El Mariachi/Desperado/Once Upon a Time in Mexico

A triple bill of Roberto Rodriguez films. In 'El Mariachi' (1992) peace-loving El Mariachi (Carlos Gallardo) just wants to sing in local bars like his father before him.

However, as he arrives in a small Mexican border town, a ruthless lookalike hitman wipes out a member of the local gang.

The case of mistaken identity soon starts a violent quest for revenge and an unnaturally high body count.

Rodriguez's low-budget feature was originally intended only for a limited release, but critical acclaim led to world-wide showing. 'Desperado' (1995) (both a sequel to, and a remake of, 'El Mariachi') is a hyper-violent post western tale of revenge starring Antonio Banderas as the mysterious stranger, Mariachi.

He carries a guitar case full of weapons, which he plans to use to avenge the death of his girlfriend.

Aided by his best friend and a beautiful book-store owner, he hunts down the last of the druglords, dispensing his own brand of justice to anyone who gets in the way.

Whilst in 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico' (2003) rogue CIA agent Sands (Johnny Depp) finds himself having to recruit the services of the legendary vigilante El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) in order to prevent an assasination attempt on the Mexican president.

Although Mariachi has been in hiding since the death of his lover (Salma Hayek), Sands manages to persuade him to help him because they will be fighting a common enemy; General Marquez, who is leading the assasination attempt and with whom Mariachi has a score to settle.