Rent Desperado (1995)

Contemporary Western - Great Action - Desperado review by GI

Whilst this a sequel to director Robert Rodriguez' low budget 1992 feature El Mariachi it is more or less a stand alone film, and given a bigger budget (albeit still small by many standards) and a more prestigious cast it sits as a great and highly entertaining contemporary action film. The stylish influence of Rodriguez friend and mentor, Quentin Tarantino, is obvious from the get go and Tarantino himself has an amusing cameo as a drug courier. This is set in a Mexican border town ruled over by a big time drug dealer, Bucho (Joaquim de Almeida) and his business is run from a seedy bar. He and his thugs hear rumours of a strange travelling guitar player who hunts down and kills drug gangs but they believe its just a myth put about by locals. But then a mysterious stranger turns up (Antonio Banderas), with a guitar case full of weapons and he's looking for Bucho. Delightfully bloody, over the top action set pieces and heavily influenced by spaghetti westerns this is a riot from the outset, with a great soundtrack, some fantastic support from Steve Buscemi and Salma Hayek and a script that could've been written by Tarantino although it's Rodriguez work. Certainly fans of QT will love this.