Dead Presidents


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Details At A Glance

General
Extras
Category Drama Theatrical Trailer(s) None
Rating Other Trailer(s) None
Year Released 1995 Commentary Tracks None
Running Time
114:29 minutes
(not 117 as per packaging)
Other Extras None
RSDL/Flipper Flipper (58:38)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Movie
Region 2,4 Director The Hughes Brothers
Studio
Distributor

Warner Home Video
Starring Larenz Tate
Keith David
Chris Tucker
N'Bushe Wright
Freddy Rodriguez
Bokeem Woodbine
Case Amaray
RRP $34.95 Music Danny Elfman

 
Video
Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None MPEG None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Dolby Digital 5.1
16x9 Enhancement Yes Soundtrack Languages English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
French (Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
Miscellaneous
Macrovision ? Smoking Yes, lots
Subtitles English
Dutch
English for the Hearing Impaired
Annoying Product Placement No

Plot Synopsis

    Dead Presidents is sold very short by the blurb on the back of the case. I did not see this theatrically, and neither did I see any trailers for this movie, and so I was expecting an action movie about a robbery based on the blurb. This movie is about far more than simply a robbery and is actually about the way in which this particular black Vietnam Veteran fails to cope with life after he returns from war.

    Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate) is doing alright. He has graduated from school, he has a nice girlfriend (Rose Jackson), and he even makes a little cash on the side running numbers. He isn't quite sure what he wants to do with his life, so he decides to enlist in the marines as his father did before him. He is sent to Vietnam.

    This movie takes the time to fill in the background details of his life before Vietnam, and then spares us nothing in showing us its version of war and the atrocities of war. This is not for the faint-hearted, and is where the movie earns its "R" rating.

    Anthony returns home to a country that basically doesn't care for him or for the war that he fought in. He struggles with the demon of alcohol - other returned servicemen such as Skip, played in a low-key fashion by Chris Tucker, struggle with drugs. Anthony manages to get a job in a butcher shop but the pay is poor, and with a second child on the way the shop closes, leaving Anthony desperate for money.

    His solution? The robbery featured in the blurb.

    This movie spares nothing, and is riveting stuff. Larenz Tate is superb as Anthony, and a great supporting cast helps lift this movie well above the ordinary.

Transfer Quality

Video

    This transfer is excellent.

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer was sharp and clear throughout, and a lot of detail is present in the picture. Some of the deep blacks were not quite deep enough for my liking, but this is being very picky indeed. Shadow detail was generally very good, save for a few shots which were lacking a little in this area. A large proportion of the movie, especially early on, is shot in very dim lighting, and yet shadow details are quite well preserved. A couple of scenes early on exhibited a slight amount of low level noise, but this was very minor.

    The colours were nicely presented, with a wide range of colouration on display. Generally, the movie is very darkly coloured, featuring lots of dirty browns and greens, but some splashes of vivid colouration are in direct contrast to this.

    No MPEG artefacts were seen. Film-to-video artefacts were not seen. Film artefacts were extremely rare.

    This disc is a flipper, with the side change placed at the end of Chapter 10, at 58:38. It is well placed, and is minimally disruptive to the flow of the movie. As always, RSDL formatting would have been preferred.

Audio

    There are three audio tracks on this DVD; English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded, and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded.

    Dialogue was hard to understand at times, especially early on in the movie, but this improved later on in the movie.

    The early part of this movie was marginally out of sync, particularly with a lot of Chris Rock's dialogue, however it was perfectly in sync after this initial early hiccup.

    The musical score was by Danny Elfman and is completely different from the style I am used to hearing from this composer - he typically has a very whimsical style, but this is a very dark, brooding and dramatic score, and is extremely effective in creating the appropriate atmosphere.

    The surround channels were used variably during this movie. They were used aggressively and well during the Vietnam sequences, when sounds were placed precisely throughout the entire soundfield, and they were used aggressively during the robbery, but at other times they had little to do. Nonetheless, there is a reasonable attempt at creating an immersive soundfield for this movie.

    The .1 channel was used at times to underscore the Vietnam action and the robbery. When it was used, it was used aggressively and very well, underlining the on-screen action superbly with deep bass.

Extras

    There are no extras on this disc. The Amaray case has a small sheet which lists chapter stops, but this is it.

What's Missing / What's Extra

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

Menu

    The main menu is plain and functional. It is 16x9 enhanced.

Summary

    Dead Presidents is a far better movie than the blurb on the back of the packaging suggests it will be. Recommended, even though it is a flipper. In this case, flipping the disc is minimally disruptive.

    The video quality is very good. Because it is 16x9 enhanced, it is superior to the Region 1 version of this disc, despite its flipper status.

    The audio quality is variable, with a lot of dialogue quite hard to hear, and early dialogue marginally out of sync.

    The extras are non-existent.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras nil
Plot
Overall

© Michael Demtschyna
25th July 1999

Review Equipment
DVD Pioneer DV-505, using S-Video output
Display Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 16:9 mode, via the S-Video input. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Audio Decoder Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Amplification 2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer
Speakers Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100 Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Yamaha B100-115SE subwoofer