Michael Paul Rogin,“far from mocking the mentality it displays, the film “aims to reawaken a lethargic nation to the Communist menace”
The movie is particularly useful at looking at cold war films in a modern context. For example, the remake of the movie is reflective of postmodern terrorism anxieties whilst the 1962 movie is focused on communism and the danger of both left and right extremes. Francis Fukuyama argues that 1989 was “The End of History” and the victory of western liberal democracy, the 2001 attacks contradicts this and the revival of the movie in 2004 under this premise shows that the politics of the 1962 movie was ‘vital centre’ and a lack of discontinuity. Similarly, the alleged interference of Russia in the 2016 presidential election reveals the relevancy of this movie in portraying the continuity of paranoia against communism.
The Manchurian Candidate 