Search - $ (Dollars) on DVD

Technically, It's Very Precise

Dupek Chopra | MD United States | 08/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Aside from the killer soundtrack, Quincy Jones during his salad days(Is that Jean Luc Ponty playing the fiddle on ORANGEBLOSSOM EXPRESS?), I like this film because there is camera motion in nearly every shot. I doubt that the director, Richard Brooks, used storyboards to make this film. There's a scene in the first half where a police car zooms underneath an overpass just as the trailing coaches of two commuter trains break overhead. I wonder how Brooks set up that fantastic shot?! The chase which occupies the last 30 minutes is almost wholly on foot. This film has great performances by the supporting actors. Gert Frobe is comically bungling as the bank's manager. Arthur Brauss is menacing as the raspy voiced drug smuggler with rear-view mirrors in his shades, "the Candyman." And Scott Brady has a great turn as a corrupt army NCO. He gets my vote for best movie death scene; "From one ounce they will make three hundred thousand capsules of L.S.D...." Look for the scene where Robert Webber pays Goldie Hawn, the film's "hooker with a heart of gold," to "put out his fire." I'm surprised this scene got past the censors!"

On the money

Janglyman | Eugene, OR United States | 01/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Filmed on location in Hamburg and other northern Europe settings around 1970, Dollars has a great look to it, the story is tight and plausible and the casting is great. The opening is a little confusing as the interweaving storyline is set in motion but it all comes together beautifully a third of the way into the action. There is so much going on in Dollars that multiple viewings will be rewarded, and the soundtrack is one of the best I've heard, especially if you like jazz, and is well matched to the action. Watching these veteran actors do their thing is a treat, so much more substantial than the lightweight junk being put out today. I can't believe this flick is so unknown.

and that one scene with Goldie Hawn, as someone said, how did that get past the censor!? Hilarious."

TAKE THE MONEY, HONEY

J J BAGS | MASSACHUSETTS USA | 10/27/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Vietnam era film that's all but disappeared! One problem is the title itself: it's listed as above and also $$$. (As an example, try looking up "The Departed" under "The"). Too bad, because Beatty and Hawn pull off an ingenious bank robbery in Europe, playing "Robin Hood" types preying on the gangland rich. Beatty's racing for safety scenes would make even Matt Damon (as Jason Bourne) jealous. The movie is both exciting and fun, a rare combination in 2007.You'd even think that Timothy Leary wasn't now among the "departed". Try to pick up a copy for the entertainment and/or for a collector's item."

Stylish '71 production

Phil S. | USA | 03/30/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"[1988 Goodtimes VHS: 122 minutes].

Very strong performances by Beatty and Hawn plus an engaging soundtrack lift this hyperactive, semi-farce about international banking. They'll only rob from the rich...and give to themselves.
Beatty is a Bank Security Officer who can't stop muttering to himself no matter who is in earshot and Hawn is effective as a free-lance "Escort" who is a bit insecure in her new role as co-conspirator; she is a few years past her Laugh-In looniness and has come up with an interesting character.
This movie has traveled through the decades in a low-profile manner, which is surprising considering the successful careers of the two stars, plus Director Richard Brooks, and, of course, Quincy Jones.
The finale has some funky action on a frozen waterway, though the plot line has a certain stumbling forward momentum, nicely underscored in the early scenes by two Little Richard songs recorded in 1971 for this enterprise, "Money Is" (would have made a great movie title - seems that the powers-that-be have never decided if it's "Dollars", "The Heist", or "$$$"), and a risque rocker called "Do It - To It", both uptempo.
Richard fans, get this: these are *movie versions*, if you check out your well-worn vinyl, or the tracks revived on a 3-CD set of LR's Reprise sessions, released on Rhino Handmade."