The Mexico Trilogy 4K Blu-ray Movie
El Mariachi BD / Desperado 4K+BD / Once Upon a Time in Mexico BD | Limited Edition / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-rayArrow | 1992-2003 | 3 Movies | 287 min | Rated R | Aug 27, 2024
Movie rating
Movie has not been rated yetBlu-ray rating
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Overview click to collapse contents
The Mexico Trilogy 4K (1992-2003)
See individual titles for their synopses.
Crime | 100% |
Thriller | 85% |
Dark humor | 53% |
Action | 39% |
Western | 17% |
Specifications click to expand contents
Video
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio
See individual releases
Subtitles
English SDH
Discs
Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (4 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Packaging
Slipcover in original pressing
Playback
Region A (B, C untested)
Review click to expand contents
Rating summary
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The Mexico Trilogy 4K Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 19, 2024There's microbudgeting when it comes to making films and then there's Robert Rodriguez microbudgeting when it comes to making films. Almost unbelievably, at least contextually within the confines of macrobudgeted features whose bottom line can evidently quite frequently and easily get into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and frankly maybe even without any context whatsoever considering how amazing it is, Rodriguez pretty much literally burst upon the filmmaking scene in 1992 with the first film in this nicely appointed new set from Arrow, an outing which set Rodriguez back the princely sum of $7,000.00. That's not a misprint — there's no missing zero (or several) before the decimal point. El Mariachi created such a stir, and did reasonable enough box office, that Rodriguez probably unsurprisingly soon found himself courted by actual studios with significantly larger budgets, and among the many interesting films Rodriguez when on to multi-hyphenate (if that can be a verb) were the two sequels to El Mariachi. Rodriguez's kind of amazingly fast climb up fame and fortune's ladder is all the more remarkable when one considers what might be termed his "regional" proclivities, not to mention how he managed to initially fund that first step up a rung (enterprising Googlers are encouraged to do a little investigation). There's an almost feral and unkempt quality to the admittedly lo-fi and perhaps just slightly not ready for prime time ambience of El Mariachi, but there is also such an amazingly assured presence in the director's chair that Rodriguez's pretty seamless facility with larger funding amounts and bigger name marquee stars doesn't come as much of a surprise. As tends to be the case with Arrow's box sets, this is another pretty lavishly appointed release that is somewhat unusual in that it offers El Mariachi and Once Upon a Time in Mexico on 1080 discs, with Desperado presented on both 2160 (4K UHD) and 1080 discs (also a bit unusually, Arrow is releasing a standalone Desperado 4K SteelBook).
For reviews of the films in this set, please click on the following links:
El Mariachi Blu-ray review
Desperado 4K Blu-ray review
Once Upon a Time in Mexico Blu-ray review
The Mexico Trilogy 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
Video quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.
The Mexico Trilogy 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
Audio quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.
The Mexico Trilogy 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
On disc supplements are detailed in the above linked reviews. This limited edition has Arrow's typical assortment of non-disc swag, including an illustrated collector's booklet featuring some great essays. All three keepcases feature reversible sleeves and enclose smaller folded mini posters. The slipbox (which is itself enclosed in an O ring) also has a larger folded poster in addition to the booklet.
The Mexico Trilogy 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
Robert Rodriguez continues to be a rather distinctive filmmaker in a number of ways, and this trilogy is an interesting document of sorts detailing his rapid rise from indie wunderkind to big budget A-lister. The three films have varying levels of impact, but as usual Arrow provides generally solid technical merits and some really enjoyable supplements, all in a very handsomely packaged release. Recommended.