Logan M
A charming and energetic classic with a great view of the city where it was made and great action, made even more impressive by the film's mere 7,000 dollar budget.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/12/23
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maggie p
Great movie!!!! Great story, great cast, great everything!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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Audience Member
He might be a big name in Hollywood today, but back in the early 90s, the then 23-year-old Robert Rodriguez made the film El Mariachi more or less on his own, with a paltry budget, and his career subsequently took off. I'd heard a lot of things about this movie, mostly about how it was constructed around the dearth of funds, and having seen it, I'm honestly surprised how well they did with so little. It doesn't tell the most original story or have the most fleshed out characters, but it takes what it has and does the best it can with it, giving us a movie which is both admirable and entertaining. I loved how the films 2 storylines kept crossing over in the smartest ways, and the action scenes, while stripped down for monetary reasons, are still pretty exciting, if you can get over the fact that the close-up style of directing effectively removes any sense of spatial geography. I had no idea where any characters were in relation to each other and its clear that, even when they're in a chase scene, the actors are passing by the same places over and over again. The ending is a bit anti-climactic, but since most of the budget would have been spent by then, I can understand why it turned out that way. Issues aside, El Mariachi is a damn good film that put a popular and influential filmmaker on the map, and shows that, when it comes to movies, if the story being told is compelling, everything else will fall into place.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/26/23
Full Review
matthew d
A fantastically stylish directorial debut from Robert Rodriguez!
Director Robert Rodriguez' Spanish-language, indie, neo-Western El Mariachi (1992) is a thing of beauty. Made with the lowest budget you can imagine of around $7,000, Rodriguez milks every peso out of this little Mexican town. It's amazing that director Robert Rodriguez and lead actor Carlos Gallardo put up the money for El Mariachi as producers. It's hard to believe such a stylish film got made, let alone that this was Rodriguez' first feature film.
El Mariachi is charming, funny, and exciting with a thrilling case of mistaken identity for his crime narrative with Western style. Guns blazing and casual jokes galore, El Mariachi shows what an innovative director can do with little to nothing for his production budget. Rodriguez' direction genuinely feels like an intense 90's action packed, crime thriller with a relaxing Western feel. You can tell how influenced by The Shaw Brothers' 70s films Rodriguez was, let alone Sergio Leone's legendary Westerns. You get 70s style dream sequences, brutal 80s style action shootouts, and pleasant 90s raw romance and humor from El Mariachi.
Robert Rodriguez was El Mariachi's writer, editor, and cinematographer in addition to its director. Rodriguez' neat writing provides a simple crime story about a traveling musician mistaken for a killer crook out for blood. It's actually complex in how people keep getting mistaken for one another. I love the natural conversations, absurd jokes, tender romance, and creative crime narrative. Rodriguez was a crafty writer early on already.
Robert Rodriguez' editing is very slick with mature cuts that a more experienced director would be making. His cuts to close-ups are always striking. I love how artful his edits are for El Mariachi. It's like Rodriguez was directing an art film as much as an exciting action picture. He cuts scenes with a deliberately slow burn pacing like old Westerns. El Mariachi is only 81 minutes and still moves along pretty quickly. I was certainly entertained by the fun character moments besides the cool violence. Robert Rodriguez' cinematography speaks for itself. His moving camera finds faces and blood splatter with equal beauty. He has a clear low budget as all Rodriguez could probably afford was handheld shooting, but El Mariachi looks great and has many fascinating shots all the same.
Carlos Gallardo is charming, handsome, and hilarious as "El Mariachi." His hapless hero is funny, natural, and likable. I love Gallardo's smooth and soaring vocals during El Mariachi's lovely musical numbers. His Mariachi music is honestly my favorite aspect of El Mariachi, even more so than the bloody shootouts. He has intense romantic chemistry with the pretty and charming Consuelo Gómez as the kind bar owner Dominó. She's really funny and mesmerizing in El Mariachi.
Peter Marquardt is great as the sleazy creep crime boss Mauricio known as "Moco." I loved the fat and intense Reinol Martínez as Azul. His action shootouts are so cool and he's got a funny sense of direct humor. Edith Gonzalez is very sexy as Moco's main girl Electra, especially in her purple bikini. It's fun that all the other supporting cast were all locals that Rodriguez used.
Composers Eric Guthrie, Chris Knudson, Álvaro Rodríguez, Cecilio Rodríguez, and Mark Trujillo's score for El Mariachi. They have dramatic drums with eerie synth lines that I loved hearing. The dark synth melodies in the backdrop really give El Mariachi a heavy atmosphere. The pleasant Mariachi music is really wonderful and always fun to hear.
In all, El Mariachi is well worth watching for fun characters and killer action sequences from budding filmmaker Robert Rodriguez.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A fantastic debut done on a shoestring budget
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
Full Review
cees t
6.8 / 10. A lot of plot armor and drags a bit in the middle, but more credible than its sequel: Desperado.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
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