Anvilicious: The whole film is so insanely over-the-top that Rodriguez would have been crazy to try shoehorning in a serious political message; it's liable to make you laugh out loud whichever side of the U.S. Border debate you're on. Crosses into Fridge Brilliance when you realize the movie is done in the same spirit as ridiculously cheesy Blaxploitation flicks, where corny, awkward social statements, stereotypes, and violence against hilariously over-the-top oppressors were par for the course. Interestingly enough, Rodriguez briefly put out a "fake" trailer that DOES make the film look more "seriously" Anvilicious than it really is (it basically implies that Machete's an illegal immigrant who eventually leads a revolution against the Evil White Man...and puts undue emphasis on Jessica Alba's "border" speech)—to the point of it beginning with Trejo saying to the camera "I have a message... for ARIZONA!!!"—an apparent Take That! to the then-recent Arizona immigration law.
Best Known for the Fanservice: If you ignore the violence, many fans know this as Jessica Alba's first nude scene, albeit with digitally removed clothing.
Broken Base: Robert DeNiro is either wildly miscast as Senator McLaughlin or an absolutely genius.
Fan-Preferred Cut Content: Rose McGowan filmed several scenes as a character who was cut from the film - as one of Osiris's henchwomen who's actually responsible for shooting Luz.
Fridge Brilliance: Luz says outright that "Shé" is now just an icon to the Mexicans.
Harsher in Hindsight: Robert De Niro plays a far-right politician running for office who promises to build a wall between the USA and Mexico if he gets elected. Six years after the movie was made, Donald Trump was elected president and promised to build a wall between the USA and Mexico. DeNiro became an outspoken critic of Trump, and memorably laid a Precision F-Strike on him at the 2018 Tony Awards... so a Trump supporter sent him a mail bomb. (No one was hurt.)
Hilarious in Hindsight: In this film, Steven Seagal plays a Mexican drug lord who doesn't even bother to try an accent. In 2011, Seagal was sworn in as a sheriff's deputy in a west Texas county, charged with handling immigrants who try to—what else?—cross the border.
It Was His Sled: The movie is memorable for subverting the usual Michelle Rodriguez dying in action movies, by having her turn up in the climax with an eyepatch and resume kicking ass.
Don Johnson is a real scene stealer as Von, despite what a nasty piece of work he is.
Torres is an out and out evil person, but Steven Seagal makes him very charismatic that you eagerly await Machete facing off with him.
Booth similarly is a shit-tier human being, especially for crucifying Machete's brother (who's also a priest), but there's no denying he's very impressive in his effectiveness and has enough sympathetic qualities that one can feel both satisfied and a little sad at his accepting his demise.
April isn't exactly evil and is more annoying and stupid, but Lindsay LohanAdam Westing the public persona she had at the time makes her very enjoyable to watch.
Machete's wife's beheading is deliberately filmed, so that when Torres completes his swing, her head's still attached a good two seconds. The head falling to the ground is so fast and sudden, it's hilarious.
Machete's gigantic... machete. It's bigger than him.
The ridiculous Russian Reversal of "we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us!" is so silly it's clearly intentional given what type of film this is.
The Running Gag of "Machete don't text" should come across as equally ridiculous but Danny Trejo makes it hilarious.
Cheech Marin has only a couple of minutes of screen time, but manages to steal every scene.
While they're technically a Two-Scene Wonder; the hilariously savvy guards.
She Really Can Act: Jessica Alba spent most of the 2000s playing bland Ms. Fanservice roles that were never more than passable, and she had been experiencing backlash to her attempts at going into romantic comedies. Here she is at first very detestable as a Smug Snake, has a convincing Heel Realization and believably falls in love with Machete. The irony with which she delivers her Rousing Speech makes it both an amusing parody and still powerful all the same.
Squick: The female hostage from the opening was hiding a mobile phone in her vagina. Those do NOT go there!
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Osiris. After he is hired, he mostly stands in the background and doesn't even take part in the climax. He returns in the sequel, though.
(No one was hurt.)