I like this movie a lot. Of course, I am a fan of Robert Rodriguez as well as the whole cast so it is to be expected. If you by any chance like Johnny Depp, then pick it up for sure. He is SO good here.

The disc is very good, with really interesting and fun extras. Robert Rodriguez's commentary and the look inside Troublemaker studios were especially interesting.

Welcome to the forum. If you want to talk about movies, and not anything related to the DVDs (like special features, release dates, etc.) the proper forum for that is Movie Talk. Moving thread.

thanks all

Yes... very nice setup he has in his "garage" :)

A few of us are working on a film project and we have a Canon XLS, so digital filmmaking is of interest to us. We're very envious of his setup.

i liked it. not as good as desperado but still fun to watch.

I just watched this. What a piece of shit! Terrible, terrible film. I agree with most of the comments up above. Overly convoluted...a complete mess.

Yeah its a bit convoluted, but I still enjoyed the film. I was really disappointed that there wasn't very much of Salma Hayek in the movie, but Depp made up for it with another slightly deranged performance.

I'm posting my thoughts here because someone started a recent thread on this movie and was directed here.

What a piece of shit, indeed. That is the exact phrase that came to mind when I finished this.

I'm a fan of Rodriguez, but this is a real stinker. I got the DVD just for the extras and (cross fingers) the commentary, which were outstanding on the first two.

As most have said it is very convoluted. It is not a case of having to pay attention, things just are not explained. You are given no backstory on anyone but "El" and there are a very large number of characters, around 12 or so major characters. I use the term "major" loosely since it's hard to classify them because nothing is developed AT ALL, things just happen. There is no-one to related to. In the previous films we could relate to "El", but he is unapproachable here, and has very little screen time for the star of the picture.

Ok, so story has never been Rodriguez's strong point. I can enjoy a "dumb action movie" but the action in this movie also blows. The editing is horrible. The same editing that makes the story convoluted is carried over to the action. There are no establishing shots, just quick cuts of almost random events. Nothing flows. Easily the worst editing I have seen in a major motion picture in a very long time, possibly ever. It was seriously annoying to watch. The sequence around the motorcycle chase (just before it up until the abrupt end) was especially bad. I have a feeling Rodriguez just didn't shoot enough coverage, which would make sense considering the small amount of time spent shooting.

There were 2 bright spots for me. 1. Depp. You could tell he had potential. I think it was just Johnny's natural charm shinning thru the crap. 2 There was a scene where two guards discuss torturing a man that had some humor and was a little spark that reminded me of the previous movies.

Unfortunately the weakest of the trilogy, but Depp was great. I liked it but didn't love it (unlike the first two films).

I enjoyed it, and actually enjoyed it more and more on repeated viewings on DVD. I loved Desperado, but actually felt El Mariachi was rather boring.

Awesome flick. Liked it as much as Desperado and more than El Mariachi (though I haven't watched that one in a while.)

There were only a couple of moments I didn't quite understand, plotwise. Everything else was great.

I think it also lacked the "fun" that made Desperado great. This movie just had too much going on, and took itself to seriously IMO, with all the political intrigue and what not.

But still, as you say, a decent flick.

even the OTT violence seems tampered here, as if the MPAA came down hard on Rodriguez. The editing at the finale seems very choppy. If Columbia/TriStar can release unrated DVD editions of "Wild Things' and 'Underworld' I would love to see the unrated cut of "Desperado" since that film as well suffered some trims here and there to gain an R-rating.

this movie SUCKED! RR aint made a good movie since From Dusk Til Dawn! Now theres a good movie!

I really enjoyed Once Upon a Time in Mexico. It was fun throughout were as Desperado has a great first half but a lousy second half.

Fixed that for you.

It is a fun movie as long as you don't expect it to be anything but a fun movie. OUATIM is highly stylized, the plot is somewhere between silly and absurd and acting is not the highlight of the show (with few exceptions). Still, I have to say I really enjoyed it, much more so than I expected. Part of the enjoyment was due to Johnny Depp's caricature of a Very Bad American, part of it due to the plot excesses and part due to the film style and its nods to classic (cliche?) moments in the genre.

If you think you're going to get a classic modern western, or deep insight into Mexican culture, you've got another think coming. If you're looking for a fun way to spend some time, OUATIM is perfect.

OUATIM is a modern-day Spaghetti Western! I love it!

terrible movie

There's an unrated version of Underworld?

Anyhoo, I liked this movie but it was more like El Mariachi (my favourite of the three) than Desperado. My only complain was that El Mariachi never "wakes up" in this film. There are moments he comes close (like the church shootout and the bike chase) but he never goes into his pistolero mode from Desperado. The climax of the film was a prime place to have a billion shootouts before going into the personal fights.

To be honest, I'd rather not have an uncut Desperado since it'd kill the vibe of the final confrontation with Bucho. Since that scene would have to have been cut so much we only see a fade to white and, as frustrating as that is, it works. Another shootout so quickly after the really big one before would have dragged and having this one fade to white and make you got WTF was a cool choice since you dodn't know at first who lived or died

I rented this one yesterday and I must say that I simply could not get into it. I think it's the 'bubble-gum' style in which it was staged (Banderas and Hayek swinging from window to window from a 5-story building) or maybe the fact that the story itself was so contrived that I couldn't relate to any of the characters?

With the exception of Depp - who did the same to The Secret Window - by carrying this film on his shoulders to warrant it a hint of merit, I was glad to see this 'trilogy' come to a conclusion.

just saw this recently for the first time too, and then this thread was resurected. what a coincidink. it was pretty eh, imo. johnny was the only bright spot. salma shouldn't have been a bad ass. it was cool that rodriguez pretty much threw the whole thing together by himself. it's not cool that it feels like that's what he did.

When I saw this in the theater I left somewhat disappointed because I loved Desperado and had high expectations for the sequel. After seeing it once I thought this story was confusing and too long, there were too many characters, and I was not real thrilled with Salma's storyline.

However, since the DVD came out I have watched it about three more times (once with commentary), and I must admit that each time it gets better. Now I really like this movie! Agent Sands is one of my favorite Johnny Depp characters.

Rodriguez was bragging in an interview that it only took him a three day weekend to write the screenplay for this film.

Do us a favor Robert, take a little longer on Sin City. Please?

Re: Official "Once Upon A Time In Mexico" Discussion Thread
 

I just watched this for (I think) the first time. Wow, what to say. El Mariachi looks and feels like a real movie from a seasoned pro and was made for 7 grand. Whereas this looks and feels like a bargain basement straight to video cgi slopfest from whoever is directing Van Damme movies these days, yet had a budget of 30 million. Nothing in it worked for me. Except maybe Cheech Marin and Mickey Rourke’s real life dog. Absolutely love the first two, but ooof, this should have been RR’s practice film that he sold to the Mexican home video market.