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DVD REVIEW
El Mariachi -
Special Edition
(1993)
Starring:
Carlos Gallardo, Consuelo Gomez
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Rating:
R
Distributor:
Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
Release
Date: August 26, 2003
Review posted:
August 20, 2003
Spoilers: None
Reviewed by Andre Landmann
All he wants
is
to be a Mariachi, like his
father, his grandfather and his
great grandfather before him. But the
town he thinks will bring him luck brings him only
a curse of deadly mistaken identity. Forced
to trade his guitar for a
gun, the mariachi is
playing for his life in this
critically-acclaimed film debut from Robert Rodriguez.
El Mariachi is an awesome little
flick. Robert Rodriquez put together one of the best independent
films I have ever seen. Looking at the film you can tell that it
was made pretty cheap, but that it only cost about $7,000 is
simply amazing. Almost all of the money used went towards
purchasing film.
Moreover, El Mariachi has a unique style-from the camera
angles and photography to the lighting and editing. I liked the
speedy scenes, if I may call them that. Rodriguez sped up the
action, like in the hotel scene where the clerk calls Mocco’s
people, for example. Additionally, looking at it today, El
Mariachi is not a very original story, but back in 1993 it
was.
Like The Matrix, El Mariachi paved the way for
independent action movies. A simple story with exciting and
entertaining action scenes is what El Mariachi offers
wholesale. What made this film so brilliant is that it became
somewhat of a cult classic soon after its Sundance Film Festival
premiere.
If El Mariachi would have been dubbed into English,
perhaps I would’ve enjoyed it a little more. If it weren’t for
the subtitles, I wouldn’t have to miss all the action scenes in
the film. However, since there wasn’t really much dialogue in
between those scenes, especially during the shootouts, the
subtitles worked out okay. Still, I heard somewhere an English
dub is available.
I would have liked it if the film was a little longer than 81
minutes. It seemed like something missing or unfinished. The
ending left me wanting a little more. El Mariachi could
have been a little but longer, but taking into consideration
Rodriguez’s achievement here the film is great the way it is.
Columbia
Pictures presents El Mariachi in 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen. This offers a slightly bright and sometimes grainy
appearance. Colors are bright at times, but on the whole seem a
little subdued. Print quality is pretty accurate and generally
better looking when compared to the previous DVD release. Specks
and grain occur, but that’s to be expected. Overall, Columbia’s
video transfer is surprisingly decent considering the film was
made ten years ago.
Columbia
Pictures presents El Mariachi in Spanish Dolby Surround.
While dialog scenes are clear and easy to understand, the sound
effects of the action scenes and the dialog were off at times.
Surround usage is not the case here. Rodriquez shot the film
silent and later in post-production edited the recorded dialog
of the actors and played it back—a process that was easily
noticeable. You can also select to view the film in French Dolby
Surround.
Columbia
Pictures is pretty generous in terms of the extras, including
various amounts in this special edition. However, these special
features are essentially the same as the ones included in the
previous El Mariachi release. Aside from the audio
commentary by Director Robert Rodriquez, which is pretty
darn cool and informative, the DVD features some additional
supplements.
First up is
the
10-Minute Film School,
a very enjoyable featurette where Robert Rodriguez explains the
process of shooting and editing films the cheap and easy way.
Next is the new film transfer from original negatives
supervised by Robert Rodriquez. Here Rodriguez shows and
talks about a series of negatives of the original cut that
weren’t in the film. The DVD also has a special Sneak Peek of
Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which is very fun and
exciting, showing behind-the-scenes footage of the film, but not
actual film clips.
Finally, the DVD presents Robert Rodriquez’s Short Film
Bedhead,
a black and white film about a girl and her brother. The boy has
bed head and his sister can’t stand it. And they fight until she
falls and ends up in the hospital. The girl ends up having a
magical power that makes people do almost anything she wants.
It’s pretty cute.
You can
select to view the film with optional English, French, Spanish,
and Korean subtitles. The DVD’s menus are not animated. The
82-minute feature is organized into twenty-eight chapters.
Overall
El Mariachi is a very good film. It’s entertaining,
exciting, and fun to watch. Good acting and directing make this
film special. Robert Rodriguez is somewhat of a genius and has a
unique way of presenting a film.
The DVD
Special Edition of El Mariachi is superb. Considering
that the movie is ten years old and so low budget, the extras on
this DVD are amazing and a great accomplishment. The video/audio
presentations are not that great, but in my opinion presented
the best possible quality. This DVD comes highly recommended!
RATINGS SUMMARY
|
THE
MOVIE |
10 |
|
THE VIDEO |
8 |
|
THE AUDIO |
6 |
|
THE EXTRAS |
8 |
|
OVERALL
(not an average) |
9 |
VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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