Seconds (1966)

An aging, tired businessman becomes involved with a mysterious corporation which promises to rejuvenate him and totally transform his life, for a price.
Cast and Information
Directed By: John Frankenheimer
Written By: Lewis John Carlino, David Ely
Starring: Rock Hudson, Jeff Corey, Richard Anderson, Will Geer, Murray Hamilton, John Randolph, Frank Campanella, Salome Jens, Wesley Addy, Edgar Stehli, Frances Reid, Barbara Werle
Genres: Drama, Sci-fi, Suspense/Thriller, Mystery
Country: USA
Where to Stream
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Seconds belongs to 81 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 234 stars)
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Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
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Paxton | 69 56th |
If this is your idea of a movie, John Frankenheimer, then I'll have Seconds! (That one just barely beat out: How long it is before I knew that I was going to love this movie? About eleven minutes. Why?)
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MartinTeller | 84 81st |
Excellent paranoid sci-fi thriller. The premise is somewhat similar to The Face of Another, which coincidentally was released the same year. While I think Teshigahara goes to slightly more interesting places with the idea, Frankenheimer manages some intriguing angles as well, especially when he utilizes unusual techniques like the subjective camera. There's a lengthy hippie scene that feels mostly unnecessary, and I saw the ending coming a mile away, but otherwise I have no complaints.
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Suture Self | 10 96th |
Humans will never be satisfied with being human.
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JooJoo | 6 95th |
I watched this on a whim, Rock Hudson in a main role at this late date seemed like something to see. Needless to say, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Middle age malaise meets a twilight zone/kafka atmosphere to horrifying results. Special note for the last of that marvelous b&w work of James Wong Howe, he pulls out some crazy angles here. One hell of a watch.
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Mentaculus | 94 94th |
A hidden masterpiece, with a heightened expressionism rarely seen in American film, and a plot that mimics more foreign fare (like Teshigahara's The Face of Another). The conflict of personal vs. public identity certainly does not lack subtlety, but it sticks with you long after other thrillers have faded from memory.
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DavidKahane | 78 60th |
A twisty sci-fi/horror flick about the flexibility of identity and the lurking truth that personal reinvention won't necessarily heal wounds of the soul. Frankenheimer directs with a cunning intrusiveness, extracting every last bit of creepiness out of every moment. Rock Hudson may have been a dandy realization of coveted vigorous masculinity (yeah, yeah, I know) circa 1966 but that doesn't mean he's much of an actor. The troubled undercurrents of his role simply seem beyond his capabilities.
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Nathan S | 4 74th |
An unsettling and off kilter imagination which bears resemblance to The Twilight Zone, and may also work as a companion piece to Teshigahara's The Face of Another from the same year. The plotting is trim but the atmosphere is thick, and its consideration of psychospiritual rebirth is related closely to then-emerging new age philosophies (as in the scene where Hudson is baptized in wine by a throng of hippies). Nevertheless, the central thematic conceit of "starting over" is age-old and timeless.
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PeaceAnarchy | 86 84th |
Quite a wonderful psychological horror film. It's very mysterious but not complicated to follow and provides some interesting perspectives on how we value life and experience.
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alexlma | 9 91st |
The best things always happen when it's raining.
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2 | sellis | 95 96th |
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It's like Eternal Sunshine meets Face of Another but it's treated like a horror film. Stunning. Vivid fever dream visuals and delicate handling of such complicated logic. And Rock Hudson with a spellbinding performance. This would not work without him. Perhaps the best thriller I've ever seen.
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lupister | 35 34th |
Pretty shallow. It only shows the dude going to a wine orgy throwing a shitty party at his house and that's it, he wants a new life. He says they chose everything for him so he ended up doing all the same mistakes... but it doesn't show him doing anything like that.
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ratedargh | 90 85th |
"Is it easier to go forward when you know you can't go back?" Really well made. It's disorienting from the opening credits and through many extended scenes. It's dark, foreboding, and obvious things won't end well. While it may be apparent how things will turn up, it certainly doesn't hinder the process of getting there, which is absorbing and intoxicating in its hypnotic execution.
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Yiannos | 85 97th |
Aspects of the much criticised middle section recall some of the great European art films of the 60's, but Seconds is an all American nightmare, functioning as a critique of the 'good life' based on success and material acquisition while addressing the universal problem related to the burden of being. Complete renewal is an impossibility because we can't escape our memories accumulated in time, and Howe's brilliant camerawork creates an intense disorienting expression of this despairing state.
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2 | rcjunk | 38 19th |
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Would have worked better as a twilight zone episode instead of a full length film.
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djross | 91 98th |
The fourth-best science fiction movie of all time, along with 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and Tarkovsky's SOLARIS and STALKER. The counter-cultural elements seem sometimes to be disliked, but in my view they fit in perfectly. Best viewed without any knowledge of the narrative or themes. Re-watched October 2013 on Blu-ray: almost all elements are superb (e.g., probably Goldsmith's best score) and work very well together. Really is a one-off masterpiece. Just keep pluggin' away at the dream.
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Dorkovsky | 6 73rd |
I really appreciated its inventiveness, though I kept thinking back to "The Face of Another" which coincidentally came out the same year, and touched on the themes much better. Still, an interesting sci-fi.
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CinematicESP | 87 75th |
A compelling sci-fi concept elevated by a personal story and made unique by its unsettling style.
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frederic_g54 | 9 90th |
A clever, well-rounded and stylishly framed sci-fi - one that, albeit a somewhat jarring tonal shift, is unashamed to capitalize on its premise in ways few directors would ever dare. Also the perfect film to show to your disaffected and embittered friends who are fed up with the drudgery of life.
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KasperL | 90 97th |
Jürgen Müller writes in 'Movies of the 60s': "John Frankenheimer meditates on the legend of eternal youth, the power of money, and above all, on the nature of identity." I don't need to add much... only that cinematographer James Wong Howe is an absolute genius.
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chadisdanger | 92 97th |
The only other Frankenheimer I've seen is "The Manchurian Candidate", but based on these two the man clearly knew how to make a cynical, terrifying and savage thriller. Wong Howe's uneasy photography is superb in capturing the uncertainty, madness and horror of the proceedings. It also has a lot to say about ruthless capitalism, identity, and American culture.
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Optimus_mike | 85 80th |
An excellent cerebral sci-fi with great performances and a good message. Also the directing style of the film provided some very interesting shots and is one of the better movies of this era that I have seen.
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Jerky | 50 46th |
Liked half the film but hated half of it as well. Could have done without the hippie bohemian bullshit wine festival as well as some of the annoying cast (especially his lady friend Nora) Things are tied up nicely at the end though, easing my disdain towards the middle portion of the film.
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glumpy_99 | 79 56th |
Interesting if not entirely succesful 60s time capsule; dated in many regards, but tale of frustration with one's lot in life has some present-day resonance. Oddly cast Hudson is actually very good, playing against his heartthrob image, but film's strengths are in Frankenheimer's direction, which creates an unsettling, menacing atmosphere from the get-go, a creepy music score, and a matter-of-fact handling of a rather extraordinary sci-fi concept (even more so back in '66). A real curio.
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Clark Nova | 84 51st |
life sucks
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Ag0stoMesmer | 5 98th |
I'd have been satisfied at it's Kafka-esque Twilight zone but the score and visuals raised this even higher. A glorious nightmare.
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1 | Nepeta | 85 80th |
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Bold, disturbing, gripping, with some great ideas and a superb ending. Stylistically it is adventurous and though the expressionism didn't always work for me it certainly makes for an eye-catching piece of cinema. Like many of the best pieces of sci-fi it uses the sci-fi elements as a springboard for exploring real-world issues and ideas (in this case relating to personal identity).
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1 | Pickle_Man | 95 87th |
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Great episode of the Twilight Zone you got here Mr. Frankenheimer.
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Average Percentile 71.47% from 1044 Ratings | ![]() |