Taglines: He was given an offer he couldn’t refuse…
In Mexico, the determined federal agent Machete Cortez opposes to the order of his chief and drives with his partner to the hideout of the drug lord Rogelio Torrez to rescue an abducted witness against the gangster. However, he finds the witness naked on the bed but he is surprisingly betrayed by the woman, and his wife and daughter are murdered by Torrez.
Three years later, Machete is an illegal immigrant in Texas that wanders on the streets seeking job in the Day Labor Site. He is hired by Michael Booth to assassinate the boasting right-winged Senator John McLaughlin, who is against the immigrants and defends the construction of an electrified fence along the border with Mexico. Machete receives one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the assignment, but he gives the money to Luz, a Mexican woman that sells taco in her truck and manages the underground Network that assists illegal Mexicans and helped Machete three years ago.
When Machete is ready as a sniper in a tower, he finds that he has been betrayed and set up by Booth, who actually is McLaughlin’s adviser and plotted the scheme to improve the statistics with the sympathy of the electors to McLaughlin. Once again Machete survives and discovers that Booth supports the vigilantes led by the cruel Von Jackson and is associated to Torrez. Now Machete seeks revenge against his enemies and becomes a myth.
Machete is a 2010 American action exploitation film written, produced, and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis. This film is an expansion of a fake trailer that was included in Rodriguez’s and Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 Grindhouse double-feature. Machete continues the B movie and exploitation style of Grindhouse, and includes some of the footage.
The film stars Danny Trejo in his first lead role as the title character, and co-stars Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Don Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin and Jeff Fahey. This was Steven Seagal’s first theatrically released film in eight years since his starring role in 2002’s Half Past Dead. Machete was released in the United States by 20th Century Fox and Rodriguez’s company, Troublemaker Studios, on September 3, 2010. A sequel, Machete Kills, was released on October 11, 2013.
Machete opened in 2,670 theaters in the United States on September 3 and earned $14,102,888 for its four-day weekend, placing second at the box office behind The American. The film opened at #2 behind The American and took in $3,866,357—$1,448 per theater—on its opening day and $14,102,888—$4,001 per theater—on its opening weekend. Machete placed fourth at the box office by the end of the week after Resident Evil: Afterlife opened in theaters, totaling $20,916,709. Machete has made $26,593,646 in the United States as of November 18, 2010. The film made another $17,499,670 in foreign markets, bringing the gross total of $44,093,316, as of November 18, 2010.
About the Production
“Machete” is based on the “fake” trailer in Robert Rodriguez’s 2007 “Grindhouse,” featuring Danny Trejo and Jeff Fahey reprising their original roles. He looked like just another day laborer from the streets, and the perfect fall guy for a crooked political assassination. But he turned out to be MACHETE, a legendary ex-Federale with a deadly attitude and the skills to match.
Left for dead after clashing with notorious Mexican drug kingpin Torrez, Machete has escaped to Texas, looking to disappear and forget his tragic past. But what he finds is a web of corruption and deceit that leaves a bullet in a senator and Machete a wanted man.
Machete sets out to clear his name and expose a deep conspiracy. But standing in his way are Booth, a ruthless businessman with an endless payroll of killers; Von, a twisted border vigilante leading a small army; and Sartana, a beautiful immigrations officer torn between enforcing the law and doing what is right.
Helping Machete even the odds are Luz, a sexy taco-truck lady with a rebellious spirit and revolutionary heart, and Padre, a priest who’s good with blessings, but better with guns. Carving a path of bullets, blood, and broken hearts, Machete’s quest ultimately leads him back to Torrez for an epic battle of revenge and redemption. Or as Machete puts it: “They just f****d with the wrong Mexican.”
Machete is ar American action film written, produced, and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis. This film is an expansion of a fake trailer that was included in Rodriguez’s and Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 Grindhouse double-feature. Machete continues the B movie and exploitation style of Grindhouse, and includes some of the footage. The film stars Danny Trejo in his first lead role as the title character, and co-stars Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Don Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin and Jeff Fahey.
While most movie fans believe MACHETE was born in a now-legendary “fake” trailer conceived by Robert Rodriguez as part of his and Quentin Tarantino’s tribute to B-movies, “Grindhouse,” MACHETE’s inception dates back years before that film’s 2007 release. In the early-1990s, when Rodriguez was prepping his second motion picture “Desperado,” he thought the time was right for a Latin movie hero, which he codenamed “Machete.”
“There weren’t any action movies that with a Latin flavor that could play to a broad audience,” Rodriguez explains. “When I watched [director] John Woo’s movies, they made me want to be Asian. Woo and [actor] Chow Yun-Fat’s ‘Hard Boiled’ and ‘The Killer’ really inspired me to make films that would create that feeling in the Latin arena.”
The nascent idea for MACHETE began to crystallize when actor Danny Trejo reported to the set of “Desperado,” which was shooting in a small Mexican town. “Nobody really knew about ‘Desperado,’ yet the local townspeople would flock to see Danny, thinking he was the star of the movie, even though his part was very small,” Rodriguez remembers. “He has incredible presence, and I knew I had found MACHETE. So, I handed him a knife, and told him to start practicing.”
Since that fateful meeting, Trejo has acted in several of Rodriguez’s movies, including “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “Spy Kids.” “I continue to work with Danny because he pops and has one of the most amazing faces in cinema history.”
When the fake MACHETE trailer was unveiled in “Grindhouse,” the response was impressive. “People [who had seen the trailer on “Grindhouse” or, later, online] would come up to me and ask, ‘Are you going to make that movie?’” Rodriguez notes. “And I would respond, ‘Yeah, of course we’re going to make it’ – although I really had no firm plans to do so, because I didn’t want to let them down. They were genuinely excited to see the entire film be made.”
Continue Reading and View the Theatrical Trailer
Machete (2010)
Directed by: Ethan Maniquis, Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan, Daryl Sabara, Ara Celi, Marci Madison, Electra Avellan, Elise Avellan
Screenplay by: Robert Rodriguez
Production Design by: Christopher Stull
Cinematography by: Jimmy Lindsey
Film Editing by: Rebecca Rodriguez, Robert Rodriguez
Costume Design by: Nina Proctor
Set Decoration by: Bart Brown
Music by: Chingon
MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence throughout, language, some sexual content and nudity.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: September 3, 2010