Desperado (1995)

Explicit content warning

05/23/22 • 15 min

We kick off our Second Season with this gem from the mid '90's. Back in the early ‘90’s, a young aspiring filmmaker from Austin made his first movie for $7,000 with much of the financing coming from selling his body for science – the filmmaker was Robert Rodriguez and his first feature was the celebrated El Mariachi, an inventive action film about a guitar player-turned-assassin seeking revenge.
A couple of years later, he followed this up with a bigger budget Hollywood version of this story which was originally going to be a remake but ended up being a sequel....this time starring Antonio Banderas as the Mariachi, with a significantly bigger budget, and a pretty stacked cast surrounding him including Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Joaquim de Almeida, and Cheech Marin. THIS version was called Desperado and it ended up being one of the best action films of the era!

Host: Geoff Gershon
Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Host: Geoff Gershon
Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

Previous Episode

Predator (1987)

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Host: Geoff Gershon
Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Paths of Glory (1957)

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What results is a tragic incident involving many deaths that only gets more tragic as some surviving soldiers are to be held accountable for what happened – Douglas’ Colonel Dax also takes it upon himself to defend these men in court. This film is part war drama, part courtroom drama, and ALL compelling! It also stars Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, and George Macready in one of THE greatest anti-war films ever made and from the same filmmaking master who would go on to direct A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove, and 2001: A Space Odyssey...among several other classics.

Host: Geoff Gershon
Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

Living for the Cinema - Desperado (1995)

Transcript

DESPERADO - 1995

Directed by Robert Rodriguez

Starring Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Joaquim de Almeida, Cheech Marin, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Gallardo, Tito Larriva, Quentin Tarantino, Danny Trejo, and Steve Buscemi

Genre: Modern Western (Audio clip)

Everything about this film is just PURE joy...even though it does get quite bloody at times. From that stirring opening monologue by Steve Buscemi in the bar to a climax featuring one character rel