Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54666 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-02-17
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Format: NTSC
• Original language: English
• Running time: 116 minutes

Amazon.ca Canadian Essential
A landmark psychological drama, Dead Ringers marked David Cronenberg's departure from grotesque horror films as he moved toward more dramatic, sophisticated movies. He continues to explore the dark side of human nature, tapping into primal fears in this movie about twin brothers, both Toronto-based gynecologists, and their common collapse into madness. Jeremy Irons gives a career performance as the twins, which Cronenberg enhances through the use of special effects like a computer-aided split screen.

Amazon.com
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

Product Description
In Dead Ringers, David Cronenberg tells the chilling story of identical twin gynecologists-suave Elliot and sensitive Beverly, bipolar sides of one personality-who share the same practice, the same apartment, the same women. When a new patient, glamorous actress Claire Niveau, challenges their eerie bond, they descend into a whirlpool of sexual confusion, drugs, and madness. Jeremy Irons' tour-de-force performance-as both twins-raises disturbing questions about the nature of personal identity.

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

Customer Reviews

Very good "15 Anniversary Edition" DVD with Criterion extras
As of this writing, there's no artwork posted here, but if you get this DVD, at the top of the front cover, there's a black banner with white text that says "15th ANNIVERSARY EDITION FEATURING SUPPLEMENTS ORIGINALLY PRODUCED BY THE CRITERION COLLECTION." The transfer seems to be the same: non-anamorphic, 1.66:1 aspect ratio. The extras are spectacular, especially the commentary with Jeremy Irons and David Croenberg.

Another DVD released in Europe also licensed the same extras, but it's missing an essay and uses a different transfer with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. THIS DVD, which seems to be only available in Canada, uses the director's PREFERRED aspect ratio of 1.66:1, and is complete, almost an exact duplicate of the original Criterion Collection DVD in terms of content.

This is a bit more expensive than other DVD's, but a bit cheaper than the original Criterion Collection DVD, which is out-of-print and fetches 40+ U.S. dollars on ebay. Definitely worth buying if you love this picture, which is Croenberg's best work.

You want to buy this
The two most esteemed works by Cronenberg are Videodrome (1983) and Dead Ringers (1988). Third is usually Naked Lunch (1991). All three are available on Criterion, though Dead Ringers has been out of print for a long time. But no worries. This release has all the goods from the Criterion version, and at a more reasonable price.

Cronenberg maintained his artistic integrity with this film (and has since). While most directors would water themselves down after a blockbuster (1986's The Fly), Cronenberg moved onto a movie about twin gynaecologists (which is pretty risky in itself) and their descent into insanity. It is the beginning of the more internalised works by Cronenberg, though there are still some horror elements (the Giger-esque instruments for operating on mutant women and the dream sequence).

If you enjoy Dead Ringers, be sure to check out Videodrome and his 2002 film Spider, and if you make it that far, move onto Naked Lunch and Crash.

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.