4/5 Fun, brisk action film
  by One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:

A scrappy little action film made for 250,000 that completely works and rarely betrays its low-budget origins, El Mariachi is not only loads better than the far more expensive Desperado but is a legitimately enjoyable film which could scarcely be much better.

3/4

3/5 Review: El Mariachi (1992)
  by Matthew Lanka
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Writer: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Carlos Gallardo, Consuelo Gomez, Jamie de Hoyos, Peter Marquardt, Reinol Martinez

This was Robert Rodriguez's first major film, and it is full of actors who never did anything else besides this movie (though a few appeared in Rodriguez's Desperado). It cost next to nothing to make, and for that it should be remembered as a very good low budget foreign film by a promising young director.
El Mariachi follows a young man (known only as El Mariachi) as he enters the small Mexican town of Acuna looking for work as a guitar player in local bars or restaurants. Unfortunately for him, he happens to be dressed in the same manner and with the same guitar case as a man name Azul, who is in a bloody war against local crime lord Moco. El Mariachi is then mistaken for Azul on several occasions and forced to fight for his life and his girl.
You can definitely tell that Rodriguez used many first time actors in this film. Most of the dialogue feels forced and unconvincingly delivered, but it doesn't detract from the film too much. The story itself is very intriguing, and it had me guessing until the end. Action sequences are cleverly shot, and the visual style and special effects are very gritty and believable. This is a decent Western movie in my opinion. It feels a lot like the classic Sergio Leone Westerns, but with a very definitive Mexican flavor (an not just because it is in Spanish).

Final Score: 6/10

4/5 "All I Wanted Was to Be a Mariachi..."
  by AMP (Somewhere on Earth)
The Good Things
*Lots of exciting action scenes.
*Some bloody violence for those who enjoy it.
*Some funny parts too.
*Excellent filming style. Lots of unique camera angles. Camera shakes around a little, but not irritatingly so. It's a rough style reminiscent of older 70s films.
*Storyline is simple but engaging.
*Characters are excellent. Good acting and writing.
*Good music.

The Bad Things
*Maybe a little too grainy and gritty. It could use some restoration (on the other hand, the grittiness accentuates the rough style).

For such a low-budget movie, this is quite an excellent and exciting (and sometimes humorous) piece of work. It could have been total garbage, but the film's style, characters, action, and writing makes it great. Highly reccomended to anybody who likes action or crime films.

As noted above, the DVD has very rough grainy video quality, which can be considered good or bad. At the very least, it is anamorphic widescreen. The sound is okay. It is in Spanish with English subtitles (and probably some other languages, but is not English dubbed). It includes a some good features; a commentary and some making-of footage.

2/5 El Mariachi
  by Kenny Viewer (Kelowna, BC CA)
This is a fun gun movie. It is also in espaniol or french and subtitled in English.

4/5 Mexico 's version of Mad Max , Mariachi style
  by lonesome crow (ca,)
I felt i had to buy this , due to the fact I love the sucessors that followed , and in spite of the fact I do not speak or understand a word of Spanish , but I took a chance anyways. Although I do not think this is as good as the other Mariachi films, I was suprisingly impressed with this very low budget film that that launched off the career of Mr. Rodriquez. It was not hard to follow and was entertaining,and it does remind me of Mad Max (even though it is very little) , but the simularaties are that both films started with low budget first's and then succeeded with two fantasic Sequels that followed. So I will say this is one Spanish film worthy of my collection.