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I mean, I doubted this movie at first from the beginning in Broadway. But as it progressed, I was laughing so hard on certain scenes like when Dr. Menville is reporting the murder of Madelyn and she suddenly gets up and starts walking toward him. It was too funny and the effects were so phenomenal. I mean literally. But then again, it won an Oscar for its effects. I mean, the fight scene where the 2 start fighting with shovels and Helen breaks off the metal end of Mad's and she throws it right through her. "Yes! I mean No! Oh Damn!" That scene was just side-splitting. Overall it was a good black comedy and I'd recommend it to anybody. And Robert Zemeckis, I never knew he did such a great movie because he's a head producer for Dark Castle Entertainment and he's done some pretty bad movies from there like Ghost Ship and Thir13en Ghosts. But wow, he has really made an excellent movie.

And the award for the snarkiest woman in history goes to: Meryl Streep! This movie proves that Meryl knows how to play a snarky woman better than almost anyone else. In fact, 80% of this movie is Meryl and Goldie Hawn verbally abusing and emasculating their co-star Bruce Willis. Not a bad plot, honestly.

The other 20% of the film are special effects that stretch and disfigure human bodies in just about every configuration imaginable, the caveat being that the bodies are of people that are still alive and speaking. It sounds grotesque, and at times I was wincing, but overall it was pretty cool to see what they could accomplish.

I'd say that Meryl bitching is delightful at first, but verges on grating by the end. And once you've seen a couple variations of a disfigured body even that can get sort of redundant.

This is a campy horror flick, so I suppose the point was to make it as over-the-top as they could, and I think they managed to do that and then some. Going into this I thought, "oh, this is a standard story about two women fighting over a man! I've seen this type of thing before!". But really, the first thirty-some minutes feel like a complete separate movie from the remainder of it.

It quickly becomes apparent that what you thought this was going in isn't what this is at all. Actually, it's completely different and unexpected and the sheer weirdness of this flick earns it some points.

I was hoping for an alternate ending in which Ernest exposes the society of immortals to the public and a mass media witch hunt ensues, but the actual ending isn't that bad and works well too.

Ok, call me crazy but wasn't this the first film that anyone had ever seen Bruce Willis play a character that didn't involve him blasting bad guys into the air with a machine gun? Don't get me wrong, I loved "Die Hard" and am a big fan of Bruce but it was just so refreshing to see him play a character that was so different to his previous (and, indeed, later) roles. His performance of the downtrodden, weedy "Ernest" is masterful as he strikes a perfect balance between the comedy and darkness of the film. If you like black comedies (like me), you'll love this! Whoever thought of casting such a genius combination of these three great actors in this film should be applauded. Hawn and Streep are excellently cast as the two feisty women competing over Ernest, desperately hanging on to their long-gone youth and stopping at NOTHING to get what they want - the bitch fight between the two gals is a scene NOT to be missed!

All in all, "Death Becomes Her" is a deliciously dark comedy with a brilliant cast, great direction and some pretty convincing special effects - considering it was made way back in 1992!

In 1978, in Broadway, the decadent and narcissist actress Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) is performing Songbird, based on Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Then she receives her rival Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn), who is an aspiring writer, and her fiancé Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis), who is a plastic surgeon, in her dressing-room. Soon Menville calls off his commitment with Helen and marries Madeline. Seven years later, Helen is obese in a psychiatric hospital and obsessed in seeking revenge on Madeline. In 1992, the marriage of Madeline and Menville is finished and he is no longer a surgeon but an alcoholic caretaker.

Out of the blue, they are invited to a party where Helen will release her novel Forever Young and Madeline goes to a beauty shop. The owner gives a business card of the specialist in rejuvenation Lisle Von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini) to her. When the envious Madeline sees Helen thin in a perfect shape, she decides to seek out Lisle and buys a potion to become young again. Further, she advises that Madeline must take care of her body. Meanwhile Helen seduces Menville and they plot a scheme to kill Madeline. When Madeline comes home, she has an argument Menville and he pushes her from the staircase. She breaks her neck but becomes a living dead. When Helen arrives at Menville's house expecting that Madeline is dead, she is murdered by Madeline. But she also becomes a living dead and they conclude they need Menville to help them to maintain their bodies. But Menville wants to leave them.

"Death Becomes Her" is an American black comedy with excellent special effects even after twenty-three years after the release and great cast. The trash storyline is strange and original and the black humor may not be pleasant for everyone. But there are funny and witty quotes and situations and this film has not aged. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Morte Lhe Cai Bem" ("Death Fits Well to Her")

An enjoyable dark comedy mocking Hollywood's obsession with youth and their adamant belief in "lasting" vanity achieved through plastic surgery. The three leads are all superb and have a believable love/hate on-screen rapport. The visual effects (both digital and practical) still hold up very well to this day; Robert Zemeckis films never falter in this department. Side note: Bruce Willis is such a cutie in this film; he acts quite well in an against type role playing a high-strung, alcoholic plastic surgeon/mortuary cosmetologist. Death Becomes Her is a wickedly awesome viewing experience. Highly recommended if you like satirical dark comedies and '90s films.

I never saw "Death Becomes Her" when it first come out because of a review I had read somewhere. The review was dismissive and made a lot of sense, so I decided to give it a miss. What a terrible mistake! This is a movie I would love to see on a big screen. The script is so brilliantly clever. Disguised as a silly comedy there is a world of serious themes executed by a knowing cast. Meryl Streep in particular, playing convincingly an actress without talent. I remember the bad review criticized the writers for setting the story in a rainy, stormy Los Angeles when California was going through a drought. Imagine if a comedy about magic potions should worry about the accuracy of the weather. In fact the Los Angeles of "Death Becomes Her" feels more like Los Angelers than most realistic movies and it does it with nerve and wit. "In 12 years in Los Angeles have you ever seen a neighbor?" screams Meryl to his mousy Bruce. An absolute delight. Other hidden treasures are a cameo from Sidney Pollack and a very funny and very sexy "76 years old" Isabella Rossellini. A new cult classic and a total must.

When a woman learns of an immortality treatment, she sees it as a way to outdo her long-time rival.

This film was intended to be a sequel to the "Tales From the Script" television show, and although the TFTC name is not attached, you still get a strong sense of the humor we have come to expect. David Koepp and Martin Donovan (who last worked together on "Apartment Zero") had intended to write a few short films, like an anthology, but this story just grew... and Robert Zemeckis added his own brand of humor, with the dark side of Hollywood bubbling to the surface.

Along with Zemeckis comes some of his associates. That includes Dean Cundey, the cinematographer who started on low budget horror, then made John Carpenter's work look great, before moving on to the high-profile films of Zemeckis. And also producer Steve Starkey, who came up from the "Star Wars" films. Zemeckis is sort of the lesser-celebrated member of a triumvirate with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, but perhaps he should in many ways be more celebrated... his range and aesthetic are impressive.

There is no denying Robert Zemeckis is really a master of genre. He takes what could be a niche and makes it mainstream. "Back to the Future" is loved by all, not just science fiction nerds. And "Death Becomes Her" could have been horror, but with Zemeckis at the helm it was more mainstream, and is now classified as "fantasy / comedy" -- not even horror at all, despite the themes!

Although Meryl Streep was great (as always), she has said that it "was like being at the dentist" having to work in such a way to accommodate the special effects. She vowed never to work in such a film again, and for the most part I think she has stayed true to this vow. Which brings up an interesting divide between the actors of Streep's level (constant Oscar nominees) and those who appear in genre films again and again. Maybe Oscar acting is not better, but merely employs a different skill set?

Speaking of Oscars, "Death Becomes Her" won the Academy Award for Visual Effects. That is so well-deserved. Anyone who watches this film should be impressed by what they were able to do. Why is it that today (2016) we spend millions of dollars to make things look like animation, but already in 1992 they had perfected a way of making it look like heads were falling off and holes were being blown through people? We are regressing!

Scream Factory comes through with a Collector's Edition blu-ray. Although the features on the disc are a bit scant for a collector's edition, they were able to put together a series of interviews to make a retrospective. Streep and Goldie Hawn did not participate (not surprisingly), but Zemeckis did, which is really quite a coup. And David Koepp! And legendary cinematographer Dean Cundey, who had come with Zemeckis from "Back to Future"! Fans of the film who want to know a bit more about what went into this picture are strongly encouraged to pick it up.

The cast is perfect. The acting deserved golden globes all round. Every line is delivered perfectly and every expression is just right. Goldie, Meryl and yes Bruce are all perfect. Meryl's best comedy ever. Goldie is so funny - one of the first fat suit uses. In fact it is Bruce's best comedic role - he is unrecognizable. The dark comedy is so unique and right on the plastic surgery and commentary on the obsession with youthful looks is so spot on. And it is really funny too. Special effects are still astounding even by today's standards. Isabella Rosellini is also very effective in her small role. Every time I have seen this movie over all these years it's still funny and still delightful. A must see and a classic.

Fun little flick - for sure Death Becomes Her is not made for everyone, but well, if that mix of macabre horror fantasy comedy and whatever hits you, you will be well entertained. On top, we get a fine cast. Recommended, if you like such movies as The Witches of Eastwick, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Dark Shadows and the like.

Streep is Madeleine Ashton, an ageing, mediocre actress and a very nasty person. Hawn is Helen, another nasty piece of work involved in a most antagonistic relation with Madeleine since high school. Willis is the unfortunate Ernest, previously engaged to Helen, then "stolen" by Madeleine just out of spite.

Their dysfunctional relationships coalesce thanks to the intervention of Isabella Rossellini, in an hilarious role as Lisle Von Rhuman, a woman who can sell immortality and eternal youth.

The funniest scene of the movie is definitely Madeleine and Lisle's meeting. Streep is excellent in conveying the faded star who's seen it all and doesn't believe the hype until she actually sees it working.

The setting and plot development are very gothic, even macabre and I am not surprised the movie was not a success in the 90s. Even I enjoyed it more after all these years than upon release.

Perhaps the most touching part is Ernest pondering - albeit in a brief, understated scene - about the advantages of immortality.

There is so much greatness in this unexpected Hollywood comedy that the cheap shots are really cheap and, quite frankly, unbearable. Buried somewhere between the special effects (extraordinary by the way) is one the wittiest satires to come out of Hollywood in many, many moons. Meryl Streep is sensational and Bruce Willis is, I swear, unrecognizable in the best possible way. The movie hits the highest moments when, for instance, Meryl asks Isabella Rossellini how much the magic potion costs and Isabella replays: "Oh the sordid topic of coin" sublime, exquisite, funny but with enormous regard for its audience. But when Bruce calls Goldie Hawn to explain the "incident" at home he goes through a TV style monologue that seems to belong to a sit-com and not to the elegant vulgarity of this three sad, magnificent wannabees. The dialog, for the most part, is the best in any American serious comedy since Billy Wilder. The structure of the script is flawless and inventive. The costumes are atrocious and certain scenes seem directed by a 3rd assistant. I don't know how to explain it. However, I have it, I own it and sometimes I put it on with my finger in the fast forward. What's good is so good that makes the whole thing really worth it.

I remember watching this movie back in the mid 1990's, give or take, and do recall it as being an entertaining movie. So I took the time to sit down and watch it again in 2017.

And let me just start out by saying that having aged 25 years has done nothing to the movie, because it is every bit as entertaining and enjoyable now as it was back then. So one might speculate whether or not the potion that thwarts aging and restores youth have been given to the movie as well...

The story is about the rivalry between two friends; Helen Sharp (played by Goldie Hawn) and Madeline Ashton (played by Meryl Streep). Helen is engaged to be married to Ernest Menville (played by Bruce Willis) when Madeline swoops in an steal him away. Ernest and Madeline become married, but the years of marriage wedges an emotional separation between them, and during these years Helen is down on her luck and harbors a strong resentment towards Madeline all these years. 12 years later, Helen walks back into the lives of Ernest and Madeline, and things are taking a very unexpected turn...

It is a combination of storyline, acting performances and special effects that keep this movie fresh and up to date. Yes, even while the movie is from 1992, the special effects are quite good and still do manage to stand up to the effects of today.

The music score for the movie was quite good, as it should be of course at the hands of Alan Silvestri.

Director Robert Zemeckis managed to turn writers Martin Donovan and David Koepp's story into a very enjoyable movie on the screen.

If you haven't already seen "Death Becomes Her", then I can strongly recommend that you find the time to do so, should you happen to get the chance, because this is a rather nice movie.

I can see how this movie was so popular; watching it in 92 with those effects must have been amazing; watching it in 2024 I'm bored with it. A few funny parts but the main characters are so unlikeable I have no one to root for. Goldie Hawn I guess but she's bad too.

I'm bored watching it. I actually have to watch it in parts because I can't watch it all the way through.

It's hard to give such a bad review to all 3 of the main cast because they are all great actors. I think they relied on the special effects and not enough plot. I wish I had seen it when it first came out so I can be in that mindset of being in awe.

Robert Zemeckis is not my favorite director, "Contact" notwithstanding. There's nothing wrong with his movies; they're just fluffy. "Back to the Future" had an exhilarating two-billion-thread plot, but a disappointing moral climax-Marty's reengineered past creates an alternate present where his family is wealthy and the thing he covets most, a 4x4, is in the garage. (Such was our national mood--blame Reagan.) And "Forrest Gump", a decent and poignant melodrama, tried to be a satire too but instead of knowing commentary it delivered cliches (John Lennon on the Dick Cavett show answers questions using only lyrics from "Imagine"; an anti-war protester at a Washington rally makes his case before the crowd with the argument "Viet F...in' Nam!").

On the other hand, Zemeckis directed this, one of the great black comedies of the '90s. "Death Becomes Her" is a delicious, well-observed satire about makeup, makeup and more makeup. In Hollywood, if you're old you're run out of town on a rail and Meryl Streep's character is horrified that her body is going south. Streep has great comic timing (this role and her role in "Postcards from the Edge" are too-infrequent examples of it) and she makes a believable ogre of Madeline Ashton, a Streisand-esque demon. As the film begins in 1978 Madeline is onstage in a Broadway musical version of "Sweet Bird of Youth", hilariously retooled as an unironic paean to her girlish looks (she sings the unforgettable "I See Me" to her own reflection). Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) and her fiancee Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis) are in the audience, and after the show Madeline greets old friend Helen backstage, and promptly steals Ernest away from her for marriage. Flash forward seven years; Helen is overweight, living alone with dozens of cats and endlessly rewatching movie star Madeline being murdered in a scene from one of her films. She is evicted and arrested but in jail she hits on an elegant solution for eliminating Madeline from her mind: eliminating her.

Flash forward to 1992 Los Angeles; has-been Madeline is caking on makeup and scheduling multiple face-lifts to fend off the inevitable. Ernest, formerly a plastic surgeon with a promising career, is now a mortician who dresses and retouches the best-looking corpses in the business. (His secret: spraypaint.) No sooner has Madeline rediscovered a drop-dead gorgeous Helen--looking impossibly young and voluptuous at her own 50th birthday party--then she panics and becomes desperate for a quick fix for her fading looks. She ends up in a mysterious Hollywood mansion with a sorceress (Isabella Rossellini) who gives her a magic potion granting eternal youth. Meanwhile Helen seduces Ernest and enlists his help in murdering Madeline. But comes a twist (literally) and suddenly Madeline gets a looks at immortality, and her own rear end, following a nasty fall down a staircase.

All the actors shine here. Goldie Hawn is hilarious. Bruce Willis, an underrated comic actor, is goofier than he's been since "Moonlighting". Sydney Pollack does a virtuoso one-take cameo as a doctor who loses it after examining a dead-but-still-breathing Madeline. There are a lot of twists and surprises, not the least of which is that the FX get some of the biggest laughs. With technology these days being so good FX often slip invisibly into the background, this movie flaunts its CG-manipulated human bodies as something to goggle at.

Zemeckis' usual trademarks are here, including elaborate tracking shots in expositional scenes and the use of mirrors to combine on- and off-screen space (in this movie about vanity there is a surplus of mirrors, one in practically every scene). The movie was written by Martin Donovan and David Koepp (they cowrote "Apartment Zero"; Koepp wrote "Jurassic Park" and its sequel). The mordant, sour-as-kumquats score is by Alan Silvestri ("Back to the Future", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"). The special effects were produced by Industrial Light and Magic.

"Death Becomes Her" is over 20 years old but I bet it took a potion to remain splendorous for ever. Everything ages, even special effects but the elegance and wit of most of the dialog remains fresh and brisk. "I wasn't the sort of girl who could say the word sexual without blushing" tells Goldie to poor, emasculated Bruce - What happens to Bruce's face is just brilliant. He can't believe it. He is excited and terrified at the same time. A new DVD blue ray edition is overdue, with lots of extra features, please. Why haven't we seen more work like this? I'm a great fan of Martin Donovan and David Koepp, the writers, and this was their second and last collaboration. Koepp went on to write Jurassic Park and Mission Impossible and directed the delightful Ghost Town and Premiun Rush. Martin Donovan does extraordinary work with actors at Playhouse West and the Director's Playhouse of Los Angeles. I sat at three of his sessions and I left inspired and breathless. I asked him about "Death Becomes Her" and our exchange will be posted in his Message Boards here on IMDb. It made me want to see the film again, immediately.

After a sharp, smartly and amusingly satirical first act, "Death Becomes Her" takes a dive and never recovers (and the hastily-refilmed ending certainly doesn't help; it's too transparently rushed). After two female rivals have each drunk a potion that will keep them young forever, they are killed and come back as the living dead...and continue to primp and fuss like pageant contestants. Bruce Willis plays a genial doctor who gets caught in the middle, and while Bruce is surprisingly adept at playing the milquetoast, it's a completely thankless part (he just stands there reacting, his mouth open in surprise). The picture does look good--too good. It's overproduced and yet doesn't flow with a smooth continuity (the way slick, expensive movies often do). Instead, the film is jumbled and frenetic, and doesn't seem to have a point. However, the first 45 minutes are a hoot, and in these early scenes Meryl Streep does some high comedy worth seeing. A mixed-bag. **1/2 from ****

I love this movie and have watched it more than any other film I own. What makes it for me is the subtle face acting of the two leads whose comic timing is perfect. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn have never been so good (plus this is the only film in which Bruce Willis doesn't do his trademark smirk even once).

Every role is played to perfection and the script is a comedy work of art.

I won't bother defending it to those people who need their jokes hammered home to them by comedy actors whose only way of getting a laugh is to gurn and fart. Each to their own.

Bruce Willis usually gets typecast as a strong, macho man so it was such a surprise to see him play an introspective, under the thumb wimp in this movie, in one of his best performances! Willis easily outshines both Streep and Hawn in this movie. This is a pure black comedy, a brilliant social satire on society's obsession with beauty and the sheer lengths some people will go to to ensure that they are continually perceived by others in the most attractive light possible. Truly a once in a lifetime experience this movie, with Bruce Willis giving one of his most underrated performances ever! You'll laugh and be horrified at the same time, which is an extremely difficult feat, which was only pulled off by a skilled writer and director.

So very surprising in how bad it is. I was very surprised at how boring the dialogue was. I would say less that one third of the punch lines actually hit. For someone who loves comedy that's saying something. The characters were even worse! They were poorly written so unbelievably two dimensional. No really interesting characteristics or anything to make you empathize with them. Horrible writing given the 5 star actors playing had chemistry working together. I'm not one who is easily distracted when I watch a movie but I found myself having to glance back only to realize I have no idea what was happening. No phone or other distractions going on either. I mean with such an all star cast and great visual effects, it was appalling!

The visual effects were great! It was truly great to see even 20+ years later! Very well done!

Overall disappointed. 4/10 stars.

I must have seen this film about 15 or so times now. I love the vain, shallow characters of Madeline and Helen who are the ultimate example of what might happen if you took the advice of our "obsessed-with-perfection" media to its illogical conclusion. Meryl and Goldie play their parts with unrestrained enthusiasm, pushing them to the limit to emphasise that these two who believe they are truly beautiful are, after all, just caricatures of perfection.

Like Icarus, Mad and Hell take no advice and pursue the unattainable regardless of the cost. That they see every mountainous obstacle as a mere minor inconvenience helps reinforce the humour of the film. Bruce Willis is marvellous as Ernest, the unhappy mouse caught in the middle of their game; the voice of reason amid lunacy.

The writing is witty and sometimes painfully sharp, emphasising in almost every scene that beauty does not equal happiness, and the closer you come to attaining an obsessively pursued physical perfection, the further you get from real happiness and fulfillment. Stylistically our attention is focused on this concept over and over again, with mirrors and reflections used very creatively throughout the film.

We don't see a lot of clever satire these days, which is a pity. This is a fabulous film.

There's no movie quite like this satire on the tinseltown obsession with youth and longevity which also has some things to say about humanity's relationship with mortality in general.

Don't think this is a snooty movie though; what we have is a darkly comic and grotesquely fun romp as two strong willed woman run a splineless male through the mill.

"This is not a dream. This is a nightmare."

Death Becomes Her is one of my friend's favorite movies, and she finally convinced me to give it a shot, myself. I can't say that I fell in love with this dark comedy like she did, but it's not a bad movie.

Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn play two life-long rivals who stumble upon the secret of eternal life, which adds a few complications when they both end up dying. Bruce Willis is the weak pawn who is used by both of them. These aren't the best roles for any of those actors, but each of them is watchable, as always.

I appreciated the sly digs that Death Becomes Her aims at Hollywood's (and really, everyone's) obsession with youth, vanity, and physical beauty, but it didn't match up well with my sense of humor. And the special effects are merely amusing, now (though I'm sure they were outstanding back in '92). For me, this was just average entertainment that I didn't like and didn't dislike. Your impressions may differ.