Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7996 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-07-07
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A volatile, toxic potion of satire and nihilism, road movie and science fiction, violence and comedy, the unclassifiable sensibility of Alex Cox's Repo Man is the model and inspiration for a potent strain of post-punk American comedy that includes not only Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), but also early Coen brothers (Raising Arizona, in particular), Men in Black, and even (in a weird way) The X-Files. Otto, a baby-face punk played by Emilio Estevez, becomes an apprentice to Bud (Harry Dean Stanton), a coke-snorting, veteran repo-man-of-honour prowling the streets of a Los Angeles wasteland populated by hoods, wackos, burnouts, conspiracy theorists, and aliens of every stripe. It may seem chaotic at first glance, but there's a "latticework of coincidence" (as Tracey Walter puts it) underlying everything. Repo Man is a key American movie of the 1980s--just as Taxi Driver, Nashville, and Chinatown are key American movies of the '70s. With a scorching soundtrack that features Iggy Pop, Fear, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Suicidal Tendencies. --Jim Emerson

Special Features
English
Region 2

Synopsis
Otto (Emilio Estevez) is a Los Angeles punk, a loser with no direction and no role models. But he discovers a code of honor and higher purpose when he joins a select group of latter-day knights: the repo men. As a fledging apprentice, Otto slowly learns the ways of these high-caliber, overmedicated auto repossessors. And when a $20,000 bounty is placed on a mysterious missing car, Otto eludes the police, feds, religious cultists, and other repo men in a frantic search for this holy grail. Could one man's destiny lie in the back of a 1964 Chevy Malibu

Customer Reviews

You're a white suburban punk just like me.
There's no doubt that this film is worthy of cult status, and to many this is one of those all-time-classics. For me though, it's a good film, but doesn't quite hit the mark as a great film.

Some elements of the film are beautifully done; the generic packaging of food products, the bleak urban feel, and the seemingly apathy to violence and death make for a great dystopian atmosphere. This means that although the film is filmed/set in the 1980's, it has a futuristic look to it, almost like Mad Max.

The dystopia is developed further as the main characters have little or no ambition, whenever someone discusses what they want from life it's never anything more than committing crime or becoming a `fry chef' in a fast food place. The masses are pacified by television, brainwashed into giving money to the TV Evangelists. The radiation affected Parnell launches into an insane tirade, during which he mentions a friend who worked on the neutron bomb and how working on something so immoral can drive a man insane. This is dark, it's also a prod in the morals.

Other than Otto and Bud, the characters seem pretty two-dimensional, but they are entertaining. At one point there's a good camaraderie between the two, but the pathos seems to get lost somewhere and by the end of the film I cared little for any of the characters.

In a nutshell: Well worthy of a watch - you'll either love this film or you'll feel pretty neutral to it. I'm in the latter camp. There are some fantastic ideas, and these are often implemented in an understated way so as not to seem gimmicky or obvious. I appreciated what is being said, and I tend to agree, but I think it could have been said better.

"Life as a Repo Man is always intense."
A very young but convincing Emilio Estevez along with Larry Dean Stanton are both excellent this film. The story follows a (somewhat!) unlikely plot involving car thieves, drugs, a lobotomised scientist, the CIA and, of course, aliens. There is some romantic interest as well. And some great punks.

I can never get bored of this film and still squirm with glee at the best bits. The sound on the DVD isn't crystal-clear, and some of the humorous dialogue is easily missed. The Iggy Pop opening number is a proper stomper though.

I lent this to some friends who said they couldn't follow it and had to switch it off after 15 mins, so It's not for everyone.

But if you like wierd (and wonderful) stuff like Being John Malkovich, with a plot which there to be enjoyed rather than analysed, then this might just be up your alley.

"You know what kid? -You're all-right"

Disappointing
I really wouldn't bother with this if you're after plot or character development. It's also not much cop as science fiction. Basically it's way too selfconsciously quirky without any of the charm needed to pull it off. I think Amazon recommended this to me because I bought the (very wonderful) "Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai across the Eighth Dimension"; I reckon if you like Banzai you won't much care for this. Maybe it was the fact that the words "cult hit" occurs in the reviews of both that made their mindless automated search suppose that the two films would appeal to similar audiences. I think "cult" in this context means "most people don't like it". In this case I can see why.