Once Upon a Time in Mexico Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Once Upon a Time in Mexico Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 19, 2024

Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of The Mexico Trilogy 4K set from Arrow. Note that in this instance the "4K" appellation refers only to the version(s) of Desperado included in the set.

There'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).

As with the two other films in this set, home studio Sony Pictures released this film on Blu-ray several years ago. Those interested can head over to Martin Liebman's Once Upon a Time in Mexico Blu- ray review for plot information, screenshots and a list of supplements.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arrow's insert booklet lumps information on the films' transfers together on one page, as follows:

El Mariachi is presented in its theatrical 1.85:1 aspect ratio with its original Latin American Spanish stereo soundtrack, as well as a stereo English dub track.

Desperado is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 5.1 and stereo sound. The film was restored in 4K resolution by Sony Pictures from the original camera negative and has been graded in SDR, HDR10 and Dolby Vision. This restoration has been approved by director Robert Rodriguez.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico is presented in its video aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with 5.1 and stereo audio.

All mastering was completed at Sony.

There's quite a bit of information in the supplements on this disc about Rodriguez "going digital" with this release, and there's an obvious change in appearance here due to the technologies employed (it's actually kind of funny to think of the trilogy as a "history lesson" in formats, going from 16mm to 35mm to digital). As with the two other releases in this set, Arrow's version struck me as a tad darker and better suffused than Sony's older Blu-ray, and as with Desperado, the somewhat jaundiced, skewed toward yellow, look of Sony's version has been ameliorated here, so that flesh tones in particular look more natural. Marty mentioned a "yellow / orange tinge" to Sony's release, and I'd say that this version retains a bit of that orange- ish tone as well. Detail levels are often exceptional in close-ups, but as with both of the other films in this set, Rodriguez's penchant for quick cutting, askew angles and rapidly moving cameras can lead to momentary deficits in fine detail. My score is 4.25.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Once Upon a Time in Mexico offers another really boisterous DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that is chock full of zinging effects in the many action sequences. Appealing discrete channelization is combined with immersive and at times head spinning uses of panning effects that almost threaten to subsume the listener at the film's most chaotic moments. Dynamic range is once again extremely wide. Another evocative use of music is presented with a really burnished, full bodied sound, and good engagement of the side and rear channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Robert Rodriguez


• The Revolution Will Be Digitized with Robert Rodriguez (HD; 12:41) wraps up the new three part interview with Rodriguez (the preceding two parts can be found on the other discs in the set), here getting into his decision to shoot digitally for the first time.


• Troublemaking with Ethan Maniquis (HD; 9:50) is a new interview with the film's visual effects editor.


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 7:47) feature optional commentary by Rodriguez.


• Ten Minute Flick School (HD; 9:05) is an archival piece with Rodriguez espousing the benefits of shooting digitally.


• Inside Troublemaker Studios (HD; 11:24) is another archival piece, with Rodriguez offering a tour of his facilities in Austin.


• Ten Minute Cooking School (HD; 5:50) is a fun archival piece with Rodriguez in Julia Child mode (or something like that).


• Film is Dead: An Evening with Robert Rodriguez (HD; 13:20) is a 2003 presentation in Los Angeles by Rodriguez.


• The Anti-Hero's Journey (HD; 18:05) is an archival piece detailing the "arc" of the Mariachi.


• The Good, the Bad & The Bloody: Inside KNB FX (HD; 19:04) is an archival piece focusing on the special effects.


• Theatrical Trailer (Red Band) (HD; 2:37)


• Theatrical Trailer (Green Band) (HD; 2:19)

Once Upon a Time in Mexico Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As is discussed in some of the bounteous supplements included on this disc, Once Upon a Time in Mexico was kind of a lark for Rodriguez, a "hey, I have a couple of weeks and a digital camera, let's make a movie" sort of thing, and as such, there's an undeniably loosey-goosey ambience here that is probably even more pronounced than in the two previous "installments" in this trilogy. There's maybe just the slightest whiff of Rodriguez getting buried by his own success and increased budgets and star power, but the energy of this film is undeniable. Technical merits are solid, and as usual Arrow has assembled some great supplements. Recommended.