Do directors know when they’re creating the film that will propel them into the spotlight? Could Robert Rodriquez ever have imagined that his 85-minute film about a mariachi mistaken for a professional hitman and then forced to take on that mantle could have ever become the cult classic that it is? Sure, but considering the fickle tastes of the film-consuming community, it could just have easily faded into obscurity and never built up the momentum that would make Rodriguez one of the more popular voices in action filmmaking. Instead, El Mariachi spawned two sequels, Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and now the film that started it all and its first sequel are finally available on Blu-ray in a double feature.
With a much grittier and simpler appearance than its higher-budgeted, studio sanctioned sequels, El Mariachi also tells a much more basic story. The otherwise unnamed man, El Mariachi (Carlos Gallardo) wanders into a small town held in a choke hold by crime kingpin Mauricio (Peter Marquardt), who finds his attentions occupied by the recent escape of a former partner, Azul (Reinol Martinez), he cheated who now seeks revenge. The grunts in Mauricio’s employ confuse the guitar-toting El Mariachi with Azul thanks to the criminal’s tendency to carry his guns in a guitar case. Before he knows what’s happening, El Mariachi has fallen in love with the local innkeeper Domino (Consuelo Gomez), who happens to be a romantic interest of Mauricio as well, and is on the run and adjusting to a life of violence in evading the bullets of Mauricio’s men. The overall look of the film is gritty and unrefined, so its conversion to Blu-ray doesn’t make too much sense, but as is it’s a solid story told effectively and with lots of fun gunplay. Compared to its sequels, El Mariachi is light on explosions and anything else that would make high-definition a necessity (including being limited to dual-channel audio), but considering it’s packed as a double feature with its sequel which does benefit from the full Blu-ray treatment, we’ll move on to Desperado where this actually matters.
Multiplying the budget of the original by a thousand (yeah, really – from $7,000 to $7 Million), Columbia gave Robert Rodriguez the liberty to bring his series into the eye of the mainstream American public (even after Columbia had distributed El Mariachi in the US). They recast El Mariachi with Antonio Banderas in place of Gallardo and told a story that echoed the original film in more ways than one, leaving it unclear as to whether or not it’s an actual sequel, a remake, or some hybrid of the two playing with the series’ penchant for creative retellings of the Mariachi’s story. Even if the story runs perilously close to copying the original, the visuals and audio of Desperado are infinitely smoother and better, in a way that multiplying the budget by a thousand would warrant. Desperado amps up the use of pyrotechnics, brings in a more polished and energetic score, and adds another layer of stuntwork the original just didn’t have the time or resources to include. Desperado is the reason to buy this double feature on Blu-ray, and considering the double feature’s price is probably identical or within a few dollars of what Desperado’s would be as a lone Blu-ray release, you may as well go the double feature route.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
It would have been great if Robert Rodriguez and/or his buddy Quentin Tarantino had taken the time to create an advanced picture-in-picture commentary for one or both of the films, but as is, the only new additions to the extra features offered on the original DVD releases of both films is “The Cutting Room” for both features, letting you splice scenes from the film into your own custom video for sharing online. It’s not much of a draw to push you into buying the film on Blu-ray, so the ported extras like audio commentaries, Rodriguez’s short film “Bed Head”, a Los Lobos music video, and a production featurettes with Rodriguez remain the best extras on the set despite being in standard-def and copied from the DVD version.
"El Mariachi & Desperado" is on sale January 4, 2011 and is rated R. Action. Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Starring Antonio Banderas, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Joaquim De Almeida, Carlos Gallardo.
