Robert Rodriguez arrived in the indie scene with an amazing story of how he made his first film. With barely $7,000 earned from being a lab rat on a drug test, Rodriguiez went to Acuña, Mexico and shot an entire action film on 16mm. His goal was to make a straight to video film that could be sold in Mexico and Spanish-speaking stores. Instead, he got a deal with Columbia Pictures, received raves at the Sundance Film Festival (1993) and played art house theaters across the country. He was constantly hyped as the guy who made a movie for $7,000. Except there needed to be a disclaimer on that claim. He did make a movie a movie for that price that was seen on videotape and bought by the executives at Columbia Pictures. But the version you saw at the theater cost more. He had to re-edit the film using the 16mm film instead the version he did on standard definition video. He also remixed the audio elements. Then they blew up the 16mm to 35mm for movie theater projectors. Columbia Pictures reported that it cost them an additional $200,000 for the upgrade. This was still a budget low enough to impress Roger Corman. El Mariachi was cheaper than what Golan and Globus delivered for Cannon’s action film starring Chuck Norris or Charles Bronson. But it didn’t quite have the same ring as $7,000. The film was an indie sensation and launched Rodriguiez’s career. The Mexico Trilogy: El Mariachi, Desperado & Once Upon A Time In Mexico (Limited Edition) brings together all three of the films about the man who carried more than a song in his guitar case.
El Mariachi (1992 – 82 minutes) has a musician (Carlos Gallardo) show up in a Mexican town on a bad day to be holding a guitar case. Turns out that earlier in the day, Moco (Peter Marquadt) had his goons show up at a local jail to take out Azul (Reinol Martínez) except things go extremely wrong. The target turns out to be the killer and he escapes the jail ready to take out Moco’s crew. He has packed all his weapons in a guitar case. Eventually the Mariachi and Azul swap guitar cases. The normal musician becomes a man of action as Moco’s men come after him. His only hope for survival is Dominó, who runs a bar. The problem is that the owner of the bar is part of the feud.
Even after all these years, El Mariachi is still a rush that doesn’t give away its low budget. Rodriguez has great pacing as the cast race around the city firing off weapons and completing stunts you’d expect to see in a Sly or Arnold blockbuster. While everybody in the film are strangers to the screen, this doesn’t come off as a little theater production. Everyone looks right for the situations.
Desperado (1995 – 105 minutes) brings in professional actors and yet feels like an indie film with extreme action. The Mariachi is a changed man since he’s now being played by Antonio Banderas (Interview With the Vampire). Although part of his trio includes guitarist Campa (Carlos Gallardo who played the original Mariachi). The Mariachi is looking for Moco’s bigger boss Bocho (Good Morning, Babylon‘s Joaquim de Almeida). After a gunfight goes bad, the Mariachi finds himself rescued by Carolina (Frida‘s Salma Hayek) who treats him above her bookstore. Things get extra messy on the streets of the Mexican town leading to Carolina having to fight it out like her new boyfriend. They prove to be a formidable pair against Bocho’s henchmen that include Danny Trejo (Machete). Can they survive all the explosions and bullets?
When Desperado hit the screens, it proved that Rodrigeuz could bring the same impact to the screen with a bigger budget. Banderas at this point was known for his work in Pedro Almodóvar’s art house films. But after watching the movie, he was a massive action star. He looked great while unloading bullets all over the place. The film had a bit of humor with the casting of Steve Buscemi, Quentin Tarantino and Cheech Marin among the menacing actors. The scenes between Banderas and Hayek sizzle whether they’re making out, jumping off tall buildings or walking away from massive explosions.
Once Upon A Time In Mexico (2003 – 102 minutes) was rather revolutionary when released in 2003 since Rodriguez shot the film in digital video in a time before this became the normal media for feature films. Banderas is back as the mysterious guitarist who know how to break hearts with a song or bullet. Once more he’s back for revenge against a general who has broken his own heart. He ends up dealing with a slimy CIA Agent (Johnny Depp). There’s a lot going on in various double agents and cutthroat actions. The Mariachi has a lot coming at him at once.
The film has as much star power as firepower. Willem Dafoe (Platoon) is the new big mobster with Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) as a henchman with a tiny dog. While Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin didn’t survive the last film, they’re back. Singer Enrique Iglesias is part of the Mariachi’s band. Beside Salma returning, Eva Mendes (Ghost Rider) sizzles up the screen. Also part of the twists is Grammy winning musician Rubén Blades (Predator 2). Once Upon A Time In Mexico brings the saga to a proper end with the final notes.
You might wonder why The Mexico Trilogy only has Desperado in a 4K UHD disc. The situation is that El Mariachi was shot in 16mm so Blu-ray is the optimal resolution for the movie. Once Upon A Time In Mexico was shot on early digital video so it’s not even close to 4K resolution on the master tape. This best at 1080p Blu-ray. Desperado was shot on 35mm film so it looks great take to 4K UHD. You can get the 4K UHD of Desperado separately from the boxset.
The Video for all three films is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The resolution does vary on the films since they were all shot in different formats. You’ll see more grain on El Mariachi and get that weird video feel in the action scenes on Once Upon A Time in Mexico. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 for both Spanish and English on El Mariachi. Desperado and Once Upon A Time in Mexico have 5.1 DTS-HD MA and LPCM 2.0 audio tracks in English. You’ll hear bullets all around the house. The movies are subtitled in English.
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring essays by Carlos Aguilar and Nicholas Clement
Double sided posters featuring original and artwork by Paul Shipper
Collectible poster featuring Robert Rodriguez’s original poster concept for El Mariachi
DISC 1 – EL MARIACHI (BLU-RAY)
Commentary by writer-director Robert Rodriguez goes deep into the stories of what he took to make his low budget masterpiece of action. He gives plenty of tips to filmmakers looking to make a film on a shoestring. What’s amazing is decades later, you can make a film even cheaper and with better resolution by using the 4K camera on your smartphone.
Big Vision Low Budget (14:41) has Rodriguez discuss how he decided to make his own movie without much of a crew. His inspiration was John Carpenter and even has the same gun as seen in one film. Carolos Gallardo besides being his star is the man who got him access in the town so people were cool with the little film being shot around the place. He gets into how his non-acting crew gave good performance since he had no crew starring at them.
The Original Mariachi (15:21) has producer/star Carlos Gallardo talk about meeting Robert at a private high school in San Antonio. They did short films in his town in Mexico. He explains the background of the local people he cast. He explains what he went through to borrow the free guns. He gets into what he did to make the stunts work. The turtle gets mentioned. He explains how they went from shopping the film to a Mexican video company to getting a deal with Columbia Pictures.
The Music of ‘El Mariachi’ (12:41) deals with the music and interviews with composers Eric Guthrie, Chris Knudson, Alvaro Rodriguez and Marc Trujillo. He had different people doing scores since he didn’t have to pull a major favor of getting one person to make music for the whole 80 minutes. They were pals with Rober including his brother Alvaro.
Ten Minute Film School (14:38) has raw footage from the movie so that Rodriguez can explain how he edited the film in the camera. His film budget was so tight, he didn’t waste frames on slates. He ended up exposing 25 reels of 16mm film for the entire movie. The lack of sound helped make actors not blow takes by flubbing lines. The focus is on the big bus stunt. He shows the original video tape cut of the scene. He talks about using real guns that he borrowed from the local police.
Bedhead (9:09) is a 1991 short film by Rodriguez starring his younger siblings. It opens with animation Robert made. We learn how Rebecca got in a hospital bed. The film was shot in black and white back in 1990.
Theatrical trailer (1:38) and TV spot (0:32) tells us of the trouble that came looking for the guitarist. The trailer puts Rodriguez up there with the recent release of John Singleton’s Boyz N The Hood.
DISCS 2 & 3 – DESPERADO (BLU-RAY / 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)
Audio commentary by writer-director Robert Rodriguez has him give tips on how to take a budget of $7 million and make it look like you had $35 million. He talks about the problems he had to solve with the larger budget that wasn’t quite Waterworld. He talks about the money hose. He wanted to make a bigger movie.
Lean and Mean (17:19) has Rodriguez explain how he made a John Woo movie in a fourth of the time. He was going to remake El Marachi until the film was a big enough hit that he needed to do a sequel. He went back to Acuña, Mexico with a crew and international stars. He talks about collaborating with Antonio Banderas. How the actor brought so much. We also learn how he discovered Salma Hayek. Turns out Rodriguez didn’t speak Spanish at the time. He was watching a TV talkshow on Univision and Salma came out as a guest. He snuck her into his Showtime movie Roadracers so Columbia could see her on the screen. We get into
Shoot Like Crazy (11:21) has producer Bill Borden talk working with Rodriguez. They met after Columbia bought the picture and wanted him to produce the sequel. He talks about going down to Mexico to shoot in the less touristy neighborhood. They had an issue getting the film trucks into the country at the border. He talks about how Antonio and Salma worked together. They worked quick.
Kill Count (8:10) lets stunt coordinator Steve Davison break down the action. He got hooked up on the film by producer Bill Borden after he worked on La Bamba. This was a little bit more intensive. He praises working with Antonio. They kept a kill count on the call sheet to keep track of the bodies.
Lock and Load (8:50) has special effects coordinator Bob Shelley discuss what he did for the explosions and gunfire in the film. He was part of the bomb squad in the Army. He took a call to help out on a low budget film that the Army wanted to cooperate on. When he retired in 1977, he began doing this full time. He gives us a demo on a blood gun. We learn how Salma Hayek did her big stunt.
Game Changer (6:42) has filmmaker Gareth Evans (The Raid: Redemption) share what he got out of watching El Mariachi and Desperado. He likes how Rodriguez took the action feel of John Woo’s Hong Kong cinema in his own way. Evans learned from the 10 Minute Films School bonus features.
Ten More Minutes: Anatomy of a Shootout (10:33) has Rodriguez discuss making storyboards for the film. He matches the artwork with the finished shots. He gets into shooting video footage of the scene while the set is still under construction.
Textless opening (2:39) is the singing of “Morena de mi Corazón.” You can focus on the trio in the bar.
Trailer Gallery includes Theatrical Teaser (1:34) is pretty much guns galore, Theatrical Trailer (2:05) has Steve Buscemi hype speech and TV Spot (0:33) is all about payback.
DISC 4 – ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO (BLU-RAY)
Commentary by writer-director Robert Rodriguez has him explain how Cheech Marin and Danny Trejo ended up in the film even though they didn’t have great endings in Desperado. He talks a bunch about digital and pushing the boundaries. He explains why he didn’t make a film before this film about the Mariachi. He points out the Clash of the Titans lunch box is his own.
The Revolution Will Be Digitized (12:41) has Rodriguez explain how George Lucas introduced him to HD Cameras. He squeezed Once Upon A Time In Mexico before a writer’s strike. Shooting digital allowed him to work even faster than before. The studio was very supportive as he put it together. Amy Pascal was amazed that he shot the film so fast that he had time to edit. He also was able to buy the video cameras. He reused them on Machete.
Troublemaking (9:50) lets visual effects editor Ethan Maniquis talk about his work with Rodriguez. He gets into the epic personal movie. He was a production assistant on a film that just wrapped and ended up working on cleaning up 35mm trims in an editing department. He eventually worked on Desperado and learned how to use the AVID system after dark. He stuck with Robert for Four Rooms and From Dusk Till Dawn. He worked for Miramax before he worked at Robert’s Troublemakers Studio in Austin.
Eight deleted scenes (7:47) include an optional commentary by Rodriguez to know why he cut them from the final film.
Ten Minute Flick School (9:05) has Rodriguez talk about the speed you can use in digital and with effects. He was able to put actors in scenes when they weren’t on the set that day. We learn about Cheech Marin’s fake eye stunt. They had 400 special effects that didn’t cost as much as 35mm film optical effects.
Inside Troublemaker Studios (11:24) is a tour of Rodriguez’s studio in Austin, He originally used his home garage, but turned it into his mixing room and attached even more buildings. He shows off his digital music space. In Austin, he has his main soundstages that are set up for green screen effects.
Ten Minute Cooking School (5:50) allows Rodriguez to cook Puerco Pibil. He promises it will impress your friends. You do need banana leaves and special seeds.
Film is Dead: An Evening with Robert Rodriguez (13:20) is a presentation from 2003. He gets into how digital changed his approach to movies. Now this is how nearly every movie is made now. He points out that you need to have the best monitor on the set to know how the shot really looks. Danny Trejo makes a cameo.
The Anti-Hero’s Journey (18:05) charts the arc of the Mariachi over the three films. The various actors chime on how this once innocent guitarist turned into a killing machine. This includes lots of behind the scenes footage.
The Good, the Bad and the Bloody: Inside KNB FX (19:04) gets into the film’s special effects with the crew that was a few years away from taking over TV with The Walking Dead.
Theatrical trailers include the Red Band (2:37) and the Green Band (2:19). Red Band means this version of the trailer could only be shown before R-Rated films.
Arrow Video presents The Mexico Trilogy: El Mariachi, Desperado & Once Upon A Time In Mexico (Limited Edition). Directed by Robert Rodriguez. Screenplays by Robert Rodriguez. Starring Carlos Gallardo, Consuelo Gómez, Peter Marquardt, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Johnny Depp, Steve Buscemi, Mickey Rourke & Quentin Tarantino. Boxset Contents: 3 movies on 3 Blu-ray discs and 1 4K UHD disc. Rating: Rated R. Release Date: August 27, 2024.
