Blood In Blood Out released in 1993
The movie I will be reviewing is, Blood In Blood Out which was released in 1993. This movie was directed by Taylor Hackford and was written by Ross Thomas and had a budget of 35 Million dollars. The movie takes place in East Los Angeles from the 1970s up to the 1990s, with three main protagonists. These three protagonists are known as Paco, Miklo, and Cruz and are all cousins that come from a latino background.
The story starts off when Miklo returns to his barrio (neighborhood) in East Los Angeles for good, after having faced probation, criminal problems and having to stay in Las Vegas, Nevada with his caucasian father. Miklo stays with two of his cousins, Paco and Cruz. Later on in the story Miklo asks his younger cousin Cruz if he can join his cousins gang known as the Vatos Locos. At first, both of his cousins are skeptical and not sure if they should let Miklo join, but later that night he proves himself by breaking the glass on a rival gangs lowrider that was on their turf, known as Tres Puntos. It wasn't long after Miklos attack that Tres Puntos got their revenge by attacking Cruz, and damaging his spinal cord for life. The next morning the Vatos Locos had planned an attack on the turf that Tres Puntos had taken over as a sign of vengeance for their cousin Cruz that was currently in the hospital. The attack was a very good counterattack and was going as planned until Miklo gets shot by the rival gangs leader who was known as Spider. Paco, the Vatos Locos leader, now has to rush his younger cousin Miklo to the hospital meanwhile getting chased by the police. As Paco tries to lose the cops, he crashes the car and now that the car is totalled and Miklo is unable to move because of the bullet wound. Paco not wanting to leave his cousin to die, stays behind meanwhile the other gang members run off, and because of this both Paco and Miklo get arrested.
This is the catalyst that makes them break off onto their own paths. Cruz went on to be a famous artist even though he still struggled with back problems and became well known in the art business, but still struggles with drug addictions. Whereas Paco was given the choice to join the United States Marine Corps or to go to jail, since no one really wants to go to jail he chooses to become a Marine. Last but not least Miklos choices were not as good as the ones offered for Paco since he already had a criminal record, and was sent to San Quentin State Prison.
In my opinion, I believe that this is a very interesting, action filled movie that has the power to touch your heart and make you feel the cousin love that Paco, Miklo, and Cruz all had. I think that the audience that has experienced this movie will remember it for a long time and revisit the movie to see the adventures of the Vatos Locos once again. My personal experience with this movie has been eye opening and impactful because It portrays the stereotypes of young latino men, either they become drug users, work for the man, or go to prison. I also have close cousins that I watched this movie with and we all liked the movie so much that we identify ourselves within the characters. I noticed that Blood in Blood out shows the three common paths a young latino man takes, like I said either they become drug addicts, work for the man, or go to jail when really there is more paths disprove this observation. For example the Mission Graduates program that I am in helps to open new doors and opportunities for young latino men and women. Lastly The reason I think we liked the movie so much is because we share the cousin love that Paco, Cruz, and Miklo all shared, and has made us revisit the adventure of the Vatos Locos plenty of times.
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