Dead Presidents is a 1995 film, written and directed by (Allen and Albert,) The Hughes Brothers, known for directing 'Menace II Society' and 'From Hell.' It stars Larenz Tate (Menace II Society), Chris Tucker (Rush Hour) and Freddy Rodriguez (Planet Terror/Six Feet Under.)
The documents a four year period between 1969 and 1973 in The New York Bronx district during the vietnam war and follows the fortunes of three schoolfriends and the other surrounding inhabitants of their neighbourhood. The film is a graphic look at the events of the time, especially seeing as there is a good thirty/forty minute chunk in the middle set in Vietnam. However, the film is primarily set in New York. Dead President's contrasts these two settings to make a statement on the impact of war upon people and addresses alot of the issues faced by the soldiers when they try to reassimilate themselves back into everyday society.
The Plot
(A few spoilers, pretty detailed, but nothing too big I promise)
The film begins quite light-heartedly with three friends casually joking around together efore their impending graduation. These are three of the main characters and all are acted really well. Anthony (Larenz Tate) is the film's central protagonist and is at the start, a very likeable character. His friends Skippy (Chris Tucker) and José (Freddy Rodriguez) are very animated and also are easy to warm to, same as Anthony. Skippy is smart-mouthed and has ambitions of being a big player with women and making his living from it. A quite typical wannabe-pimp Chris Tucker character but he adds a light side when the film can sometimes get a little dark. José is always up for some action and tends to be very agreeable with the two stronger characters.
The film really begins when Anthony tells his family of his decision to join the Marine Corps and go to war, much to his parent's dismay and his well-educated brother's disapproval. To let off some steam, Anthony goes to see his friend Kirby, an old neighbourhood gangster who now runs a pool hall. Kirby is a giant of a man, clearly with the potential to intimidate and a veteran of The Korean
War who now sports a false leg for his troubles in battle. He and Anthony go for a rather dubious drive in which Kirby gets the schoolboy to drive for him, whilst he goes to collect some money from a stubborn shopkeeper, throwing the poor guy through the shop's front window in the process. This all seems a little serious but it is given a nice comic touch when he snatchs Kirby's artificial leg right off and the screaming Kirby is forced to lie next to him on the floor and demand it back. This kind of scene is typical of the film, it switches from being very serious and quite aggressive in places to fairly cheerful and playful and then back again.
The plot opens up after the boys graduation, just before Anthony leaves for Vietnam. At a party, he gets together with a local girl, Juanita and eventually it ends up in the bedroom of her house. No more detail is needed I think. Anyway, the next morning the pair are woken up by Juanita's younger sister, Delilah. She helps them avoid their returning and rampaging mother and in a very clever bit of cinema, Anthony and Juanita exchange a last kiss and he begins to dart though her neighbours gardens, vaulting fences past shouting home owners. Here the scene quickly imposes into the Vietnam Jungle, Anthony still running but now vaulting branches and bodies to the sound of gun and shellfire. The film feels like it really becomes a second, seperate film here and stays this way for a while until returning to the Bronx setting later on.
Essentially the film is a commentary on the social issues faced by the veterans upon their return to America. Which therefore means that in this act of the film, whilst it's backdrop is Vietnam, some truly gruesome things happen and the horrors of war are not toned down much. In my opinion, this is mainly to really shock the audience and justify the trauma that some of the main characters will eventually go through.
When the film setlles in Vietnam it becomes apparent that José has also joined the Army and Skip has been conscripted any way. Whilst away, Anthony learns that Juanita has had his daughter and this motivates him throughout his term there. Skip however, simply indulges in the local women and dabbling in drugs but this is only mentioned, never really elaborated upon. Two final characters are introduced as well. Cleon is a crazed memeber of the platoon, who keeps the head of a slain enemy in his backpack for good luck. Nasty indeed. The other new face is typical GI 'Lieutenant Dugan' the platoon's leader.
The film's most graphic happenings explode in Vietnam, from the moment the platoon insist that Cleon bury his 'trophy' head becaise of the smell. Minutes after, one of the platoon is seperated and the other men find him disembowelled and humiliatingly castrated. A very detailed scene really and a strong stomach is required if you want to be on the safe side. The wounded man, 'D'Ambrosio' is carried to the Medi-evac by Anthony but on the way he begs Anthony, quite horrificly, to kill him. After quick but deep, concerned deliberation, Anthony gives him an overdose of Morphine and D'Ambrosio passes away peacefully but this torments Anthony for the rest of the film.
Skippy also suffers. During one engaement with the enemy he is paralysed with fear and cowers behind a rock for cover. Leiutenant Dugan screams for Skippy to 'cover him' but Skip can't move and fails to watch his Lieutenant, who is subsequently mown down by a hail of bullets. Ater this, the film melts away from Vietnam and back to Bronx and begins to start making its point evident.
Anthony returns to New York a few months after Skippy and José, returning to find Skippy in a heavy drug addict now. Skippy explains this saying it helps him cope with Lt. Dugan's death and also that he caught something over in Vietnam, but he doesn't know what. Apparently this is AIDS, undiscovered at the time although this is not really confirmed in the film. Anthony struggles to bond with his family upon his return and instead goes to stay with Juanita, finding work as a butcher.
This picture perfect existence is soon shattered by marital problems. The appearance of 'Cuddy' a sinister man who lavishes money upon Juanita and her daughter, taunting Anthony about how he 'took care of Juanita' while he was away. Anthony is also suffering from horrific flashbacks and nightmares and drinks increasingly to cope with this. He loses his job when the butcher is forced to close and the accumulation of all of these events leads him to leave Juanita and seek solace in her younger sister Delilah. Delilah is now a hardcore left-wing revolutionary and tries to introduce Anthony to the other side of the political spectrum.
All of the happenings after the boys returned home as soldiers lead the friends to join Kirby ona bold plan to ambush as US Mint truck taking millions of dollars in used currency to be burned at the Washington Mint. None of them can find work and are subsequently unsettled and struggling to make ends meet. So Skippy, Anthony, Kirby and José (who has traded his right hand for a newfound knowledge of demolitions) enlist the help of Delilah, and reluctantly, the crazed Cleon. Cleon has now become a pastor and tried to change his ways, however he soon relents and agrees to help the gang.
The film unfolds in six or seven great scenes which utilise its soundtrack to the full potential, fading between each scene and really tying together the main events of the film. The heist itself is brilliantly atmospheric, if a little unorthodox. The painted faces of the robbers give them a strange quality which I can't quite describe but will leave a lasting imprint in your memory. The planning stage is very quaint in the way that it is laid out in detail what is supposed to happen and you can almost see it before the scene actually comes about.
Plenty happens in the last half hour of the film and as a whole, the film has plenty to entertain in a variety of ways and backdrops, cramming four years into two hours. I get the feeling the film had parts edited before its release as it's story does have a great deal of potential, however this potential and the film's great soundtrack are not really reflected in the extras.
The Soundtrack and The Extras
The soundtrack album is availableindividually and features some great soul, funk and motown music from the likes of Barry White, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Isaac Hayes and James Brown. All legends and a brilliant compilation regardless of the film.
The DVD completely lacks extras and only boasts A couple of foreign dubbings, subtitles and English for the hearing impaired. Nothing more really. Personally, I don't buy films for the extras, but it does slightly deppreciate the DVD's value for money.
Overall
I would recommend Dead President's to any of my friend's. It's a gritty production which really has the capacity to force the viewer to question the notion of war in one way or another. It tries to illustrate the difficulty of the situation which the veterans found themselves in when they returned home and despite the charcter's individual moral flaws, it manages to humanise their consequent brutality and it's hard not to find yourseldf sympathising with them for the most part.
The acting is strong and the film has an authentic feel to it despite portraying a time nearly 20 years earlier than it's release. Dead Presidents doesn't pull its punches and gives an honest portrayal of its main issues and the characters caught up within the turmoil. If you can take a bit of intensity then Dead Presidents is a great, soulful, piece of cinema that you can watch over again.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Action/Adventure - Director: Gore Verbinski - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Chow Yun-Fat
Get ready for Dead presidents - the explosive, action-packed drama that's thrilling ... more
audiences everywhere! On the streets, cash is called 'dead presidents.' And that's what down-on-his-luck Vietnam Veteran Anthony Curtis is desperate for when he returns...
Oct 9th, 2008
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