El Mariachi

[normanbatesjr]

The Robert Rodriguez flick that preceeded Desperado. Fun in a quirky sort of way.

[Jim H]

Originally posted by normanbatesjr
The Robert Rodriguez flick that preceeded Desperado. Fun in a quirky sort of way.

I thought it was a quite good film, and significantly superior to Desperado (which I think is good, but not as good as some make it out to be).

What is perhaps strangest is that El Mariachi is better acted by all the principal cast members - despite a cast of total unknowns, and many of the actors are just people who lived in the area.

I would give El Mariachi an 8/10, and Desperado a 7/10. El Mariachi also stands up much better to repeat viewings, IMO.

[neco82]

Both are good but you have to give props to El Mariachi for getting the ball rolling. The budget was almost nil (and it shows a lot), but the acting was good, the story interesting, it had humour and it was all around a solid movie.

Did you know that the guy who plays Moco in this film was an American friend of Rodriguez's (who met most of the other cast members while working as a guinea pig for a pharmaceutical company) who didn't know a single word of spanish? Rumours abound that he had to read his dialogue from off-screen cuecards (which explains why he's so damn stiff sometimes).

[James Logan]

I love EL MARIACHI. It's probably my favorite "absolutely indie" movie. Nowhere near pretentious, nowhere near artsy, but God it's stylish. Robert Rodriguez in all his raw talent.

And Neco, yes, the guy who plays Moco did indeed read his dialogue from cuecards, Rodriguez confirms it in his book REBEL WITHOUT A CREW. For instance, in the pool scenes, "Moco" has those cuecards in one hand he keeps offscreen, and he wears dark glasses so he can look down at them unnoticed. Indie filmmaker trick. :)

9/10

[Jim H]

Originally posted by James Logan
I love EL MARIACHI. It's probably my favorite "absolutely indie" movie. Nowhere near pretentious, nowhere near artsy, but God it's stylish. Robert Rodriguez in all his raw talent.

And Neco, yes, the guy who plays Moco did indeed read his dialogue from cuecards, Rodriguez confirms it in his book REBEL WITHOUT A CREW. For instance, in the pool scenes, "Moco" has those cuecards in one hand he keeps offscreen, and he wears dark glasses so he can look down at them unnoticed. Indie filmmaker trick. :)

9/10

It is also mentioned once or twice in the El Mariachi commentary, which BTW is one of the best of all time. It's practically a guidebook to ways to make movies cheap. The budget of El Mariachi was roughly $7,000.

[The Delfonics]

I love El Mariachi. More than anything, the movie is an inspiration to filmmakers like me. I did alot of research about this movie in my Spanish Cinematography class and learned alot of neat stuff. Rob Rod is the man.

8/10

[bankholdup]

Whenever somebody asks me to recommend a good, low-budget film, I say EL MARIACHI. Why? Because it's amazingly well-made, considering the budget. I might pick up the DVD sometime soon, so I can watch it more. My rating is a solid 8/10.

[Paterfamilias]

Loved, loved, loved it!!

Amazing what Rodriguez did with such a small budget. And yes, the commentary is one of the best I've ever heard. Filmschool in a box!!!

[platanero79]

yeah great film 8/10 wow hope to make a film like this one day small budget but better then most big budget film

I may buy the DVD soon to hear that commentary everybody talking about

[Ted Pikul]

El Mariachi is the only really good film Rodriguez has directed.

The sequels suck (apart from Johnny Depp) & the only other film of his which bears repeated viewing is The Faculty.

[Wildfire]

El Mariachi is much better than his other films ....theres a greater sense of fun about the film

[Wurms]

Originally posted by Ted Pikul
El Mariachi is the only really good film Rodriguez has directed.

The sequels suck (apart from Johnny Depp) & the only other film of his which bears repeated viewing is The Faculty.

YOU MEAN YOU DIDNT LIKE ANY OF THE SPY KIDS!? :p harhar.


El Mariachi is cool. I like Desperado just a tad more though. It oozes coolness.

[Cronos]

i really enjoyed this, i really cracked up when the guy in the bar pulled out the keyboard. very quirky and odd at times but a lot of fun

[Tony_Montana]

El Mariachi (7/10) is like the only Spanish language film I've ever seen, and it's also the film that inspired me to make movies of my own (so far only crappy shorts starring friends and family, but I'm hoping to get better).

If he can do it, I can do it too (or so I thought).

[Pvt. Joker]

Didn't he make this movie for like 7000$ or something like that and made the money from testing drugs for FDA?

[Tony_Montana]

Yep (or so he would have you believe). But only a few hundred dollars of it are actually used on-screen (for squibs, props, etc.)The rest went into actually buying the film and stuff.

[iDLEWiLD_fan]

El Mariachi is by far the best in the Mariachi trilogy...Desperado was just ok wasn't anything great but i thoroughly enjoyed Once Upon A Time In Mexico


Originally posted by Ted Pikul
El Mariachi is the only really good film Rodriguez has directed.

The sequels suck (apart from Johnny Depp) & the only other film of his which bears repeated viewing is The Faculty.

what about From Dusk Till Dawn?

[Ted Pikul]

It's a guilty pleasure admittedly but it can hardly be called a good film.