Un dollar pour un mort

¨Dollar for the dead¨is an acceptable Spanish/USA co-production with intelligent writing and slick direction by Gene Quintano . This Quintano's Western is packed with noisy action and lots of violence . American-Spanish co-production financed by Enrique Cerezo and Tony Anthony (who in the 60s and 70s starred various Spaghetti as ¨Blindman¨) full of action , exaggerated characters, shootouts and drama . This is a surprisingly low-key Spaghetti Western set in the post-Civil War era in which a washed-out gunslinger (Emilio Estevez) join forces with a cripple Confederate ex-soldier (William Forsythe) and taking on a variety of problems and risks with the aim to get a treasure . As two diverse characters unite forces to carry out the robbing a loot . They are being pursued by Union soldiers (Jonathan Banks) and an avenger super-quick gunfighter (Howie Long ). They find numerous complications when free a man (Ed Lauter) with part of the map to the gold which appears drawn on various cartridges holders. It all leads to an outer border small town terrorized by a Federale captain(Jordi Molla) and led a by a Mexican priest named Friar Ramon(Joaquim De Almeida) who also has knowledge of the hidden gold.

This entertaining picture contains action Western , shootouts and bits of campy and refreshing events with turns and twists . It's an improbable blending of standard Western , including Spaghetti's homage , with pursuits, high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining. An interesting casting full of American actors as Estevez , Long , Forsythe , Lauter and Spanish players as Simon Andreu , Jordi Molla and Portugues as Joaquin De Almeida ; all of them make this oater well worth the watching . Delightful Western in which a violent ¨Man with no name¨ using his wits , breaking all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants realizes a killing spree , as he relentlessly robs and murders by means of some spectacular showdowns in operatic style taken from John Woo films . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western goes on and on about the same premise , as minutes are superfluous , it has quarter hour of excess , as it packs some moments turn out to be dull and tiring . There is plenty of action and lots of stunts in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts, fights or stunts every few minutes . The musician George S. Clinton composes a nice soundtrack with catching leitmotif and well conducted in Ennio Morricone style ; it's full of strange sounds with use of harmonica , trumpets and guitar. Striking cinematography by Giovanni Fiore with barren outdoors, dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun, and outdoor sequences shot on outskirts of Madrid and LaTabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain .

Gene Quintano's direction is well crafted, here he's more cynical and violent and less inclined toward humor and packs too much action , but especially this moving Western contains broad violence . He also wrote ¨The long Kill¨ with Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Simon Andreu realized by Bill Corcoran at the same time and in similar ink . The movie contains gun-play, action Western, bloody spectacle and fist-fights . It's an offbeat , surprising and uneven Western particularly influenced by Sergio Leone from ¨One time in the West¨and Sergio Corbucci from ¨Djanjo¨ but will appeal to Spaghetti aficionados . Rating : 6 , riotous Western in which there's too much action and violence and enough excitement .

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.

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!

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

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.