1981
20th Century Fox releases Zorro the Gay Blade (dir. Peter Medak), starring George Hamilton, Lauren Hutton, and Brenda Vaccaro in a spoof on the original Zorro story.
1982
Based on Américo Paredes's book With His Pistol in His Hand, made-for-TV movie The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (Embassy Pictures Corporation, dir. Robert M. Young) stars Edward James Olmos as Gregorio Cortez, a man accused of a crime he didn't commit who eludes the Texas Rangers for two weeks.
1992
Robert Rodríguez releases El Mariachi (Columbia Pictures), a film he wrote, directed, and shot. The Spanish-language film, which cost only $7,000 to produce, receives so much attention that Rodríguez secures a big budget for another film, Desperado.
1994
Turner Pictures revives the Cisco Kid character in the made-for-television movie The Cisco Kid, written and directed by Luis Valdez and starring Jimmy Smits.
1995
Desperado, Robert Rodríguez's second mariachi story, makes a splash in theaters with Antonio Banderas playing the lead and Selma Hayek co-starring.
