Mexico Trilogy | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robert Rodriguez |
Written by | Robert Rodriguez |
Produced by | Robert Rodriguez Carlos Gallardo Elizabeth Avellan |
Starring | Carlos Gallardo Antonio Banderas |
Cinematography | Robert Rodriguez Guillermo Navarro |
Edited by | Robert Rodriguez |
Music by | Eric Guthrie Chris Knudson Álvaro Rodriguez Cecilio Rodriguez Mark Trujillo Los Lobos Robert Rodriguez |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures Dimension Films |
Release dates | 1993–2003 (theatrically) 2010 (home video) |
Running time | 289 minutes |
Countries | United States Mexico |
Languages | English Spanish |
Budget | $36,007,000 [1] (3 films) |
Box office | $125 million [1] (3 films) |
The Mexico Trilogy (also known as the Desperado Trilogy on some released DVD products) is a series of American/Mexican contemporary western action films written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The series' plot tells the continuing story of El Mariachi, a man who painfully lives alone after seeing all of his loved ones die. El Mariachi was portrayed by actors Carlos Gallardo and Antonio Banderas. The films were originally released in theatres from 1993 to 2003, and later on home video as a collection in 2010.
The trilogy began with the 1993 ultra low-budget production of El Mariachi . The film was made on a budget of only US$7,000 using 16-millimeter film, was shot entirely in Mexico with a mostly amateur cast, and was originally intended to go directly to the Mexican home-video market (a process detailed in Rodriguez's book Rebel Without a Crew ). [2] [3] Rodriguez got some funds for the film by serving as a human guinea pig to science labs. [2] Other finances came in the form of prize money won by his short student film, Bedhead , at film festival competitions. [4]
Executives at Columbia Pictures liked the film so much that they bought the rights to it for American distribution. They eventually spent several times more than the film's original production budget on 35 millimeter-film transfers, a marketing campaign, and the eventual distribution/release of the film. [2] [5] It was so well received that they eventually chose to finance the second part of the trilogy, Desperado , [6] and subsequently the final chapter, Once Upon a Time in Mexico .
Film | U.S. release date | Directed by | Written by | Produced by | El Mariachi | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Screenplay by | Story by | |||||
El Mariachi | February 26, 1993 | Robert Rodriguez | Robert Rodriguez | Robert Rodriguez and Carlos Gallardo | Carlos Gallardo | |
Desperado | August 25, 1995 | Robert Rodriguez and Bill Borden | Antonio Banderas | |||
Once Upon a Time in Mexico | September 12, 2003 | Robert Rodriguez, Carlos Gallardo, and Elizabeth Avellán |
El Mariachi travels through Mexico as a musician. He arrives in a small town hoping to find work in the cantinas and clubs. Troubled locals mistake him for a recently escaped convict who has been hunting down his former associates, and killing them with weapons carried in his guitar case. El Mariachi falls in love with a woman who helps hide him, but he sees her killed by those hunting him. He seeks revenge for her death.
The unfortunate adventures of El Mariachi continue, following his quest for love and his thirst for revenge.
A failed coup attempt on the President of Mexico is stopped by the heroic actions of El Mariachi. He sets out to avenge the murder of his wife and daughter, and discovers a connection between the marauders and their deaths.
Series | Season | Episodes | Originally released | Executive producer(s) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First released | Last released | Network | |||||
El Mariachi | 1 | 71 | March 10, 2014 | June 17, 2014 | AXN | Daniel Ucros, Juan Pablo Posada, and Gabriela Valentán |
In August 2013, Sony Pictures Television announced a TV series adaptation of El Mariachi. [7] Filming took place in Mexico with Iván Arana as the lead and Martha Higareda and Julio Brancho in supporting roles. [8] Initially set to premiere on Sony Entertainment Television, the Spanish-language series premiered on AXN across Latin America on March 20, 2014. [9] El Mariachi ran for one season consisting of 71 episodes—airing on MundoFox in the United States and MBC Action in the Middle East. [10]
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.
Character | El Mariachi (1992) | Desperado (1995) | Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) |
---|---|---|---|
"El Mariachi" | Carlos Gallardo | Antonio Banderas | |
Dominó | Consuelo Gómez | ||
Mauricio "Moco" | Peter Marquardt | ||
"Azul" | Reinol Martínez | ||
Cesar "Bucho" | Joaquim de Almeida | ||
Carolina | Salma Hayek | ||
Buscemi | Steve Buscemi | ||
CIA Agent Sands | Johnny Depp | ||
Billy Chambers | Mickey Rourke | ||
Ajedrez | Eva Mendes |
Film | Crew/detail | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Composer(s) | Cinematographer(s) | Editor(s) | Production companies | Distributing company | Running time | |
El Mariachi | Eric Guthrie, Chris Knudson, Álvaro Rodriguez, Cecilio Rodriguez, and Mark Trujillo | Robert Rodriguez | Robert Rodriguez | Columbia Pictures Los Hooligans Productions | Columbia Pictures | 81 minutes |
Desperado | Los Lobos | Guillermo Navarro | Sony Pictures Releasing | 105 minutes | ||
Once Upon a Time in Mexico | Robert Rodriguez | Robert Rodriguez | Columbia Pictures Dimension Films Troublemaker Studios | 102 minutes |
All three films were made using Rodriguez's "Mariachi-style" of filmmaking in which (according to the back cover of his book Rebel Without a Crew ) "creativity, not money, is used to solve problems." Made on low budgets, all three movies have been extremely profitable. El Mariachi was made for $7,000 and grossed more than $2 million in its theatrical release. [11] Desperado was made for $7 million and grossed over $25.5 million in US theaters. [12] Once Upon a Time in Mexico was made for $29 million and grossed over $56.3 million domestically, and an additional $41.0 million worldwide. [13]
Each installment of the Mexico Trilogy has won various prestigious awards. El Mariachi won the Audience Award at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival and the 1993 Deauville American Film Festival, [14] as well as Best First Feature at the 1994 Independent Spirit Awards. [15] Desperado saw Salma Hayek nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 1996 Saturn Awards, and was nominated for the Bronze Horse at the 1995 Stockholm Film Festival. [16] Once Upon a Time in Mexico won two Imagen Foundation Awards for performances by Antonio Banderas and Rubén Blades. [17] The film was also nominated for two Satellite Awards, winning Robert Rodriguez an award for Best Song ("Siente Mi Amor") and recognizing Johnny Depp with a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical. [18] The movie's impressive stunts landed it two Taurus World Stunt Awards nominations. [19]
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore |
---|---|---|---|
El Mariachi | 91% (76 reviews) [20] | 73 (9 reviews) [21] | – |
Desperado | 70% (53 reviews) [22] | 55 (18 reviews) [23] | B+ [24] |
Once Upon a Time in Mexico | 66% (168 reviews) [25] | 56 (34 reviews) [26] | B− [24] |
Robert Anthony Rodriguez is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 action film El Mariachi, which was a commercial success after grossing $2.6 million against a budget of $7,000. The film spawned two sequels known collectively as the Mexico Trilogy: Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003).
Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault is a Mexican, American and French actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela Teresa (1989–1991) as well as the romantic drama Midaq Alley (1995). She soon established herself in Hollywood with appearances in films such as Desperado (1995), From Dusk till Dawn (1996), Wild Wild West (1999), and Dogma (1999).
José Antonio Domínguez Bandera, better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and filmmaker. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Goya Award, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award.
El Mariachi is a 1992 Spanish language American independent neo-Western action film and the first part of the saga that came to be known as Robert Rodriguez's Mexico Trilogy. It marked the feature-length debut of Rodriguez as writer and director. The Spanish language film was shot with a mainly amateur cast in the northern Mexican border town of Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico across from Del Rio, Texas, the home town of leading actor Carlos Gallardo as the title character. The US$7,225 production was originally intended for the Mexican home-video market, but executives at Columbia Pictures liked the film and bought the American distribution rights. Columbia eventually spent $200,000 to transfer the print to film, to remix the sound, and on other post-production work, then spent millions more on marketing and distribution.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico is a 2003 American neo-Western action film written, directed, produced, photographed, scored, and edited by Robert Rodriguez. It is the sequel to Desperado (1995) and the third and final installment in the Mexico Trilogy. The film features Antonio Banderas in his second and final performance as El Mariachi. In the film, El Mariachi is recruited by CIA agent Sheldon Sands to kill a corrupt general responsible for the death of his wife, Carolina.
Desperado is a 1995 American neo-Western action film written, co-produced, edited and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the second part of Rodriguez's Mexico Trilogy. It stars Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi who seeks revenge on the drug lord who killed his lover. The film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Desperado grossed $58 million worldwide. It has been cited as Salma Hayek's breakout role.
The Mask of Zorro is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the fictional character Zorro by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Stuart Wilson. The film features the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega (Hopkins), escaping from prison to find his long-lost daughter (Zeta-Jones) and avenge the death of his wife at the hands of the corrupt governor Rafael Montero (Wilson). He is aided by his successor (Banderas), who is pursuing his own vendetta against the governor's right-hand man while falling in love with de la Vega's daughter.
Troublemaker Studios is an American production company founded and owned by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and producer Elizabeth Avellán.
Chingon is a band from Austin, Texas. Their sound is heavily influenced by Mexican rock, mariachi, ranchera, and Texan rock 'n roll music.
Joaquim António Portugal Baptista de Almeida is a Portuguese actor. He started his film career playing a role in the 1982 action film The Soldier, and later achieved recognition for playing Andrea Bonanno in the 1987 Italian film Good Morning, Babylon. He achieved international fame with his portrayals of Félix Cortez in the 1994 thriller Clear and Present Danger and Bucho in the 1995 action thriller Desperado. Several years later, he became popular for playing Ramon Salazar on the Fox thriller drama series 24, between 2003 and 2004, and Hernan Reyes in the 2011 film Fast Five, a role he reprised in 2023's Fast X.
Alfonso Herrera Rodríguez is a Mexican actor and singer.
Rebel Without a Crew is a 1995 non-fiction book by Robert Rodriguez. The book chronicles the origin, production and eventual success of Rodriguez's debut feature, a 1992 crime thriller called El Mariachi.
Carlos Gallardo is a Mexican actor, producer, occasional screenwriter and director. Gallardo frequently collaborates with his friend, director Robert Rodriguez.
Bedhead is a 1991 short family-comedy-fantasy film directed and co-written by Robert Rodriguez.
James Roday Rodriguez is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known portraying Shawn Spencer, a hyper-observant consultant detective and fake psychic, in USA Network series Psych and the subsequent Psych film series, also writing and producing for Psych. He also starred in A Million Little Things which debuted in 2018, playing Javier "Gary" Mendez.
Mexican Spaghetti Western is a studio album by Robert Rodriguez's band, Chingon. Originally released in 2004 exclusively on the band's website, it became available in stores on April 10, 2007. The original non-digi-pak release of the album did not include the song "Cielito Lindo".
Robert Anthony Rodriguez is an American film and television director, producer, writer, composer, cinematographer and editor. He has contributed to many projects as a combination of the six. Less commonly, Rodriguez has also worked as a second unit director, digital animator and a visual effects supervisor.
Tony Mark is an American film producer, director and screenwriter. He has worked with Kathryn Bigelow and Robert Rodriguez.
El Mariachi is a Spanish-language crime drama television series created by Darío Vanegas and Lina Uribe based on the 1993 American film of the same name directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is a production between Teleset Colombia and Sony Pictures Television recorded in Mexico. The series stars Iván Arana and Martha Higareda as main characters.
Red 11 is a 2019 American science fiction horror film produced, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez co-wrote the film with his son Racer Max, after previously collaborating on The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D in 2005. The film is inspired by Robert Rodriguez's experiences described in his 1995 book Rebel Without a Crew. The film stars Roby Attal, Lauren Hatfield, Alejandro Rose-Garcia, Eman Esfandi, Steve Brudniak, Brently Heilbron, Pierce Foster Bailey, Katherine Willis, Ulysses Montoya, and Carlos Gallardo.