El Mariachi

I really appreciate this work from Robert Rodriguez. The so-called low-budget film, shot for just $ 7,000, and Rodriguez put his heart and soul into this film. He was a director, a screenwriter, a producer, he did effects, he did absolutely everything except acting. He was even tested for some drugs because they paid him for it, all to raise money and make a movie. From that aspect, the film looks extremely good. However, some flaws are visible, such as the camera or wooden acting, at times the film is too raw, but all this is understandable.

I know the budget for this film was somewhere between 5000 and 7000 dollars, but I would like to comment more on the pacing and frenetic film style Rodriguez bestows upon us. Low budget or not,this film has energy. It never lets down for more than a few minutes and the editing is amazing. Robert Rodriguez has such a knowledge of film-making that he makes this movie look like a million bucks easy. The film isn't perfect, but on sheer energy alone it will entertain you more than most over-blown Hollywood action films.

El mariachi... the 1992 one. It's a lesson on how to make a film, by yourself, on a small part of a shoe-string budget. Carlos gallardo is a mariachi player. But not gang banger. So when he gets mistaken for an assassin, he goes on the run to save his life. I encourage you to read the trivia section to see just how the film was made. Innerastin stuff! Which explains the high number of mistakes in the goofs section! It's totally amateur hour, but it's still fun to watch. A fight and gun-shoot-out, where no-one grunts or yells. Totally silent. Couldn't afford the foley guy. Some great scenes of familiar mexico. It's silly but fun. Most of the shots are done with the close-up lens, which is weird. Directed by robert rodriguez. Filmed in ciudad acuña, mexico, which is about three hours west of san antonio. Currently showing on the pluto channel. It looks like they tried to make a television series from this film... which didn't last long.

This movie put director Robert Rodriguez "on the map." He followed up with two sequels: "Desperado" and "Once Upon A Time In Mexico." Not surprising, the best of the three was this low-budget opening film. As Rodriquez had more and more money to spend on the sequels, the stories got more and more carried away with too many explosions and special-effects, losing the charm of this first effort.

Unlike the sequels, this Mexican-made, so it is in Spanish with English subtitles. Don't let that scare you away. There isn't a great deal of dialog so keeping up with the subtitles is very easy.

The movie has very interesting camera closeups and angles as Rodriquez showed he was going to be a stylish director. The story is simple but effective, suspenseful and even with some humor. Unnlike his subsequent films in this trilogy, the action is not overdone here.

The length is also is a plus. At 80 minutes you can be thoroughly entertained in less than an hour-and-a half. The only disappointment to me was the print quality on th DVD, but I got an early edition. There might be better editions out since. It's not fuzzy but it's not sharp, either.

Anyway: highly recommend for actions/crime buffs who like style in their photography, or saw the sequels and would like to know the history of this particular "Mariachi."

This film is quite well known for being made on a $7000 budget, and while that can be quite impressive... Parts of this film are far from it. But that doesn't meant this is a bad film. Not at all.

First I want to cover the more amateur feeling parts of this film that bring it down. The acting can be pretty iffy at times, sometimes coming across as quite terrible. The camera work can be a bit shoddy at times as well, with certain shots containing random camera shaking that just seems to be an error rather then stylistic choice. Audio can be strange and distracting too, generally due to the fact that the film was shot silent and then the audio was recorded on set with a cheap recording device and synced later. Also, the story is pretty cheesy and is full of little plot holes that if you're paying attention will make you go "wait...what?".

These cons do not completely take away from the pros however. I think there's a lot to be respected about this film, due to how cheap it was made. There are occasionally shots that are quote impressive and well thought out. While the story is kinda cheesy, it does get you interested when things start to heat up. There's almost a kind of fun aspect to the film where you see certain things and wonder to yourself how they were done on such a cheap budget.

It's a great first film and is an interesting film for people who want to create their own, due to the fact that it was created so cheap and creatively. It's an example of how you can start off small, but become big.