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Desperado (1995)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 39
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 15

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 7

No consensus yet.

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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 163,780

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Movie Info

Director Robert Rodriguez picks up where his successful independent debut El Mariachi left off with this slam-bang South of the Border action saga. Bucho (Joaquim DeAlmeida) is a wealthy but casually bloodthirsty drug kingpin who rules a seedy Mexican border town. Bucho and his men make the mistake of angering El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas), a former musician who now carries an arsenal in his guitar case. Bucho was responsible for the death of El Mariachi's girlfriend and put a bullet through

R, 1 hr. 43 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure

Directed By: Robert Rodriguez

Written By: Robert Rodriguez

In Theaters: Aug 25, 1995 Wide

On DVD: Jun 25, 1997

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Desperado Trailer & Photos

Cast

Antonio Banderas
El Mariachi
Salma Hayek
Carolina
Joaquim de Almeida
Bucho
Cheech Marin
Short Bartender
Steve Buscemi
Buscemi
Quentin Tarantino
Pick-up Guy
Carlos Gomez
Right Hand
Consuelo G�mez
Domino
Peter Marquardt
Moco
Mike Moroff
Shrug
Danny Trejo
Navajas
Tito Larriva
Tavo
Robert Arevalo
Opponent
Abraham J. Verduzco
Boy in Santa Cecilia

Critic Reviews for Desperado

All Critics (41) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (26) | Rotten (15) | DVD (28)

Mr. Rodriguez may be good enough to make a film about anything, but Desperado would collapse if its characters had to do anything but play with guns.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Janet Maslin

New York Times

Top Critic

What Rodriguez has essentially done in Desperado is make a slicker, more expensive copy of what came before. And what looked promising for $7,000 looks tiresome for a whole lot more.

August 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times

| Comment

Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times

Top Critic

The routine gets tiresome for the Mariachi, and for the audience, too, after about an hour.

June 18, 2002 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comment

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

Desperado is best when Rodriguez lets his playful side cut through the blare of a born filmmaker indulging his first chance at high-end Hollywood fireworks.

May 12, 2001 Comment

Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

Top Critic

On the whole, watching the film is about as much fun as sitting on a cactus.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Rita Kempley

Washington Post

Top Critic

What happens looks terrific. Now if [Rodriguez] can harness that technical facility to a screenplay that's more story than setup, he might really have something.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment (1)

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Within Rodriguez' pulp formula stories are little pockets of ingenuity.

July 30, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

| Comment

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

Rodriguez's follow-up is unquestionably formulaic but mercifully free of the flat dialogue and arch one-liners that undermine so many action films.

March 13, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

A slicker, more expensive version than El Mariach, except that what was promising and charming for $7,000 now looks tiresome and repetitious for $7 million

June 20, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Rodriguez's second feature may be a rambling, derivative exercise in gratuitous violence, but its determination to proceed as if the word 'restraint' never existed makes for gleeful entertainment.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

An incredibly violent and infinitely entertaining shoot-'em-up.

December 5, 2004 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com

| Comment

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

A supreme example of style vs. substance - and style wins!

February 21, 2004 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

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Brian Mckay

eFilmCritic.com

Desperado has merit as a guilty pleasure, but when the violence and action grow tiresome, the film has nothing to hang its hat on.

September 26, 2003 Comment

Forrest Hartman

Reno Gazette-Journal Source: Reno Gazette-Journal

Ever since I saw it all those years ago, Desperado has been one of my all-time favorite movies.

August 29, 2003 Full Review Source: Fantastica Daily

| Comment

Staci Layne Wilson

Fantastica Daily

Slick, funny and exciting, but falls apart in the end.

July 25, 2003 Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

San Francisco Examiner

A zesty action thriller that recycles the best of the B genres and rolls them into a big-budget, pistol-packing extravaganza that in its best moments leaves you breathless with wonder.

May 14, 2003 Comment

Jeanne Aufmuth

Palo Alto Weekly

Brilliantly made, if not especially deep, actioneer with nice cast.

February 2, 2003 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

I love Rodriguez' style, and his film is always fun. Too bad he didn't bother giving his story and characters more depth.

September 10, 2002 Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal

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Kevin N. Laforest

Montreal Film Journal

Many characters and situations are repetitive and the film is overlong, and at times even boring.

September 9, 2002 Full Review | Comment

Dragan Antulov

rec.arts.movies.reviews

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Desperado

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This is a very wild, cool, and stylish film, even if it ends up being style over substance and story (with a messy and scattershot narrative to boot). In a way, this is more of a remake than a loose sequel or spin off. The original mariachi from El Mariachi does make an appearance, but this film is essentially the same

June 9, 2006

Chris Weber

Super Reviewer

Desperado is probably Robert Rodriguez's greatest achievement. In many ways it combines all the concepts he's dealt with since, but this is the crown jewel in terms of delivery. It manages to make sense out of what should be a terrible idea. When you hear "guitar playing action movie with a love story", it sounds like

November 26, 2009

Conner Rainwater

Super Reviewer

Desperado Quotes

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1. El Mariachi: Carolina, did I thank you?
2. Carolina: No.
3. El Mariachi: I will.
– Submitted by Nick S (5 months ago)
1. Buscemi: So, I'm sitting there, and in walks the biggest Mexican I have ever seen.
– Submitted by Sam B (10 months ago)
1. Pick-up Guy: Is that goin' on right now?
– Submitted by Alfonso E. V (11 months ago)