Dead Presidents 1995

Caryn James, New York Times: Like those overreaching sophomore term papers we can all laugh at now, this disappointing film may free the Hughes brothers to move on to fresher, more inspired work. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Made with fluid skill and a passion for storytelling, its tale of how the Vietnam War and American society affect a black Marine remains accessible while confounding expectations. Read more

Entertainment Weekly: Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: People of any color can sympathize with the plight of Anthony Curtis and understand, if not agree with, the eventual choices life forces him to make. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Here is a film that feels incomplete, as if its last step is into thin air. Scene by scene you feel its skill, but you leave the theater wondering about the meaning of it all. Read more

Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle: It's an overly ambitious effort that strains to work as a coming-of-age drama, a 1960s period piece and a searing comment on the way African American GIs went largely unappreciated for their war efforts. Read more

Time Out: There are intriguing aspects to this yarn, and the brothers can choreograph a scene, but you get the impression that they learned all they know from other movies, the blood and guts is gratuitous... Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Dead Presidents may eventually box itself into a narrative dead end, but its muscular engagement of weighty themes and explosive situations makes it a powerful drama. Read more

Hal Hinson, Washington Post: Dead Presidents is like a shotgun blast in the face: It's that powerful, that lethal, that ugly. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Unfortunately, the story manages to be intense (and very bloody), heartfelt and superficial, all at the same time. Read more