This probably has a cult following and I can actually see why that is. From a filmmaking point of view this is interesting. But that does not make it a great movie, at least not for me. I felt kinda bored and the style I didn't like much, too.

A very entertaining directorial debut from one of the coolest directors currently working. **Robert Rodriguez** is known for his low budget efforts and for managing pretty much all of the production roles in his films (directing, writing, editing, and producing), and El Mariachi handles the low budget style very well. The gritty setting helped save money on set design, the obscure cast saved money on actors, and Rodriguez himself saves money by doing everything himself. I loved the musical segments and the performances, especially **Consuelo Gómez** as Dominó. If I had to think of any letdowns that the film has, it would be that the dream sequences felt pointless and did not build up to anything. Also, I didn't like the framing in certain close-ups, in which half of a characters' face would be cropped from the image. Aside from these minor issues, though, El Mariachi is a great directorial debut that brought credibility to one of my favourite directors.

Very disappointing flick: I watched this one after "Desperado", which I liked very much. But everything in "El Mariachi" is worse than in it's sequels: bad acting, a rather stupid story and boring action scenes are not worth your time. Watch "Desperado" and "Once Upon A Time In Mexico", they are the much better movies...

For only $7,000 is a fun and thrilling ride that proves you don't need a lot of money to make a good film. Just a lot of creativity and bullets.

With a small budget, you can make a very entertaining film.

I was about to see Desperado and then I discovered that El Mariachi was the film/story before that. Actually I was unaware that this was the first film of a trilogy, El Mariachi/Desperado/Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I knew that the last two had a connection, which is the main character, but I didn't knew about this one.

A musician looking for a job is confused with some assassin because both are carring a guitar case. The musician carries a guitar and the assassin carries the guitar case full of guns. It's a suspenseful and very simple story with action and some humour, all works perfectly.

El Mariachi is Robert Rodriguez's great debut, already showing his very interesting and full of style, with the all of his characteristic angles and camera closeups. Despite the low budget he was able to do a good film that placed him into the spotlight.