Rating: 
Summary: 'Life of a repo man's always intense
Review: I first saw Repo Man about sixteen years ago when I was nine, and this movie has alot to with the man I later became!
Rating:
Summary: Cut!
Review: I've loved Repo Man since the first time I saw it on late night cable. Repo man is a great film which I love to watch over and over. The characters have a raw/cold edge that are foreign and familiar at the same time. My only gripe is that a couple of scenes were edited out on the DVD. Although the scenes are not integral to the overall story, I knew I had missed something but wasn't sure exactly what at first. The one scene that that I really miss is where J. Frank Parnell talks about Lorna Doones and goes on about vending machine food being the perfect food. Is it insight into Frank's life - not having a life outside of long hours on the job or is it the radiation affecting his mind? Another scene cut is the one where Otto and Bud attack a pay phone with a sledge hammer to get some money. This scene is partially shown in the video trailer in the "Extras" section. It's an excellent film and I give it 5 stars, but I wish that they had not cut out the scenes.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest cinematic achievement of all time
Review: This movie is, frankly, the greatest movie ever made, and I should know. I've watched it something like six hundred times and can recite it from memory. If you don't own it, buy it, watch it, then watch it again. And remember: the life of a repo man is ALWAYS intense.
Rating: 
Summary: Muddled, aloof.
Review: A summary of events is a waste of time, suffice to say that the film is rife with eighties plot excess' and in-cohesiveness. The film, although quirky and periodically engrossing, is badly made and cobbled together with acting styles ranging from frenetic (the indistinguishable punk figures) to somnambulistic (Estevez). Most of the figures in 'Repo Man' are grating, none are memorable. A little of this watchable mess does- granted- go a long way, especially for eighties fringe culture enthusiasts. The DvD release's picture quality is acceptible, the sound quality is awful, muddy. Go for the DD 2.0 instead of the thinly expanded 5.1. track.
Rating: 
Summary: Baffling, but interesting
Review: Repo Man is a twisted movie, which blends social satire, sci-fi, suburban angst and consumerism targets that were prominent in the 1980s, such as TV preachers, people who claimed to see UFOs, and angry punk rockers rebelling against the gamor of the decade. Emilio Estevez plays a nihilistic young male out of a job and practically robbed of a future when his parents, apparently hippies or born-again Christians, give all of his savings away to a TV preacher so they can 'send bibles to El Salvador,' according to the holy mission of this evangelist that appears in the movie often. He meets up w/ Bud, who offers him [money]to move his wife's car out of a 'bad area,' presumably a ghetto. After the chaotic scene, Otto (Estevez's character)knew something was up, and gets dragged into becoming a 'repo man,' a guy that repossesses cars when the owners do not pay their bills. The company, among other parties, such as eccentric UFO spotters, and the Rodriguez brothers, are after this one car driven by a lobotomized scientist which contains some alien device of some sort in its trunk that disintegrates those who come in cotact with it, such as a highway patroman and one of Otto's punk rock anarchist friends. The movie consists of nothing but chaos throughout the plot in which all the groups invovled try to get hold of this []Chavrolet Malibu, and the ending is rather surprisng, but very cheesy at the same time. The sci-fi effects in this movie are dated, and scream 80s (after all this movie was made in 1984), but its satirical edge and rather cryptic storyline make Repo Man an interesting, but occassionally bewildering film.
Rating:
Summary: "This is intense."
Review: I put this eighties cult classic right up there with Blazing Saddles (1974) and Dr. Stranglove (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 glasses with one black and one empty frame) 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 probably also 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 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 ... 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 ... 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.
Rating:
Summary: "You don't wanna look in there."
Review: If you're one of those people who look for movies that are more odd than anything else, look no further than Repo Man. Emilio Estevez is the young punk turned reluctant Repo Man. That's the simplest part of the story. From there the movie unfolds sidestepping genre after genre. Some of the funniest, sharp witted dialogue ever to grace a film script puts the quote factor of this movie into the stratosphere. "It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes." Case in point. Or how about this: "I do want your money because God wants your money." "The more you drive the less intelligent you are." "Let's go get sushi and not pay." "Did you ever hear of the neutron bomb?" "Since time is short and you may lie I'm going to have to torture you." Bottom line is if you haven't seen this movie make it a point to do so. Truly a celebration of the indescribable. Great doesn't do it justice. Repo Man turns convention on its head and then quickly, repeatedly, kicks it in the face. We need more movies like this. And remember: "Society made me what I am."
Rating:
Summary: Universal should repossess this movie
Review: I used to like this film although now I don't know what I must have been thinking. I used to like Emilio Estevez but in this I don't anymore. This should be an interesting and different kind of movie about a repossessing agent but it isn't.I don't like any of the characters except for the lobotomised scientist who is probably the most interesting and mysterious character in this arthouse dog.Unfortunately in a way I own this film on VHS and paid five dollars for it as an ex rental, although I was planning to buy it on DVD and I am glad now that I saw it again on videotape and I am not buying it now. What a waste of money it would be.
This movie is about a car, driven by the lobotomised scientist who as far as I can tell, has radio active aliens in it. Anyone who opens the boot gets zapped out of existence. A police officer did this and only his boots were left.The scientist tries to warn anybody not to open the boot, but do they listen? NO.
This car has a $20,000 repossessing value on it and everybody is after it. Otto played by Emilio Estevez, is after it, his co-worker Harry Dean Stanton is after it, the Rodriguez brothers are after it, including government agents that want to get the valuable cargo.Ridiculously at the climax of the movie, some guy gets in the car, and for some strange reason he is the only one who can because the car is so hot it sets people on fire. And for some reason he knows how to make it fly and it soars over the city rapidly. Oh yeah, it's glowing too.
You can do better than this. For Emilio Estevez, I recommend you check out Maximum Overdrive.
Rating:
Summary: strange but ok movie
Review: a punk becomes a car repossessor and everyone is looking for this mysterious car that supposely has alien body(s) in the trunk. it was ok but i think it could have been better.
Rating:
Summary: DVD is NOT the mellonfarmer version
Review: Despite the excellent quality of this DVD (typically excellent Anchor Bay production values), this version of the film is sadly the edited one: the scene where Bud cons Otto into signing the Malibu over to him is missing as is the bit where Duke says 'have a nice day...night...day'. I haven't watched my old taped from the TV version for some time, but I have the feeling Miller's lines are trimmed a tad also.
However, the film remains unmissable in this widescreen version and the sound is particularly excellent (Iggy Pop's 'Repo Man' theme has never sounded more exciting). But for those of you used to the far funnier use of 'melonfarmer'...this truncated version might not please the purist, hence my four star rating.
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