IMDb RATING
6.4/10
5.7K
YOUR RATING
Two Cuban brothers bring a new music to the 1950s USA. They are as different as the problems that await them.Two Cuban brothers bring a new music to the 1950s USA. They are as different as the problems that await them.Two Cuban brothers bring a new music to the 1950s USA. They are as different as the problems that await them.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
5.7K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writers
- Oscar Hijuelos(novel)
- Cynthia Cidre(screenplay)
- Stars
- Director
- Writers
- Oscar Hijuelos(novel)
- Cynthia Cidre(screenplay)
- Stars
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 6 nominations total
James Medina
- Manny - The Mambo Kings Band
- (as Jimmy Medina)
- Director
- Writers
- Oscar Hijuelos(novel)
- Cynthia Cidre(screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAntonio Banderas couldn't speak English when this movie was filmed, and thus performed all his lines phonetically. Armand Assante couldn't speak Spanish and also performed all his lines phonetically.
- GoofsWhen the Castillo brothers first approach New York City in the early 1950s, the World Trade Center towers are visible in the skyline; they weren't built until the early 1970s.
- Quotes
Cesar Castillo: In the name of the Mambo, the Rumba, and the Cha cha cha.
Featured review
The Mambo Kings
The film is kind of a moot for me initially, maybe I don't possess the cultural background of Cuban influence and American living experience. I find the film is an oddball with frustration, the narrative itself is featherweight, all the conflicts and explosive set pieces are squandered, the character moulding process is also bumpy and cursory, all the time what we saw are alternative quarreling between the brothers, sometimes trivial, sometimes sentimental (on the grounds of an appealing Antonio Banderas at his prime youth), otherwise too showy indeed, maybe the whole milieu has some exotic appeal to some people, with regard to me, the effect is a regretful null.
The only saving grace of the film is its Oscar-nominated theme song, the ever famous BEAUTIFUL MARIA OF MY SOUL (could be better interpreted by another singer than Armand Assante), in my opinion the original score by Carlos Franzetti and Robert Kraft contains much more vibrant and soulful vibes.
The two co-leaders Assante and Banderas are uncannily overblown and understated respectively, the bittersweet brotherhood lachrymosity is too gusty to digest. And the counter- part female characters (a chimney-voice Cathy Moriarty and a stolid Maruschka Detmers) all fail to catch their own shining moments. A rather spirit-lifting Celia Cruz is my desperate guilty pleasure (I love her performance during the end-credits).
The scheme of the tragic accident is lousy and abrupt, which furthermore reflects the pompousness and self-consciousness of the ending. The film itself is just another Hollywood throwaway, kitschy and insincere, what a pity, it has Antonio Banderas in his heyday.
The only saving grace of the film is its Oscar-nominated theme song, the ever famous BEAUTIFUL MARIA OF MY SOUL (could be better interpreted by another singer than Armand Assante), in my opinion the original score by Carlos Franzetti and Robert Kraft contains much more vibrant and soulful vibes.
The two co-leaders Assante and Banderas are uncannily overblown and understated respectively, the bittersweet brotherhood lachrymosity is too gusty to digest. And the counter- part female characters (a chimney-voice Cathy Moriarty and a stolid Maruschka Detmers) all fail to catch their own shining moments. A rather spirit-lifting Celia Cruz is my desperate guilty pleasure (I love her performance during the end-credits).
The scheme of the tragic accident is lousy and abrupt, which furthermore reflects the pompousness and self-consciousness of the ending. The film itself is just another Hollywood throwaway, kitschy and insincere, what a pity, it has Antonio Banderas in his heyday.
helpful•40
- lasttimeisaw
- Aug 5, 2011
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- 曼波狂潮
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $15,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,742,168
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $319,793
- Mar 1, 1992
- Gross worldwide
- $6,742,168
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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