Dead Presidents
Directed by Albert Hughes and Allen HughesThis action film, directed by the Hughes brothers, depicts a heist of old bills, retired from circulation and destined by the government to be "money to burn." However, more broadly, it addresses the issues of Black Americans' involvement in the Vietnam War and their subsequent disillusionment with progress in social issues and civil rights back home in the United States, during the 1960's.
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Dead Presidents Ratings & Reviews
- Matthias_812April 2, 2025Menace II Society gets plenty of 90's love but the Hughes Brothers' follow up deserves plenty of praise too. Dead Presidents is an ambitious crime drama with elements of war, social commentary, and heist thriller. One of the more unique styled plots of an idealistic teenager off to Vietnam War and struggling to find his place in a society that has abandoned him when he returns. The Hughes Brothers don’t romanticize war or crime, instead present a bleak, often brutal reality. Transitioning from war drama to crime thriller takes time. The highlight heist finale doesn't even come to fruition until the last thirty minutes. Dead Presidents isn't another heist movie- its themes of systemic injustice, economic despair, and disillusionment remain resonant. It’s a tragic story of survival in a system rigged against its protagonists and it's not a happy one.
- Carlos IbarraMarch 29, 2025A gritty throwback that tries to go one step further in understanding the various elements that can lead to a life of crime. One part heist film, one part war film. It's a dissection of the effect the Vietnam war had on returning vets. It's not always the haunted, broken minds we're usually told about, sometimes it's a noble man, struggling to just get by in a society that has long forgotten him. The Vietnam sequences are especially potent.
