a wife who's husband is not who he appears to be and when he apparently dies in a car accident she begins to discover some facts about him that are really shocking. John Heard plays the husband and he is very good and so is adorable Ashley Peldon as their daughter Mary. I'm happy that this movie is coming out on DVD in April, I have been waiting a long time for this movie to finally be released on DVD but Amazon doesn't have any details about the DVD and I'm hoping the DVD will include a widescreen version and not just pan and scan fake fullscreen. I thought about preodering the DVD but I don't want to buy it without knowing any details about the DVD and I would hate to preorder it and get stuck with a fullscreen only DVD!

Good & creepy
This is of the creepy genre variety, with lots of tension. One of the things I liked about it is that Adrienne is NOT weak or bubble-headed; that she begins to doubt when she should; that she is angry when she should be angry. She does her detective work; she fights for herself at the end and saves herself at the end (although I don't see how she could have, in her position, shut the elevator cage behind her). And the film really does make you wonder: how many around us are leading double lives? Is the person next to you honest or not?

Nail Biter
While some might call the plot twists of this 1991 thriller improbable, for me the tension and build to the film created a momentum that carried us to the incredibly scary climax. Doing less than 30 million in box office, this was not a big hit; but it is a film that holds up remarkably well 12 years after release. Goldie Hawn does an excellent job as Adrienne Saunders, a woman who seems to have it all with a beautiful child and happy marriage. Her husband Jack seems like the All-American father. Then when a colleague of her husband's gets murdered, clue upon clue seems to fly up in her face until Adrienne has to confront her husband. Then he mysteriously dies in a car accident. Director Damian Harris who seems to thrive on thrillers such as last year's "Mercy," does an amazing job of having event build upon event. The supporting cast of characters do a great job from Jack Saunders' sister to Paul Sullivan's mother. While this may not be a perfect film, it is a thriller that packs a wallop. Goldie Hawn delivers an understated and believable performance as the terrorized and deceived wife. This is a film worth discovering or revisiting a little over a decade after its release. Enjoy!

Guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!
This movie has to be one of the best mystery/suspense thrillers that I have ever seen. If you enjoyed the movie The Sixth Sense with Bruce Willis or Malice with Alec Baldwin, I think you will like this movie. I highly recommend adding this movie to your movie collection. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Like many other films by Canadian director David Cronenberg (especially Crash), Dead Ringers presents the cinematic and psychological equivalent of an automobile accident--you dare not look, but you can't turn away. The film marked a directorial breakthrough for Cronenberg, who was able to continue some of the themes explored in his earlier horror films while graduating to a higher, more critically "respectable" level of artistic sophistication. The film is loosely based, amazingly enough, on a true story about twin gynecologists who routinely traded each others' identities, lives and even lovers. Utilizing innovative split-screen technology (years before computer manipulation made such trickery much easier), the film stars Jeremy Irons in flawless dual roles as the identical brothers Beverly and Elliot Mantle. Their ability to instantly switch identities leads them to a shared relationship with a well-known actress (Genevieve Bujold) and, ultimately, a physical and psychological tailspin that sends them both to the brink of madness and death. The scenario suggests that both men are halves of a whole, and that one cannot exist without the other. But when Beverly pursues a kinky, drug-addicted affair with the actress, his more self-controlled brother is helpless to prevent their mutual decline. In this way Dead Ringers becomes a fascinating and stylistically clinical study of duality, and Cronenberg doesn't shy away from the dark and unpleasant aspects of the story. (One look at the movie's display of bizarre gynecological instruments and you'll know why women find this film particularly--and unforgettably--disturbing.) The Criterion Collection DVD includes illuminating commentary by Cronenberg, Irons, production designer Carol Spier, and others; extensive production information; interviews with the principal cast; and a detailed examination of the film's groundbreaking use of invisible special effects.--Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (55)

Definitely worth the wait!
I placed the order for this DVD at the beginning of April. I received it at the end of August. But boy, was it worth the wait!!

I remember seeing this film a while back on television and loving it. Jeremy Irons is one of the world's finest actors, and he sure shows it in this film.

As usual, Criterion- the creme de la creme of DVDs presents an amazing DVD. And with a combination of Irons and Cronenberg, how can you go wrong?

I must warn, that people may find this film disturbing, to say the least- especially women. If you can get past that factor, this is a must-see film

Jeremy Irons plays both Elliot- the playboy- and Beverly- the more work obsessed of the two- identical twin gynecologists, and things start to fall apart when a soap star(played brilliantly by Geneviève Bujold) enters the boys' lives- in particular, Beverly(For Elliot, It's just another fling)

As usual, Criterion spare nothing when it comes to extras. DEAD RINGERS has to have one of the best commentary tracks I have ever heard. I don't think there is ever a moment where no one is not talking!

There's Director-David Cronenberg; Actor-Jeremy Irons; Editor-Ron Sanders; Production Designer-Carol Spier; and Director of Photography-Peter Suschitzky

Other cool features include "Mathematics in Metal" and "Instruments for Operating on Mutant Women"- a gallery of photos and designs that were made for the film; The designs for the opening sequence(I just adore that music!!!!)

A good featurette that is quite lengthy compared to others, and a trailer. And one of my favorite features- how the twinning effects were done.

A brilliant, but at the same time, disturbing film!

OH, DOCTOR! AM I IN TROUBLE?
'House Calls' were never quite like this.

David Cronenberg takes us deep into the ever-festering and drug-distorted world of Identical Twin Insanity - this time based on fact! JEREMY IRONS provides the disturbing double-trouble with appropriate brilliance as Doctors Beverly and Elliot Mantle - the dead-ringer gynecologists. [You know the story - # 1 would start the exam, leave - # 2 would enter, continue the exam - and the patient? Totally oblivious of the switch! Nasty, very nasty ...]

GENEVIEVE BUJOLD as the Caustic Star, provides the catalist. A superb performance as the woman who eventually unhinges the twins.

It's a cool, disturbing movie, especially considering the trust one has to place in physicians, as They say "We practise medicine". "Practise???"

Nasty moment? Those 'specially designed' instruments - for 'the mutated'. It's close to Kafka - leaving metamorphosis to the imagination.

A superlative performance by Mr. Irons - who went on to "Reversal Of Fortune" [Award Winnner], another chill!

More 'punishment'? Try "Requiem for a Dream"

welcome to cronenbergs brutal beautiful world
the criterion collection is a superb presentation of david cronenbergs masterwork; dead ringers.
this film stands with crash, rabid, the brood, and spider as essential cronenberg.
his whole body of work has been impressive and one is hard pressed to come up with a more individualistic auteur in cinema today.
dead ringers contains two of the most incredibly acted performances in recent memory. irons, of course , and bujold.
much has rightly been made of irons' dual performance and he deservedly (and surprisingly)won an oscar nomination for that performance.
but as much as irons performance was celebrated, bujolds was somewhat ignored. her character is smoldering in tormented sexuality and she balances coolness, vulnerability and agressive sexuality in a truly jarring performance. bujold, with barbara hershey,remains one of the most underrated actresses of her generation and she (unlike actresses such as nicole kidman) is an actress we need have no fear of ever going 'merchant ivory'
the visuals in this film are numbing and one walks away with various shades of horrific red seared into your brain (and of course we know red equals both sex and death, an understandably favorite obsession with cronenberg).
the images of gynological instruments transformed into sculpural torture devices is one of the most horrific ever shown on celluloid and this takes that whole sex and death theme to the nth degree.predictably enough, it is one of the most squirm inducing moments of the entire film.
by the time this film is finished you are mentally drained and i remember walking out of the theatre mumbling (probably incoherently) to myslef.
there are not many films that can make me feel like ive just been run over by a freight train.

Jeremy Irons' Best Work
Maybe it's the combined effect of having two Jeremy Irons for the price of one, but I believe -and Irons has been quoted to the same effect- that this is the finest work this fine actor has commited to the screen. Much more deserving of the oscar than his recessive Claus Von Bulow in 'Reversal of Fortune.'
The way he plays the weak twin off the stronger one, whose influence fades when a woman comes between them, is extraordinary. If you don't mind the pervasive grimness of the story in general, than do yourself a favor (God, starting to sound like that pretentious guy from the Actors Studio on Bravo), and get 'Dead Ringers.'

Cronenberg-Irons tour de force.
'Dead Ringers' may indeed be David Cronenberg's best film. Jeremy Irons performance is truly extraordinary. As for not being able to tell the difference between the two brothers, I could sense immediately which brother was which by simple body language and how each brother carried himself. Which is a testiment to the subtlties of Iron's acting, that he could make you believe he was two different people at the same time on screen. This belief was also helped by the amazing motion control camera sequences which allowed Irons to "act with himself" in the same frame. The clean perpendicular lines of the twins' appartment was especially chosen to make it easier to cut the film together.

Viewers should be warned beforehand that 'Dead Ringers' is not a horror movie, it's more of a psychological character study. The twin brothers have an unusual gendered relationship. Elliot as the suave unfeeling male who's "no good with the serious ones" and Beverly, with the girl's name, as the the sensitive, caring female. Soon they come to realize that they are one physical entity, forever separated as two physical beings.

In talking about the film Cronenberg has said that men have proven to be much more squeamish about this film than women as lying on the gynecological chair is an experience that many women have gone through. Yet many men have no idea what it's like. Cronenberg was fascinated by these doctors who knew more abaout their patients than their husbands did.

The only drawback about this whole project is that the marvellous soundtrack is not available anywhere! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Like many other films by Canadian director David Cronenberg (especially Crash), Dead Ringers presents the cinematic and psychological equivalent of an automobile accident--you dare not look, but you can't turn away. The film marked a directorial breakthrough for Cronenberg, who was able to continue some of the themes explored in his earlier horror films while graduating to a higher, more critically "respectable" level of artistic sophistication. The film is loosely based, amazingly enough, on a true story about twin gynecologists who routinely traded each others' identities, lives and even lovers. Utilizing innovative split-screen technology (years before computer manipulation made such trickery much easier), the film stars Jeremy Irons in flawless dual roles as the identical brothers Beverly and Elliot Mantle. Their ability to instantly switch identities leads them to a shared relationship with a well-known actress (Genevieve Bujold) and, ultimately, a physical and psychological tailspin that sends them both to the brink of madness and death. The scenario suggests that both men are halves of a whole, and that one cannot exist without the other. But when Beverly pursues a kinky, drug-addicted affair with the actress, his more self-controlled brother is helpless to prevent their mutual decline. In this way Dead Ringers becomes a fascinating and stylistically clinical study of duality, and Cronenberg doesn't shy away from the dark and unpleasant aspects of the story. (One look at the movie's display of bizarre gynecological instruments and you'll know why women find this film particularly--and unforgettably--disturbing.)--Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (57)

The saddest,most though provoking film ever made
This film moved me. The acting, the intesnity of the story...it was just breath-taking. I am not easily affected by movies being I'm a gorehound/horror buff, but Jeremy Iron's performance was so awesome! He conveyed the emotions perfectly with his dual-role. I am not going to go into too much detail but if you like disturbing films that will make you think and stay with you long after you watch it then this is the film. One of the best made films ever. Nuff said

Dead Ringers
The film was described to me as "horror." No. That individual failed to understand the complexities of twins-ship. Yes, the surgical instruments for mutant women, downward spiralling drug addiction, co-dependency of twins were superior in the technical (split-screens) and acting categories. But the fact that this was a true story about the Marcus twins is utterly fanastic. Cronenberg, Irons, & Bujold perform exceptionally well in this deeply sad portrayal of brilliant surgical reproductive gynecologists, making Barber's Adagio for Strings apropos for closure. Kafka once said that one should read books that melt the iceburg within us; the same adage applies to film.

Jeremy Irons does more than just clone himself in this role!
The Mantle brothers, Beverly and Elliot, are more than just identical twins. They're like two aspects of one person's internal character turned into two separate external realities. They're both brilliant gynecologists specializing in infertility problems with women and have spent their whole lives living as if they were one individual. They live in the same flat, work at the same clinic and share the same unsuspecting women until Beverly falls in love and no longer wants to share. This emotional break initiates an evaluation of the self, ultimately calling into question the very nature of the brothers symbiotic relations. Can they survive without each other? Jeremy Irons does more than just clone himself in this role, but engenders the brothers Mantle with two distinctive characterizations that are convincing and compelling. Based on an actual case.

Cronenberg is the greatest Canadian director by far.
I'm kinda new to Cronenberg only previously seeing "Videodrome" and loving the hell out of it. Same goes for Dead Ringers. From the great performance by Jeromy Irons to the incredibly creative writing and directing of David Cronenberg this film could not be any better. From only seeing two of his film's I'm really having trouble thinking of a Canadian director that can even be compared to Cronenberg. Actually I'm having trouble thinking of any director in the past 30 years I can place above Cronenberg. I don't say this to often about a director but I think it's definetly safe to say that Cronenberg is a genius. He's made a new fan. Being Canadian myself I wish I looked into him alot earlier. If feel as if I was missing so much.

Jeremy Irons is magnificent!
I remember the trailers for this film.The film company promoted this movie like it was a horror film.Yes, David Cronenberg made successful horror films like "The Brood", "Scanners" and of course, "The Fly".But they clearly missed the boat on this movie.This is an effective drama on the lives of identical twins and how their reactions (alcohol, drugs, relationships, etc.) coinside with each other.I thought Jeremy Irons was outstanding in this film.He captures the essence of both of the doomed twins.He would later recieve an Academy Award.Genevive Bujold gives an effective performance as Claudia.Overall, this is a moving and powerful film study.

(Note - Be on the lookout for Jill Hennessy and her twin sister, Jacqueline in their first roles.) ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Fady Ghaly's reviews
(. . .)Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache.

He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a grim childhood who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered-such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor at the 1996 Genie Awards. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral. (Even the title itself screams of great mourning for that which is irrecoverably past.)

The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary one afternoon as they head toward their secluded shack deep into the wilderness where the pressures of growing up do not have to be faced; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discover hiding out inside may just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they decide to help the stranger, who we find out is named Luke, rather than report the incident to the police.

"If you want something, you just take it, and then it's yours," Luke says, and they do, and they love it. They get themselves into trouble and the thought of getting themselves in insubordinate acts excites them. They're loving it. They feel alive. (Luke even builds courage in one of the boys who was dealing with girl trouble, named Kyle, but ultimately had girl trouble no more, for he got that girl, impressed her by filling her in with his knowledge in air crafting as Luke wisely told him to, and his dream was finally fulfilled as he got to show how great his "affection" was upon her as they had sexual intercourse together.)

Over the ensuing days, the adventure escalates gradually into a full-blown moral, ethical and physical crisis. What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgment, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved.

The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them.

Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least, in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Me or River's Edge.

On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zomprogna-being the one to play the part of Kyle-perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone, who plays the part of Brad, is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. (According to Sawa, his character in the film, whose name is Eric, is so unlike himself that it really puts his acting skills to the test. The Boys Club has generally been his most challenging film yet, and yet he passes with flying colors.) Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle's father.

Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the narrative ups the emotional stakes. Even Eric, the tough-talking, badly-behaved kid who pushed others such as Brad around and talked about how ineffectual and cowardly they were, becomes nothing more but an ineffectual and cowardly kid himself, while Brad, one who was perpetually antagonized by him, became the brave one who was willing to risk his own life in order to prevent Kyle from losing his, and, most vitally, Kyle's bother's, who was shot earlier on in the dorsum and left to bleed to death inside their shack.
"Kyle, he's getting beaten around. We have to do something. We have to do something," Brad urgently pleads.
"What? No wait...you know what, we'll just call the cops, huh?" the apprehensive Eric says.
"No, it's too late-"
"We'll call the cops-"
"It's too late," Brad continues, and they ultimately find a way to enter their shack without Luke indicating any signs of their existence, a time when even greater heat was summoned.
The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is an inexorable and deeply powerful film that tests friendships and human insight, and yet it doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that is, because that's precisely what it is despite of the fact that it was shot as a Canadian film on a skin-and-bones budget, will not be released in most countries-which is a shame-and was shown at only a few theaters in Canada. (Mind you, it, however, is available on VHS and DVD in, aside from Canada, Australia and the U.S. as well.)

The Boys Club, although the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was-for I have now watched it so many times, that it has reached an extent where the amount can no longer be counted anymore-it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; but, in addition, because, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, it instantaneously drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I merely had a VCR-a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered both my experience and outlook upon movie-viewing.

Fady Ghaly's reviews
Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache. He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a dreadful childhood, who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered, such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral.
The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discovered hiding out in their shack deep into the wilderness might just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they of course decide to help him rather than report the incident to the police.
Over the ensuing days, the adventure escalates gradually into a full-blown moral, ethical and physical crisis. What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgement, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved.
The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them.
Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Be or River's Edge.
On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zamprogna perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle 's (Zamprogna) father.
Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the synopsis ups the emotional stakes. The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is a stern and powerful film that tests friendships and yet doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that it is.

The Boys Club, though the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was, it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; in addition, because it, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I only had a VCR, a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered my outlook upon movie-viewing.

Fady Ghaly's reviews

My remarks toward this picture
Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache.

He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a grim childhood who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered-such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor at the 1996 Genie Awards. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral. (Even the title itself screams of great mourning for that which is irrecoverably past.)

The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary one afternoon as they head toward their secluded shack deep into the wilderness where the pressures of growing up do not have to be faced; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discover hiding out inside may just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they decide to help the stranger, who we find out is named Luke, rather than report the incident to the police.

"If you want something, you just take it, and then it's yours," Luke says, and they do, and they love it. They get themselves into trouble and the thought of getting themselves in insubordinate acts excites them. (spoiler) What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgment, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved.

The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them.

Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least, in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Me or River's Edge.

On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zomprogna-being the one to play the part of Kyle-perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone, who plays the part of Brad, is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. (According to Sawa, his character in the film, whose name is Eric, is so unlike himself that it really puts his acting skills to the test. The Boys Club has generally been his most challenging film yet, and yet he passes with flying colors.) Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle's father.

Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the narrative ups the emotional stakes. (spoiler)
The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is an inexorable and deeply powerful film that tests friendships and human insight, and yet it doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that is, because that's precisely what it is despite of the fact that it was shot as a Canadian film on a skin-and-bones budget, will not be released in most countries-which is a shame-and was shown at only a few theaters in Canada. (Mind you, it, however, is available on VHS and DVD in, aside from Canada, Australia and the U.S. as well.)

The Boys Club, although the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was-for I have now watched it so many times, that it has reached an extent where the amount can no longer be counted anymore-it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; but, in addition, because, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, it instantaneously drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I merely had a VCR-a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered both my experience and outlook upon movie-viewing.

A great thriller, a hot guy, what more could you ask for?
This movie was excellent and skillfully done. I don't only love it because one of the main stars, Dominic Zamprogna, is SOO hot, but just because it's a great movie. It is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that you will have to watch from beginning to end.

Cool Movie ,Hot Chick
This Movie is cool it sounds like me and my friends and something that would happen to usand Amy Stwerwart who plays megan ohh-ahh man she so so incredibly hot man shes got me dreamin but the movie is cool watch it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

strip search.
pam greer "search's" for the bad guys in this action thriller. pam greer fans will get their monsy's worth. ... Read more

Description

It's the year 2017, the Earth's surface is destroyed and its citizens flee to an underground wasteland ruled by warring religious cults. In this sinful Cybercity, mercenary Dakota's (C. Thomas Howell) family is murdered by a perverse virtual prophet (Roddy Piper) bent on world domination. Seeking justice, Dakota, beautiful assassin Lilith, and an arsenal of hi-tech weaponry battle for the Earth's most precious resource--humanity. It's time for the false prophets to meet their makers! Packed with innovative special effects and teeth-clenching action, Cybercity will make you rethink the Millennium. ... Read more

Reviews (55)

Definitely worth the wait!
I placed the order for this DVD at the beginning of April. I received it at the end of August. But boy, was it worth the wait!!

I remember seeing this film a while back on television and loving it. Jeremy Irons is one of the world's finest actors, and he sure shows it in this film.

As usual, Criterion- the creme de la creme of DVDs presents an amazing DVD. And with a combination of Irons and Cronenberg, how can you go wrong?

I must warn, that people may find this film disturbing, to say the least- especially women. If you can get past that factor, this is a must-see film

Jeremy Irons plays both Elliot- the playboy- and Beverly- the more work obsessed of the two- identical twin gynecologists, and things start to fall apart when a soap star(played brilliantly by Geneviève Bujold) enters the boys' lives- in particular, Beverly(For Elliot, It's just another fling)

As usual, Criterion spare nothing when it comes to extras. DEAD RINGERS has to have one of the best commentary tracks I have ever heard. I don't think there is ever a moment where no one is not talking!

There's Director-David Cronenberg; Actor-Jeremy Irons; Editor-Ron Sanders; Production Designer-Carol Spier; and Director of Photography-Peter Suschitzky

Other cool features include "Mathematics in Metal" and "Instruments for Operating on Mutant Women"- a gallery of photos and designs that were made for the film; The designs for the opening sequence(I just adore that music!!!!)

A good featurette that is quite lengthy compared to others, and a trailer. And one of my favorite features- how the twinning effects were done.

A brilliant, but at the same time, disturbing film!

OH, DOCTOR! AM I IN TROUBLE?
'House Calls' were never quite like this.

David Cronenberg takes us deep into the ever-festering and drug-distorted world of Identical Twin Insanity - this time based on fact! JEREMY IRONS provides the disturbing double-trouble with appropriate brilliance as Doctors Beverly and Elliot Mantle - the dead-ringer gynecologists. [You know the story - # 1 would start the exam, leave - # 2 would enter, continue the exam - and the patient? Totally oblivious of the switch! Nasty, very nasty ...]

GENEVIEVE BUJOLD as the Caustic Star, provides the catalist. A superb performance as the woman who eventually unhinges the twins.

It's a cool, disturbing movie, especially considering the trust one has to place in physicians, as They say "We practise medicine". "Practise???"

Nasty moment? Those 'specially designed' instruments - for 'the mutated'. It's close to Kafka - leaving metamorphosis to the imagination.

A superlative performance by Mr. Irons - who went on to "Reversal Of Fortune" [Award Winnner], another chill!

More 'punishment'? Try "Requiem for a Dream"

welcome to cronenbergs brutal beautiful world
the criterion collection is a superb presentation of david cronenbergs masterwork; dead ringers.
this film stands with crash, rabid, the brood, and spider as essential cronenberg.
his whole body of work has been impressive and one is hard pressed to come up with a more individualistic auteur in cinema today.
dead ringers contains two of the most incredibly acted performances in recent memory. irons, of course , and bujold.
much has rightly been made of irons' dual performance and he deservedly (and surprisingly)won an oscar nomination for that performance.
but as much as irons performance was celebrated, bujolds was somewhat ignored. her character is smoldering in tormented sexuality and she balances coolness, vulnerability and agressive sexuality in a truly jarring performance. bujold, with barbara hershey,remains one of the most underrated actresses of her generation and she (unlike actresses such as nicole kidman) is an actress we need have no fear of ever going 'merchant ivory'
the visuals in this film are numbing and one walks away with various shades of horrific red seared into your brain (and of course we know red equals both sex and death, an understandably favorite obsession with cronenberg).
the images of gynological instruments transformed into sculpural torture devices is one of the most horrific ever shown on celluloid and this takes that whole sex and death theme to the nth degree.predictably enough, it is one of the most squirm inducing moments of the entire film.
by the time this film is finished you are mentally drained and i remember walking out of the theatre mumbling (probably incoherently) to myslef.
there are not many films that can make me feel like ive just been run over by a freight train.

Jeremy Irons' Best Work
Maybe it's the combined effect of having two Jeremy Irons for the price of one, but I believe -and Irons has been quoted to the same effect- that this is the finest work this fine actor has commited to the screen. Much more deserving of the oscar than his recessive Claus Von Bulow in 'Reversal of Fortune.'
The way he plays the weak twin off the stronger one, whose influence fades when a woman comes between them, is extraordinary. If you don't mind the pervasive grimness of the story in general, than do yourself a favor (God, starting to sound like that pretentious guy from the Actors Studio on Bravo), and get 'Dead Ringers.'

Cronenberg-Irons tour de force.
'Dead Ringers' may indeed be David Cronenberg's best film. Jeremy Irons performance is truly extraordinary. As for not being able to tell the difference between the two brothers, I could sense immediately which brother was which by simple body language and how each brother carried himself. Which is a testiment to the subtlties of Iron's acting, that he could make you believe he was two different people at the same time on screen. This belief was also helped by the amazing motion control camera sequences which allowed Irons to "act with himself" in the same frame. The clean perpendicular lines of the twins' appartment was especially chosen to make it easier to cut the film together.

Viewers should be warned beforehand that 'Dead Ringers' is not a horror movie, it's more of a psychological character study. The twin brothers have an unusual gendered relationship. Elliot as the suave unfeeling male who's "no good with the serious ones" and Beverly, with the girl's name, as the the sensitive, caring female. Soon they come to realize that they are one physical entity, forever separated as two physical beings.

In talking about the film Cronenberg has said that men have proven to be much more squeamish about this film than women as lying on the gynecological chair is an experience that many women have gone through. Yet many men have no idea what it's like. Cronenberg was fascinated by these doctors who knew more abaout their patients than their husbands did.

The only drawback about this whole project is that the marvellous soundtrack is not available anywhere! ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Fady Ghaly's reviews
(. . .)Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache.

He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a grim childhood who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered-such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor at the 1996 Genie Awards. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral. (Even the title itself screams of great mourning for that which is irrecoverably past.)

The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary one afternoon as they head toward their secluded shack deep into the wilderness where the pressures of growing up do not have to be faced; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discover hiding out inside may just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they decide to help the stranger, who we find out is named Luke, rather than report the incident to the police.

"If you want something, you just take it, and then it's yours," Luke says, and they do, and they love it. They get themselves into trouble and the thought of getting themselves in insubordinate acts excites them. They're loving it. They feel alive. (Luke even builds courage in one of the boys who was dealing with girl trouble, named Kyle, but ultimately had girl trouble no more, for he got that girl, impressed her by filling her in with his knowledge in air crafting as Luke wisely told him to, and his dream was finally fulfilled as he got to show how great his "affection" was upon her as they had sexual intercourse together.)

Over the ensuing days, the adventure escalates gradually into a full-blown moral, ethical and physical crisis. What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgment, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved.

The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them.

Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least, in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Me or River's Edge.

On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zomprogna-being the one to play the part of Kyle-perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone, who plays the part of Brad, is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. (According to Sawa, his character in the film, whose name is Eric, is so unlike himself that it really puts his acting skills to the test. The Boys Club has generally been his most challenging film yet, and yet he passes with flying colors.) Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle's father.

Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the narrative ups the emotional stakes. Even Eric, the tough-talking, badly-behaved kid who pushed others such as Brad around and talked about how ineffectual and cowardly they were, becomes nothing more but an ineffectual and cowardly kid himself, while Brad, one who was perpetually antagonized by him, became the brave one who was willing to risk his own life in order to prevent Kyle from losing his, and, most vitally, Kyle's bother's, who was shot earlier on in the dorsum and left to bleed to death inside their shack.
"Kyle, he's getting beaten around. We have to do something. We have to do something," Brad urgently pleads.
"What? No wait...you know what, we'll just call the cops, huh?" the apprehensive Eric says.
"No, it's too late-"
"We'll call the cops-"
"It's too late," Brad continues, and they ultimately find a way to enter their shack without Luke indicating any signs of their existence, a time when even greater heat was summoned.
The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is an inexorable and deeply powerful film that tests friendships and human insight, and yet it doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that is, because that's precisely what it is despite of the fact that it was shot as a Canadian film on a skin-and-bones budget, will not be released in most countries-which is a shame-and was shown at only a few theaters in Canada. (Mind you, it, however, is available on VHS and DVD in, aside from Canada, Australia and the U.S. as well.)

The Boys Club, although the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was-for I have now watched it so many times, that it has reached an extent where the amount can no longer be counted anymore-it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; but, in addition, because, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, it instantaneously drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I merely had a VCR-a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered both my experience and outlook upon movie-viewing.

Fady Ghaly's reviews
Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache. He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a dreadful childhood, who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered, such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral.
The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discovered hiding out in their shack deep into the wilderness might just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they of course decide to help him rather than report the incident to the police.
Over the ensuing days, the adventure escalates gradually into a full-blown moral, ethical and physical crisis. What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgement, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved.
The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them.
Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Be or River's Edge.
On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zamprogna perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle 's (Zamprogna) father.
Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the synopsis ups the emotional stakes. The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is a stern and powerful film that tests friendships and yet doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that it is.

The Boys Club, though the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was, it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; in addition, because it, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I only had a VCR, a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered my outlook upon movie-viewing.

Fady Ghaly's reviews

My remarks toward this picture
Coming-of-age sagas are frequently burdened with threat, especially because the genre has been so overworked and even pulverized into cliché. Yet young filmmaker, John Fawcett, pulls off a coup with this hip and arresting drama that's full of spit and attitude, and is relentlessly in your face, whether you like it or not. The Genie-nominated, first-time Toronto director, working from Genie-nominated writer, Peter Wellington's edgy, intellectual script, re-invigorates the genre with panache.

He does so by balancing climactic suspenseful elements with authentic human insights. He does it with a first-rate cast, led by Chris Penn as a psychotic cop killer badly affected by a grim childhood who, when he had reached his breaking point, I guess you could say in a sense, had me on the edge of my seat till I was fully assured that he was conquered-such riveting performance was that compelling. A performance so compelling, it earned him a nomination as Best Actor at the 1996 Genie Awards. Here, Penn really delivers his finest since co-starring in Abel Ferrara's elegiac gangster film, The Funeral. (Even the title itself screams of great mourning for that which is irrecoverably past.)

The three youths played by our rising young stars are at loose ends during a teachers' strike that has closed down their small Ontario town's high school. The three friends, who dispute because their social and intellectual instincts tug in three dramatically different directions, find themselves in a quandary one afternoon as they head toward their secluded shack deep into the wilderness where the pressures of growing up do not have to be faced; however, that severely wounded and yet armed stranger in whom they discover hiding out inside may just be their ticket to real adventure. Overriding common sense, they decide to help the stranger, who we find out is named Luke, rather than report the incident to the police.

"If you want something, you just take it, and then it's yours," Luke says, and they do, and they love it. They get themselves into trouble and the thought of getting themselves in insubordinate acts excites them. (spoiler) What is so clever with regards to this piece is that, even when, through the audiences' eyes, we want to wail out the words: Wake up, stupid! when one of our teen heroes is about to make a mistake in judgment, the Fawcett-Wellington team make those mistakes understandable. We sympathize. We comprehend. We're involved.

The ambivalence and complexity of the struggle are why The Boys Club has accurately been called a cross between Stand By Me and River's Edge, two landmark films that explored teen anguish with a piercing intelligence, never pandering to the youths or condescending them.

Fawcett walks the same wobbly tightrope, even if The Boys Club remains as a modest film, at least, in scale, that will not gain the notoriety of either Stand By Me or River's Edge.

On the other hand, Penn is a towering force, a raging bull-of-a-catalyst in our teen protagonists' lives. Dominic Zomprogna-being the one to play the part of Kyle-perfectly essays the confused youth torn between intellect and impulse; Stuart Stone, who plays the part of Brad, is a terrific counterbalance as the practical one, while the charismatic Devon Sawa-a dead ringer for Leonardo DiCaprio-is pure feral instinct. (According to Sawa, his character in the film, whose name is Eric, is so unlike himself that it really puts his acting skills to the test. The Boys Club has generally been his most challenging film yet, and yet he passes with flying colors.) Nicholas Campbell provides a compellingly sad-sophisticated portrayal of Kyle's father.

Their personalities mix, the deeming of both their feud and friendship bond and the palpable danger of the narrative ups the emotional stakes. (spoiler)
The Boys Club is not at all just kids' play. It is an inexorable and deeply powerful film that tests friendships and human insight, and yet it doesn't ever overdraw upon a single factor that would diminish it from being the masterpiece that is, because that's precisely what it is despite of the fact that it was shot as a Canadian film on a skin-and-bones budget, will not be released in most countries-which is a shame-and was shown at only a few theaters in Canada. (Mind you, it, however, is available on VHS and DVD in, aside from Canada, Australia and the U.S. as well.)

The Boys Club, although the affect it has upon me isn't quite as great as it once was-for I have now watched it so many times, that it has reached an extent where the amount can no longer be counted anymore-it, nonetheless, is a film that will forever be special to me. Not only because the tension that was generated by these kids in danger influenced me to become a writer, an interest that has drastically altered me as a person, for I now I'm capable of expressing my feelings in a way I never thought possible; but, in addition, because, after having stepped inside a video store one glorious day, it instantaneously drew me to purchase a copy of it on DVD despite of the fact that I merely had a VCR-a machine that was left setting alone no longer, for I the following day ended up purchasing the player itself, a highly sophisticated machine in technology that has forever altered both my experience and outlook upon movie-viewing.

A great thriller, a hot guy, what more could you ask for?
This movie was excellent and skillfully done. I don't only love it because one of the main stars, Dominic Zamprogna, is SOO hot, but just because it's a great movie. It is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that you will have to watch from beginning to end.

Cool Movie ,Hot Chick
This Movie is cool it sounds like me and my friends and something that would happen to usand Amy Stwerwart who plays megan ohh-ahh man she so so incredibly hot man shes got me dreamin but the movie is cool watch it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

strip search.
pam greer "search's" for the bad guys in this action thriller. pam greer fans will get their monsy's worth. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

umm Jason Priestley was good in it!
This movie has alot of action in it and a good story, kinda easy to follow, but it was just missing talent from other actors. See this if you're a big Jason fan, otherwise, skip it. ... Read more