Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Robert Rodriguez concluded his El Mariachi trilogy when Once Upon a Time in Mexico was released nationwide this day in 2003. Upon the release of 2005’s Desperado, fellow moviemaker Quentin Tarantino convinced his friend that the mariachi tale could not possibly be complete in only two movies. Like Sergio Leone’s build-up to Once Upon a Time in the West, Rodriguez had created what needed to be told in three parts. This time around Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek return as El Mariachi and his wife and are joined by a corrupt CIA agent played by Johnny Depp and a supporting cast of Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe and Eva Mendes. Like the two previous movies, Rodriguez took the place of most crew members on this movie including producer, composer, cinematographer, production designer, sound effects editor, visual effects supervisor, writer and director.

Quotable: “I want you to put the hurtin’, so to speak, on Marques after he’s killed the president. Savvy?” -Johnny Depp as Agent Sands. Looks like Captain Jack has been there all along.