Once Upon A Time in Mexico Blu-ray Review

Now settled with Carolina (Salma Hayek) and his daughter, El (Antonio Banderas) is quickly haunted by his troubling past when corrupt General Emiliano Marquez (Gerardo Vigil) took the lives of his family and left him fatally wounded. Now El is alone with the thirst of vengeance, but things aren’t as easy as they’ve been in the past. A deranged CIA operative, Sands (Johnny Depp), hires El to kill Marquez. Marquez is hired by drug lord Barillo and is set to throw a coup and kill the current seating President (Pedro Armendariz). El must now help to keep the balance among the violence and save a crumbling country.

Much like the previous titles Robert Rodriguez shows his fine skills and vision for actions sequences. The last part of the “Mariachi Trilogy” comes to an end with a bang. Once Upon a Time in Mexico features a far more complex story than the previous two films, it sort of separates itself from the two. However, remnants of what made El Mariachi and Desperado great are still found within Mexico. This time around there far too many characters that are an integral part of the story, but with their inclusion the story itself has become complex. The main character and focus remains El, but now other characters take some of the limelight and develop each of their roles. The cast is star studded and they just give the best they possibly could or at least what the plot allowed them to.

In reality, when you look at Once Upon a Time in Mexico it lacks in terms of story behind the previous two films, but the action simply takes over and becomes one of the driving focus of the film. Luckily for everyone Robert Rodriguez is a genius when it comes to putting together action sequences. Once the bullets begin flying the action is relentless and some even comical falling along the lines of unbelievable, but this is exactly where Rodriguez thrives. No one can deny how well Rodriguez can string up action that makes you forget about the rest of the problems within the film. This is by far the most expensive of the three films and the one that has the most action and violence. It’s a good form to end of the Mexico Trilogy, it began with a very low budget feature film and it evolved into a full blown star studded action film that had a big premise and it delivered the action goodness that was expected.

Once Upon A Time In Mexico arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 1.85:1. The last installment of the trilogy fared better than the previous two film, far from perfect, but it features a a very stable transfer. Colors are vibrant and bold throughout. Black levels are deep and inky, but during some darker scenes they tend become a bit dull. The image takes a orange and yellowish tone to give the image a dirty look. Skintones are natural and they are consistent with the way the image looks. Detailing is exceptional capturing clothing textures, the rugged streets of the little town in Mexico, close up shots, etc. are well reproduced. Overall, the film looks great on Blu-ray.

Once Upon A Time In Mexico arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. Dialogue is clean and clear as well as perfectly prioritized. Music comes out clear through the spacious track. Ambiance effects are used discretely through the rear speakers that provide extra support. The fronts handle all the heavy duty effects as bullets fly through the soundstage with great force. The LFE output is strong providing the gunfights and every over the top action sequences that extra power to make your system work. Once Upon A Time In Mexico sounds great on Blu-ray.

Audio Commentary – Features Robert Rodriguez discussing everything about the movie. The director is enthusiastic, thorough, and very technical throughout. Rodriguez is very specific with a lot of scenes and it can be a lot of information. It is definitely worth a listen at least once.

Inside Troublemaker Studios – Robert Rodriguez takes viewers on a tour through his garage…err his studio. Yes, his production studio is mainly located in his garage.

Ten Minute Flick School – Robert Rodriguez walks us through the making of the action sequences.

Ten Minute Cooking School – Robert Rodriguez shows the viewers how to cook Puerco Pibil.

The Anti-Hero’s Journey – The cast and crew get a chance to talk about Robert Rodriguez and the mariachi trilogy.

Film Is Dead: An Evening with Robert Rodriguez – Robert Rodriguez Q&A from 2003 recorded at the Cary Grant Theater.

The Good, the Bad and the Bloody: Inside KNB FX – This featurette gives the viewers a chance to hear Greg Nicotero talk about the make effects throughout the film.

The Cutting Room – Like the previous installments, this featurette allows the users to create their own cut of the film.

Deleted Scenes

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BD-Live Functionality

The final installment of the “Mexico Trilogy” comes to an end with this intense action thriller that ends with a bang. Robert Rodriguez made sure to end this in the most violent, yet most satisfying way possible. His undeniable ability to piece action together is almost unmatchable. He managed to put together a star studded film that while it lacked story-wise the action just sort of made up for it. The Blu-ray features great video and audio transfers along with a nice set of supplements. This title along with the previous two films is highly recommended.