Repo Man (1984)
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Source: JustWatch
There is a 1964 Chevy Malibu driving around Los Angeles with something in its trunk that turns anyone who opens it into a smoking pile of ash. Every bounty hunter, federal agent, and repo man in the city wants it.
REPO MAN (1984) follows Otto Maddox, a fired supermarket clerk and disillusioned punk played by Emilio Estevez, who stumbles into repossessing cars and finds a strange sort of family among the men who do it. Harry Dean Stanton plays Bud, the veteran who recruits him and lays out a philosophy of repo work that sounds suspiciously like a code for life.
The Malibu belongs to J. Frank Parnell, a nuclear physicist played by Fox Harris, who keeps dead aliens in his trunk and drives with the calm of a man who has seen too much. The government wants the car. The repo men want the four-thousand-dollar bounty on it. Punks, lizards, and a UFO cult all circle in.
Alex Cox wrote and directed the film on a low budget, blending science fiction with the deadpan comedy of Los Angeles punk life in the early 1980s. It plays like a document of a specific time and scene, filtered through repo lots, generic products, and radioactive dread.
The plot barely holds together, and that is the joke. Nothing in this world is meant to make sense, including the ending.
Physical Media
Blu-rayCriterion CollectionUPC 0715515328111
Adam added 9/28/2026 · edited 9/28/2026
4K UHDTwo-disc set (1 BD-100, 1 BD-50)CriterionUnited StatesRegion freeUPC 715515301312
Adam added 9/28/2026 · edited 9/28/2026
DVDCriterion CollectionUPC 715515166317
Adam added 9/28/2026 · edited 9/28/2026
Blu-rayCriterion CollectionUPC 715515104814
Adam added 9/28/2026 · edited 9/28/2026
About the Film
It’s 4 a.m. Do you know where your car is?
- Directed By
- Alex Cox
- Runtime
- 92 minutes
- Released
- March 2, 1984
- Certification
- R
- Country
- United States of America
- Starring
- Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton, Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash, Sy Richardson
More Credits
- Genres
- Comedy, Science Fiction
- Language
- English, Spanish
- Origin
- US
- Studios
- Edge City Productions
- Collection
- The Repo Collection
- Written By
- Alex Cox
- Produced By
- Peter McCarthy, Michael Nesmith, Jonathan Wacks
- Cinematography
- Robby Müller
- Music
- Steven Hufsteter, Tito Larriva
- Also Starring
- Susan Barnes, Fox Harris, Tom Finnegan, Del Zamora, Eddie Velez
- Budget
- $1,500,000
- Box Office
- $2,300,000
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I would say especially the ending
Saw this move while tripping out. Good combo
Sean Nordstrom yeah man dropping acid and wild movie’s like this made for a good time
I remember how reviewers, I think it was Siskel and Ebert, appreciated the aesthetic of everything being generic, with even a plain white can being simply labeled “Food”.
Stephen Perrone
Timothy Burks Let’s go get a drink 😆
i believe this because they could not get any grocery store sponsors to pay for product placement possibly?
One of my all time fave films. Some great dialogue and Harry Dean Stanton in one of his two starring roles plus the bonus of Fox Harris as mad as a fruitcake J Frank Parnell. What’s not to like?
Then PiL released
Stephen Perrone I couldn’t enjoy any more than this mom. Mmm-mmm
Rogelio J Martin …this is swell
Rogelio J Martin
Put it on a plate dear
It’ll taste better!
Stephen Perrone even the butyl nitrite bottles on the table in the punk bar were generic.
One my favorite all time films along with Brother From Another Planet.
One of my top five.
“Best damn car on the lot.”
Colin McLean you’re damn right it is.
I have bought this on DVD as a gift for friends. So much was said about society in the 80’s with that movie!
Great soundtrack as well!!
…”No commies in my car…no Christians, either”…
The single most perfect “cult” film ever made. The pacing, the silly multi-layered plot and all of the characters, social commentary and pop culture references are all completely spot on and brilliantly funny.
It’s basically a Reagan era suburban punk rock science fiction epic satire.
Craig Damage it’s definitely the city. Shot and set in Los Angeles.
Kathy Omori Duke: The lights are growing dim Otto. I know a life of crime has led me to this sorry fate, and yet, I blame society. Society made me what I am.
Otto: That’s bullshit. You’re a white suburban punk just like me.
Duke: Yeah, but it still hurts.
Lionel Beasley you’re gonna be OK, man…maybe not
Craig Damage I went to Dick Rudes diner in LA. Well Alex Cox probably called it a suburb because he didn’t know any better. He’s a lawyer from the UK, what does he know?
Craig Damage Well said! and the texture of the cinematography was perfect, as well!
Craig Damage gotta give it up for The Plugz. Those reverb soaked surf style sounds blend seamlessly with scenes. Thinking when Otto gets maxed and left in the road in agony, or the ending road trip, in particular.
Repo man is always intense,
LETS GET A DRINK!!!
Don Henderson That’s why there ain’t a repo man I know who don’t do speed.
Lee Passmore Goddamn Rodriguez Brothers!!!
I loved the scene where his co-worker at the Grocery store keeps singing “Feeling 7-UP” while stocking the 7-Up cans, leading to Otto exploding and quitting his job.
David Nesbet Kevin
David Nesbet I’m standing right here and you’re fuckin’ singing, cut it out.
I’ve loved this movie since I first saw it in the 80s as a kid. I’ve owned it on every format I think, and now digital. This gets played a few times a year
Ron Williams ditto
110 per
Classic, I used to have it on a VHS tape.
Wesley A. Moeller I still do!
Harry Dean Stanton 👏
“Lorna Doones? I love Lorna Doones!”
Feelin’ 7-up
Larissa Glasser I wasn’t singing, guy
Andy Frobig [prices lens] 😂🤣
Plot? Who cares! Fun movie.
kiss me deadly
Poe Slaw The Great Whatsit
Repo Mans got all night EVERY NIGHT! Dildo!!
Who wrote this crap
Most people spend their lives staying out of tense situations. Repo man spends his life getting INTO tense situations.
A donde vas, pendejo!?
JC Hall A chinga tú esposa
Rogelio J Martin goddamned dipshit Rodriguez Gypsy dildo punks!
JC Hall They ain’t scumbags, they’re car thieves, same as us.
Ra-di-ation. They tell the most outrageous lies about it!
Lionel Beasley Evenybody could take 100 chest x-rays a year. They ought to have them, too.
Lionel Beasley eyes pop, skin explodes… Everybody dies!
Classic Gen X
The soundtrack kicks ass🤩
Plate O’ Shrimp 🦐
“Charming friends you’ve got there, Otto…”
“Thanks… I made ’em myself.”
There are TWO EDITS of Repo Man. The funniest and most entertaining is the original version. The other version was re-edited and released after the Church of Scientology, a powerful cult, sued to have all the Scientology jokes cut out of the film. This cost the film twenty minutes of its best dialog, and introduced continuity errors. The original version may only be available on VHS. Its so worth it, though.
Dana Weeks I didn’t know that!
Dana Weeks saw it at Electric Shadows cinema in Canberra in the 80ies.
Dana Weeks The only two edits are original and sanitized TV release you melon farmer! The TV version has ridiculous dubs – “flip you melon farmer”, “flies on spit” etc, and was almost 5 min longer than theatrical release. It also removed one of my personal favorite scenes with Miller – John Wayne was a f*g… Both versions were included on Criterion release ~15 years ago along with deleted scenes and commentary/interviews with director and actors. L. Ron’s minions may have complained about portrayal in film, but no legal action was taken.
Your name’s Otto? What’s your last name, Parts?
I’ve loved this film since the 80s and still watch it most years. Everything about it is great, from the soundtrack to the wonkiness of the plot.
Ben Hyland . His last name is Madix.Seen on a screen in the government agents van.
Alan Feldman didn’t know that!
Plate O’ Shrimp.
One of my top fave soundtracks too
Brandi Lyn Wray still playing the soundtrack!
Best ’80s LA Punk!
“She’ll take the bus, she’s a rock.”
The OP writer is a FOOL and an ignorant idiot here.
Of course, the whole movie is a critique of REAGANISM.
The plot makes total sense to any informed teenager, like I was when I first saw it.
Qarlos Nordine oh, God, you were that one guy that never got invited to any parties until you discovered the Communist party
It’s the fact that it makes no sense that make these old cult classics more appealing
Classic film
Loved it. Now I need a tin marked food.
Put it on a plate, son. You’ll enjoy it more.
My favorite LA movie and one of the most quotable movies of all time.
“Lobotomies? Aren’t they for crazy people??”
“NOT AT ALL!”
Duncan Kimball A friend of mine got one once. Inventor of the neutron bomb. You’ve heard of the neutron bomb? It kills people but leaves buildings standing. It’s so small it fits into a Suitcase and no one knows it’s there until BLAMMO! Eyes melt, skin explodes, everybody dead. It’s so immoral that working on it can drive you mad. That’s what happened to this friend of mine.
Rogelio J Martin So he had a lobotomy. Now he’s well again!
I remember the film and its soundtrack was highly praised when first shown by pop&rock radio producers.
I blame society …bullshit
You gonna give me back my Car or do I have to go round to where you live and stick your Dog’s head down the Toilet?
You like music?
Feelin’ 7-Up.
One of my top ten movies of all time. Intense!
Let’s go eat sushi and not pay!😂😂😂
I used to be a repo man. It was fun as hell. Legal GTA.
You eat a lot of Acid..back in ” The Hippy Days?”..
Repo Man’s got all night every night DILDO!!!!
Great cult classic. Gen X to the letter.
Or as Roy A Ugland would say Malibong
I blame society.
Andy-Bob Nolen That’s bullshit. You’re a white suburban punk just like me.
If you say our names, we’re gonna have to kill all these people, Archie.
They all ran away.
Best soundtrack ever!
“Plate o’ shrimp.”
George MacDonald I was just thinking that
Will Rouse the comic unconsciousness at work.
George MacDonald , A punk music band in Boston named themselves ” Plate O’ Shrimp ” in the late 1980’s
George MacDonald did you take a lotta acid, Miller, back in the hippie days?
Outstanding song by Iggy Pop as well
Steven Jones It was a favorite request on the local college radio station. The station is operated by a Jesuit school! Fun times!
The soundtrack blew my teenage mind and I’ve never been the same since
Greatest Movie Ever
This a fine ….fine .film. ….got me feeling 7up
Iggy Pop KILLED it with the theme song 🤘
“The more you drive … the less intelligent you are.”
Matt Smith One of my favorite quotes! I use it as often as the opportunity presents itself, just to see who gets it.
I love this movie.
The life of a Repo Man is always intense
“You’re not a Christian, are you? Or a Communist — I don’t want any Christians or Communists in my car!”—Harry Dean STANTON, in the film
“They told me not even to *meet* with you!”—Emilio ESTEVEZ, in the The Criterion Collection DVD extras, on his people’s ADVICE upon meeting with the filmmakers in a Thai RESTAURANT (sneaky!!!) to replace, ULTIMATELY, punker Dick RUDE as the *lead*
“All the other media representations of what punk was got it so *wrong* [unlike ‘Repo MAN’] … that punk was all about a *rejection* of society’s values. It’s not, it’s an *EMBRACE*!!!”—Dick RUDE, himself, on the DVD extras (from MEMORY … )
Great soundtrack for this flick!
“Ever been to Utah?”
Did you do a lot of drugs back in the hippie days?
The life of a repo man is always intense.
Mama Rodriguez doesn’t approve of drugs
One of my favorites
let’s go do some crimes…
Laugh away fuckface, that picture is going to be on the cover of ever major newspaper in two days time.
Leila
Greatest film ever made…
great movie.ice watched it plenty of times
“People just combust, it happens all the time.”
Did you take alot of acid back in the hippie days Miller ?
Saw it recently in Gardena with the Circle Jerks, they played a show then played the movie
Curt Crosby
“And to think I used to like those guys…”
Oh, you don’t want to look in there…
“but Otto, what about our relationship?”…. “fuck that”.
Best film soundtrack ever!!!!
Love this film
Great fckn movie 🍿😆😁😎👍
Using my head for an ashtray!😆😂😄😎
Killer soundtrack.
Excellent!
Great film and a great soundtrack too!
Like get sushi and not pay.
“Let’s go do some crimes”
Barrett Jensen “Yeah, let’s get sushi and not pay.”
And what a soundtrack!
My wife pointed out that all the guys in the repo yard — Oly, Miller, Light and Bud — are named after beers.
Alan B. Scrivener I have seen this movie at least a dozen times and never realized this
Alan B. Scrivener 😁😆
Pure Classic!
You find one in every car.
Patrick Monahan You’ll see.
Linda Jane MacDonald …You Boys
Great indie flick. Unforgettably bonkers yet heartfelt. Harry Dean Stanton is intense and hilariously inappropriate and gives a dynamic and indelible performance that anchors the whole silly mess.
A true classic!
Repomen are always INTENSE!
I’m not singing guy!
“Flip you melonfarmer”
Fuck you Archie. You’re not in the gang anymore
The life of a repo man is ALWAYS intense.
Let’s go do some crimes.
Sometimes people just explode.
Vic Cruikshank . Natural causes.
Alan Feldman awesome movie 😎
Hermanos Rodriguez don’t approve of drugs.
Kevin Gercken but it’s my birthday…”tokes deep”
It wasn’t $4,000 but $20,000
“Look at those a-holes over there. Ordinary f*ing people. I hate ’em.”
As you can see, any mention brings us out: The Repo Man Cult Movie Cult. It’s the “Cosmic Unconsciousness!”
You keep sayin our names we’re gonna have to kill all these people, Archie !
Best movie ever !
Plate … plate of shrimp
“What about our relationship “? “Fuck that”!
Repo Man’s got all night every night!
I have this film memorized. Just saw it on the big screen for the first time at the Paramount Theatre in Austin. Circle Jerks opened and a Q&A with them and Alex Cox (writer/director) Awesome!!
Awesome movie. Beer.
The best line in movie history! 👍
“John Wayne was a f$g! He was too, you boys. I once installed two way mirrors at his house in Brentwood…and he come to the door in a dress!”
“Alex Cox wrote and directed the film” …….I have my doubts…..everything he did subsequently was pretty low quality…..
Nelly Dee .
Sid and Nancy?
as I said, low quality!
and a truly great soundtrack of course. A very good starting point for new punkers lol
Get back in the car white boy,you’re still on the clock!
Hemisphere … hemisphere
“Gotta get my car out of this bad area”
John Houchens My wife, she’s pregnant, with twins!
“Being a Repo Man is intense, that’s why most Repo Men take speed !!!”
Firmly in my top 5 films of all time. So many wonderful moments.
Best sci-fi, punk comedy ever! 💀🛸👽
Jason Craig I’m hoping to see it on the big screen again. Saw it twice in a small art house here in San Jose in 1984. Great audience both times!
“I blame… Society.”
“Dooky-wooky hurt his wittle hand”…
“If there was just some way we could figure out how much these people owe….”
Produced by Michael Nesmith, of the Monkees!
“How about a BJ?”
Mike Nesmith of The Monkees was a producer of this film
🎄..’we don’t know what it means..they’re in all the cars’
You find one in every car
I blame society.
That was one weird ass movie! Really liked it!
“… there’s one in every car!”
Epic soundtrack.
Classic – awesome soundtrack – Mike Nesmith production!
Plate of Shrimp
Sometimes it happens…people just explode.
Classic
Get back in the car white boy
Plate of shrimp 🦐
was riding on a concrete slab
Down the river of useless flab
It was such a beautiful day
I heard a witch doctor say
I’ll turn you into a toadstool
I’m looking for the joke with a microscope
I’ll tell you what I am, I’m a Rep Man
Matthew A Nathan i was a teenage dinosaur stoned, and obsolete. I didn’t get fucked and I didn’t get kissed. I got so fuckin pissed
Jay Hutmacher are you looking for the joke? Are you looking for the joke with a microscope?
United Fruitcake Outlet
Awesome soundtrack. I believe Mike Nesmith of the Monkees was one of the producers.
Soundtrack is 🔥
Ordinary F’ing People, I hate ’em
Me and my buddies would get drunk and watch it almost every weekend …we would watch it on VHS on a crappy TV… Couldn’t believe how well it was filmed and the beautiful cinematography when I finally saw it on DVD and on a decent TV
“Let’s go do some crimes… “
“Look over there.
Ordinary every day people.
I f’n hate em !”
One of my favorite movies!
Repo Mans got a code
The scene at the fire barrel, in retrospect, is prophetic! “Plate of shrimp”
John Raker That sombrero goes UP! I think its intensity surprised the actors.
King Archie!
I blame.. society..
Levering 1901 Mercantile
I saw it at the Waverly Theater (now IFC) in Greenwich Village at midnight at the release. I will never forget that night, the movie, the audience, it was sublime. I watch it again every chance I get.
RePo Man don’t do drugs, unless it’s speed. You have to stay sharp
I believe Tarantino was heavily influenced by Alex Cox. Repo Man and Straight to Hell have a lot of the elements and characters. That seemed to be in Pulp Fiction.
Harry Dean.
Plate of shrimp 🍤
Produced by a Monkee and financed with Liquid Paper.
“Why so Tense, guy?”
My favorite Banker was in charge of Repo’s. She went so far as to make a date with the car owner so he would bring his car to get repoed 😆
https://youtu.be/MKIaS0lh-uo?is=1-mSR0M7uKQn-KSw
Plate o’Shrimp
John Wayne was a fag.
It’s true you boys.
I blame society…society made me what I am!
Mike Nesmith from “The Monkees” was the executive producer.
Great film. Super soundtrack.
What about our relationship? Huh? Fuck that. 🤣🤣
Im gonna be right here, doing a 110 per.
“Ordinary fuckin’ people. I hate ‘em.”
It’s like a plate of fish, or a fish plate or…..
Great movie
There’s a ton of one-liners in that movie. I must have watched it every couple of months just for a laugh
One of my favorite movies. “The life of a repo man is always intense.”
Otto?…. Otto parts!
John Wayne was a f*g
Otto?! Otto Parts?!?
Elizabeth Conway Crawley
Simon Crawley lol yeah nothing like Repo: the Genetic Opera
Elizabeth Conway Crawley heh heh heh
Great soundtrack!
Blanks do the job too
Or plate of shrimp
It was the end of the hardcore punk days. Knowing we all had to grow up and join the society we despised and rejected. Ultimately the only way out is in an alien ship. Tightest movie ever, every set-up is paid-off. Great writing!
This film — and the science of Dyuretics–changed my Life!
Does anybody besides me think Kevin was the inspiration for Napoleon Dynamite?
Weird shit, eh dude?
“Look at that. Ordinary fucking people. I hate ’em.”
The less you drive, the more intelligent you are.
“sometimes people just explode”
Not many people got a code to live by anymore
Let’s go do those crimes
Yeah
Like get sushi, and not pay for it
Let’s get sushi and not pay.
“Nice friends Otto”
“Thanks. I made em myself”
“Gypsy dildo PUNKS!”
THE Seminal Gen X film.
GREAT Movie to watch back to back with SUBURBIA
“Awww, Dukey-wooky hurt his widdle hand!”
… still one of my all-time fav-o movies!!!
I love this movie
“let’s go get sushi and not pay”😂
“Gypsy dildo punks!”
You may find this of interest…The Internet Archive hosts various media files, trailers, and materials related to the 1984 sci-fi cult classic film Repo Man, directed by Alex Cox and starring Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton.
Available items on the archive include:
• The Full Film: A user-uploaded stream and download of the Repoman Movie.
• Screenplay: A 1982 draft of the Repo Man (1984) Screenplay written by Alex Cox.
• Trailers and Clips: Multiple theatrical and VHS-era previews, including the Repo Man (1984) VHS Trailer and Repo Man (1984) Trailer HD.
• Podcasts and Discussions: Fan retrospectives and audio coverage like FTM 720 REPO MAN and spoiler-filled breakdowns.
All Repo man does the speed. Your out of the gang Archie!
One of Harry Dean’s finest works.
Yeah, let’s get sushi and not pay.
My second car was a 1964 Cheney Malibu.
Just watched “Lucky” starring Harry Dean Stanton last night. Terrific film directed by David Lynch’s son.