Robert Rodriguez Mexico Trilogy (1995)

EL MARIACHI: All he wants is to be is a mariachi, like his father, his grandfather and his great grandfather before him. But the town he thinks will bring him luck brings only a curse of deadly mistaken identity. Forced to trade his guitar for a gun, the mariachi is playing for his life in this critically-acclaimed film debut from director Robert Rodriguez. Financed with earnings from a month-long stay in a research hospital, this astonishing action adventure was shot with no second takes, using borrowed equipment and a talented cast of unknowns. The riveting result is a wild bullet-dodging ride through a world of bandido violence, from the suspense of the opening shoot-out to the tragedy of the unexpected conclusion. With little more than a great story and a lot of heart, Rodriguez has created pure movie pleasure, setting new standards for independent filmmaking, and establishing himself as an unquestionable talent. "An enormously entertaining movie." (Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES). DESPERADO: Antonio Banderas, Joaquim De Almeida, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin and Quentin Tarantino star in this stylish shoot-'em-up described as a south-of-the-border Pulp Fiction. Director Robert Rodriguez follows up his legendary debut film, El Mariachi, with this sexy sequel about a mysterious guitar player (Banderas) searching for vengeance against the men who murdered his girlfriend. ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO: Leaping back into action, gun-slinging, guitar-toting hero "El Mariachi" is back in town in ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, as director Robert Rodriguez delivers the epic final chapter of his pulp Western trilogy. Starring Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Mickey Rourke, Eva Mendes, Enrique Iglesias and Willem Dafoe ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO is a full-frontal assault.

Good set, good music, Selma Hayek, Willem Dafoe, Antonio Banderas

I have no attention span to go back and watch the original El Mariachi in its entirety but Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico make this set a good addition to your collection of movies.

I have personal reasons why I enjoy Desperado the most however don't discredit the last movie in this series. Good movies that you should see at least and the extras are your standard trailers, pictures and commentaries. Geth this set for the movies, not the special features. September 29, 2008

Mariachi Grande

*El Mariachi (4 stars out of 5)
For a very low-budget film, this is very well-made. Even though it has very grainy picture quality, the filming style is very excellent. It is a simple but great story filled with great action scenes and great characters. It is entirely in Spanish with English subtitles, and includes a commentary track, a short film, and a making-of featurette.

*Desperado (4 stars out of 5)
With a higher budget, this film surpasses its predessor both in quality and in style. It has excellent image and sound quality. There are loads of slick action scenes. The story is not bad, and has some excellent characters. It is well-written. Music was good. It is mostly in English with subtitles for Spanish-speaking parts, and includes a commentary, a making-of featurette, and I believe it has a free demo for video-editing software.

*Once Upon a Time in Mexico (4 stars out of 5)
This last film has some of the biggest and best action scenes of the trilogy. It still has great video/sound quality, a good filming style, good writing, good characters, and good music. The only thing that really suffers is the story, which is convoluted and seems to have too many characters to keep track of. Again, it is mostly English with subtitled Spanish-speaking parts. It includes a bunch of featurettes, a commentary, and some deleted scenes.

All of these films are exciting, entertaining, and very well-made. All discs are special editions, and contain a wealth of extras. Only the first film seems to have poor image quality, since it is so grainy, but it also accentuates the grittiness of the film and can be considered a benefit. The other two films have nearly perfect quality. Overall, this is a great set and is well worth the price. August 29, 2008

BEST COLLECTION

THIS IS THE REAL COLLECTION. THERE ARE SETS THAT ARE JUST DESPERADO AND ONCE UPON A TIME.... YOU NEED EL MARIACHI TO COMPLETE THE SET. THIS COLLECTION HAS ALL THREE - SO IT'S THE ONE YOU WANT. June 2, 2008

Is a trilogy really required?

El Mariachi was new, refreshing, quick, and stylistic. Desperado was a little more due to it's available budget. But, Once Upon a Time in Mexico was a disappointment. I am a fan of Rodriguez, but this was something put together quickly for those who pushed him for a sequel, pure and simple... May 22, 2008

Great!

Only saw the last 2 parts. I got this set for my friend's daughter and she said the first part was decent, it had words you had to read because of the foreign language but it explained a lot. April 13, 2008

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