4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
How could a movie that rips off Woo, Leone and Raimi be bad?, May 31, 2002
That's what I asked myself. It's got a Leone story (along with a 100% authentic imitation Morricone score), Woo action (the opening nightclub scene ripped COMPLETELY out of The Killer) and tries its best to have Raimi energy. But if you're going to be "inspired" or use an "homage", it should be to compliment a story and the story's characters; not build them.
A man with no name (ugh) gets involved with a one-legged ex-confederate soldier who's on the hunt for three pieces of a map that'll lead him to confederate gold. Tailing the mysterious man is another, beefier mysterious man (Howie Long) and his band of 'regulators' who seem to want to ventilate No Name's abdomen. Emilio Estevez as No Name, I am sorry, cannot be believed. With a gut hanging over his gun belt, I felt a little awkward as he sneered out tough-guy dialogue. Then when he reached up to put his hat on with tiny little hands, I lost it. When I saw that Estevez was starring, I hoped for a character somewhat like that of Billy the Kid in Young Guns 2, who Estevez was flawless as. Mischievous, lighthearted, smart-allecky. The Spider-Man of The Old West. But alas, we're given a Clint Eastwood character that the four foot-tall Estevez can barely fit.
The script, while containing some sharp lines, seems to be built entirely around them. I tried my best to understand where Dollar for the Dead went wrong and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly went right, but I couldn't put my finger on it. A cold, quick loner who reluctantly teams up with a man for whom he feels some animosity; but somehow No Name and Peg Leg just don't achieve what Blondie and Tuco had.
Then the villains, oh my. There's a totally unexplained Union Cavalry officer who just casually shows up and wants to kill our heroes. Then there's a Mexican soldier who has some sort of weird NOT-Mexican accent that I can't understand. And Howie Long. Amazingly, Howie's bad guy is the most interesting, but, par for this movie, he's the one with seemingly the least time spent on, hence no character developement. So at last, when No Name, Howie and the Mexican soldier face off in a The Good, the Bad and the Ugly-style three-man stand-off, the only tension that's felt is from reminiscing on memories from the older movie.
A Western with Hong Kong-style action, it's what I thought the world needed. But what's here is a case of "done before and better", without a lighthearted camp that could have saved it. If you're curious to see Emilio Estevez rip off Django, Chow Yun-fat and Sylvester the Cat, then rent and be wary. Maybe with lower expectations you won't be as let-down as I was.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Region code 2?, March 7, 2011
This review is from: Dollar for the Dead (Region 2) (DVD)
Really, TNT, really?
This film is great saturday afternoon fare, and deserves a region 1 dvd release. Come on, put it in a three pack with the Young Guns series and call it the Emilio Estevez western matinee pack!
Filmed for television, as I recall, don't know that it would benefit from a blu-ray transfer.
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