Off The Bookshelf UK - VHS Dead Ringers [1989] Dead Ringers [1989] New & Used Dead Ringers [1989]

Search VHS - select a category

Buy Dead Ringers [1989] online at Discounted New and Used prices. Delivered to your door with Off-The-Bookshelf.

Dead Ringers [1989]
starring: Jeremy Irons, Genevieve Bujold, Heidi Von Palleske
directed by: David Cronenberg

List Price: £5.99

Price: £1.48

You Save: £4.51 (75%)
Prices subject to change.

Used Price: £1.95
Collectible Price: £2.99
Third Party New Price: £1.48

Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days Audience Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 5030370603438
Format: Dolby, PAL, Surround Sound
Label: ITV DVD
Manufacturer: ITV DVD
Number Of Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: ITV DVD
Release Date: January 31, 2000
Running Time: 110 minutes
Studio: ITV DVD
Theatrical Release Date: September 23, 1988
Sales Rank: 16227

Related Items:

Editorial Review:

Amazon.co.uk Review:
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 gynaecologists 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 gynaecological 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, Amazon.com --This text refers to the DVD edition of this video.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- good psychological drama, Jeremy Irons steals the show
Typical Cronenberg film giving trademark Cronenberg feeling: original, intellectual, weird and mind-blowing. But soo slow and monotonous most of the time, but that's O.K. The film tells the self-destruction story of brilliant twins who grow up to be successful gynecologists Elliot and Beverly; the former is dominant, extrovert, controlled and ladies man; and the latter, more sensitive, shy and less sociable. The twins share virtually everything, from medical practices to women. But, the real story begins when a famous actress enters into twins life. After her, the equilibrium between the twins starts deteriorating, until both retreating into private disintegration and finally heading to own self-destruction.

I must say that the ... Read More:

Rating:

- Identical till death ensues
Cronenberg is the most surprising and shocking film director I know but he always deals with situations that are out of the ordinary and he pushes them to their extreme end or even beyond. In this film he explores the relation between two real twins who have perfectly identical routes in life to the point of becoming schizophrenic and wanting to get rid of the second half of their individual personality, which is the personality of the other. They become obsessed with separating the Siamese twins they are in a way and yet are not. This derangement develops all by itself and they discover that they cannot survive separately and as soon as one does something that the other does not do both of them are disturbed to the point of having to become ... Read More:

Rating:

- Cronenberg's best work
Identical twin brothers Beverly and Elly Mantle are successful gynaecologists in Toronto. Their relationship is intense and very close - perhaps too close. The Mantles experiment with sex, drugs and personal identity, to the detriment of their practice, and ultimately of their psychological health.

This is a David Cronenberg film, so we are in the familiar realm of horror, mind games and perverted science. The director/producer/writer appears in the credits above the title and even ahead of his stars, Irons and Bujold. Essentially, the 'dead ringers' of the title are the brothers, who regard their mental and emotional oneness as being something more. They see themselves as siamese twins, bound by their flesh, and fated to share every ... Read More:

Rating:

- 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' ... Read More:

Rating:

- Fascinating
Cronenberg enjoys exposing the kinds of fascination with freakishness to which most people would not admit and in this film he manages to take the story of twin brothers onto a particularly squeamish, engrossing level.

VHS : Dead Ringers [1989]