EL MARIACHI SYNOPSIS:

A traveling mariachi is mistaken for a murderous criminal and must hide from a gang bent on killing him.​​​

​

DESPERADO SYNOPSIS:

Former musician and gunslinger El Mariachi arrives at a small Mexican border town after being away for a long time. His past quickly catches up with him and he soon gets entangled with the local drug kingpin Bucho and his gang.

​

ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO SYNOPSIS:

Hitman "El Mariachi" becomes involved in international espionage involving a psychotic CIA agent and a corrupt Mexican general.

Director Robert Rodriguez's astonishing 'Mexico Trilogy' (El Mariachi, Desperado & Once Upon a Time in Mexico) now available in a limited edition set!

Arrow has decided to release the Mexico Trilogy as a 4K set, the twist being only one of the trilogy has been upgraded to 4K UHD. Luckily in this instance it’s the most well regarded on the set - Desperado. While El Mariachi and Once Upon A Time In Mexico are only 1080p blu-ray releases (something that had been previously released as a trilogy set but never individually), it’s nice to see it come with such a nice design as Arrow has become known for. And while the quality may not see much to any improvement with the above titles, apart from Desperado - it does come packed with Special Features (at bottom of the review) 

Now onto Desperado, the title we’re all curious about due to the extra effort to have this one upgraded to a 4K UHD disc. 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. The picture quality is impeccable, showcasing just how impressive Rodriquez’ early works were when he was provided with such a miniscule budget. Sam can be said for Desperado’s audio as it improves on everything that was previously done to the title and showcases what a gifted filmmaker is capable of doing when they set their mind to delivering.

​

A Tex-Mex tornado of fire and fury, writer-director Robert Rodriguez's astonishing 'Mexico Trilogy' broke fresh new ground in American independent and action cinema, catapulting the filmmaker and his largely Hispanic cast and crew into the Hollywood stratosphere.

​

Rodriguez's ingenious 1993 debut El Mariachi (infamously filmed for only $7000) sees a naive young musician entering a godforsaken border town and finding himself in the middle of a deadly case of mistaken identity. The major studio follow-up Desperado sees Antonio Banderas take up the mantle of the mysterious Mariachi, stalking the Mexican underworld with enough bullets up his sleeves for every bandito in his path. Finally, 2003's Once Upon a Time in Mexico sees Rodriguez use every cutting-edge technological innovation in his arsenal to bring the trilogy's explosive conclusion to the screen, as the Mariachi finds himself in the center of a bloody war for the soul of Mexico itself.

​

Fun, fast and full of invention and inspiration, this deadly trio cemented Robert Rodriguez's reputation as an action auteur worth following, and are accompanied here by insightful new interviews with the director and his crew of collaborators.

​

SPECIAL FEATURES - THE MEXICO TRILOGY

DISC 1 - EL MARIACHI (BLU-RAY)

• Commentary by writer-director Robert Rodriguez

• Big Vision Low Budget, a newly filmed interview with Rodriguez

• The Original Mariachi, a newly filmed interview with producer/star Carlos Gallardo

• The Music of 'El Mariachi', a newly produced featurette on the music in the film, featuring interviews with composers Eric Guthrie, Chris Knudson, Alvaro Rodriguez and Marc Trujillo

• Ten Minute Film School, an archive featurette produced and narrated by Rodriguez

• Bedhead, a 1991 short film by Rodriguez

• Theatrical trailer and TV spot

DISCS 2 & 3 - DESPERADO (BLU-RAY / 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)

• Audio commentary by writer-director Robert Rodriguez

• Lean and Mean, a newly filmed interview with Rodriguez

• Shoot Like Crazy, a newly filmed interview with producer Bill Borden

• Kill Count, a newly filmed interview with stunt coordinator Steve Davison

• Lock and Load, a newly filmed interview with special effects coordinator Bob Shelley

• Game Changer, a newly filmed appreciation by filmmaker Gareth Evans (The Raid: Redemption)

• Ten More Minutes: Anatomy of a Shootout, an archive featurette narrated by Rodriguez

• Textless opening ("Morena de mi Corazón")

• Theatrical trailers​​

DISC 4 - ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO (BLU-RAY)

• Commentary by writer-director Robert Rodriguez

• The Revolution Will Be Digitized, a newly filmed interview with Rodriguez

• Troublemaking, a newly filmed interview with visual effects editor Ethan Maniquis

• Eight deleted scenes, with optional commentary by Rodriguez

• Ten Minute Flick School, an archive featurette narrated by Rodriguez

• Inside Troublemaker Studios, an archive featurette on Rodriguez's studio in Austin

• Ten Minute Cooking School, an archive featurette in which Rodriguez shows you how to cook Puerco Pibil

• Film is Dead: An Evening with Robert Rodriguez, a presentation by the director given in 2003

• The Anti-Hero's Journey, an archive featurette on the arc of the Mariachi

• The Good, the Bad and the Bloody: Inside KNB FX, an archive featurette on the film's special effects

• Theatrical trailers