| Director | Robert Rodriguez |
|---|---|
| Genre | action film, contemporary Western film, crime film, thriller film, vigilante film |
| Runtime | 100 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $7 million |
| Box office | $58 million |
At the Tarasco bar in Mexico, Buscemi, an American man, talks about witnessing a massacre in another bar, committed by El Mariachi, a Mexican with a guitar case full of guns. Tarasco's patrons are uninterested until Buscemi mentions drug lord "Bucho". Moco, Bucho's underling, killed El Mariachi's lover and shot his left hand. Buscemi, who is secretly a friend of El Mariachi, soon discovers that Bucho's underlings work and drink at the Tarasco bar.
El Mariachi meets a child, whose father allegedly plays guitar for a living. Having been a guitarist himself, El Mariachi gives the boy some guitar lessons. At the Tarasco bar, El Mariachi kills Bucho's henchmen. Tavo, a man conducting illegal business in the bar's secret back room, follows El Mariachi outside and wounds him. El Mariachi then kills him. Carolina, a woman whom El Mariachi shielded from Tavo's bullets, takes him to her bookstore. Threatened by the carnage, Bucho orders his men to hunt down El Mariachi.
Meanwhile, Carolina tends to El Mariachi's wounds. He then goes to a church and talks to Buscemi. Upset by the massacre at the bar, Buscemi convinces El Mariachi to abandon his quest for revenge. They are then ambushed by Navajas, a man armed with throwing knives who kills Buscemi and severely wounds El Mariachi. Navajas was sent by Colombian criminals to kill El Mariachi. However, before he can accomplish his task, Bucho's men arrive at the scene and kill Navajas, mistaking him for El Mariachi.
While wandering the streets, an injured El Mariachi meets the child again. He learns that the kid is being used by his father to mule drugs hidden in his guitar. The boy reveals that most people in the town work for Bucho. El Mariachi returns to Carolina and learns that Bucho financed her bookstore as an additional front for his drug dealing. Bucho then arrives, and she hides El Mariachi. After Bucho leaves, Carolina completes the suturing of El Mariachi's wounds. That evening, she gives El Mariachi a new guitar, which he plays for her before they have sex. Meanwhile, Bucho realizes that Carolina lied to him.
The next morning, Bucho's men arrive and attack El Mariachi and Carolina, setting the bookstore ablaze. They fight their way out of the burning building and onto a rooftop, where El Mariachi gets a clear shot at Bucho, but chooses not to kill him. The two then hide in a hotel room. Bucho becomes angry at his men for their failure to kill El Mariachi. He shoots one of his men and then fires at the others.
Realizing that Bucho will never stop hunting him, El Mariachi contacts his friends, Campa and Quino, for assistance. The trio meets up on the edge of town and encounters Bucho's henchmen. A gunfight ensues, and most of Bucho's men, along with Campa and Quino, are killed. After the child is wounded during the showdown, El Mariachi rushes him to a hospital.
El Mariachi and Carolina travel to Bucho's compound intending to confront him. Bucho is then revealed to be El Mariachi's older brother, Cesar. El Mariachi was unaware of Bucho's identity, until he saw his brother's face, from the rooftop, and refrained from shooting him. Bucho offers to release El Mariachi if he allows Bucho to kill Carolina. El Mariachi kills Bucho, then shoots the remaining henchmen. The lovers visit the boy in the hospital, and El Mariachi leaves alone. Carolina catches up to him on the road and picks him up, with El Mariachi initially leaving his guitar case full of weapons on the side of the road. The two drive away together, but shortly return and pick up the guitar case, just to be safe.