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Movie Reviews:

Once Upon A Time In Mexico Blu-ray

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - 2011

Written & Directed by Robert Rodriquez

Starring
Antonio Banderas
Salma Hayek
Johnny Depp
Mickey Rourke
Eva Mendes
Danny Trejo
Enrique Iglesias
Marco Leonardi
Cheech Marin
Ruben Blades
Willem Dafoe

The third part of the EL MARIACHI trilogy is the most outlandish of the three movies.  It's entertaining but not as memorable.  The plotting gets confusing at times and I didn't care for the characters as much as the first two movies.

Robert Rodriquez does let the action flow.  The scene where Banderas and Hayek escape the fifth floor of a hotel is way over the top fun.  It kind of reminded me of what Spielberg did in TEMPLE OF DOOM, that scene where people fell out of the airplane to reach the the ground safely.

The picture quality is amazing to tell you the truth.  The colors and details are vivid and rich.  This speaks volumes about the capability of the HD cameras Rodriquez used for the first time on this film.  Rodriquez makes use of the bigger budget by shooting around historic Mexican architecture.

This Blu-ray not only looks and sounds impressive, but the extras are worth seeing.  Rodriquez continues his informative Audio Commentary with his quick talking approach.  He has another Ten-Minute Film School (this time he calls it Ten-Minute Flick School) this time pointing out how versatile, fast and efficient it was to shoot on HD.  There's a fun Ten-Minute Cooking School where RR shows us how he creates the pork dish Johnny Deep is seen eating throughout the movie.  Rodriguez has a coming attraction about this next school, which is funny, , though I don't think I'd want to actually see it based on the subject matter.  There's also a nice 15 minute look at The Good, The Bad and The Bloody, Inside KNB FX where the FX artists talk about their shop and discuss there gags for the film.  You also get the chance to go Inside Trouble Maker Studios to see where the man and his creative team do their work. Film Is Dead: An Evening with Robert Rodriguez is a very enlightening conference we get to see where he details why HD is the way to go, saying it's not only a better process but made it fun for him again to make movies.  There is Deleted Scenes with optional Commentary, The Anti'Hero's Journey and the Blu-Ray Exclusive: The Cutting Room.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO rounds out the story of the guitar slinging vigilante and one that will entertain but it's the extras that are worth their weight in gold. 

www.SonyPictures.com/bluray