Danny Trejo fans would pay to watch the ex-con turned icon eat a plate of rice and beans and Machete wisely stages that scene midway through, as the haunted and hunted Machete cools his heels in the home of an unlikely ally. Trejo does not disappoint when the camera lingers on him, in action (wielding a medieval mace jerry-rigged out of scalpels) or idling menacingly with an obsidian gravitas (as when his character witnesses the murder of his wife by chortling malhombres). His first star vehicle proves that Danny Trejo can hold a movie on his own - why, then, do Rodriguez et al keep taking Machete out of his hands? In the original fake trailer, the film's white guy villain was played by direct-to-DVD stalwart Jeff Fahey; it was an inspired and spot-on choice but here Fahey is made to play fourth fiddle to a slumming Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal and Don Johnson (who rates an ironic "Introducing..." title card). Having four villains (five, if you count oily subaltern Shea Whigham) squeezes Machete out of the frame too often but Rodriguez and Company over-egg the custard further by saddling Machete with a sympathetic immigrations officer (Jennifer Alba) and the comely leader of the Mexican underground (Michelle Rodriguez -no relation). In 1973, these roles would have been filled by jobbing actors grateful for the work but none of the above celebrities would be satisfied with the table leavings with which Danny Trejo has had to make do for the past quarter century and their added business cuts into Machete's bottom line. The film should gallop between setpieces but spends too much time checking itself out in the mirror.
20th Century Fox's region 1 DVD of Machete will likely disappoint Trejo fans, lacking any participation from the star of the show in the form of an audio commentary or interview. Besides a sampling of trailers and a clutch of deleted scenes, the only other extra is an "audience reaction" track of laughter and applause that offers the viewer the simulacrum of sharing the film with others but is hardly representative of a true grindhouse experience. The transfer is clean and colorful, albeit intentionally distressed to give the production a gritty vintage flavor. Soundtrack options include the original track in a zesty 5.1 Dolby mix, along with monaural Spanish and French tracks. English and Spanish subtitles are optional. The Fox disc carries a princely SRP of $29.95 but online deals cut that price tag nearly in half.
For more information about Machete, visit Fox Connect. To order Machete, go to TCM Shopping.
by Richard Harland Smith
