Bronx teenagers Anthony (Larenz Tate), Skippy (Chris Tucker), and José (Freddy Rodriguez) return from a tour of duty in the Vietnam war and begin to wonder what they were fighting for. The only options open to them are cheap labour, heroin addiction, and poverty, so they decide to take their future into their own hands and draw up plans to rob a bank van full of 'dead presidents' (street slang for dollar bills). If the heist goes well, they will never have to worry about money again.