Dead Presidents poster & wallpaper

Bokeem Woodbine, Chris Tucker, Freddy Rodriguez

Anthony Curtis is a bright 18-year-old from the Bronx who, in 1968, is stepping into manhood. Choosing not to immediately enroll in college, Anthony decides to leave his mentor Kirby, girlfriend Juani...( read more  read more... )ta Benson and her sister Delilah, to enlist in the Marine Corps. His buddy Skip and friend Jose soon join him. It is 1972 when Anthony returns to his neighborhood, only to discover that he is not treated as a hero. Though for a while he manages a part-time job in a butcher's shop, Anthony, with his girlfriend Juanita, who bore his daughter shortly after he enlisted, is living in an infested South Bronx apartment, barely making ends meet. Afforded little respect, and eventually unemployed and desperate, Anthony feels he has no alternative but to take part in a scheme to obtain some dead presidents--a slang term for cash. He believes that one well-executed score will secure a chance at a better life for himself, for his daughter and for the people of his community.

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77% liked it

25,877 ratings

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56% liked it

16 critics

R, 120

Directed by: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes, Bokeem Woodbine, Chris Tucker, Freddy Rodriguez, James Pickens Jr., Keith David, Larenz Tate, N'Bushe Wright

Release Date: October 6, 1995

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DVD Release Date: May 19, 1998

Stats: 865 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (865)

  • franktowers
    August 14, 2009
    franktowers
    dead presidents = money

    get it?
  • LitelBluHli
    January 14, 2009
    LitelBluHli
    I remember watching this when I was just a little kid, but, I still remember it being a good movie. Larenz Tate was great in here.
  • KhrisP
    August 23, 2008
    KhrisP
    A great black crime thriller depicting the sad story of how Vietnam Vets return home to nothing.... no job opportunity, no chance to raise a family properly... nothing.... except crime.

    With a star cast listing, each with their individual talents, its fascinating to see how the...( read more) war affected the lead characters, from the nightmares to heroin addiction to finding God... and how the ultimate prize draws them together for a bloody heist which destroys all of them.

    It is pretty gory and explicit for violence... well to put it short, we see a guy who was castrated and had his lovejoy put in his mouth.... well thats a gruesome as it can get. Plus body parts blowing up and such. No shorts on graphic violence. ^___^""
  • garyX
    June 6, 2008
    garyX
    An intelligent update of blaxploitation flicks from the 1970s, Dead Presidents is the story of Anthony, a promising young student who, upon his return from the Vietnam war, finds his old neighbourhood completely transformed. Without a job, suffering post traumatic stress and unab...( read more)le to feed his young family he becomes embroiled in a plan to rob an armoured car. Unfairly appropriated into the slew of movies from the "hood" in the early 1990s, this film from the Hughes brothers (Menace II Society) is a clever blend of coming of age, Vietnam war and urban crime dramas. Larenz Tate heads a young cast who all acquit themselves well, although none can match the dominating presence of veteran character actor Keith David; even the normally excruciating Chris Tucker is pretty good here. It's full of memorable scenes taking a lot of stylistic cues from Goodfellas, particularly the gripping heist sequence, and it's all complimented perfectly by a wonderful soundtrack of the best of American soul and funk of the period. I think it would have benefited from a non linear timeline to break up the episodic nature of the script, and considering the power of the build up, it ends in something of a whimper; the Hughes brothers feeling the need to hammer home the "crime doesn't pay" message at the expense of a satisfying narrative conclusion. But considering the many disparate elements cleverly combined and some excellent set pieces, it's a strong and worthy action driven crime drama with a message.
  • QueenCityFilms
    March 6, 2008
    QueenCityFilms
    straight up
  • magnolia12883
    October 20, 2009
    magnolia12883
    The Hughes Brothers' sophomore effort is a well-made mess: It seems to want to be first a coming of age story, then a Vietnam War picture, wrapping up in lurid crime melodrama fashion, and since it never seems to stay in one place for very long, we feel the whiplash effect. Antho...( read more)ny Curtis (Larenz Tate) is a smart, promising 18-year-old young man living with successful parents (James Pickens Jr. and Jenifer Lewis) in the Bronx in 1968. He works as a milk man as his brother (Isaiah Washington, uncredited) is going to college. Anthony doesn't see the virtue of going directly to college, wanting seemingly to "pursue his options" by enlisting in the Marines, much to his well-off family's chagrin. Anthony is surrounded by bad influences, however, from the one-legged pool hall operator turned criminal mentor Kirby (Keith David) to the insane pool hustler known as Cowboy (Terrence Dashon Howard). He's also surrounded by the troubled natures of his peers, including Jose (Freddy Rodriguez), who seems fairly harmless, and the aspiring pimp turned junkie Skip (Chris Tucker), who joins Anthony in Vietnam. There is also the potential for love in Anthony's life, embodied by Juanita (Rose Jackson), with whom he makes love for the first time on graduation night before shipping off to fight in the war; he gets her pregnant immediately. The middle section of the film then shifts from the convincing details of every-day African-American life in 60s America to yet another fairly pale version of a Vietnam movie. In Vietnam, Skip and Anthony work alongside a deeply disturbed sociopath named Cleon (Bokeem Woodbine), who kills with impunity, even severing an enemy's head and carrying it around, stinking from rot, for "good luck." This is one of the less interesting sections of the film, which feels ill-fitting in the end. After surviving the atrocities of Vietnam, Anthony returns home to his family's loving embrace, the warm reception of his former co-horts (even the cantankerous Cowboy) and, of course, to Juanita and his (now) 4-year-old daughter. It's at this point, during what could've been its most involving material, that I fear it goes off the rails. Anthony, you see, is drawn by Juanita's sister Delilah (N'Bushe Wright) into some sort of seemingly Black Panther-inspired "revolution." That in and of itself could've led to an intriguing finish, but Delilah manages to rope Anthony and his pals into a robbery of a U.S. Treasury Truck, leading to a violent shootout. I'm not really sure how the robbery of a U.S. Treasury Truck equals anti-Vietnam, anti-government revolution of the sort that was becoming common in the 60s. The film, directed and co-written by Albert and Allen Hughes, comes from a screenplay by Michael Henry Brown. The Hughes Brothers, twins as it turns out, first burst onto the scene straight outta southern California (via Detroit) at age 21 with the great crime melodrama "Menace II Society" (1993), a uniquely perceptive slice of urban life. The early sequences and the final third of this movie have some of that film's qualities, without the sheer raw power. The Hughes Brothers have made great strides stylistically, even stealing a page from Spike Lee's book (more accurately, a trademark shot that they give their own spin). If the film isn't perfect, it shows that the Hughes' are real filmmakers, and it keeps us riding right along with it as it goes flying off the deep end. And that's something.

    NOTE: The judge appearing late in the film is an uncredited Martin Sheen.
  • jasontmartin3
    October 11, 2009
    jasontmartin3
    This movie was sick, I need to go buy it now!
  • Robbanflix
    August 30, 2009
    Robbanflix
    A drama crime movie taking place in NY Bronx late 60's. The story focus on the 18 year old Anthony Curtis played by Larenz Tate from movies like the popular Menace II Society. He is choosing to fight in Vietnam with some friends rather than college. It was a pretty long war scene...( read more) in this movie actually along with the crime stuff on the streets of Bronx so its almost hard to find the right genre for this flick. But its an interesting story and very nice performances. There are a few famous faces here like Keith David and Chris Tucker and he is the same as always with the same type of humor. Anyway a pretty good flick to sum it up with a mix of many genres.
  • boxofficeman
    August 10, 2009
    boxofficeman
    You want to see a great black drama, this is it.
  • doctordoom
    July 15, 2009
    doctordoom
    I was impressed with this film. The film is very dark. The film is about of group of men who enlist into the Vietnam war. They do their tour of duty and come back expecting to be treated as heroes. Instead they find they are still treated with racism and prejudice?due to their co...( read more)lour of skin. They can't find a decent enough job so they decide to pull a heist. The story is well done and the films cast each do a great job in their roles. The film is well worth checking out if you enjoy crime dramas.

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