Dead Man (1995)
83%RT Audience Score: 88%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
45 wins & 54 nominations total
While decidedly not for all tastes, Dead Man marks an alluring change of pace for writer-director Jim Jarmusch that demonstrates an assured command of challenging material
Dead Man is like a psychedelic trip through the Wild West, complete with a haunting score by Neil Young and stunning black-and-white cinematography. While some may find the lack of narrative propulsion a bit of a drag, others will appreciate the film’s elegiac examination of America’s shameful history of racism and violence. Plus, who doesn’t love a movie where everyone is always asking for tobacco? Overall, Dead Man is a bizarre, funny, and thought-provoking take on the Western genre that’s definitely worth a watch.
Production Company(ies)
Channel Four Films, Figment Films, The Noel Gay Motion Picture Company,
Distributor
Miramax Home Entertainment [us], Miramax Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
St Vincent, St Vincent and the Grenadines
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of adventure violence, including frightening images
Year of Release
2006
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:SDDS Dolby Digital DTS
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 14m
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Language(s):English, Turkish, Greek, Mandarin, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 10, 1995 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 5, 2007
Genre(s)
Western
Keyword(s)
starring Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henriksen, Michael Wincott, Mili Avital, Crispin Glover, directed by Jim Jarmusch, written by Jim Jarmusch, Western, box office performance, budget, reviewed by James Berardinelli, Desson Thomson, Rita Kempley, Todd McCarthy, Gilbert Adair, Edward Guthmann, Richard Glatzer, Matt Brunson, Scout Tafoya, David Harris, Nathanael Hood, Barbara Shulgasser, produced by Demetra J MacBride, R rating, Old West, gunslinger, accountant, Neil Young, black-and-white, Robby Muller, metaphysical, social commentary, hallucinatory dream, revisionist Western, racism, viciousness, haunting musical themes
Worldwide gross: $1,066,179,747
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,572,249,503
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 42
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 171,455,780
US/Canada gross: $423,315,812
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $624,245,656
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 47
US/Canada opening weekend: $135,634,554
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $200,014,454
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 17
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $225,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $331,797,841
Production budget ranking: 13
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $178,673,137
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $1,061,778,525
ROI to date (est.): 208%
ROI ranking: 614
Gary Farmer – Nobody
Lance Henriksen – Cole Wilson
Michael Wincott – Conway Twill
Mili Avital – Thel Russell
Crispin Glover – Train Fireman
Director(s)
Jim Jarmusch
Writer(s)
Jim Jarmusch
Producer(s)
Demetra J. MacBride
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
45 wins & 54 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (53) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (16)
Even if it accomplishes little else, Dead Man will almost certainly inspire thought and discussion.
November 9, 2018 | Rating: 2.5/4
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
TOP CRITIC
Both Blake’s journey and composer Neil Young’s spare, electric guitar score seem endlessly circular; and people are always asking Blake for tobacco.
November 9, 2018
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
The landscape outside and the passengers inside become wilder and woollier with every weary mile.
November 9, 2018
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
The film’s pleasures are simply too elusive and mild to make up for a lack of narrative propulsion.
November 9, 2018
Todd McCarthy
Variety
TOP CRITIC
[It’s a] bizarre, funny, almost mystical take on the Western
November 9, 2018
Gilbert Adair
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
[The] metaphysical context benefits enormously from the haunting musical themes that Neil Young wrote, underlining the film’s psychedelic/apocalyptic edge, and from the stunning black-and-white camera work of Robby Muller.
November 9, 2018 | Rating: 3/4
Edward Guthmann
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
Jarmusch’s movie maintains its East Village cool at any cost — and ends up thuddingly hollow.
April 19, 2022
Richard Glatzer
The Advocate
Part revisionist Western, part social commentary, and part hallucinatory dream.
August 29, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Not even the horror Westerns of the ’70s and ’80s approached the eeriness of Jarmusch’s boldly elemental Western landscape.
January 18, 2020
Scout Tafoya
The Spool
Dead Man is an elegiac poem of a film that examines our country’s shameful history of viciousness and racism.
August 14, 2019
David Harris
Spectrum Culture
If not the best American Western of the 1990s, then certainly the most original and unusual.
December 29, 2018 | Rating: 9/10
Nathanael Hood
The Retro Set
I don’t mean to dismiss Dead Man as worthless, or meaningless. Jarmusch just happens to express himself in a deadpan manner that just happens to have no appeal for me whatsoever. Of course, I only say this because he is an “artist.”
November 9, 2018
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner…
Plot
Once again we’re plunged into the world of sword fights and “savvy” pirates. Captain Jack Sparrow is reminded he owes a debt to Davy Jones, who captains the flying Dutchman, a ghostly ship, with a crew from hell. Facing the “locker” Jack must find the heart of Davy Jones but to save himself he must get the help of quick-witted Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan. If that’s not complicated enough, Will and Elizabeth are sentenced to hang, unless Will can get Lord Cutler Beckett Jack’s compass. Will is forced to join another crazy adventure with Jack.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Dead Man on Fresh Kernels.
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