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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman (2012)

Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman (2012)

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Released 2-Sep-2015

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Action Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated R
Year Of Production 2012
Running Time 70:03 (Case: 73)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Studio
Distributor

Shock Entertainment
Starring Fernanda Urrejola
Matias Oviedo
Jorge Alia




Case Amaray-Opaque
RPI ? Music Rocco


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     A sexy, scantily clad bounty hunter known only as La Mujer Metralleta (The Machine Gun Woman) (Fernanda Urrejola) is killing off the men of Argentine mob boss Che Longana (Jorge Alia) and he seems powerless to stop her, despite offering a huge reward for her, dead or alive. Video game addict Santiago (Matias Oviedo) is a DJ at Longana’s club who overhears the boss and his henchmen discussing their plans; to save his life he offers to bring in the Machine Gun Woman and is given 24 hours to do so. Followed by Longana’s thugs, against the odds Santiago succeeds in tracking down and meeting with the woman. But then things spiral completely out of control placing Santiago’s mother, and his emotions, at risk. Shoot outs and a little love ensue.

     Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman (original Spanish title Traiganme la cabeza de la mujer metralleta) from Chilean cowriter / director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza is a low budget shoot-em up live action video game / grindhouse film where Robert Rodriguez would feel right at home. Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman has a scantily clad female bounty hunter, a naïve hero, big guns, loud shoot outs, blood spurting, a strident electronic score, and disposable extras being shot down. The film was shot using a Sony F3 camera so the print looks soft, contrast is overbright and colours are flat: the sky mostly looks a grey / yellow instead of a shade of blue. In keeping with the grindhouse look there are a number of deliberate dirt marks and scratches scattered throughout the film, although this is more frequent near the start and climax. The film also references the Grand Theft Auto video game as well as shooter games; there are a lot of driving shots filmed from behind a car, text screens show the mission number that Santiago is on, together with whether it was successful or not, each character has a screen showing his or her worth and the climax is filmed like a 1st person shooter game, with the camera following the POV of the pistol plus showing the score as extras are shot.

     Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman is exactly what it sets out to be. Matias Oviedo is an acceptable geeky hero, Fernanda Urrejola is very sexy, the action is loud and frenetic, helped by swaying hand held cameras and jerky editing, there is no need to think about the plot it is so straightforward and the film is so short, at just on 70 minutes, those with short attention spans can go right along.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The IMDb does not give the original ratio, but the film does not look cropped and the DVD and Blu-ray releases elsewhere are also 1.78:1.

     As noted in the review the print looks soft, contrast is overbright and the colours are flat. Blacks and shadow detail are acceptable, Urrejola’s skin tones bronzed and sexy. There are a number of deliberate dirt marks and scratches scattered throughout the film to give it that grindhouse look.

    There are white English subtitles which are easy to read although given the pace of some of the dialogue they flash by quite quickly.

    The video is as the filmmaker intended.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of English or Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps.

     Dialogue is centred and easy to hear. There are a lot of effects in the rears with very loud music and loud gunshots at regular intervals, although the separations are not all that crisp. The sub-woofer supported the music and gunshots appropriately.

     The score by Rocco is loud and helps drive the action along.

     I listened to sections of both the Spanish and English language dubs. To my ear the English sounded generic and lacked the vibrancy of the original.

     Lip synchronisation is fine in the Spanish, and at least they did try to match the lips in the English version. Issues are noticeable but overall it is not too bad in the sections I watched.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Trailer (1:37)

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     The Region 1 US release of Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman looks to be similar to ours. The Region B UK Blu-ray adds German and French dubs and some very short B-roll behind the scenes footage (3:14) so I don’t imagine the DVD has anything else. Buy local.

Summary

     Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman is an action film for the short attention span generation. Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman has a sexy bounty hunter, big guns, loud shoot outs, a strident electronic score and disposable extras. It is mindless fun, a live action video game not to be taken seriously.

     The DVD has the video the filmmaker intended and the audio is fine. The film’s trailer is the only extra.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE