A young punk, recruited by a car repo agency, finds himself in pursuit of a Chevrolet Malibu with a huge, $20,000 bounty–and something otherworldly stashed in its trunk.
Cast:
- Harry Dean Stanton as Bud
- Emilio Estevez as Otto Maddox
- Tracey Walter as Miller
- Olivia Barash as Leila
- Sy Richardson as Lite
- Vonetta McGee as Marlene
- Richard Foronjy as Arnold Plettschner
1984 memories
A Friday night rental from the local video store. I had no idea who was in it or what it was about. The cover art did it for me. Looked like a good, street gang type movie.
I enjoyed this back in 1984. It was a little crazy but good.
Let’s see how it looks 40 years later…
40th Anniversary Re-watch
It’s still a decent movie. There are tons of references to 80s consumerism that I surely missed back in 1984. The entire movie is a critique on 80s greed and the nuclear age we were living in. Writer and director Alex Cole did a great job with the movie.
Otto (Estevez) is tricked into repossessing a car by Bud (Stanton) a Repo Man. After some hesitation Otto agrees to become a repo man and Bud takes him under his wing to teach him the ways of a Repo Man.
Meanwhile a crazy scientist from Los Alamos is driving around Los Angeles with alien bodies or something in the trunk that vaporizes anyone who sees it. The government is looking for the scientist and put a $20,000 bounty out on the car, a Chevy Malibu.
The bounty is the jackpot for any repo man. Otto and Bud start looking for the car as do the Rodriguez brothers a rival repo gang.
Otto meets and falls for a girl who works at United Fruitcake Outlet… UFO. She is looking for the Malibu and scientist too.
One of the better aspects of the movie is the satirical take on the 80s. There is a running gag with food containers throughout the movie. All the food is the generic white can with black letters with no brand names. Beer is simply labeled BEER, canned food is FOOD.
When Otto goes home and starts eating an open can of FOOD his mom tells him to put in on a plater and he will enjoy it more. It’s a funny moment, made funnier by the fact his parents are on the couch illuminated by the TV glow watching a TV Evangelist.
The parents look like zombies listening to the evangelist and tell Otto they sent his $1,000 to the preacher for bibles in El Salvador.
Another gag in the movie is the book Ditronix. It’s referred to several times and Otto is encouraged to read it. It’s a clear reference to the 80s fad of Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard.
Favorite Line:
You gonna give me my car, or do I gotta go to your house and shove your dog’s head down the toilet?
Repo Man has a decent soundtrack too. It’s mainly punk rock and thrash metal but it’s good and fits the movie. Iggy Pop wrote and sang the title song. Suicial Tendencies, Black Flag and Circle Jerks are also on the soundtrack.
Repo Man is considered a cult classic nowadays and it’s a diamond in the rough. Unfortunately it was overshadowed by other movies like Against All Odds and Footloose.
I enjoyed Repo Man and would tell anyone to watch it. It’s a bit quirky but worth watching.
Did you watch Repo Man? If so let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on X(Twitter). The main Geekster channel is @TRNSocial and I’m @MileHighSamurai You can also find me on Bluesky @MileHighSamurai
6/10 stars
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