The 30th Anniversary of Blood In Blood Out (1993)

It was on this date in 1993 that Blood In Blood Out, under the title Bound by Honor, was released nationally.  Walt Disney Studios, which released the film under their production label Hollywood Pictures, offered the film little in the way of support. Critics gave the movie mixed reviews. The film ultimately did poorly at the box office. Despite this, Blood In Blood Out would go onto become a cult film, particularly among Chicanos and especially in Los Angeles County.

For those who have never seen Blood In Blood Out, it centres on three related Chicanos as they navigate their lives from 1972 to 1984. While all three begin as part of an East Los Angeles street gang, their lives ultimately take very different paths.

The origins of Blood In Blood Out (1993) go back to 1982. Producer Jerry Gershwin, who had produced Harper (1966) and Where Eagles Dare (1968), hired novelist Ross Thomas to write the screenplay. It went into development at New Visions Pictures under director Harold Becker, who had directed such films as The Ragman's Daughter (1972), The Onion Field (1979), and Taps (1981).  The August 7 1988 issue of The Los Angeles Times reported that Blood In Blood Out would mark the directorial debut of Edward James Olmos, and that Andy Garcia and Lou Diamond Phillips were set to star in the film. Ultimately, Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Andy Garcia would not be a part of Blood In Blood Out.

In the meantime New Vision Pictures folded, after which Edward James Olmos took the project to Taylor Hackford. Taylor Hackford had directed the film An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and both produced and directed the films Against All Odds (1984) and White Nights (1985). Taylor Hackford had been a producer on La Bamba (1987), the biopic about Chicano rock 'n' roll legend Ritchie Valens.  While Mr. Hackford liked the format of Blood In Blood Out, he thought the text of the screenplay did not ring true. He had grown up in Santa Barbara, California around the Mexican American community there, and as a reporter for KCET had covered East Los Angeles with his fellow reporter Jesus Treviño.

Ultimately, Edward James Olmos and Taylor Hackford would part ways, with Olmos citing creative differences. He would go onto produce and direct American Me (1992), a film about similar subject matter. It was then that Taylor Hackford decided he would direct Blood In Blood Out himself. As to the screenplay, it would be rewritten by Floyd Mutux, who also contributed to American Me (1992). Jeremy Iacone would also rewrote the script.

It was famous playwright Luis Valdez, best known for the play Zoot Suit, who directed Taylor Hackford to poet Jimmy Santiago Baca. At the time Jimmy Santiago Baca was not particularly interested in working in the film industry. It took Taylor Hackford visiting the poet in New Orleans to convince him to work on Blood In Blood Out. Jimmy Santiago Baca then moved from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Los Angeles to absorb the Chicano culture of East Los Angeles. Jimmy Santiago Baca also drew upon his own life experiences in working on the screenplay (he had spent five years in prison for drug possession), with characters based on the sorts of people he had known in prison. Taylor Hackford has said that Jimmy Santiago Baca came up with most of the final plot of Blood In Blood Out.

Blood In Blood Out attracted the attention of Ricardo Mestres, president of production for Hollywood Pictures. Hollywood Pictures had been founded by then Disney CEO Michael Eisner and then Disney studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, and was meant to release movies with more mature themes than those released by Disney and Touchstone Pictures. Michael Eisner had been at Paramount when Taylor Hackford had directed An Officer and a Gentleman for that studio. It was then that Disney, then as now best known for family films came to produce Blood In Blood Out.

The first of the three leads to be cast was Jesse Borrego, who played artist Cruz Candelara in the movie. At the time he may have been best known as Jesse Velasquez on the TV show Fame. Benjamin Bratt was the second lead to be cast. He played Paco Aguilar in the film, who eventually joins the LAPD. Benjamin Bratt had appeared in two short lived shows, Knightwatch and Nasty Boys. The last of the leads to be cast was Damian Chapa, who played the all important role of Miklo Velka, around whom much of the movie revolves. Like Miklo, Damian Chapa was the child of mixed heritage: he was the son of a Mexican father and an Irish mother.

None of the three leads were from Los Angeles, so to insure authenticity director Taylor Hackford had them move into a house near Hazard Park so they could immerse themselves in the culture of the area. Each night Jesse Borrego would go over the script with Benjamin Bratt and Damian Chapa in what were referred to as "Vatos Locos Tutorials," in which they went over the particulars of Chicano jargon.

Beyond the three leads, Blood In Blood Out featured several cast members who would soon be famous. It was an early credit for Billy Bob Thornton, who may have been best known as Billy Bob Davis on the sitcom Hearts Afire when the movie came out. It was also an early credit for Danny Trejo, who had actually served time in San Quentin State Prison. Ving Rhames had already appeared in such movies as Native Son (1989) and  Jacob's Ladder (1990). The year following the release of Blood In Blood Out (1993), he appeared in Pulp Fiction (1994). The cast also included Latino actors who were already well established. Enrique Castillo, who played gang leader Montana, was a founding member of The Latino Theater Company and had guest starred on such shows as The Waltons and The Incredible Hulk. Lupe Ontiveros was already a legend in Latino film, with a career going back to the Seventies. Also among the cast was my dear friend Vanessa Marquez, who had already appeared in the classic Stand and Deliver (1988) and in unaired episodes of the TV show Wiseguy.

The paintings by Jesse Borrego's character Cruz Candelara in Blood In Blood Out were by Chicano artist Adan Hernandez. A native of San Antonio, his art would be displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the San Antonio Museum Art.

Blood In Blood Out (1993) was filmed from May 6 1991 to October 4 1991. Perhaps the most famous shooting location in the film is San Quentin State Prison. Director Taylor Hackford got a copy of the script to then warden Dan Vasquez, who was impressed by its authenticity. He then gave permission for Blood In Blood Out to be filmed in the prison. Several of San Quentin's inmates at the time served as extras in the film. Even warden Dan Vasquez appeared as the warden in the movie.

Blood In Blood Out was also filmed at several locations in Los Angeles and East Los Angeles. Among the best known of these is the southwest corner of Folsom Street and N. Indiana Street in East Los Angeles, where the bunya pine known as El Pino is located. The tree appears extensively in the film. Another famous location in the film is the restaurant Los 5 Puntos, located at what was then Brooklyn Avenue and is now East Chavez Avenue. Other locations included St. Mary's Catholic Church on Chicago Street in Los Angeles and Evergreen Cemetery on North Evergreen Avenue in Los Angeles.

The original cut of Blood In Blood Out turned out to be over five hours long. Much too long for theatrical release, the film was then edited down to three hours. The five hour version has never been released and it cannot definitively be said that it even still exists.

It was as Blood In Blood Out was being edited that riots erupted in Los Angeles in late April and early May of 1992 following the acquittal of the police officers who had beaten Rodney King. Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney, grew concerned that following the riots, the release of Blood In Blood Out could then generate bad press for the studio. Because of this, the film's release was delayed. On February 5 1993, test screenings were held in Rochester, New York, Tucson, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was at a screening in Las Vegas that a fist fight broke out during the film in which no one was injured. According to director Taylor Hackford recalled, the incident was enough to convince Michael Eisner that the film would result in violence. It was Frank Wells, then president of The Walt Disney Company, who would see to it that Blood In Blood Out would be released, although under a new title. After years of being known as Blood In Blood Out, the movie was retitled Bound by Honor. As  result, the studio's entire marketing campaign for the film had to be redone, from the trailers to the posters.

It was then on April 30 1993 that Bound by Honor was released in thirty cities across the nation. Before the test screenings in Rochester, Tucson, and Las Vegas, when it was still known as Blood In Blood Out, Disney projected the movie to make $40 million. Instead as Bound by Honor, only made a meagre $4.5 million.

Bound by Honor was not well received by critics either. Kenneth Turan in The Los Angeles Times gave it a negative review, ending his review with "Apparently in love with East L.A., this film succeeds only in getting lost in it." Jonathan Rosenbaum in The Chicago Reader also gave Bound by Honor a negative review, writing that it was an "....ugly three-hour snoozefest is apparently supposed to do for East Los Angeles Chicanos what the Godfather movies did for New York mafiosi…" Roger Ebert's review of Bound by Honor was decidedly mixed. He wrote, "Bound by Honor contains some effective performances, some moments of deeply felt truth, and a portrait of prison life that I assume is accurate. What seems to be missing is a clear idea of why the movie was made, and what the director, Taylor Hackford, wanted to say with it." As might be expected, many reviews compared it to the previous year's American Me (1992).

For its release on home video, the original title of Blood In Blood Out was restored. It was also released under the title Blood In Blood Out...Bound by Honor to such premium cable channels as Showtime and The Movie Channel. Slowly but surely, Blood In Blood Out developed a following. Eventually it became a cult film. A slightly longer "director's cut" would be released on DVD, although the five hour version remains unavailable.

Here I want to digress for a moment to discuss Vanessa Marquez in Blood Out Blood Out given it remains one of her best known movies. Vanessa played the daughter of Montana, the leader of the gang La Onda in the film. Earlier in the movies pictures of Vanessa when she was younger can be seen in Montana's cell. Later in the film she appears briefly when Montana's daughter is going to visit him. She is only on for a minute and then she really has nothing in the way of lines. It may be possible that Vanessa received more screen time in the five hour version. I have never been able to confirm it, but I have seen claims (including on IMDB) that one of the subplots involved a grown up Montana's daughter. If this is the case, Vanessa Marquez may have originally had much more screen time in the film. I cannot say for certain, as Vanessa and I never discussed Blood In Blood Out.

First conceived in 1982, Blood In Blood Out took many years to reach the screen. Once it did, it was all but abandoned by the studio that had released it. Regardless, through its release on VHS and being shown on various premium cable channels, Blood In Blood Out developed a following. Today it is a cult classic, particularly in the Chicano community. It is safe to say that it will be remembered for years to come.