Génération sacrifiée

For all those who liked the movie "Menace 2 Society",you are going to love this one. This movie features the star from Menace to Society "Larenz Tate" and the well known "Chris Tucker". This is a very violent movie and have a few very gory scenes of the Vietnam war,but that is okay because this movie really shows how difficult it must have been for a black man growing up in the Bronx in the 60's.And it shows how life is for him and his friends after coming home from the Vietnam war. The language in this movie is of course very tough and rough and I could actually count the f-word 247 times in this movie and that speaks for it's self.

This is an extremely well made movie that really shows the reality of how hard the world can be for some people.

I advice everybody to go out and pick up this movie, because it is a story that you got to hear.

Chris Tucker is hilarious in this movie, he has great on screen charisma, and he speaks his lines very fluidly, as if he was improvising. Larenz Tate is great as well, being able to pull off the young version of his character, since he has a boyish face. And Bokeem Woodbine reminds me of Samuel L. Jackson in this movie. The cinematography is also great and so is the acting overall. Like everyone says, its not so much as a heist movie, but a reflection on the hardships of the black individual, such as finding work and drug abuse; after fighting a war that wasnt really meant for them or their country.

Albert and Allen Hughes direct, produce and co-write (with Michael Henry Brown) this tale about Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate), a South Bronx boy who goes off to fight in Vietnam, to then return after his tours of duty to find things just aren't the same anymore. The follow up to their incendiary debut, Menace II Society, the Hughes brothers deliver another in your face picture that is quite frankly on a perpetual downer. This is no bad thing, though, as long as you are not looking to be cheered up.

That's Uncle Sam for you! Mean Green.

The pic very much harks back to the glory days of film noir in the 40s and 50s, where some talented film makers began to tell stories of returning war veterans finding what they left behind is now alien to them - with some characters, as is the case here - deeply scarred by their experiences. Add in some gangster elements and the coup de grâce that is the scintillating heist, and clearly the brothers have seen many an old classic film. That the narrative is tried and tested stops the piece hitting greater heights, this in spite of some super acting (especially Tate and the always value for money Keith David) and the hard hitting violence that pierces the senses. Predictable yet potent, and certainly memorable, it's well worth a look for the tough of mind and the classic era film of heart. 7/10

"Dead Presidents" is a classic in my book. I could suffice with that statement but I'll add a bit more. It was a well acted and well directed drama that seemed to be funny when it needed to be (thank you Chris Tucker), dramatic when it needed to be, and even violent when it needed to be. Some of, if not most of the violence was pretty graphic--that can be taken as a positive or negative. I'm not perturbed by it, but I can see how some are.

I loved the story. It was simple yet complex. It was really about five years in the life of a young Black man from New York spanning from 1968 to 1973. From his high school years on the streets of the Bronx, to his years in Vietnam, to his return to a family and struggling with life in the world. I think "Dead Presidents" was an excellent production that didn't short change us at all in any aspect.

Opening in 1969, in the South Bronx, we are introduced to protagonist Anthony Curtis and his friends who are talking about what they will do after they finish school. Anthony decides to sign up for service in the US Marines. While there he fights alongside some of his old friends and makes new ones. After four years serving his country he returns home and discovers life isn't easy for a young black man during an economic downturn. He gets a job but it doesn't pay much; his girlfriend, and mother of his child, is getting money from a pimp and his girlfriend's sister is in a radical militant group. When he loses his job he and his friends work with a local criminal to make one big score... to rob an armoured car taking used currency to be incinerated.

When I sat down to watch this I was expecting a fairly conventional heist movie; that is certainly what the DVD box implied... in fact that is only a very small part of the film. Rather than the conventional heist movie where the first half is the planning before the execution this is about the events that led a promising young man to turn crime. The early scenes serve to introduce us to Anthony and his friends; he clearly isn't a saint as we see him working for a local crook but he still volunteers and ends up fighting in Vietnam where he sees some very unpleasant things. The scenes set during the war are in turns exciting and disturbing but not entirely without humour. Back in the US the film captures the poverty of Bronx where there are few real opportunities for most people; and while not justifying it explains why some turn to crime or radicalism. When we finally get to the robbery it is well handled; exciting without being glamourous. The cast does a fine job; most notably Larenz Tate who excels as Anthony and Chris Tucker who brings humour to the proceedings, as his friend Skip, without going too far and feeling out of place. Overall I'd definitely recommend this; just don't expect a traditional crime/heist movie.