Dollar for the Dead (1998)

A cowboy, whose name is unstated, is being hunted by a group of Regulators because he shot the wrong man's son. An early encounter leaves many Regulators dead; this impresses Dooley, a former Confederate sergeant who is looking for a partner. He has a quarter of a map that indicates the location of half a million dollars' worth of Confederate Gold. Each part of the map is on a holster; to find the gold they must get the three other holsters. This won't be easy; the only man knowing the location of one is in a Mexican prison awaiting execution and another is in the possession of the leader of a group of Kansas Red Legs, a militia which fought for the Unionists in the Civil War. Ultimately this will lead The Cowboy, Dooley, Regulators and Red Legs to a Mexican village where the final confrontation is destined to take place; if this weren't enough there are also Mexican troops there!This film is a delightful homage to the classic Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s; the laconic, morally ambiguous hero; numerous antagonists; over the top shoot-outs and a great final confrontation. Emilio Estevez does a fine job as The Cowboy; a character who is unbelievably skilled with his guns and William Forsythe impresses as Dooley. The rest of the cast are solid too; playing things straight even when the action is distinctly over-the-top. The action is impressively choreographed and not at all gory meaning this isn't unsuitable for younger fans of the genre. I didn't realise it was made for TV when I watched it as it has such a cinematic feel. There are some flaws of course; most notably the six-shooters that don't seem to need reloading. Overall though this film is well worth watching if you are a fan of the genre.

While i have not yet seen the famous films of Sergio Leone,i have to say that i still found this film to be pretty enjoyable. The plot:One day a lone stranger comes into a Western town and ends up having a drink with a vet of the American Cival War.The vet tells him that him and three other guys were each given 1/4th of a map by there Cival War captain(who got killed in the war a few days later.)Who had told them that its a map to where half a million dollars is!After hearing this,the stranger decides to help the guy out with finding the other pieces of the map.But with a bunch of gangs after them and a very poor town near by,they have to hope to get to the gold ,ans really deiced what to do with it. View on the film:Screenplay/direction-The film is written and directed by Gene Quintano.One of the disappointing things about the film is the interior scenes,because they are so under-lit that it looks like the actors are just standing in front of some planks of wood!This sadly lowers the "epic" feel of the film,also some of the over-the-top use of slow-mo that sadly lessons the effect of it when its used well(the horse sliding backwards is easily the best it is used here.)Thought it has to be said that Quintano can do some clever stuff(Filming the camp fire scene in a great way,and cutting from the towns people to the stranger and the vet. The cast:I feel for this film i should highlight Emilio Estevezs performance.While i was a bit disappointed with his performance in the Western Young Guns,he has really improved as an scene then.He does a good job at making the stranger a bit of a lighter person.instead of being completely dark. Final view on the film:A good (thought flawed) that you can watch with the family,and a good performance by Esterves.

Tongue - in - cheek western adventure with all the "clichés" of the genre. A lone gunfighter (Estevez) teams up with a ex - confederate soldier (Forsythe) to find gold in a little Mexican village tormented by ruthless bandits. Mr. Quintano, the director of this one, seems a bit influenced by John Woo (mainly in the scenes of shooting). Extremely predictable but otherwise effective in its purpose. A good fun for western addicts. I give this a 6 (six).

Good Eurowestern! The producer Tony Anthony is in fact THE Tony Anthony who starred in several very well made Eurowesterns including the original version of this movie known as "A Stranger In Town" Un-fortunately, Emilio Estevez is miscast in this remake,and his acting is not suited to this kind of film. The movie would have been a lot better with someone else cast in the role of "The Stranger" AKA "Cowboy"! See the original instead! It is available on video at a hefty price of $25.00, from Luminous Film and Video Wurks, but it is well worth your time and money!