A young black man from Brooklyn leaves his girlfriend and his numbers-running mentor to fight in Vietnam in 1968 only to return three years later to find no welcome and little hope for him and his buddies. Unemployed and desperate, he plans and executes an armored car robbery to secure enough "dead presidents" (slang for cash) to give him a fresh start.
The year is 1968, and Anthony, a naive, sweet black teen from the Bronx, impulsively decides to join the Marines and fight in Vietnam. After a very disturbing tour of duty, Anthony returns home in 1973 to discover that a lot has changed: his country has turned its back on him, his neighborhood has deteriorated, and he finds that he's now a father. Furthermore, he's not making enough money to support a family, and matters become even worse when he loses his job.
Desperate, angry and confused, the young man decides to participate in a robbery of "dead presidents", or money. But the results of this crime prove less than fruitful.
An Underworld Entertainment production.
Color by Technicolor; shot in Panavision widescreen.
Screened at the 1995 New York Film Festival.
Released theatrically in the USA on October 4, 1995,the film went on to gross $24.1 million at the domestic box office.
The Criterion Collection Special Edition laserdisc (CC1453L) includes:
Commentary by the Hughes brothers, Professor Todd Boyd,
and Ari Merretazon
Deleted scenes and theatrical trailers
"The Making of Dead Presidents"
Dr. Boyd's guide to blaxploitation films
An epilogue to the story: "What Happened to the Real
Anthony" by Ari Merretazon
This film was inspired by Wallace Terry's story "Specialist
No. 4 Haywood T. 'The Kid' Kirkland"
Rated BBFC 18 by the British Board of Film Classification.
DVD Features:
Region 1 encoding
Keep Case
Chapter Search
Distributor Notes: Dead Presidents
Get ready for action with this explosively exciting hit! On the streets they call cash dead presidents. And that's just what a Vietnam veteran (Larenz Tate -- MENACE II SOCIETY) is after when he returns home from the war only to find himself drawn into a life of crime. With the aid of his fellow vets he plans the ultimate heist -- a daring robbery of an armored car filled with unmarked U.S. currency! From the Hughes Brothers, acclaimed directors of the smash hit MENACE II SOCIETY -- you'll love every pulse-pounding second as these bold thieves risk it all for the score of a lifetime!
Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
Production Designer
David Brisbin: Production Designer, Art Director, works with Gus Van Sant
Review 1:
"...An exceptionally assured piece of work....Plays like THE DEERHUNTER N THE HOOD..." -- Rating: A
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.85 07/19/1996
Review 2:
"...Mesmerizing....[The film has] one of the year's great movie scenes..."
Source: USA Today
p.6D 10/04/1995
Review 3:
"...Its muscular engagement of weighty themes and explosive situations makes it a powerful drama..."
Source: Variety
10/02/1995
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