El Mariachi

Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez captured the world's attention with this little 1992 film, made for only $7,500 (not counting the cost of a little prerelease polish) and originally destined for the Spanish- language video market. An enterprising studio executive saw the enormous Spielbergian talent in Rodriguez's work and decided to get El Mariachi out to the international public. A tight, inventive, highly entertaining movie from start to finish, the story concerns a guitarist mistaken for a hired killer and forced to fight a local crime boss and his army of goons. Rodriguez makes clever use of every available prop, from guitar cases to a beat-up bus to a funny-looking dog. But his promise as a director--he went on to make Desperado and From Dusk till Dawn--is evident in every scene. --Tom Keogh

Movie Details

Cast: Carlos Gallardo, Consuelo Gómez
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 81
DVD Aspect Ratios: 1.66:1

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DVD Features:

• Color
• Closed-captioned
• Widescreen

International rating:

Europe: 15
Australia: M

DVD International release dates:
North America: Aug 26, 03