Repo Man

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 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!

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.

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.

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.