Repo Man (1984)
88%RT Audience Score: 78%
Awards & Nominations: 2 wins & 3 nominations
Repo Man is many things: an alien-invasion film, a punk-rock musical, a send-up of consumerism. One thing it isn’t is boring
Repo Man” is a wild ride that’s part punk rock, part sci-fi, and all kinds of weird. It’s like if “Mad Max” and “The X-Files” had a baby and that baby grew up to be Emilio Estevez. The movie is full of churlish unpleasantness, but it’s also got a core of genuine anger that makes it more than just a flabby American comedy. Plus, the punk soundtrack is killer. If you’re looking for a movie that’s off the beaten path, “Repo Man” is the way to go.
Production Company(ies)
Canal+ España Canal+ La Fabrique 2
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Orpheum Theater – 842 South Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1984
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 33m
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Language(s):English, Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 2, 1984 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 24, 2006
Genre(s)
Sci-fi
Keyword(s)
starring Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton, Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash, Sy Richardson, Susan Barnes, directed by Alex Cox, written by Alex Cox, produced by Peter McCarthy, Jonathan Wacks, sci-fi, box office performance, budget, reviewed by James Berardinelli, Dave Kehr, Geoff Andrew, Roger Ebert, Vincent Canby, Marjorie Baumgarten, Tom Meek, Anton Bitel, Felix Vasquez Jr., Rob Vaux, MPAA rating R, punk rock, musical, consumerism, alien-invasion, Chevy Malibu, Leila, government conspiracy, repossessing cars, Los Angeles, eccentric repossession agent, fast-paced job, otherworldly contents, punk-rock soundtrack, Monkee Mike Nesmith, Mexican repo men, American repo men, extraterrestrials, mad scientist, flying car, social satire, inter-connected skits, clever, funny moments, great soundtrack
Worldwide gross: $129,000
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $377,754
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,807
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 41,195
US/Canada gross: $129,000
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $377,754
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,402
US/Canada opening weekend: $95,300
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $279,070
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,561
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $1,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $4,392,493
Production budget ranking: 1,932
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,365,357
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$6,380,096
ROI to date (est.): -94%
ROI ranking: 1,988
Harry Dean Stanton – Bud, Repo Man
Tracey Walter – Miller
Olivia Barash – Leila, United Fruitcake Outlet
Sy Richardson – Lite, Repo Man
Susan Barnes – Agent Rogersz
Alex Cox – Director, Writer
Peter McCarthy – Producer
Jonathan Wacks – Producer
Director(s)
Alex Cox
Writer(s)
Alex Cox
Producer(s)
Peter McCarthy, Jonathan Wacks
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
2 wins & 3 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (1)
It never overstays its welcome and is generally a fun, wild ride, even though it may at times be difficult to figure out where the journey began and where…
March 28, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
TOP CRITIC
Cox’s style is a step beyond camp into a comedy of pure disgust; much of the film is churlishly unpleasant, but there’s a core of genuine anger that gives the project an emotional validation lacking in the flabby American comedies of the early 80s.
June 4, 2007
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
There are endless things to enjoy, from Robby Mller’s crisp camerawork to a superb set of performances, from witty movie parodies to a tremendous punk soundtrack.
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Repo Man comes out of left field, has no big stars, didn’t cost much, takes chances, dares to be unconventional, is funny, and works. There is a lesson here.
October 23, 2004 | Rating: 3/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
It’s very entertaining, and though it’s rude in an R-rated way, it has the good taste never to promise more than it can deliver.
May 20, 2003 | Rating: 3/5
Vincent Canby
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
Punk rock sentiments amiably collide with science fiction scenario in this instant cult classic produced by former Monkee Mike Nesmith.
March 10, 2003
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
One of the finest and most enduring cult films out there. I mean, how can you go wrong…
June 22, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4
Tom Meek
Cambridge Day
A great teardown of an atomised society full of alienated people, turned up to caricatured levels by Cox and his fantastically committed cast.
December 9, 2019 | Rating: 4.5/5
Tim Brayton
Alternate Ending
a western [but] also a punk road movie, a conspiratorial cold-war chase caper, a paranoid apocalypse sci-fi, a postmodern mixed “plate of shrimp”, a hilarious Eighties satire and a wry lowlife rejoinder to Reagan’s upwardly mobile American dream.
June 1, 2016
Anton Bitel
Projected Figures
It’s a one of a kind anomaly with Emilio Estevez at his best.
June 5, 2014
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
It’s kind of a road movie and kind of a science fiction movie and kind of a look at those unsung heroes who repossess cars amid the haze of serious drug use.
March 4, 2014 | Rating: A
Rob Vaux
Mania.com
It was 1984 and Americans were on course to re-elect a s****y, sadistic, semi-sentient president. In a f****** landslide.
May 22, 2013 | Rating: 8/10
Christopher Long
Movie Metropolis…
Plot
Frustrated punk rocker Otto quits his supermarket job after slugging a co-worker, and is later dumped by his girlfriend at a party. Wandering the streets in frustration, he is recruited in the repossession of a car by a repo agent. After discovering his parents have donated his college fund to a televangelist, he joins the repossession agency (Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation) as an apprentice “repo man”. During his training, he is introduced into the mercenary and paranoid world of the drivers, befriended by a UFO conspiracy theorist, confronted by rival repo agents, discovers some of his one-time friends have turned to a life of crime, is lectured to near cosmic unconsciousness by the repo agency grounds worker, and finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue concerning a huge repossession bounty on a 1964 Chevy Malibu driven by a lunatic government scientist, with Top Secret cargo in the trunk.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny comment about the film Repo Man on Fresh Kernels.
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