Blood In Blood Out (also known as Bound by Honor and Blood In Blood Out: Bound By Honor) is a 1993 American epic crime drama film directed by Taylor Hackford that has become a cult-classic film among the Mexican-American community. It follows the intertwining lives of three Chicano relatives from 1972 to 1984. They start out as members of a street gang in East Los Angeles, and as dramatic incidents occur, their lives and friendships are forever changed. Blood In Blood Out was filmed in 1991 throughout the Spanish-speaking areas of Los Angeles and inside California's San Quentin State Prison.
Plot
In 1972, after a violent confrontation with his abusive father, Miklo Velka, a teenager of half-Mexican descent, leaves Las Vegas for East Los Angeles. He moves in with his cousins, Paco and Cruz, who are both members of the Vatos Locos gang. Miklo joins the gang following an attack on their rivals, the Tres Puntos. Tres Puntos retaliates by attacking Cruz, permanently damaging his back. When Vatos Locos counterattack the next day, Miklo shoots and kills Spider, the leader of Tres Puntos. Fleeing the scene, Paco crashes their car; both he and Miklo are arrested.
The cousins' paths diverge: Miklo is imprisoned in San Quentin for murder, Paco volunteers for military service in the Marine Corps in lieu of prison, and Cruz continues his passion for art. Due to his back pain, Cruz becomes addicted to heroin, leading to the accidental overdose of his 12-year-old brother, Juanito. After the Marines, Paco joins the Los Angeles Police Department.
Meanwhile, Miklo finds that San Quentin is run by three racially defined prison gangs: the Black Guerrilla Army (BGA) led by Bonafide, the Aryan Vanguard led by Red Ryder, and La Onda led by Montana Segura. Popeye, a high-ranking member of La Onda, tries to rape Miklo at knifepoint but is stopped by Montana, who finds Popeye's intentions dishonorable. Miklo learns that the only way into La Onda is by killing an inmate from a rival gang. He forms a rapport with Aryan Vanguard associate Big Al, then stabs him to death in the prison kitchen. Now initiated, Miklo rises through the La Onda ranks, eventually joining its Ruling Council.
After serving nine years, Miklo is granted parole. On the outside, disgusted by his menial job, he joins in an armed robbery. The heist goes poorly and Miklo is intercepted by Paco, who tries to persuade Miklo to surrender his weapon and resolve the situation peacefully. Miklo instead starts to flee, and Paco shoots him in the leg. The leg is amputated, and Miklo is sent back to prison.
Miklo notices that cocaine use is now rampant, driven by competing supplies from the BGA and La Onda council member Carlos. The Aryan Vanguard want to partner with Carlos as his supplier, offering to help Carlos take the BGA out of the cocaine business. Montana, fiercely against La Onda being in the drug trade, warns that the Aryans want to start a war between the Black and Chicano inmates. The Council votes in agreement with Montana, resulting in Carlos and a few others leaving La Onda to work with the Aryan Vanguard.
Carlos has his non-inmate brother, Smokey, bomb the BGA's stash house in the city. Carlos also kills "Pockets", who is running the BGA's operation in San Quentin. As Montana feared, the Aryan Vanguard then lets the BGA murder Carlos. With rising hostility between the Blacks and Chicanos, Montana and Bonafide meet in the prison yard. Montana convinces Bonafide to agree to a truce if Montana reaches out to La Onda leaders in other prisons to end the violence. The warden grants Montana special permission to visit the prisons and Miklo is left in charge.
Montana is granted a special request to have his daughter visit him at one of the prisons. Before she arrives, he is stabbed to death by a member of the BGA. Believing the Aryan Vanguard sent forged orders to the hitman, Paco arranges a peace conference between La Onda and the BGA, but Miklo uses the talks to build an alliance with the BGA and plan the joint killing of Aryan Vanguard leaders. After the Aryans are killed, Miklo's men promptly double cross and murder the BGA leaders as well. A furious Paco confronts Miklo, disowning him forever.