El Mariachi / Desperado Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

El Mariachi / Desperado Blu-ray Movie Review

Robert Rodriguez does with pennies what others can't do with a fortune.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 4, 2011

It's safe to say that Robert Rodriguez has this Action movie thing down pat, and it only took him one movie and $7,000 to prove it. His debut film El Mariachi is about as makeshift and, from a production perspective, "cheap" as any movie ever made, and it's better than a whole lot of bigger and supposedly better Action movies, too, playing as far grander and even more refined than its budget suggests thanks to the creative filmmaking gene with which the Director's been blessed. He's followed up on El Mariachi with films of larger budgets, but pictures like From Dusk Till Dawn and Planet Terror haven't seen him shy away from his core values. Rodriguez movies are among the creme de la creme of the modern Action movie landscape, and his "Mariachi" trilogy -- which consists of El Mariachi, the $7,000,000 follow-up Desperado , and the slightly-bigger still Once Upon a Time in Mexico -- represents not thrifty filmmaking, but smart filmmaking. They -- and these first two pictures in particular -- show exactly what creativity, smart decision making, and determination can do for a director looking to make it big with little more than a camera and a dream.

Me gusta tocar la guitarra...

El Mariachi
Score: 4.5/5

Sin amor, sin suerte.

In the small town of Acuña, a traveling Mariachi (Carlos Gallardo), still looking for his place in life and living gig-to-gig and out of cheap motel rooms, is about to be mistaken as a player in a violent criminal dispute. Azul (Reinol Martinez) is demanding his cut of money from crime boss Moco (Peter Marquardt), but the slick-haired, dressed-in-white Moco isn't about to turn over all that cash to a two-bit nothing like Azul. He sends several of his best men -- armed -- to take out Azul, but Mr. Blue gets the jump on them and he and his men put an end to their tiny little lives. Moco sends more men after Azul -- they're told to hunt down and kill a man dressed in black and toting a guitar case full of weapons -- but they find the Mariachi instead, also dressed in black and carrying a guitar case, only his is actually home to his livelihood and not several deadly weapons. When the bullets start flying, the Mariachi is forced to set aside the guitar and quickly learn the art of war if he's to survive to play his guitar another day.

It's the greatest film ever made on a $7,000 budget. El Mariachi may very well be Director Robert Rodriguez's finest film, and he made it for less than the cost of a low-end used car. He was either really feeling it (credit to Stephen King) when he made the movie, or there's an awful lot of talent swirling around inside his body, and considering his penchant for making some of the most entertaining fare around, the smart money's on the latter. El Mariachi is a poster child for moviemaking done right; here's a picture that's the 180-degree opposite of something like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a movie that emphasizes sheer spectacle above all else rather than give greater import to substance, story, and raw directorial know-how. El Mariachi's simplicity of story certainly helps, but Rodriguez has managed to give his film not necessarily a polished and professional look -- there's an unmistakable rawness not only in the gritty façade but in the obvious on-the-fly tip-of-the-shoestring-budget -- but certainly one that seems much larger than the money allotted would allow, the film a prime example of what both know-how and unparalleled filmmaking instinct can achieve. Best of all, El Mariachi isn't just a feel-good story of a director who scraped together his pennies and made a decent movie; the film transcends everything moviegoers know about how the business works. It's not always about the most "0's" in a budget but rather the heart and determination of a visionary filmmaker to do something that shouldn't be possible: to craft a superior movie on nothing but fumes, dedication, smarts, and raw instinct.

The film's "less is more" approach -- it's made more on force of will than anything else, surrounded, of course, by a top-notch story -- is also evident in the basics of the storyline and the acting. At its center, El Mariachi is movie of coincidence, of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or at least wearing the wrong clothes and playing the wrong instrument in the wrong place and at the wrong time. From that little bit of thematic convenience comes a story where innocent lives are destroyed through little more than simple miscommunication and bad luck, particularly for the Mariachi and Domino, one an outsider and the other a girl whose past is about to catch up with her through circumstance rather than by choice. The simplistic storyline is reinforced by several surprisingly solid performances from the primary characters. There are no big names in here -- the acting is rather raw, in fact -- but the performances add all the more realism to the movie, anyway. These characters are small-time, small-town people who aren't "professionals" in any sense of the word, whether the budding Mariachi who has yet to live up to the standards set by his forefathers or the criminals who seem to have made it as far in life thanks to cunning and luck more so than skill and brains. Most are little more than hired thugs off the street, working for a couple of two-bit crime bosses who, outside of their little comfort zone, wouldn't be much more than a speck in the eye of larger, more sophisticated criminal empires. The "off the street" feel of the performances almost seem to heighten the quality of the movie in a strange, roundabout way, adding further credence to the way things work in this small corner of the world, with, of course, slightly better efforts from the actors who play Moco and Azul on the "bad guy" side of the ledger and the Mariachi and Domino on the other.

Desperado
Score: 4.5/5

It's easier to pull the trigger than to play the guitar.

The once innocent Mariachi (Antonio Banderas, The Mask of Zorro) has become a fearsome gunslinger, and now he's tracking down a nasty crime boss by the name of Bucho (Joaquim de Almeida, Clear and Present Danger), but to get to him he must first find him and plow through his army of well-armed hired thugs. With the help of a chatty barhop (Steve Buscemi, Youth in Revolt), El Mariachi find himself on the trail of his target. As he kills anyone in his way and dodges bullets as he and his guitar case full of guns marche on towards the prize, he meets a beautiful woman named Carolina (Salma Hayek, Grown Ups) who runs a local bookstore and becomes entangled in El Mariachi's destiny. With love blossoming and bullets in the air, can the two survive an onslaught of adversaries and win the day over Bucho and his men?

What is Desperado? Not much more than a fun, flamboyant action extravaganza. Director Robert Rodriguez re-imagines/follows up El Mariachi with Antonio Banderas in the lead, the actor playing the same guitar-case toting Mariachi from the first film (look for original Mariachi Carlos Gallardo in a small supporting role), this time with a larger budget and several more guns in tow. Indeed, Desperado is about big guns and bigger shootouts, a film with a bloody good and undeniably fun style that tosses lead downrange like nobody's business and gleefully shoots up the screen in one of the more honest-to-goodness guns-blazing pictures to hail from the 1990s. The picture is one of excess, and Rodriguez pulls it off incredibly well; Desperado oozes a unique style surrounded by handsome people who still look good bloodied and bruised and flying though the air in slow-motion as they keep their fingers pressed firmly against the trigger, the film slowing down just long enough to tell a few jokes, have fun with a couple of quick-to-die side characters, and even toss in a sex scene with a naked Salma Hayek just for you-know-whats and giggles, as if this weren't already one of the most honest-to-goodness red-blooded all-time guy movies and need some extra allure to pull in reluctant viewers.

And on that note, it wouldn't be a 1990s guy movie without one of Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarantino, so of course Desperado features both. They both show up just long enough for a few memorable scenes, but that's enough time to set things up and give the movie some offsetting humor; Desperado couldn't just be guns and Salma, could it? Whereas the violence is the heart of the film, the picture's intriguing side characters -- whether Buscemi and Tarantino or even the young would-be guitar playing boy -- are its soul. Desperado is a finely-tuned and wonderfully harmonious Action film from its characters on down; Banderas is excellent as the Ruger P90-wielding Mariachi whose as scruffy and tough as he is tenderhearted, and the remainder of the players seamlessly disappear into their parts in what is another Robert Rodriguez gem of an Action movie. El Mariachi might be the "better" of the two films if only for the way it manages a level of excellence on not much more than a wing and a prayer, but Desperado -- itself no high-dollar extravaganza -- is the more polished of the two.

El Mariachi / Desperado Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

El Mariachi
Score: 3.5/5

El Mariachi is a rough and dirty film -- what else could anyone expect of a movie with this small a budget -- and the limitations of the source are apparent in Sony's 1080p, 1.85:1-framed Blu-ray transfer. This is a grainy, scratchy presentation that's home to pops and hairs other sorts of anomalies that appear with regularity over the image. That doesn't make it unwatchable. On the contrary, the film has never looked better on home video, and despite some inherent-to-the-source eyesores, Sony's transfer does the film justice. The boost in resolution, detail, color, and clarity are immediately evident. Although a few shots look soft and the source isn't razor-sharp to begin with, detail proves quite good throughout. Colors are many, with several bright but perhaps just ever-so-slightly faded shades dotting the otherwise earth-toned landscape in and around Acuña. Flesh tones and blacks appear accurate. Sony's 1080p transfer does all it can for El Mariachi; the results aren't on par with some mega-budget new release, but fans should appreciate the effort and enjoy the presentation, warts and all.

Desperado
Score: 4/5

Desperado's 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer fares much better than El Mariachi, though that difference is more a result of the source than Sony's handiwork in the transfer-to-Blu-ray process. The greater budget shows in what is a more problem-free print. Grain is retained but does not appear nearly as heavily as it does in El Mariachi. Likewise, spots and speckles are kept to a bare minimum. Fine detail throughout is good but unremarkable; there's an innate softness to parts of the image, though there are just as many close-ups that reveal seemingly every pore and bead of sweat on a face or the texture of various brick and wood surfaces around town or inside the bar that plays a prominent part in the film. Colors, likewise, are steady but not particularly vibrant. Flesh tones do favor a heavy orange push, but black levels are quite good, notably in the opening minutes as Buscemi recounts the tale of the shadowy figure who massacred his fellow bar patrons. Overall, Desperado sports a good, clean, worthy film-like transfer. It's not going to blow anybody away, but Sony's effort here is steady and honest.

El Mariachi / Desperado Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

El Mariachi
Score: 3.5/5

El Mariachi's DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless soundtrack is efficient but underwhelming; then again, much the same can be said of the video quality, and both are attributable to the picture's small budget and not a lack of effort or care on Sony's part. This is a cramped track that could certainly benefit from more space and energy, but the limited presentation actually suits the look and feel of the movie nicely. The two-channel presentation handles music well enough, delivering suitably smooth and satisfying notes across the front. Ambience is limited to the general din of exterior traffic and slight natural atmospherics, both of which add some body and realism to the track, but not to any sort of wholly immersive extent. Gunshots are fine, packing a bit more energy, oomph, and sheer clarity than one might expect from a low-budget soundtrack. Dialogue is smoothly and efficiently handled by the center channel. This isn't a dynamic track by any means, but it seems to be a transparent presentation of the film's original mix.

Desperado
Score: 4.5/5

Desperado demands a crazy-good soundtrack, and Sony's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless presentation is, yup, crazy-good. This track is none too concerned with subtlety and is instead more prone to bludgeon listeners with plenty of ear-smashing violent goodness. Gunshots crackle with volume to spare during every shootout, emanating from each corner of the soundstage and blasting the senses with an endless barrage of noise that does manage quite a bit of clarity along the way. The final shootout -- with the guitar-case machine guns and missile launchers -- is a celebration of sonic excess. Missiles rip through the soundstage, exploding metal shatters all around the listener, and bass threatens to rip the soundstage to pieces. It might not be the tightest or best-defined action sequence on the market, but what it lacks in sheer precision it makes up for in raw power and desire to impress the listener with the wares it has to work with. Overcooked as it may be in spots, the track also manages to satisfy with crystal-clear and center-focused dialogue and a nice array of environmental support, generally coming in the form of street-level sounds such as passing cars, ringing bells, and footsteps in those instances where gunfire isn't dominating the proceedings. The picture's Mariachi-style, acoustic guitar-heavy score is smooth and accurate across the front, the final finishing touches on an excellent soundtrack from Sony.

El Mariachi / Desperado Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Both films share a common menu and are alternated only by selecting a small icon in the top lefthand corner of the screen. Each film contains a unique commentary and several extras. Though short in quantity, they're some of the best around. Only BD-Live functionality, Movie IQ connectivity, and the 'El Mariachi'/'Desperado' Cutting Room feature is shared between both films. The latter extra allows users to edit together their own segments from a series of preselected scenes from the films as well as a selection of music and sound effects.

El Mariachi
Score: 4/5

• Audio Commentary: Robert Rodriguez is one of the best in the home video extras business, and he crams this commentary full of excellent insights into the making of the movie. It's a veritable crash-course film school crammed into 81 minutes. He speaks on filmmaking tricks, the importance of editing, the true cost of what's on-screen (most of the budget went into buying film), populating the movie with locals, various shortcuts that were a result of budget limitations, and more. This is one of the absolute finest commentaries around; it's a must-listen, and this release is worth buying for the commentary alone.
• 10 Minute Film School (480p, 14:37): Actually a little under 15 minutes in length (though something many times as long would be welcome with open arms), this piece features Rodrizuez sharing some of his tips and tricks that went into making El Mariachi on a dime and prayer.
• Robert Rodriguez's Student Film: Bed Head (480p, 9:08).

Desperado
Score: 3/5

• Audio Commentary: Director Robert Rodriguez once again mans an impressive commentary as he passionately discusses his film, this time talking about how he made $7,000,000 look like $30,000,000. Again, he covers a wide swath of information, discussing everything from the creativity necessary when shooting with a low budget to the assemblage of the cast. As with the commentary for El Mariachi, this track is well worth the effort.
• 10 More Minutes: Anatomy of a Shootout (480p, 10:28): Rodriguez returns with another installment of his heralded series, this time talking about the way he used storyboards and video rehearsals to prepare for the actual shoot.
• Music Videos (480p): Los Lobos with Antonio Banderas - "Morena de Mi Corazón" (2:40) and Tito & Tarantula - "Back to the House that Love Built" (4:04).

El Mariachi / Desperado Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

El Mariachi and Desperado represent one of the more unheralded one-two punches of recent times; few directors come out of the gate as hot as Robert Rodriguez, and his first two pictures are dazzling examples of high-energy movies built on heart and know-how, money be damned. Desperado's budget was 100 times bigger, and for as fun, slick, sexy, and adrenaline-laced as it may be, it doesn't find the same heart and raw honesty of El Mariachi, but that doesn't make it a lesser film -- just a different feeling kind of film. El Mariachi and Desperado form a formidable twosome of movie delights, and what better way to enjoy them than through this strong Blu-ray release from Sony? The studio has plopped both films on a single disc, but there's no loss in quality; El Mariachi's inherent grittiness is retained, and Desperado -- always one of those "go-to" demo soundtracks back in the days of LaserDisc and DVD -- sounds better than ever here. Neither film may boast a large quantity of extras, but what's here is incredibly impressive nonetheless. No surprise, this two-fer from Sony comes highly recommended.