We Can Be Heroes: Robert Rodriguez’s 10 Best Movies, Ranked By IMDB

Despite the middling reviews it’s garnered since its Christmas day premiere, Robert Rodriguez’s action-adventure children’s film We Can Be Heroes has become one of Netflix’s most popular original movies in recent times. Tilling familiar territory, Rodriguez has honed his family-friendly, G-rated filmmaking craft through the long-running Spy Kids franchise from 2001 to 2019.

We Can Be Heroes is a spin-off of Rodriguez’s 2005 film, The Adventures of Sharkboyand Lavagirl in 3-D, which currently ranks #70 on IMDB’s Bottom 100 Movies Of All Time. That makes one wonder if We Can Be Heroes can crack Rodriguez’s best movies ever made.

10 The Faculty (1998) 6.5/10

Scripted by Kevin Williamson, The Faculty marked Rodriguez’s first foray into the sci-fi genre. With an all-star ensemble including Elijah Wood, Salma Hayek, Josh Hartnett, John Stewart, and more, the film finds a midwestern high-school overrun by shapeshifting aliens.

When new girl Marybeth (Laura Harris) attends Harrington High in Ohio, she attempts to befriend her fellow students. Little do they know she shares a link with an invasive alien specimen that can replicate in water, leading to pure pandemonium on campus.

9 Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014) 6.5/10

Co-directed with Sin City graphic novel creator Frank Miller, A Dame to Kill For is the sequel to the 2005 predecessor. The film continues the seedy and sordid exploits of the unsavory characters populating the crime-ridden town.

Based on the second book in the series and loose plot points pulled from the vignette Just Another Saturday Night (book six), the film concerns Marv (Mickey Rourke) attempting to remember his hazy past while Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) plays a high-stakes poker game with a powerful Senator.

8 Roadracers (1994) 6.6/10

Following his indie DIY feature debut El Mariachi, Rodriguez directed a made for television crime film called Roadracers. The film stars David Arquette and Salma Hayek, two actors Rodriguez has collaborated with several times since.

Arquette plays Dude Delaney, a wild greaser who dreams of fleeing his stifling small-town to become a leather-clad rockstar. However, on his way out of town, Dude becomes embroiled in a dramatic rift with the local Sheriff (William Sadler) and his son. Hayek plays Dude’s girlfriend Donna.

7 Machete (2010) 6.6/10

In what began as a lark of a fake trailer to play in between the two features of the Grindhouse double-bill, Rodriguez honored fans’ desire to see a full-length version of Machete in 2010.

Danny Trejo stars as the titular terror who mounts a merciless revenge campaign on those attempting to assassinate him. With the help of his brother, Padre (Cheech Marin), Machete will stop at nothing to get bloody payback on those who double-crossed him.

6 El Mariachi (1992) 6.9/10

Made for roughly $7,000, Rodriguez wrote, directed, produced, shot, edited, and served as the special effects designer on his feature debut El Mariachi. The film launched his career in Hollywood and continues to rank among his best work, per IMDB.

El Mariachi follows Azul (Reinol Martinez), a recently released prisoner out to get revenge the drug dealer that had him locked up. But when Azul’s guitar case arsenal is accidentally taken by a stranger named El Mariachi, a harrowing climax of blood and bullets ensues.

5 Planet Terror (2007) 7.1/10

As the first half of the Grindhouse double-bill, Planet Terror is a post-apocalyptic action film in which a botched government experiment with biological weaponry turns Texas citizens into flesh-starved zombies.

Out to quell the viral zombie onslaught are El Wray (Freddy Rodriguez), his stripper ex-girlfriend Cherry (Rose McGowan), town doctors William (Josh Brolin) and Dakota Block (Marley Shelton), and Bone Shack BBQ master J.T. (Jeff Fahey).

4 Desperado (1995) 7.2/10

With a budget 1,000 times higher than its predecessor, Desperado is a direct sequel to Rodriguez’s feature debut, El Mariachi. With a budget of $7 million, the film went on to gross more than $25 million at the box-office.

Antonio Banderas plays the title character out to avenge the ruthless drug-lord who killed his former girlfriend and put a bullet through his guitar-fretting hand. Along the way, El Mariachi falls for the stunning Carolina (Salma Hayek), a local bookstore employee with her own sordid past.

3 From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) 7.2/10

In a joint effort with his friend and fellow indie filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, Rodriguez made the bank-robbing road film turned vicious vampire flick From Dusk Till Dawn.

The film follows Seth and Richie Gecko (George Clooney and Tarantino), two bank-robbing brothers on the run from the law in rural Texas. Desperate to cross the border into Mexico to meet with the drug-dealer Carlos (Cheech Marin), the two brothers kidnap a family of three before encountering a barroom full of vampiric ghouls.

2 Alita: Battle Angel (2019) 7.3/10

With groundbreaking technological FX fostered by writer/producer James Cameron, Rodriguez directed the most expensive movie of his career with Alita: Battle Angel. The film cost roughly $170 million to produce and grossed over $400 million worldwide.

Story-wise, it centers on Alita (Rosa Salazar), a defunct cyborg who is reanimated with amnesia and goes on an epic journey to rediscover her past. As Alita finds about herself and her true nature, she must grapple with being an Angel of Heaven as well as an instrument of death.

1 Sin City (2005) 8.0/10

According to IMDB, Rodriguez’s big-screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s Sin City ranks as his best movie to date. The stylish black-and-white neo-noir translates four vignettes from Miller’s beloved graphic novel series.

One of the major plot points of the film involves Marv (Mickey Rourke), a tough guy out to avenge the murder of his girlfriend, Goldie (Jaime King). Another concerns a Senator’s brazen attempt to bribe the police to cover up his son’s serial murders. Rodriguez’s friend Quentin Tarantino directed the sequence in which Dwight (Clive Owen) and Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro) tussle in front of the car.