Now i know that there's already a forum for this film, but this one is for people who actually saw it.

i saw Once Upon a Time and honestly, I had mixed reviews. The cinematography was good, so was editing and all that stuff, but there was too much shaky-ness in the camera movements-almost to the point of dizzyness. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie, but I got dizzy from all those shaky shots.

I'm also one of those people who is in love with film (dont hate me!). I guess i'm just use to the grainyness of film as compared to HD. HD just looks "too perfect." It was alittle weird and I had to get used to it. Also it was pretty obvious that they were using wires to hold up actors as they climbed up stuff.

But besides that I thought it was pretty cool. I don't know if i'm totally into HD. i would use it for a college film, but not main-stream industry.

LOL "Im used to grain" "Its too pretty"

You just stated all the reasons people who love HD love it. As Robert says... Why do i want grain> Why do i want to nOT see whats underneath? What am I hiding? Bad makeup, poor lighting?

Its kind of like eating SPAM all your life, and then trying steak and saying. "I dont know, its good but its almost too good. It dosent taste like SPAM" (Man is NotaMono going to have a field day with this HeHe.. Weeee )

It takes time to get used to, but you should want cleaner and crisper. Truth be told what you saw had alot more grain then if it was projected in HD. Very few theaters have HD projectors because they are big, bulky and expensive and as of yet have little use. So while he shot HD, what you saqw was a 35mm transfer from the hD source. Still crisper, but not like when you see it projected in HD. (I actually got to see our HD trailer IN HD thanks to Panasonic flying in a projector for our premiere at the Palm Beach International Film Festival.) BTW I get to see it tomorrow, I had a date with my wife tonight.
R. Michael

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans
Tizzy Entertainment "Redemption" Hi-Def trailer

quote:

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BTW I get to see it tomorrow, I had a date with my wife tonight.

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I was on a date with your wife last night! And, uh, I'm going to see "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" with her on Saturday.

We even got a pic of us clubbin'


And I think I know why she fell for me dude, check the resemblance. I'm THE KING.


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TacoWagonProductions
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[This message was edited by Kyle Johnson on September 12, 2003 at 11:16 PM.]

saw OUATIM. Hi-def mostly looked all right, but in a few shots it looked like home video. As for the movie...uh it was ok.

Yah, it was kinda choppy. I think Robert's quick filming and do-it-all mentality got overworked this one time. The action was bigger than Desperado, but it wasn't stylized as much. Instead of making a REALLY REALLY COOL bar shoot out with clever editing and great camera shots, he'd have gigantic street warefare scenes that were more or less shot like an 80's action movie (just straight on with cheap looking explosions). He did have some really great stuff in there, but I think he could've done so much more. Maybe reading his own book hurt him in some aspects.

The score was cool...Maybe a little too intense or too long making you sort of numb to it after a while. Speaking of which, the movie was edited like one giant montage. There had to be (for better or worse...or both at the same time) like 7,000,000 fades in there.
All that aside, the picture quality was great, except for 6 or 7 indoor shots...The characters were good and quirky and Johnny Depp was totally totally cool. Maybe someday we'll see a spin-off movie...?
I guess the biggest shock was that it was less about El Mariachi than one would think. He gets the most attention, but he's still like a co-star in a movie with nothing but co-stars.
But it really comes down to one thing: You will want Mexican food after seeing it.

Funny you mention that. I heard Robert in an interview say this isnt necessarily the last. He was editing it and had Johny Depp hanging out. He freeze framed on a close up of Johny with the sunglasses and his eye gouged out and jokingly said "Coming soon, the sequel to 'Once Upon A Time..' Johny Depp is, 'The Blind Gunfighter'" He said Johny freaked out. He was like, "You have to make that movie! If you ever make that Im there. Just tell me when and Im there!" Could be very cool indeed.

Oh and Kyle, funny thing. Yourface is king-ish but you seem to have some skin disorder that makes the rest of you look like very humerous black man.
R. Michael
P.S.
I see it later today.

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans
Tizzy Entertainment "Redemption" Hi-Def trailer

Yeah, it didn't make sense that some of the shots were randomly VERY videoish, i.e. when Depp goes back to the kitchen to shoot the cook. Didn't like the fighting in the streets, loved the third arm card every time it was played, especially at the end...really wanted Depp to say "I was blind but now I see." Oh well.

Are you a MexiCAN, or a MexiCAN'T?

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To be is to do - Socrates
To do is to be - Jean-Paul Sartre
Do be do be do - Frank Sinatra
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I was lucky enough to get tickets to the regional premiere of OUTMP at the Paramount theatre in Austin. They brought in a nice digital projection that finally settled the debate for me, that Hi-def digital is the future. I don't know how many of you have seen a movie displayed with digital projection, but it is pretty tight.

Okay as for the movie, Rodriguez as always gave us his commentary before and after the movie. Let me tell you this, the DVD is going to kick some ass. He has so many outtakes and the whatnot, not to mention his usual antics.

Okay, let me reveal to you what he told us at the Premiere. He wrote this screenplay in a matter of a few days between some spy kid movie he was doing. He actually only had the opening scene completed when he called the studio and said he was finished and would send them the script in a couple of days. (I believe this because I think the story is the worst of the trilogy).

As for the big special thanks at the end of the movie if you stayed the whole time you cinephiles, well, at the set of Desperado, QT told Rodriguez, hey man, you gotta make a third, make it an epic, and call it Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Well, 9 years later it was done.

Okay, now for some production value. Rodriguez was suprised how easy it was to get the go to shoot this movie, shooting digital, he planned only a 7 week shoot in Mexico. He shot this movie right before the actors strike, so he was able to get a lot of talent looking for work before the strike.

The gunfire in the movie was all cgi. Due to customs and how fast they decided to make the movie, they couldnt get their guns to Mexico so they had to use rubber guns. (What the hell was up with that retarted flame canon blasts???/ WHY ROBERT WHY????)

After shooting this movie, Rodriguez did not touch the movie for a whole year. Then after shooting some spy kid, got to work on it. Trivia... the piano tune at the beginning is actually the theme from spy kids 2. The crew said this was the most fun shoot for any of them.

Anyways, back to the movie... Rodriguez said he shot this with the same mentality of El Mariachi in mind... as for some of the acting... Johnny Depp's character originally had alot of cussing... but RR said that he changed some of the bad words into nifty sayings... such as "Don't screw the pooch".

Anyways, there is lots more to say but I think you have the drift. Rodriguez shot this movie like a home video, on the cuff, and fast like Mariachi. However, I think the beauty of Mariachi was the story, and that is the weakpoint of Once Upon a Time In Mexico.

I can tell this movie was made more because he had to, and not because he wanted to.

As for the future anyone???? Rodriguez is working on some CGI movie and some thriller.

Enjoy.

"He wrote this screenplay in a matter of a few days between some spy kid movie he was doing. He actually only had the opening scene completed when he called the studio and said he was finished and would send them the script in a couple of days."


I dont know why, but it hurts my heart to read that, why should a Director do something like that???

It was God-Awful! It made no sense what so ever. Very confusing film.

"Pain is temporary, Film is forever"-Peter Jackson

http://www.ErwinBrothers.com

just saw it a few hours ago. i liked it alot, not as good as the first 2 but still very entertaining. the major problem i had was that in the first two films the action surrounded just one guy, the mariachi, while in once upon a time in mexico all the action surrounds a handfull of characters which gets a little too hectic. it would have been better to just focus on banderas or depp instead of everyone. i also thought his sidekick mariachis were kind of pointless. depp really did steal every scene he was in though. banderas was cool in desperado, but in here he goes around all depressed throughout the whole movie without the wicked humor he had in desperado.

if youre looking for a witty signature, youre looking in the wrong place.

... and I think many will be surprised to hear what i have to say. Lets get a few things out of the way.

First the story was weak, but the whole film was a throw back to Sergio Leon right down to the credits. You could tell he did do alot of off the cuff improve. I appluad him for being experimental but it didnt quite workout. I dont think the actors were preparred to wing it save for Atonio and of course Johnny Depp who stole the friggin movie. It was mainly difficult to follow due to the dueling storylines. Had Antonio and Depps character come full circle in the end (with eachother) it might have helped but there was to much bouncing around. Depps character became so fragile and human by the end that you couldnt help but cheer for him. I seriously could watch a film about the "Blind Gunfighter." More on that in a bit. So, strong plot idea, weak plot.

The Look

As to the look. It was in many places the best lookig HD ive seen. In others it was the worst. Bear in mind this was his first HD film, and very "Run and gun" so that accounts for alot. The two things most troubling were
1) The color was flat. It is much more vibrant in the trailers then it was on the film print. I have a feeling it was much better projected in HD. I also noticed atleast 3 digital drop outs on the print I viewed. I really think the transfer got screwed.
2) The frame rate. Ok, I know what 24p video looks like both in miniDV and in HD. If you are shooting something, and whip pan over you still see alot of the image inbetween compliments of the 6 or so extra frames per second when you shoot video NTSC. In film you get a streaking blur. Both on my DVX100 and on the Varricam when we used it we got the streaking blur. That was not their in this film. It s what created the biggest "video like" feel to the movie. A good example is the afore mentioned scene with Depp. Normally when the camera whips down for him to pick up the gun there would be a bur with film until the camera stopped. It helps you just focus on what you need to see. Johnny pays check, grabs gun, walks back, ect.,. Since it was so clear it was hard to focus. There were quite a few scenes, or rather single shots like this.

In between was pure beauty though. Some really fantastic stuff. When it was strong it was very strong. I have a feeling alot of the Video stuff might have been a result of him shootig higher frame rates (30p oor even 60i) planning to "slo mo" them later with morphing software to smoot them out (which he did do because there was some slo mo.) I could tell right off the gunfire was CGI but I didnt care. It worked.

Funny stuff

Now a few observations I made. The little dog. Its name was "Moco" bit of an inside joke. That was the name of the original badguy in "El Mariachi" and means "Booger" in Spanish.
Robert only wrote one of the songs in the moie (its heard in the trailer) but he did all the underscore. It was a bit over the top but that was another nod to Sergio.
The action didnt look like Robert till the "Street scene" were Antonio take the motercycle.
Robert was in the parade of the dead wearing makeup in one of the first shots.
Johnny Depp wrote the theme song for his character in the film.
Quentin Tarintino got top bill in the special thanks for coming up with the films title.
I stayed all the way through the credits and there was areward. As credits ended there was a brief flash of Johnny Depp putting on his sunglasses over the holes where his eyes once were followed by an explosion ans the "Trouble Maker studios logo. He has voiced interest in a spin Off. I for one think that movie might be better than this whole series.

Wrap Up

All in all worth the price of admission just for the good HD spots and for Johnny Depp. I can tell you projected in HD would have been ten times better and their have ben vast improvments made since he shot this. Bassically film is not dead. If nothing else it is still needed for prints as most theaters do not have HD projection. It might be mortally wounded though.
R. Michael

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans
Tizzy Entertainment "Redemption" Hi-Def trailer

Couldnt agree with u more tizz. On second note, i though the film was still really well done, mind the complex plot and the hd glitches, it was still kick ass!

-Gaelan Connell

Right, so at least the story tried to make sense in this one in that it somewhat preserved the other two films...but then it forgot about that and became just wierd.

main problem i had was with bullets caushing people to spark...what the hell?!??!!? the shotgun stuff works for that, but not pistols, i dont care what kind of bullets there are.

i personally prefer the grained look of film with very strong color correction...Minority Report of course being the nicest palleted film that I can think of...it was beautiful.

The main thing this movie brought out to me was: Rodriguez can direct, edit, shoot etc...but not write. I thought with spykids 2, 3 he was just being lazy and hoped this would be better...but it wasn't. (i also didn't much like el mariachi for it's story/dialogue).

ya, that's it.

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"Me? I'm dishonest. And you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones, you want to be afraid of."

Hey cypher whatever you do do not take this as an attack to you I really do not mean it that way but, do you know spanish or did you just read the subtitles on el mariachi.

I disliked Once upon a time in Mexico. Unlike El Mariachi and Desperado you can tell he didnt put his heart and sweat into it. The plot was poor and had no twist what so ever. It was obvious what was going to happen the whole time. And they made this movie into a comedy...Bash on me all you want but it was a horrible movie. The cinematagraphy and editing were fantastic. (cept for some shaky shots) And what the hell were the point of his dreams. They were just put in their for show..

Jesus, the reviews for this movie are shameful.

The Look
Tizzy, you must've seen a horrible transfer to film because the colors, my God, they were so good. The only time this did look digital was with fast camera movements, Tizzy goes on about that a little more, and is absolutely right about that. Otherwise, this looked so good. I had not seen a movie that has done Mexico any justice with its beauty until I saw this movie. As far as regular movie goers, my brother's got a fair eye for this sort of thing and didn't notice until the last act that it might be digital. That means that if you shot a film in HD only about three percent of your audience would actually catch on.

The Story
The story was great, it was epic. If it didn't make sense, there's something wrong with you Mr. ADD. This one wasn't called "El Mariachi 3" because we already saw his character in two movies prior. It was cool to see such an epic. Anyone cry when they spent too much time focusing on other characters in any of the Lord of the Ring movies? No, exactly, shut up. As far as Atonio's flashbacks, they were necassary, they were there to show you what he had against the general, and they were pretty darn fun. As for the dialogue, how can you beat Johnny Depp telling a little Chiclets boy to "**** off?"

The Action
Alright, this was probably the films weakest area. As mentioned earlier by someone else, it really did feel like action scenes weren't filmed with as much flare as Desperado. My main gripe with them though were the explosions, they just seemed to feel like they were taken from a stunt show. But there were still a lot of fun moments like the guitar gun and Antonio and Selma being chased from their aparments. By the way, what did everyone think about the guys that smashed by the cars? CGI or not those were totally unexpected and freaked my right the **** out.

As far as general audiences go, if they can get past the subtitles and don't mind a little epic, the HD probably won't even phase them. Hopefully they will see it as a neat little action flick. Lastly, the one thing this movie is missing is a smart mouthed Steve Buscemi giving Johnny Depp some ****.

-Elliott

all right. ive thought about it some more, and i want to say some more things.

-the plot could have been really good if he focused on just banderas, depp and defoe.
-defoe had like no lines so we barely know or care about his character( and who cares if he cant speak with a spanish accent, you cant do a lot worse than charlton heston)
-the retired fbi guy's story was pointless and so were the sidekick mariachis. if RR had tossed them he could have focused on the main three characters.
-i wish depp's relationship with that girl was more fleshed out. you know, just because.
-rr should have left the flashbacks with selma out intil the end when defoe, depp, and banderas should have had a mexican standoff(man, i was really waiting for that to happen!) Like leone used the flashbacks in a few dollars more.

also, i have a few questions.
-it might have escaped me, but how did depp blackmail banderas?
-the fake arm thing kicked ass, but where the hell did it come from in the end?
-and lastly, why did defoe get that face replacement thing? if hes staging a coup why would he need a new identity?

if youre looking for a witty signature, youre looking in the wrong place.

There are subtitles in OATIM?

I need to see this movie so I can understand what you guys are talking about...Unfortunately, I'm broke and I will end up watching the edited version on the SuperStation in 2030.

"Don't breathe or I'll kill you!"

Just a couple subtitles PyPypro. El Mariachi is in spanish though.

Im telling you i saw a terrible print. I am so pissed. An AMC 24 with stadium seating, and digital DTS surround sound (man the Texas Chainsaw trailer is sick in surround sound when the girl sounds like shes running around the theater to hide.) and the color was crap. I knew it wasnt right from the first scene in the bar. All the oranges were washed out and things looked to pink. Skin tone was off as well. Then when Isaw the first digital drop out i was like, "Am I seeing things?" but then a few minutes later there it was again. Most say the print was either gorgeous or garbage. No real inbetween.

I did have a blast watching it though. Weak as the story was it still held me in many ways.

Oh and he didnt actually blackmail "El" he just explained he would be killing the man who murdered... well, I cant say for those who havent seen it.
R. Michael

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans
Tizzy Entertainment "Redemption" Hi-Def trailer