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Desperado
The theatrical poster.
Directed by	Robert Rodriguez
Produced by	Robert Rodriguez Elizabeth Avellan Carlos Gallardo Bill Borden
Written by	Robert Rodriguez
Music by	Los Lobos
Cinematography	Guillermo Navarro
Editing by	Robert Rodriguez
Distributed by	Columbia TriStar
Release date(s)	August 25, 1995
Running time	106 min.
Country	US
Language	English/Spanish
Budget	$7,000,000
Preceded by	El Mariachi
Followed by	Once Upon a Time in Mexico
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Desperado is a 1995 film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film stars Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. It is a sequel to Rodriguez's earlier film El Mariachi, although the storyline isn't fully linear nor are all the events connected. This is the second entry in his "Mariachi Trilogy", which culminated in 2003 with Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

Tagline:

• He came back to settle the score with someone. Anyone. Everyone.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Soundtrack 4.1 Track listing 5 Trivia 6 See also 7 External links

A former guitarist (Banderas) seeks revenge on the drug lord who killed the woman he loved. Along the way, he also falls in love with Carolina (played by Hayek), a woman who works for the drug lord. The movie contains many inventive gun battles, including one featuring a machine gun and a rocket launcher both disguised as guitar cases.

Actor	Role
Antonio Banderas	El Mariachi
Salma Hayek	Carolina
Steve Buscemi	Buscemi
Joaquim de Almeida	Bucho
Carlos Gómez	Right Hand
Tito Larriva	Tavo
Angel Aviles	Zamira
Danny Trejo	Navajas
Abraham Verduzco	Niño
Carlos Gallardo	Campa
Albert Michel, Jr.	Quino
Cheech Marin	Short Bartender
Quentin Tarantino	Pick-up Guy

Desperado helped enhance the fame of Antonio Banderas and introduced Salma Hayek to American audiences. The studio initially wanted a blonde to play the role; after her screen test, Hayek was the clear choice for the character.

Rodriguez's friend, writer/director Quentin Tarantino appears in a cameo, playing the character "Pick-up Guy." Also appearing is Carlos Gallardo, who played Antonio Banderas' role in Rodriguez' previous film El Mariachi. He appears in Desperado as a friend of El Mariachi called Campa.

Desperado: The Soundtrack
Soundtrack by various artists
Released	August 15, 1995
Genre	Chicano rock Ranchera Rock Pop
Label	Epic/Sony
Professional reviews
All Music Guide Link
Robert Rodriguez film soundtrack chronology
Four Rooms (1995) Desperado (1995) From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Los Lobos chronology
Music for Papa's Dream (1995) Desperado (1995) Colossal Head (1996)

The film score is written and performed by the Los Angeles rock band Los Lobos and consists of Chicano rock and Ranchera music. Other artists on the soundtrack album include Dire Straits, Link Wray, Latin Playboys and Carlos Santana. Musician Tito Larriva has a small role in the film, and his band, Tito & Tarantula, contributed to the soundtrack as well. The band would be featured in Robert Rodriguez' next film, From Dusk Till Dawn.

1. "Canción del Mariachi" ("Morena de Mi Corazón") (Los Lobos and Antonio Banderas) – 2:06
2. "Six Blade Knife" (Dire Straits) – 4:34
3. "Jack the Ripper" (Link Wray) – 2:31
4. "Manifold de Amour" (Latin Playboys) – 2:03
5. "Forever Night Shade Mary" (Latin Playboys) – 3:00
6. "Pass the Hatchet" (Roger & The Gypsies) – 3:00
7. "Bar Fight" (Los Lobos) – 1:54
8. "Strange Face of Love" (Tito & Tarantula) – 5:51
9. "Bucho's Garcias/Navajas Attacks" (Los Lobos) – 3:56
10. "Bulletproof" (Los Lobos) – 1:42
11. "Bella" (Carlos Santana) – 4:29
12. "Quedate Aqui" (Selma Hayek) – 2:05
13. "Rooftop Action" (Los Lobos) – 1:36
14. "Phone Call" (Los Lobos) – 2:16
15. "White Train (Showdown)" (Tito & Tarantula) – 5:57
16. "Back to the House That Love Built" (Tito & Tarantula) – 4:41
17. "Let Love Reign" (Los Lobos) – 3:22
18. "Mariachi Suite" (Los Lobos) – 4:22

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Many of the actors portraying secondary characters appear in other Rodriguez movies including the Spy Kids series, From Dusk Till Dawn and the original Desperado movie, El Mariachi.
• Desperado is actually not intended to be an official sequel, but instead the movie Rodriguez wanted to shoot had he had the budget for El Mariachi.^{[citation needed]} It was at his friend Quentin Tarantino's insistence that Rodriguez change a few story elements telling him that this was his, "Mexican Dollars Trilogy", referencing Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy of the three Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns, also not exact sequels but full of characters and/or actors that appear in all three of those films.
• The codpiece pistol that Sex Machine wears in From Dusk Till Dawn is the same one that was seen in Desperado.
• Due to Salma Hayek's discomfort when her love scene was shot, all the crew members were ordered to exit from the set while only Robert (the director) and his wife shot the whole scene, even though the crew members were anxiously awaiting that day. It was also the only day that every crew member showed up (from the DVD commentary).
• Robert Rodriguez included his sisters Angela Lanza and Patricia Vonne in minor roles.
• According to Rodriguez, when he was shooting the film, he was given what he considered a fairly sizable stipend by Columbia. Rodriguez ended up taking the money and paid for his brother's college tuition, choosing to sleep in his studio-assigned office during the course of the film's production.

• 1995 in film

• Desperado at the Internet Movie Database
• Desperado at All Movie Guide
• Desperado at Rotten Tomatoes
• Music sheets for Desperado musical theme
• MovieMaker magazine interview with Rodriguez

v • d • e Films of Robert Rodriguez
Mexico Trilogy	El Mariachi (1992) • Desperado (1995) • Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
Spy Kids trilogy	Spy Kids (2001) • Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) • Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
Sin City	Sin City (2005) • Sin City 2 (in development)
Other films	Bedhead (1991) • Roadracers (1994) • Four Rooms (1995) • From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) • The Faculty (1998) • The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D (2005) • Grindhouse: Planet Terror (2007) • Machete (2007) • Barbarella (in development) •
Other works	Rebel Without a Crew (1995 autobiography) • Chingon (band)