Dollar for the Dead (1998)

A very quick gunman is on the run from a rancher and his men out to kill him for killing his son. The gunman gets mixed up with a former Confederate soldier who has knowledge of hidden gold... See full summary »

Director:

Gene Quintano

Writer:

Gene Quintano

Stars:

Emilio Estevez, William Forsythe, Jordi Mollà

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emilio Estevez	...	Cowboy
William Forsythe	...	Dooley
Jordi Mollà	...	Federale captain (as Jordi Molla)
Joaquim de Almeida	...	Friar Ramon
Jonathan Banks	...	Col. Skinner (Redleg commander) (as Johnathan Banks)
Simón Andreu	...	Akers
Ed Lauter	...	Jacob Colby
Howie Long	...	Reager
Lance Kinsey	...	Tracker
Steve Peterson	...	Toby
Antonio Castro	...	Julio
Beatriz Guevara	...	Redhead
Keith Farmer	...	Bartender - Gunpowder
Daniel Martín	...	Gambler - Sterling
George Bullock	...	Regulator #1

Storyline

A very quick gunman is on the run from a rancher and his men out to kill him for killing his son. The gunman gets mixed up with a former Confederate soldier who has knowledge of hidden gold. The only trouble is he is also pursued by Union soldiers. When they free a man with part of the map to the gold, they then are also pursued by Spanish soldiers. It all leads to a small Mexican town terrorized by soldiers and led a by a good priest who also has knowledge of the gold.

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Plot Keywords:

spaghetti western | man with no name | machine gun | drifter | street shootout | 

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

TNT TNT Originals

Country:

Spain USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un dollar pour un mort

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Endemol Entertainment, Enrique Cerezo Producciones Cinematográficas S.A., Once Upon a Time Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Emilio Estevez's character's name is never revealed he is just known as "cowboy".

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Quotes

Dooley: I don't mean to pry or nothing, but it's just... I wonder how a man gets such bad enemies.
Cowboy: I never had any good ones.

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Connections

References The Wild Bunch (1969)

User Reviews

Spaghetti Western co-production between US-Spain filmed of course in Almeria

¨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 .