IMDb > Dead Ringers (1988)
Dead Ringers
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Dead Ringers (1988) More at IMDbPro »

Videos
Dead Ringers (1988) -- Open-ended Trailer from Morgan Creek

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Overview

User Rating:
7.3/10   11,542 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 7% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Bari Wood (book) and
Jack Geasland (book) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Dead Ringers on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
23 September 1988 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Two bodies. Two minds. One soul. Separation can be a terrifying thing.
Plot:
Twin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
20 wins & 8 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(22 articles)
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User Comments:
difficult to get into, but once it takes hold... more (92 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jeremy Irons ... Beverly Mantle / Elliot Mantle
Geneviève Bujold ... Claire Niveau (as Genevieve Bujold)
Heidi von Palleske ... Cary (as Heidi Von Palleske)
Barbara Gordon ... Danuta

Shirley Douglas ... Laura
Stephen Lack ... Anders Wolleck
Nick Nichols ... Leo
Lynne Cormack ... Arlene
Damir Andrei ... Birchall
Miriam Newhouse ... Mrs. Bookman
David Hughes ... Superintendent
Richard W. Farrell ... Dean of Medicine (as Richard Farrell)
Warren Davis ... Anatomy Class Supervisor
Jonathan Haley ... Beverly, Age 9
Nicholas Haley ... Elliot, Age 9
more
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Alter ego (Canada: French title)
Gemini (Canada: English title) (working title)
Twins (Canada: English title) (working title)
more
Runtime:
116 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Working title: "Gemini". The studio didn't like it, and so switched to "Twins". This was changed to "Dead Ringers" after Ivan Reitman, who had produced two of Cronenberg's early films, approached Cronenberg about purchasing the rights to use the title "Twins". Twins was then used for the Danny DeVito/Arnold Schwarzenegger film Twins (1988/I). more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: In a scene dated 1954, the twins seen are playing with The Visible Woman, Revell toy company's biological model of a woman that was not marketed until at least five years later. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Elliot, Age 9: You've heard about sex...
Beverly, Age 9: Sure I have.
Elliot, Age 9: Well I've discovered why sex is.
Beverly, Age 9: You have? Fantastic.
Raffaella: It's because humans don't live under water.
Beverly, Age 9: I don't get it.
Elliot, Age 9: Well, fish don't need sex because they just lay the eggs and fertilize them in the water. Humans can't do that because they don't live in the water. They have to - internalize the water. Therefore we have sex.
Beverly, Age 9: So you mean humans would have sex if they lived in the water?
Elliot, Age 9: Well they'd have a kind of sex. The kind where you wouldn't have to touch each other.
[...]
more
Soundtrack:
In the Still of the Night (I'll Remember) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
14 out of 23 people found the following comment useful.
difficult to get into, but once it takes hold..., 13 August 2003
7/10
Author: Jonny_Numb from Hellfudge, Pennsylvania

David Cronenberg is a director of great unique vision, and he ranks highly on my list of favorites, not because every film he does is great per se, but because there is a certain level of consistency and quality that infects each bizarre celluloid mutation he comes up with. David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick have done a few good films, but their track records are generally inconsistent--Cronenberg, while grossly underrated, outshines them all. And "Dead Ringers"--probably his most widely-praised film in the mainstream, next to "The Fly"--is no exception. The film is quite puzzling on first inspection, and I did have a hard time settling into the mentality that would let me enjoy it, but once I did, I was thoroughly impressed--whether playing the smarmy Elliott or the sensitive Beverly Mantle, Jeremy Irons gives a wonderfully nuanced performance as identical twin gynecologists (the subtleties of difference in personality command multiple viewings to register). Not only is the film's central theme both compelling and disturbing (one personality split between two people), but the descent into (prescription) drug addiction and botched gynecological procedures (with Cronenberg's trademark insect-like surgical instruments) will make your skin crawl. It's a bleak, depressing, and tragic tale, but it shows brotherly relations with an intimacy few films ever approach. Anchored by Irons' spectacular dual performance, "Dead Ringers" is a film that shows a lot of maturity on Cronenberg's part, and though it might be hard to call it 'entertaining,' it does contain harsh imagery with an emotional pulse that will not be easily forgotten.

7/10

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Dead Ringers (1988)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
what do twins think of this film? Iamneil45
Greatests Academy Award injustices StuntmanMatheus
how did they do the shots with both twins in? mariacarabin
What is the motivation behind the 'separation'? (major spoiler) pathologica
Boring mastrmeb
The Music playing during any credits? Paraguay7
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