Trivia

Is an avid fan of John Wayne. When The Duke saw Hard Times (1975), he wanted Hill to helm his last film, El último pistolero (1976). But Hill refused because he didn't want to see his hero dying in a movie.

His favourites directors are John Ford, Howard Hawks, John Huston, Raoul Walsh, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone.

Sylvester Stallone personally hand-picked him to direct El ejecutor (2012).

Was originally meant to direct Alien, el octavo pasajero (1979).

He purposefully made El gastadólares (1985) "to improve his bank account and success quotient". He later called the movie "an aberration in the career line" being his only flat out comedy. He added that "whatever [the film's] deficiencies, I think the wistful quality was there. I was happy about that. The picture did well and made money.".

Stated on the DVD introduction for the Ultimate Director's Cut on Los guerreros (1979) that he is against making special editions to his own films because he feels that movies should speak for themselves and do not demand as he describes "special explanations and long apologies".

He once said in an interview that he considers all of his films as a director westerns. If you look closely, you can see western touches, such as revolvers, Winchester rifles and cowboy hats in all of his work.

His film Calles de fuego (1984) is said to have been an influence on the Japanese anime series Bubblegum Crisis (1987).

He wrote a graphic novel, Triggerman that was published in France.

Was interested in directing Ruta suicida (1977) and approached Kris Kristofferson for the lead role.

He wanted to direct El fugitivo (1993) with Nick Nolte in the lead role. This was dashed when Nolte was deemed too old.

Credits his spare writing style to an enormous influence on him from Alexander Jacobs's script for A quemarropa (1967), which he read while initially trying to enter the film industry.

Co-founder of "Brandywine Productions" with David Giler and Gordon Carroll, a film company most famously associated with the 'Alien' series of films.

He was attached to direct Dick Tracy (1990) in the 1980s with Joel Silver producing. Pre-production had progressed as far as set building, but the film was stalled when artistic control issues arose with Warren Beatty. Hill wanted to make the film violent and realistic, while Beatty envisioned a stylized homage to the 1930s comic strip. The actor also reportedly wanted $5 million plus fifteen percent of the box office gross, a deal which Universal refused to accept. Hill left the project, but Beatty stuck with it.

As a teenager, Hill contemplated being a comic book illustrator and studied art at the Universidad de las Américas, Mexico City.

His unmade projects include:

• Lloyd Williams and His Brother aka The Drifters - a Western written circa 1971. Hill says Sam Peckinpah was considering making it after La huída (1972) but decided to do Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) instead so Hill used material from the script in Hard Times (1975).
• The Last Gun - a Western written with Roger Spottiswoode (circa 1977).
• Lone Star from the play by James M. McClure to star Powers Boothe and Sigourney Weaver (1981).
• The Last Good Kiss based on a novel by James Crumley (early 1980s).
• An adaptation of Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett (early 1980s).
• An adaptation of Jim Thompson's Pop. 1280 (1980s).
• A remake of Los siete magníficos (1960) (1984)
• A remake of John Woo's The Killer (1989), with Richard Gere as the Chow Yun-Fat character and with Denzel Washington as the Danny Lee character. Left the project due to creative differences.
• American Iron (1989/1990) - a film set in the world of bikers written with Marc Brunet, Daniel Pyne, and John Mankiewicz.
• Red, White, Black and Blue (1997) - rewrite by Hill of an Andrew Kevin Walker script.
• Vengeance of Mine - a contemporary thriller set in Las Vegas.
• A proposed remake of ¿Qué pasó con Baby Jane? (1962).

Originally planned for his Calles de fuego (1984) to be the first in a trilogy of films centering on the character of Tom Cody, played by Michael Paré, but the film's box office failure put an end to that project.

Is a specialist of crime novels.

Received the prestigious Joseph Plateau Award at the Flanders International Film Festival. The Joseph Plateau Life Time Achievement Award, considered the festival's highest honor, recognized Hill's achievement in filmmaking as a writer, director and producer, and was presented during the 34th edition of the festival in Ghent, Belgium (October 9th - 20th). (2007)

Hill later estimated that only two minor scenes in La piscina mortal (1975) were true to his adaptation.

He is the only director to have worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis on separate projects.

Hill became a film fan at an early age, and the first film he remembers seeing was Canción del sur (1946).

By Hill's own admission, his work on El emisario de Mackintosh (1973) "wasn't much" and he did it to settle a lawsuit with Warner Bros, with whom he was angry for selling Hickey & Boggs (1972). In addition, he and director John Huston disagreed on how closely to stick to the book on which it was based.

Several of his films - Hard Times (1975), Driver, el conductor (1978), 48 horas (1982), Extreme Prejudice (1987), 48 horas: La segunda vuelta (1990), Gerónimo: Una Leyenda Americana (1993) and El Último Hombre (1996) - had their running times gradually reduced. There are no plans to release Director's Cuts of any of them.

His respect for Akira Kurosawa is so great, that he always refers to the Japanese director as "Mr. Kurosawa".

He was the second assistant director on Robó, huyó y lo pescaron (1969), but said he remembers doing very little except passing out the call sheets and filling out time cards.

Has directed two Emmy Award-winning performances: Thomas Haden Church in Los protectores (2006) and Robert Duvall in Los protectores (2006).

He was asthmatic as a child and, as a result, missed several years of school.

Hill says he wrote the first half of El emisario de Mackintosh (1973) but the rest was done by "seven other people". He says he never saw the final product but was told it was "a real bomb".

Co-wrote a version of La revancha (1990) with David Giler that wasn't used.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985." Pages 433-438. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.

Profiled in "American Classic Screen Interviews" (Scarecrow Press). (2010)

Have so far made 9 movies with composer Ry Cooder. Not including their television projects and the film Extreme Prejudice. However Extreme Prejudice is a tricky one to include or not since Ry Cooder worked on it but only as a producer of the source music. The Score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. Hill and Cooder's first collaboration was on The Long Riders.

Born on the same day as Nelson Carvajal.