User reviews

It's hard to critique a movie that doesn't take itself very seriously. On one hand, it's absurd and squanders an attempt at suspense with its silliness, but on the other hand it's got a fantastic screenplay with some unforgettable one-liners.

A cult classic with plenty of dark humor that couldn't help but remind me of Heathers, and some cheesiness that reminds you it's from the '80s. Clichés are intentional and part of the fun, and the soundtrack fits right at home. It begs to laugh with you and will get your attention like a class clown.

A great party movie, it's fun with lots of creativity and a hint of intelligence.

I put this eighties cult classic right up there with Blazing Saddles (1974) and Dr. Strangelove (1964) as one of the best satires ever to hit the silver screen. No exaggeration: this is one bizarre and one very funny flick. Seeing it again after almost twenty years, I gotta say, it lost nothing.

Emilio Estevez stars as Otto Maddox, a head-strong and slightly naive ex-supermarket stock clerk and sometime punk rocker. He's kicking a can down the street when up pulls Bud, "a repo man," played with a fine degeneracy by Harry Dean Stanton, who asks him if he wants to make ten bucks. (Otto's reply is memorable but not printable here.) When he learns that Bud just wants him to drive a car and not...uh, never mind, he bargains it to twenty-five bucks. When he finds out that Bud repossesses cars for the "Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation," he is sorely offended. But when he realizes how intense the life is (and how bleak his other employment opportunities), he becomes a repo man himself.

Meanwhile there's J. Frank Parnell (Fox Harris wearing a demonic grin and weird black and empty frame glasses) driving a "hot" '64 Chevy Malibu. "You don't want to look in the trunk, Officer," he tells a cop who pulls him over on a desert highway. By the way, the map under the opening credits shows the action of this film beginning somewhere on old Route 66 in New Mexico, suggesting alien mecca Roswell territory perhaps, but most of scenes were clearly shot in LA, and the desert scene just mentioned was also probably shot in California as evidenced by the Joshua Trees in the background.

What director and scriptster Alex Cox does is combine urban ghetto realism with bizarro sci-fi shtick. He adds a fine punk soundtrack including the title song from Iggy Pop with a brief appearance by the Circle Jerks, and wow are they appropriate, but you have be a punker or a 15-year-old to really visualize their moniker. The supporting players, Sy Richardson as Lite, a black cat repo ace, and Tracey Walter as Miller, a demented street philosopher, really stand out. I also liked the black girl repo person with attitude (Vonetta McGee).

The real strength of the movie, aside from probably the best performance of Estevez's career, is in the street scene hijinks, the funny and raunchy dialogue, and all those sight gags. My favorite scene has Otto coming home to find his parents smoking weed on the couch zombie-like in front of the TV listening to a Christian evangelist while he scarfs down "Food" out of a blue and white can from the refrigerator. I mean "Food" is on the label, period. The Ralphs plain wrap (remember them) are all over the sets, in the convenience store, at the supermarket, bottles of plain wrap whiskey and plain wrap "Tasteetos," plain wrap beer and plain wrap cigarettes.

Some other good shtick: the dead rat thrown in the car with the woman that doesn't accomplish its purpose; the money in the presents that Otto throws out the window busted open by the tires of another car for us to see and drool over; the "I left a book of matches" line that diverts Otto's idiot friend pumping gas; the pepper spray; Miller by the ashcan fire contemplating the disappeared from the future and "the lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything" (trippy, man); and the punk criminal act of "Let's go get sushi and not pay." And Otto's clean pressed white dress shirt and the tie--I love the tie--as Lite tells him, "Doing my job, white boy."

See this for the authentic eighties street scenes and for my UCLA Bruin buddy (by way of Oxford) director Alex Cox who dreamed the whole thing up. Only an Englishman could really see America authentically.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

"Repo Man" was one of the films that came out in 1984 that, in a way, revolutionized film story telling, as we knew it. We are given a hint about what's coming right on the opening sequence when the Chevy Malibu, driven by the spooky Frank Parnell, is stopped on a highway.

Alex Cox, the innovative director of "Repo Man", made a film that mixes a lot of movie genres with a satisfying result. That's why when it was discovered, it became a huge cult movie. It was one of the films that had midnight screenings for its many fans that flocked to have a great time and who identified themselves with the movie.

The best thing in the film is the interaction between Bud and Otto. Harry Dean Stanton has always play cool parts and this movie is no exception. Emilio Estevez gave, what might be, his best movie performance as the young punk that gets to meet a world he never knew existed. All the players gave their best to Mr. Cox and the result is a film that, in some ways, might baffle at first, but once the viewer gets into it, he will be hooked.

Iggy Pop's music is an excellent partner for the action. Alex Cox is an innovative director, as he proves with "Repo Man".

I first watched 'Repo Man' around 1985 or 1986 and it knocked me out. I've watched it many times since and it STILL knocks me out! Alex Cox has made quite a few strange movies since this, mostly excellent (check out 'Three Businessmen' sometime), a few not so good, but this is gonna be the movie he will always be remembered for. It's a black comedy, a science fiction movie, a buddy film, a punk rock movie, it's all kinda things. There has been nothing quite like it made before or since! Emilio Estevez has made some really bad movies in the 80s and 90s but he is excellent as disenfranchised surburban punk Otto, and the legendary Harry Dean Stanton ('Cool Hand Luke', 'The Rebel Rousers', 'Two-Lane Blacktop', 'Alien', 'Paris, Texas',etc.etc.) gives one of his most memorable performances as Bud, the repo man who tries to be his mentor. The supporting cast are all first rate, especially Tracey Walter (Miller) and Sy Richardson (Lite), two actors who never became household names but who still generate knowing smiles and nods from cult movie fans everywhere at the mere mention of their names. Also keep an eye out for an almost unrecognizable Miguel Sandoval ('Get Shorty', 'Blow'). Cox would use him in most of his subsequent movies, most notably his absurdist classic 'Three Businessmen'. 'Repo Man' also has a celebrated soundtrack by Iggy Pop, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies and others. The Circle Jerks also perform in a memorable sequence. This movie is a cult classic which looks as good now as it did back in the 1980s. I love it. Highly recommended!

Much of REPO MAN seems improvised, but all in all, this is a good, quirky and entertaining flick. Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton are particularly good as a pair of repo men (car repossesors), though my favorite character is the scene stealing, completely underrated Tracey Walter, playing a kind of street corner philosopher role. It's also a blast seeing remnants of the 1980s California hardcore punk scene, including various musicians in acting roles, as well as seeing some of the less glamorous parts of L.A. captured on film.

Alex Cox probably knew what he was doing with Repo Man, but it was probably something he concocted while in the basement of a young punk rocker with a lot of dirty second-rate comic books and a lot of booze. How it comes out on the screen makes it a kind of bizarre outcast in the realm of science-fiction comedies, because it's not entirely a comedy (there's some moments that feel like they SHOULD be more dramatic, like the dynamic between Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez for the most part, or the scenes with secret-service-type alien chasers). In fact science fiction seems to be looming over the heads of everyone like it's some sort of half-goofy half-conspiratorial quagmire, all leading up to a Chevy Malibu that has a certain 'quality' about it. Much of the story's tangents don't even seem to make too much sense, and the structure feels like it's been put together in cheap (hence the comic-books). But Cox is always working with a mind-set for what's unexpected with absurdities and, oddly enough for such a punk-rock movie, quirkiness.

Estevez plays Otto, a perennial punk-rocker who has a 'f*** you' attitude to practically all authority figures, which keeps him usually unemployed. Enter in Stanton with his job as a repo-man, with cars getting taken away by "dildoes who don't follow the rules", and so he joins up as he's got no prospects at all. As he learns how to go about getting car after car, a suspicious wormy guy in glasses is driving around a peculiar car that has a trunk that's similar to something out of the Ark of the Covenant, only more alien-like. So then, as Cox's rude and crude attitude goes, we get the secret-service guys, the bizarre punks who are all about causing disorganized chaos and robberies, ill-tempered Hispanics, a far-out guy at the repo place named Miller, and meanwhile there's always wackiness around the corner. The characters are more or less the main thing Cox works with here, as almost everyone here is an eccentric, or an oddball, or a total off-his-rocker loon (or just, you know, with their 'secrets'). And Otto himself is a prototype of the typical 80s kid, with no respect but not necessarily stupid either.

And around these characters a lot of crazy things go on, or lines of dialog, and they either work or they don't. The only problem is that Cox isn't always focused with everything from scene to scene, and there's a mid-section that just comes off even too weird for me. But I didn't mind this for the most part; there's almost a sense in the narrative that it's supposed to be sloppy and mismanaged, and through this there's more inventive qualities than one might find in a more prestigious flick with more money. Add on to this one of the great 80s soundtracks, and an ending that gives a big laugh with a big raised-eyebrow, Repo Man is a shaggy dog story, a rebellious-youth pic, and an urban take on the old tale of aliens coming to Earth (for what reason I still can't tell). A minor work of ingenuity that is understandably with its cult audience.

Repo Man !! Well not a bad attempt at low budget sci fi. Its appeal lies within its strangeness but even more appeal will come from those who relate to the main character Otto ( Emilio Estevez ) If you can relate to him you will get more enjoyment out of the film. Otto is a typical teenage waster who doesn't like taking orders and wants to live his life by his own rules. At the same time he isn't a bad guy unlike some of his friends. Otto is the only multi dimensional character in the film, every other character is some form of stereotype. I use Multi Dimensional loosely as even the Otto character is barely touched upon and without reading between the lines can be transparent to most people. Trying to do Sci Fi on a low budget will always be difficult ( trying to do Sci Fi with a budget is hard enough ). It definitely shows in Repo Man as the FX is pretty bad, this kind of adds character to the film but at the same time make it look shoddy. Im sure I could make a better metal arm myself with stuff i can find at home and some silver paint. Maybe the point was to make it look silly if so it worked. To Sum up Repo Man is zeitgeist of the late 70's early 80's ( has more of a 70's feel to it ) One thing i did notice was how many film writers/directors have plagiarised many elements from the film and improve on them in their own way. Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Wachowski Brothers amongst others

For that reason it has originality and is different to many films from that era.

I'd give it a 6/10 worth a watch at least once, maybe twice if you want to examine whats on show.

If your into MOVIES blah blah Hollywood give it a miss, if you like film and appreciate it then definitely give this one a go.

Those who were unlucky enough to reach adulthood during the 1980s or 1990s will relate most to this film. Like all the best films, it sets no specific genre for itself, instead preferring to tell a story and leaving the audience to respond in its own way. Many don't get this film as a result, and a lot of the sight gags require an understanding of 1980s commercialism. The reward for getting it, on the other hand, is one of the trippiest films ever committed to celluloid.

Director Alex Cox uses his connections to, or perhaps that should be knowledge of, the American punk scene to full effect here. The soundtrack is unlike anything heard in films of the same period, with numerous standout tunes that demand just as much attention as the on screen action. With lyrical snatches like "let's all leech off the state, gee, money's really great!", every moment in the film, musical or otherwise, is a commentary on the plight of Otto's generation, and generations since.

Aside from the cameos from numerous musicians that you can connect to more famous figures in a Kevin Bacon sort of manner (Chuck Biscuits would later drum for Danzig), the film is very well-known for containing some figures who were either famous at the time, or would become famous in subsequent years. The obvious example is Emilio Estevez, but cast members like Harry Dean Stanton or Sy Richardson will also give off a spark of recognition. A lot of the film becomes a game of "where have I seen that guy before?". Not only that, but at least half of the lines are inherently quotable.

If there is one flaw in the film, I can't think of it. The rain of ice cubes is a bit poorly realised, but that just adds to the film's effect. One notable writer has been quoted as saying "learn to see the worst films, sometimes they are sublime". Repo Man is sublime, but is also one of the best, for a number of reasons. Instead of using the money hose to wash away its creative problems, it revels in its inherent stupidity or weirdness. Where else can you see a woman with a robotic hand made out of tinfoil, and actors working so well around it?

In all, I gave Repo Man a 10 out of 10. If you're into weirdness, this is the Holy Grail. Those who enjoyed films like This Is Spinal Tap or Rebel High, ponder no further - get this film on DVD-Video *now*.

I've seen this movie more times than I know. Fifty at least, since I was able to find a copy two years ago. And I still don't know what it all means. But I sure do love it anyways.

I suppose Repo Man was one of those essentials in the catalogue of must see punk movies. I think that's where I first heard of it, as a punk science fiction movie. That explains why it's such a crazy movie.

Emilio Esteves is down and out suburban punker Otto, wasting away in his little town with no way out. He just got fired from his crappy price tag job at some hoser supermarket. His girlfriend dumps him and hooks up with newly released convict, Duke, who, along with a punker named Archie make a hobby out of robbing stores. Plus, his friend Kevin is a total nerd. And his parents, perpetually brain dead from overexposure to the tv preachers, gave away the money they promised him, which would've helped him get out that dump.

Bud (played by super duper Harry Dean Stanton), a Repo Man, turns Otto on to the dangerous business of reposessing cars, which then becomes Otto's new occupation and introduction to some pretty crazy sh!t. Aside from dodging bullets by angry debtors and the fierce competition among the Repo Men to obtain a high stakes Chevy Malibu, Otto is also turned on to some UFO conspiracies as weird scientists go searching for extra terrestrials. That town Otto lives in is one crazy place. There's a lot going on, but it is so wierd, that it actually turns out to be good.

If you like punk culture movies, this is definitely one to try out. Plus, you get a slamming soundtrack with most of the songs performed by the Stooges and the Circle Jerks. The Jerks also appear as the lounge act in the bar, and the guy who plays Kevin, Zander Schloss, later joins the Jerks.

Emilio Estevez is a teenage punk who gets fired from his job as a supermarket shelf stacker and gets tricked into life as a car repossession man by old timer Harry Dean Stanton.

What follows is a muddled, boring, uninteresting tale of all sorts of miserable characters on the trail of a 1964 Chevy Malibu - with a $20,000 bounty and a very mysterious cargo.

Estevez sulks his way through the film, and is fairly effective as the young loser, while Stanton is good as his "father figure" and mentor.

All in all not very impressive at all but nevertheless a film with a loyal following from cult British director Alex Cox.

This was a surprise for me, I really didn't expect 'Repo Man' to hit such a chord with me, and alas it succeeded in making me a fan. I was admittedly a little put off by the film's supposed punk outset but was glad to find that it didn't take itself seriously and often had its tongue planted firmly in the cheek.

What Alex Cox delivers here is a timeless classic that has seemingly influenced a lot of my favourite films to date, and of course was influenced itself by other personal favourites. So not only was it natural for me to love 'Repo Man', but it won me over on its own rights with its wonderfully satirical tone and hilarious yet interesting dystopian science fiction themes.

Although incredibly annoying at first, the film's characters eventually won me over and by the end of the film I had learned to love every one of them. This was thanks to the effective and focused characterisation dealt with by Cox, allowing his characters to grow from being dislikable idiots to harmless jesters. Indeed if it wasn't for the characters, 'Repo Man' wouldn't be as funny as it is and it wouldn't even be as interesting. In key with the writing, the cast also do a great job with the handling of their characters, all turning in solid and memorable performances.

If there is one complaint I have it is that the pacing sometimes goes a little out of balance and leads to the story to getting caught up in trivial scenes that either should have been cut or been made more progressive to the plot. Nevertheless, I absolutely loved this film (especially that brilliant ending!) and recommend it to fans of science fiction comedy or satires. Granted not everyone will enjoy at as much as I did, but it certainly deserves a watch.

One of the few cult classics I freely say I enjoyed, this film has a unique quality of being pretty good, yet deep down you know this is just trash. It's quite a quandary, considering this film is so close to my heart, yet so way off my critical radar. I guess it is good to have a film like this on your resume, one that is just silly, yet likable. Harry Dean Stanton was brilliant in his role, fully epitomizing the high stress life the repo man. Otto was also portrayed nicely by Emilio Estevez. Watch this film if you dare. You just might like it.

The plot is impossible to describe but, basically, it's about a 20 something named Otto (Estevez) who works as a repo man. That's about it...the movie chronicles all his bizarre adventures and strange people he meets.

I saw this when I was in college in 1984--it totally blew me away. I went back to see it 4 more times! It had a huge following on college campuses back then. Sadly, it seems to have disappeared. That's a shame because I think this is perfect for high school, college kids and people with open minds. It is a true cult film.

There are many great lines--too many to get in one viewing--this film demands multiple viewings. The actors deal well with the offbeat dialogue and situations--especially Estevez and Stanton. As for what it means---who cares? Every time I saw it I saw something different in it.

A classic. Do not miss!

This has to be a shining jewel in Alex Cox's canon. The movie itself is relatively simple and the plot is at times very murky, but it delivers big on laughs and is high on the WTFWT (what the f*** was that) scale. Emilio Estevez plays Otto, a punk who has no job, future, and whose girlfriend left him for his best friend. He meets up with Bud (Harry Dean Stanton) who is a repo man. Bud gets Otto into the world of repossession and gives him advice along the way. During this tutelage, an order goes out for a mysterious 64 Chevy Malibu that everyone (the feds, other repo men, and religious fruitcakes) alike is trying to track down. The movie plays on quite a few tongue-in-cheek references to pop culture and modern society while delivering jokes a plenty.

I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the bizarre and really doesn't mind watching a film that has plot points that seem to kind of meander anywhere. For punk fans, look for cameos from the Circle Jerks and the Untouchables. Fans of Alex Cox films also should look out for staple actors Dick Rude, Sy Richardson and Zander Schloss.

This is NOT a film that the average film viewer will love. Many will be alienated because of the film's strong language and rather amoral characters. Many will be alienated because the film is so strange and,....well, strange! But, if you have a high tolerance for these factors, then you'll no doubt have a great time watching this cult classic. Just be prepared--this is PROBABLY NOT a film for grandma and the kiddies! In addition to very harsh language, there is drug use, sex (though you don't see anything) and violence galore.

The film almost defies description, though I'll try. Emelio Estevez stars as a rather low-key guy who falls into the job of repossessing cars. And, once he takes the job, he finds that the subculture is bizarre. In fact, the people he works for are the most motley crew of freaks you could imagine. And, into the midst of this group of freaks comes a plot about stolen alien corpses and a car trunk that vaporizes anyone who opens it!! Heck, I won't even bother continuing...suffice to say it's just weird.

Overall, while the acting and script occasionally fall flat, the film is funny, twisted and never fails to surprise--particularly the hallucinogenic ending! In addition, the film has a great sound track--one of the best I've heard. It's full of punk music AND retro 50s rifts that I particularly loved. Who would have thought I would have liked music from the likes of Iggy Pop and The Plugz?! Plus, if you really like the tunes, you can buy the special edition which comes with the movie on DVD and a music CD as well.

By the way, as you are watching here are a couple interesting things to note. The food in the movie is all in generic-style containers and say 'food', 'beer' and the like. Also, note when the one punk is dying--listen to his death speech--it's a classic!

This is one heck of a weird movie, which fits Emilio Estevez perfectly, who is playing a young punk without any money or future who decides to become a car REPOssession man, who impounds American driver's cars, when the drivers cant pay their car bills no more. Lots of physical assaults, lots of car chases,lots of cussing, with a few sci-fi / mystery scenes thrown in, to spice things up in a weird way.

The good: it's weird, it's in my face, it's carefree. It has good acting and great dialogues.

The bad: it's a plain silly story and since I dont have to take it seriously, I don't get annoyed about the silliness, but some wont tolerate such a silly, fluffy story. I liked it though, although I wont revel about it. It's a punk movie. With a punk soundtrack. Remember punk?

Story: The plot of this movie is somewhat difficult to describe and it's even more difficult to make sense out of it. What I can say confidently is that this is a dark, absurdist comedy about a punk kid who gets roped into being a repo man and his bizarre adventures along the way. This movie has a small cult following, so I'm preparing to get ripped apart when I say this, but some of the writing is brilliant, like Fox Harris as a mad scientist bragging about getting a lobotomy or Tracey Walter's bit ranting about how humans must have paradoxical origins in the future, but the rest is just plain terrible. This movie tries way too hard to be smart and hip and edgy. The end result is somewhere between self parody and pretentious bullshit. I know that I'm supposed to laugh at the ridiculousness of lines like, "Let's go do some crimes! Yeah, let's get sushi and not pay!" but instead I just groaned in embarrassment for the movie. So, yeah, the story gets a D, as in doggy.

Acting: There are some really good performances here, the best being Harry Dean Stanton as a very dry, crazed repo man who thinks he's the wisest man alive but doesn't really know anything. Emilio Estevez... I'm not sure what to say. He plays the worst kind of scum on the planet, and he does it well. So, if I was supposed to hate my main protagonist, then I guess he did a good job. If not, if he was supposed to a likable anti-hero, then he failed. Everything he did, everything he said, and just the look on his face made me want to hit him or hope someone in the movie (which, fortunately they do hit him, so wish granted). As already mentioned, Tracey Walter does a good job and Fox Harris makes a great mad scientist. C

Direction: Again, this is a hard one to call, and it's hard to decide whether I'm complaining about the story or the direction. The timeline just doesn't work in this movie. The big offender comes when Emilio gets ticked when Emilio gets ticked with Harry and gets out of his car in a rage. A completely unrelated scene follows. I'm not sure if said scene was supposed to take place five minutes later, a day later, a week later, or what. Emilio runs into Harry later, and they're fine with each other, as if they never had a fight. Later in the movie, I guess they remembered their little spat, and then they're fighting again. Now, maybe the script was written chronologically and then was pieced together in a different order in post, in which case this is the directors fault. Or maybe it was bad writing. I don't know. I didn't see the script. In any case, both categories suffered. D

Visuals: These were actually pretty good and some of the best laughs in the movie came from the sheer ridiculousness of the visuals. I liked the thing in Fox Harris' trunk and I liked the ending sequence. So, I guess I'll give this a B.

Overall: I ended this movie feeling very conflicted. The things that were good were great, the things that were bad were awful. It is a cult classic, so perhaps you should see it to see what all the fuss is about, but I can only really recommend this movie to those who like arty, surrealist style movies. It's kinda funny at times, but not a gut busting comedy, so I can't recommend it on those grounds. Basically, if you're not an art student and are able to watch it for less that five dollars, it might be worth your time, but only if you've seen all the other movies first. D

By the time I got around to seeing this movie, I was prepared for something great. One of the best movies I'd ever seen. I wasn't really disappointed.

'Repo Man' is so original, so funny, so weird and so frequently brilliant that it just can't be ignored. It also has aged fairly well. It looks pretty good in 2004 for a cheap cult film of the 80s.

I can't really say much about the storyline without giving it away, but what I will say is a young punk kid is taken in to the weird, wild world of repo men, who all take speed and keeping the repo man honour is more important to them than to mafia bosses.

It also features a brilliant soundtrack with the likes of punk rock icons Iggy Pop, The Ramones and The Circle Jerks.

A brilliant film, recommended to anyone.

This film begins with a car driving erratically on a lonely highway somewhere in the Mojave Desert. Noticing the car swerving back and forth on the road a motorcycle cop pulls the driver "J. Frank Parnell" (Fox Harris) over and curious as to what might be in the trunk proceeds to open it. He is then immediately incinerated and Parnell proceeds to drive haphazardly away. The scene then shifts to Los Angeles where a white suburban punk named "Otto" (Emilio Estevez) is in the process of being fired from his job at a grocery store. Later that even he finds his girlfriend "Debbi" (Jennifer Balgobin) in bed with his bestfriend "Duke" (Dick Rude). So with few other options he accepts a job as a repo man-and that's when things really get bizarre. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an unusual film which caught me by surprise the first time seeing it. I especially enjoyed all of the minor details thrown in which gave this movie its special character. Anyway, I recommend this film to those viewers who might be interested in a weird type of comedy of this type and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.