Dead Presidents

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Dead Presidents

R

1995

1h 59m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

47%

Tomatometer

34 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Soldier Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate) returns to his Bronx home after a nightmarish tour of duty in Vietnam. But the nightmare continues for Anthony and his friends as they suffer the indignities of trying to find steady work and provide for their families in a flagging economy. As desperation takes hold, Anthony teams up with Skip (Chris Tucker), a drug addict, and Kirby (Keith David), a small-time crook, to pull off a bank heist that will give them all a chance for a better life.

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Todd McCarthy

Variety

Dead Presidents may eventually box itself into a narrative dead end, but its muscular engagement of weighty themes and explosive situations makes it a powerful drama.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Time Out

There are intriguing aspects to this yarn, and the brothers can choreograph a scene, but you get the impression that they learned all they know from other movies, the blood and guts is gratuitous...

Jan 26, 2006

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Caryn James

New York Times

Like those overreaching sophomore term papers we can all laugh at now, this disappointing film may free the Hughes brothers to move on to fresher, more inspired work.

Rated: 2/4

May 20, 2003

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Sheila Reid

Women in the Life

Graphic, nostalgic and at times very funny.

May 13, 2022

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Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

Like the iconic black and white face paint of its bank robbers, this movie endures, as flawed and multi-faceted as the period it tries to reflect.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 17, 2021

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Don Shanahan

25YL (25 Years Later)

There is a ballsy honesty in presenting such an inevitable fall from grace with splattered style.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 6, 2020

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D P

I remember when people were hyping this film. The only thing I could remember was Chris Tucker's eyes glazed over. And that's it. So, I gave it a try recently, and I had to watch it twice in order to give it a fair assessment. I know what the film wanted to say, but it just didn't touch me in that way. I just became annoyed that the film wasn't executed better.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

09/13/25

Full Review

Jelisije J

I believe the late great Roger Ebert said it best this movie starts off great ,but somehow manages to get lost along the way and it feels like an incomplete film that had another 30 minutes left to go........Wasted Potential is the best way to describe this film.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/25/25

Full Review

thiago s

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/02/25

Full Review

Pedro P

So badly acted.. not one good credit.. sorry... watched for a second time... made ma laugh more.. so much overacting.. just crap!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/01/25

Full Review

Stephen C

Success in 1 hour and 59 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $24,100,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/02/25

Full Review

Rory W

Parts of this movie seem incredibly serious and like they have so much potential to be taken as a New York gangster/Vietnam war meshed fictional drama and it does it very well. However random comedic moments take away from any sense of reality and really bring the premise down with it. Upon first watch I thought the first hour of the movie was comedic drama. Some scenes reminded me of classic Vietnam and African American style movies of the times. Others seemed to kind of mock the time periods a whole and I see why some spoof movies poked fun. It’s certainly entertaining, and I don’t think it’s a bad flick. But it is a roller coaster of cliches and on&off serious acting. I could’ve misunderstood the entire point of this movie and it is supposed to just be a comedy completely, but if that isn’t the point I left the movie feeling confused.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/04/25

Full Review

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Albert Hughes

Director

Allen Hughes

Director

Larenz Tate

Anthony Curtis

Keith David

Kirby

Chris Tucker

Skip

N'Bushe Wright

Delilah Benson

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Synopsis

Soldier Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate) returns to his Bronx home after a nightmarish tour of duty in Vietnam. But the nightmare continues for Anthony and his friends as they suffer the indignities of trying to find steady work and provide for their families in a flagging economy. As desperation takes hold, Anthony teams up with Skip (Chris Tucker), a drug addict, and Kirby (Keith David), a small-time crook, to pull off a bank heist that will give them all a chance for a better life.

Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Producer: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes, The Hughes Brothers
Screenwriter: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes, Michael Henry Brown
Distributor: Hollywood Pictures Home Video, Criterion Collection, Buena Vista Pictures, Touchstone Pictures
Production Co: Hollywood Pictures, Underworld Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 4, 1995, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $24.1M
Runtime: 1h 59m
Sound Mix: Surround

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