Dollar for the Dead

Good Eurowestern! The producer Tony Anthony is in fact THE Tony Anthony who starred in several very well made Eurowesterns including the original version of this movie known as "A Stranger In Town" Un-fortunately, Emilio Estevez is miscast in this remake,and his acting is not suited to this kind of film. The movie would have been a lot better with someone else cast in the role of "The Stranger" AKA "Cowboy"! See the original instead! It is available on video at a hefty price of $25.00, from Luminous Film and Video Wurks, but it is well worth your time and money!

Tongue - in - cheek western adventure with all the "clichés" of the genre. A lone gunfighter (Estevez) teams up with a ex - confederate soldier (Forsythe) to find gold in a little Mexican village tormented by ruthless bandits. Mr. Quintano, the director of this one, seems a bit influenced by John Woo (mainly in the scenes of shooting). Extremely predictable but otherwise effective in its purpose. A good fun for western addicts. I give this a 6 (six).

I didn't really like this film. The gun fight scenes were cleverly done, and really rather amusing, but the film doesn't seem to get anywhere fast.

Emilio Estevez, much better in "Young Guns" 1 and 2, seems quite weak here, and although he is a talented actor, in this film he looks lost a lot of the time. It is an entertaining film to watch, but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again.

I'm a fan of Emilio Estevez & i like Westerns so i had to check this out, now it's nothing special but it's not totally terrible, it's a passable Action Western but made with the budget & look of a cheap t.v movie. Now low-budget B-movie's are fine & i love lots of them but at times here with "Dollar for the Dead" it really felt cheap & tacky, also one big problem was the big mistake of Estevez constantly shooting his "Six Shooters" but doesn't reload & never runs out? Even for a cheap "John Woo" type of Action Western it's too noticeable & ruins the big stylish shootout scenes!!! But the action scenes are done pretty well & slowed down for dramatic effect & it's just a Fun little western really & that's all it was made to be, so in that case it is an easy watching fun bit of entertainment with a Cool Estevez before he pretty much disappeared from films altogether & went into Directing.

The Awesome B-movie cast save the film with obviously the Cool Estevez as the quiet "Man with no Name" type of hero but equally good is the excellent William Forsythe as a one legged ex-civil war soldier who befriends Estevez's Moody Lone ranger, Forsythe is a talent & one great character actor with an intense presence & has been in tons of films like "Out for Justice" & "Things to do in Denver when you're Dead" & "Devil's Rejects" among many more!!! Also we have the great Ed Lauter (Death Wish 3) R.I.P & Jonathan Banks who starred with Estevez in the dark sci-fi Thriller "FreeJack" as well as "Beverley Hills Cop" & "48 Hours" so these main actors here make a nice little cast for this small scale Western. Estevez is good here as the quick shooting action hero & reminded me of his "Young Guns" glory days, he's a solid actor & pulls off the brooding simmering anger well here. The locations look fine like typical Westerns i suppose & i like the treasure hunt story & it's just nice at times to see Estevez & Forsythe sharing scenes together!!! The music is that old school 60's or 70's style Italian type music & it's cheesy fun like the film, but it does have some serious moments too.

Gotta say I'm a big fan of both Estevez & Forsythe, i think the great rugged & deep voiced Forsythe is such an underrated actor & he's been a part of my movie world since i was young as i grew up watching his great screen presence in films like The Rock, Things to do in denver when you're dead, Out For Justice, Dick Tracey, The Substitute, Blue Streak, Duece Bigalow & many more!!! Love William Forsythe & he's one of my favourite actors ever.

I know this is an action packed tribute to those old school Spaghetti westerns with a mix of modern day John Woo & i suppose it pulls it off!!! Just would've been alot better with a bigger budget, but all in all IT'S a fun action flick.

This "spaghetti western" wannabe is long on style, and short on story, with mixed up casting. The action scenes are so stylized with slow motion and cartoon like violence that any impact is completely lost. Emilo Estevez is severly miscast as the mysterious stranger. He certainly lacks the mystique of Clint Eastwood, and his sidekick, William Forsythe is no Eli Wallach. The greatest strength of "Dollar For the Dead" is in the supporting cast, but they are criminally underused, and barely have any screen time. Ed Lauter is a fine character actor, and he outshines Emilio Estevez in every scene they share. Jonathan Banks barely has any lines at all. When the only one in the entire movie who comes close to nailing true laconic "spaghetti western" acting is Howie Long, you know you have a problem. - MERK