El Mariachi
1992 Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Synopsis
He didn't come looking for trouble, but trouble came looking for him.
El Mariachi just wants to play his guitar and carry on the family tradition. Unfortunately, the town he tries to find work in has another visitor...a killer who carries his guns in a guitar case. The drug lord and his henchmen mistake El Mariachi for the killer, Azul, and chase him around town trying to kill him and get his guitar case.
Popular reviews
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There was once a guy who had a passion for films. He wanted to make a film, but he was basically broke. With the very few pesos he had in his pockets, got a cheap camera, and made a film that would change his career forever. His name was Robert. The film was about a mariachi player...
The film was made cheap as hell and it looks cheap as hell, but that's one of the reasons why I love this film. He took what little money he had (about $7,000 if I'm not mistaken) and he made quite an impression. Even as an inexperienced director, he provides some inventive shots that are quite impressive coming from a rookie director. He…
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Rodriguez's debut feature, shot in two weeks for $7,000, is a heady mix of grisliness, wry humour and charm, as a travelling guitarist (Carlos Gallardo) is mistaken for a ruthless killer, turning him from lightning-fingered balladeer to lightning-fingered desperado.
It's an excitingly rough and ready mission statement, with bloody action scenes, a touching romance and a great use of voiceover, as our hero harks back to the mariachis of old, lending the film a timelessness and cultural relevance.
Rodriguez allows some cheesiness to creep in when slimy '80s-style villain Peter Marquardt is on screen, but it's a minor shortcoming in this excellent little film, which milks the mistaken-identity plot for all its worth, aided by Gallardo's considerable charisma and likeability.
There's even time in its 82 minutes for us all to stop and listen to a nice song.
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Film #25 Of The December Project.
This is the kind of film that makes me want to go out and create something. It's low budget with a pretty poor production value, but it's got a lot of heart and you can see the passion behind it. Apart from that, it has an interesting story and some awesome gunfight/chase sequences.
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Proof that you don't need a great budget to make a great movie.
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Amateurly made, with some acting that is quite wooden indeed, but there's still plenty of style and promise in this debut from Robert Rodriguez as a musican mistaken for a killer.
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I normally don't read up on films before I see them as I like them to take me by surprise. In most cases I just want to be served a nicely told story that I haven't heard a thousand times before, I'm not that concerned about how it came to be. Also, If i know about the details beforehand I risk getting bored and end up waiting for a specific part to happen. In the case of El Mariachi though I highly recommend reading Rebel Without a Crew before you see it. For me that book made the movie watching experience much richer and interesting, as well as it made me feel a great deal of respect towards Robert Rodriquez.…
Recent reviews
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Excellent debut from Rodriguez in this low budget film.
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A masterpiece of independent filmmaking.
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Incredibly cheesy from start to finish, but ultimately a fun and cool low-budget action movie.
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Entertaining and humorous debut by Rodriguez. I always remember the tortoise.
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Filma, kas iecēla Robertu Rodrigezu slavas saulē. Mazbudžeta grāvējs (budžets $7,000, bet ienākumi $2,040,920), kurš stāsta par pārpratumu kādā Meksikas mazpilsētā. Scenārijs ir vienkāršs, taču lai uztaisītu tik efektīgu filmu ar tik mazu budžetu ir jābūt meistarībai.
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Amateurly made, with some acting that is quite wooden indeed, but there's still plenty of style and promise in this debut from Robert Rodriguez as a musican mistaken for a killer.
-
Proof that you don't need a great budget to make a great movie.
-
Rodriguez's debut feature, shot in two weeks for $7,000, is a heady mix of grisliness, wry humour and charm, as a travelling guitarist (Carlos Gallardo) is mistaken for a ruthless killer, turning him from lightning-fingered balladeer to lightning-fingered desperado.
It's an excitingly rough and ready mission statement, with bloody action scenes, a touching romance and a great use of voiceover, as our hero harks back to the mariachis of old, lending the film a timelessness and cultural relevance.
Rodriguez allows some cheesiness to creep in when slimy '80s-style villain Peter Marquardt is on screen, but it's a minor shortcoming in this excellent little film, which milks the mistaken-identity plot for all its worth, aided by Gallardo's considerable charisma and likeability.
There's even time in its 82 minutes for us all to stop and listen to a nice song.