Antonio Banderas' Must-watch '90s Western Is Streaming On Prime Video

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As is the case with Stephen Sommers' 1999 film "The Mummy," it's widely accepted in certain circles that Robert Rodriguez's 1995 low-budget shoot-'em-up "Desperado" is a formative bisexual movie. It's not about bisexual characters, necessarily, but its whole cast is so darned attractive that many adolescents, when watching it, are free to have some sudden realizations about themselves. "Desperado" is now streaming on Prime Video, and it's high time you caught up.

The Western was the second feature film from Robert Rodriguez, following his breakout 1993 hit "El Mariachi," which was famously made for only about $7,000 and featured a cast of nonprofessional stars; Carlos Gallardo played the title character, a man mistaken for an escaped con. But that film was slick and stylish and violent and attracted a sizable cult audience. Its success allowed Rodriguez to return in 1995 with a sequel, "Desperado," wherein Antonio Banderas took over as El Mariachi and the violence was ratcheted up to an operatic degree. 

Also, because Rodriguez was considered a rising star, "Desperado" attracted higher-caliber actors. Steve Buscemi has a small opening role as a character named, well, Buscemi, and Quentin Tarantino, a friend of Rodriguez's, plays a guy in a bar. Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" was released the year before, so his presence in "Desperado" serves as an odd kind of blessing. Cheech Marin shows up as well, and Danny Trejo stands out as an assassin encrusted with knives. Joaquim de Almeida plays the film's villain, a wicked drug dealer named Bucho, who has henchmen and goons everywhere in the small Mexican town where the film takes place. Salma Hayek plays Carolina, a woman who cares for El Mariachi after a vicious gunfight. Banderas and Hayek are so dazzling in "Desperado," you would be forgiven for losing track of the plot. 

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The plot of "Desperado" is the stuff of grindhouse movies and spaghetti Westerns. The opening scenes are provocative and great, with Buscemi entering a Mexican bar and talking about how an itinerant mariachi might be passing through town soon. He does this to psych out the other patrons, as they are all the henchman of the evil Bucho. Soon thereafter, El Mariachi, who keeps his guns in a guitar case, arrives and kills everyone. 

This kicks off a series of attacks and counterattacks in the small Mexican village. Colombians hire the Danny Trejo character to assassinate El Mariachi (and Trejo has rarely looked cooler), but Bucho's men gun him down by mistake. The film climaxes with El Mariachi calling in two of his friends, Campa and Quinto, to provide some extra firepower. Albert Michel Jr. plays Quinto, and Campa is played by Carlos Gallardo, the original El Mariachi. You won't believe what those men can fit in a guitar case. Naturally, the identity of Bucho is a mystery, and will provide something of a twist partway through "Desperado." 

There is a love scene in "Desperado" that Hayek has said was hard for her to handle. She wasn't comfortable with the nudity at the time, and reveals that she was crying throughout the scene. She also noted, though, that Antonio Banderas and Robert Rodriguez were kind and polite throughout the experience and never put any pressure on her. Mainly, she said, she was thinking about her father seeing "Desperado" and being embarrassed. Additionally, when a review called her a "bombshell," she assumed that meant the film was a "bomb," and she got very sad for a moment. Meanwhile, Antonio Banderas risked his life for a slapdash stunt. 

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After "El Mariachi" and "Desperado," Robert Rodriguez directed the cult horror/action film "From Dusk Till Dawn," which was written by and co-starred Quentin Tarantino. That film kicked open the doors to Hollywood for Rodriguez, and he started making mainstream hits like "The Faculty" and the "Spy Kids" movies. In 2003, he made a film called "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," the third installment in the "El Mariachi" trilogy. Many may not realize that "Desperado" was even part of a larger series of films.

The film has a 71% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 56 reviews. Roger Ebert only gave the film two stars (out of four) and was more impressed with the film's balletic violence than its story. Ebert did compare Robert Rodriguez to the likes of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood in terms of his mastery of the filmmaking craft, but noted the director's inability to get us to feel anything. He wrote: 

"Unfortunately, what [Rodriguez] hasn't learned is how to structure a story so that we care about the violence on more than a technical level. Watching 'Desperado,' I was pleased again and again by set-ups, camera angles, lighting effects, editing rhythms and the fanciful staging of action scenes. But I never for a moment cared about the characters, and the plot was all too conveniently structured – just a guideline to the action."

College kids the world over, however, loved the film, and I recall seeing "Desperado" posters in dorm rooms and video stores everywhere. Even if the characters are thin, the style, violence, and sexy lead actors are overwhelmingly good. It's definitely worth a look (or two).