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Stars: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Micky Rourke, Eva Mendes, Danny Trejo, Enrique Iglesias, Marco Leonardi, Cheech Marin, Ruben Blades, and Willem Dafoe
Writer: Robert Rodriguez
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Feature length: 102 minutes
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound
Subtitles: English Closed Captions and English and French Language Subtitles
Packaging: Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 33
Sound: DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year of Theatrical Release: 2003/DVD Release: 2004
Theatrical Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Home Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
“Once Upon A Time In Mexico” is the third entry in Robert Rodriguez’s “El Mariachi Trilogy.” Seven years have past since the events that occurred in “Desperado” and El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) has been living a life of solitude in a small Mexican town that specializes in making guitars. He mourns the loss of his wife (Salma Hayek) and daughter to a corrupt general and has a price on his head from the drug cartels because of the events of the previous films. El Mariachi is hired by a corrupt CIA operative named Sands (Johnny Depp) to dispose of the same general that murdered his wife and child before the general leads a military coup against the Mexican President. So he gathers the two surviving members of his guitar playing mercenary gang to assist him in protecting the President and avenging his wife’s and daughter’s deaths. However nothing is quite what it seems. Behind the general’s military plans is a drug kingpin (Willem Dafoe), who hopes to have the President assassinated so he can retire under a new identity quietly. Also on the case is a retired FBI agent (Rubin Blades), who wants to take down the drug lord because he had his partner tortured and killed. Soon new alliances are formed as double-crosses entrap El Mariachi into a war that could hold the future of Mexico in the balance.
“Once Upon A Time In Mexico” is the most polished looking film in the series with a more ambitious storyline. The film was shot using High Definition cameras so Rodriguez was open to experiment more with the actors and action resulting in a film that has a freewheeling quality to it. Like he did in “Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl,” Johnny Depp takes a side character villain and turns him into an antihero that you just don’t want to see go down. He is terrific and is generous enough with the scenes he shares with the rest of the cast so that they all shine a bit brighter when they are onscreen with him. Willem Dafoe does a nice job as the drug lord while Mickey Rourke succeeds in pulling off a great supporting character as Dafoe’s right hand man with a conscience that can no longer stand the killing around him. Rodriguez film alumni Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin add character to the film too.
I am not entirely sure if this is a direct digital to DVD transfer like “Star Wars: Episode II: Attack Of The Clones,” but “Once Upon A Time In Mexico: Superbit” is also the best looking of the three “El Mariachi” films now available on DVD-Video. Although the film was presented theatrically in a (2.35:1) aspect ratio, that exhibition was actually matted from the original anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) aspect ratio in which the film was shot. So DVD-Video users actually get to see more on their video screens than those who saw it in the theater without compromising Rodriguez’s vision since while he wanted the film to be ultra wide theatrically to enhance the film’s more epic qualities for the DVD he wanted to show the film as he shot it. Some might find that decision upsetting, but since we are not losing any screen information and the shots were framed for HDTV anyway, I figure this might actually work better for home video, especially for those who have small monitors.
Both
the English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack and DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical
Surround Soundtracks is discrete and well mixed. The aggressive DTS Soundtrack
enhances the home theater experience a bit more. The English language subtitles
automatically appear for scenes where the characters are only speaking Spanish
and cannot be turned off. English Language Subtitles for the entire film can be
activated though as well as French Language Subtitles and English Closed
Captions for the hearing impaired as options.
“Once Upon A Time In Mexico: Superbit” is available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2004 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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