Product Details

• Actors: Emilio Estevez, William Forsythe, Jordi Mollà, Joaquim de Almeida, Jonathan Banks
• Directors: Gene Quintano
• Writers: Gene Quintano
• Producers: Enrique Cerezo, Scott W. Anderson, Stanley M. Brooks, Tony Anthony
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Turner Home Ent
• VHS Release Date: October 5, 1999
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0780625447
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,207 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The shaded face of a mysterious stranger fills the screen as a gunslinger enters the saloon deep in the background. A bright but plaintive trumpet moans out a melody to the accompaniment of a strumming guitar. The stranger drops his shot glass and fires, catching the drink before it hits the floor. Ah, the operatic excess of the spaghetti Western... But wait, is that Emilio Estevez hiding under that Spanish brim? Gene Quintano's made-for-cable homage to the mercenary Westerns of Sergio Leone and his ilk doesn't have the wide screen, the Spanish deserts, or the magnetic, squinting presence of Clint Eastwood (Estevez is a poor substitute by any standard), but his dusty plains and cinematic swagger make for a fun little genre picture. Borrowing story elements from A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (among others), Quintano tosses bounty hunters, treasure hunters, renegade soldiers, and a posse out for revenge into a busy tale of good and evil in the American Southwest. Quintano soon tosses the measured pacing of Leone for a rat-a-tat-tat narrative sparkled with trappings of John Woo: flying bodies in slow motion, unending hails of bullets pouring through six-shooters, and a one-man killing machine taking on small armies single-handedly. It won't replace the Eastwood-Leone classics, but it's a surprisingly fun tribute that strikes just the right balance between reverence and grandiloquence. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

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

By 

thefrankeinstein - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dollar for the Dead [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Region code 2?, March 7, 2011

By 

David W. Geary "Geek" (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Western!! Emilio Estevez rules!!, January 15, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Dollar for the Dead [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a great western starring Emilio Estevez that's reminiscent of the Clint Eastwood 60's Spaghetti Western flicks.It's a must see!!