Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Andrew Wakely Immature punk rocker meanders through a post-capitalist wasteland, struggling to find meaning in a soulless, consumerist existence. Also, there are aliens, maybe. Delightfully surreal and with just a pinch of pathos, Repo Man is one of those quintessentially 80's movies.

Red-Barracuda Repo Man is one of a select band of films which is regarded as an indisputable cult movie. Probably the main reason for this is that it does that thing that so many cult offerings do and that is to mash-up genres, in this case we have a post-modern comedy with sci-fi elements. The humour takes pot shots at many things such as advertising, conspiracy theorists and religion, while the sci-fi revolves around something dangerous and glowing in the boot of an old car, in a definite nod to the film-noir classic Kiss Me Deadly (1955). So, it is a film of many disparate elements for sure. It is notable for being British director and one time 'Moviedrome' presenter Alex Cox's debut film. It has to go down as his best effort really, seeing as it is the one where his idiosyncrasies are held together in a self-contained whole the most effectively. It is, however, a wilfully bizarre movie. After losing his job a young punk begins work as a repo man. Soon thereafter a reward is placed by shady government people for retrieval of a 1964 Chevy Malibu which has something in the trunk that fries anyone unfortunate enough to look at it.The story isn't really the main selling point, it's no more than a framework in which Cox uses to put together a selection of his odd-ball ideas. The screenplay is well-written though with interesting lines sprinkled throughout and the film is full of fun sight gags such as the fact all products in the movie have generic labelling or the fact that all watches have no hands. We even have a career best performance from a young Emilio Estevez as Otto, the disaffected punk youth central character, it really reminds you of what he was capable of given the right material, while Harry Dean Stanton gets a rare lead role as a world-weary repo man and needless to say he is excellent value. Topping things off, the movie benefits from a punk soundtrack, often with a spaghetti western edge, it's a score which gives the movie both attitude and sense of time and place which only serves to elevate it further. Repo Man is a very fun, yet very off-beat, movie. One of the touchstone cult movies of the 80's.

SnoopyStyle Dr. Parnell is driving a car with a trunk that lights up and disintegrates anybody who opens it. Slacker punk rocker Otto (Emilio Estevez) hates his grocery store job and gets fired. His girlfriend dumps her while sleeping with somebody else at a party. Bud (Harry Dean Stanton) tricks him to repo a car and he's not happy. His parents give away all of their money to a TV preacher and he's forced to take up on Bud's offer. Leila shows Otto a picture of aliens that is suppose to be in a car trunk and then there's a $20k bounty on a Chevy Malibu. Otto battles other repo men, his old punk friends, government agents and UFO enthusiasts as he tries to collect the huge bounty. Miller (Tracey Walter) is the spaced out mechanic at the repo lot. There are some crazy sit going on here. It's a wild irreverent indie. What it's great at is that it gets a sense of the rundown L.A. world. There are great lines like "John Wayne is a fag". It's a low rent indie and it's happy to be there. It's a little punk and something different.

Fluke_Skywalker The cult film. We all have at least one. Truly loving an obscure or absurd film is like being in a secret society. It has its own lingo, and sometimes even its own dress code. Somehow I've managed to avoid 'Repo Man', one of the ultimate cult films, for nearly thirty years. So when I stumbled upon a VHS copy while on a recent thrift store sojourn, I thought it was well worth ninety nine cents to see what the fuss was about. Turns out not much.I really wanted to like this film, even thought for a few minutes that I would love it, but ultimately its nothing more than a proto 'Dude, where's my car?' with more four letter words and less narrative clarity. In short; I hated it. With its heavy satire, punk rock soundtrack and absurd story, I can definitely understand why it became a cult classic. I'm just not ready to drink the Kool-Aid.