Reviews (5)

shoot the prisoners
americans sponsor some guys who go into a central american country to bring 'universal sufferage' and to provide 'stability'. sound familiar? walker is a tale of megolmania and ahistorical vertigo with surrealist parallels to the modern era. it's an amusing black comedy, about equal parts sergio leone and luis bunuel. the dim and sarcastic view of american imperial behavior and myth making did not endear this film to most critics, especially the anti-intellectual, anti-art, pro 'entertainment' hacks (like a ceratain oft-quoted movie/video critic who shall remain nameless (wink, wink)). but for the rest of us, especially those with a skeptical view of offical history, walker is both funny and frightening, with great characterizations by ed harris, peter boyle, rene auberjunois, miguel sandoval and yes, marlee matlin.

complimented by an amizing Joe Strummer score
This movie is definitely a hidden gem. Ed Harris is brilliant as is the supporting cast of knock-offs who join his rag tag army on their quest for glory in central america. the blurring of the timeline reminds us that our meddling in C.A. is fundamentally not much different today than it was during the period this movie depicts. The entire flow of the movie is further augmented by a completely stunning score from x-Clash man Joe Strummer, one of the finest movie scores i have ever heard. A classic!

Alex Cox And The Spaghetti Western
Director Alex Cox finally got to make his hommage to the Sam Peckinpah/Sergio Leone myth...and what a film it turned out to be. A mix of politics, satire, bloody violence, humor, slavery, business, guns, and all around chance-taking cinema. Upon first viewing, I admit I did not care for the film. After repeated viewings, I discovered the rhythm and intentions of director Cox and his motley band of adventurers. It actually made me want to read more about this period and discover for myself how we, as a country, STILL have not learned from history! Great originality and brave acting/direction makes this a film that will stand the test of time. I recommend it to lovers of daring filmmaking/storytelling. Forget Hollywood mainstream, long live director Alex Cox!

WALKER awaits discovery by cult film buffs
WALKER (1987) is a cult movie in search of an audience. A critical and financial disaster upon its initial release, the film is hard to find on video and rarely televised--but to fans of Psychotronic Cinema, it is worth the effort to find! The film is a schizo, intentionally anachronistic bio of William Walker (1824-1860), the Nashville-born doctor/lawyer/journalist who led his own private army into Nicaragua, ultimately installing himself as president of that nation. Obvious similiarities between Walker's filibustering activities and the US's often ham-handed diplomatic policies towards Central America during the 1980s led the filmmakers to turn WALKER into a political satire, but it is by turns funny, tragic, exciting, informational, and thought provoking. Ed Harris plays Walker, and as something of an expert on the filibuster, I can assure you Harris' interpretation is perfect. Lotsa familiar faces--Rene Auberjonis, Richard Masur, Marlee Matlin, and the hilarious Peter Boyle among them--make this one a character actor watcher's dream film. This picture is only for those who can appreciate weird movies! This film deserves to find a cult audience, and I hope this review helps to establish one!

PORTRAIT OF AMERICAN DIPLOMACY, THEN AND NOW.
JEEPERS WHAT A GOOD MOVIE. I'M NOT TOO ARTICULATE A GUY, NOT TOO BRIGHT, BUT I UNDERSTOOD WHERE HE TOOK THIS MOVIE. ALEX COX IS ALWAYS ABLE TO GIVE A MOVIE AN OPINION. AND WHAT ABOUT ED HARRIS, I USED TO HATE THAT GUY. BUT NOW, I CAN TOLERATE HIM, HE GAVE A GOOD PERFORMANCE. ... Read more

Reviews (94)

A Classic Cult Film!!!
Repo Man is THE classic cult movie. It's a real original! A wacky and complex masterpiece that defies description. Emilio Estevez, in his one and only good role, is the title character, a teenage punk who lives with his hippie parents in L.A. The always brilliant Harry Dean Stanton is the veteran repo man who takes Estevez under his wing and shows him the ropes of the trade. To reveal more would be wrong, one of the many pleasures of this movie is the wild surprises and twists that the film springs on us. Let's just say the film mixes a punk attitude with bizarro science fiction, hysterical comedy, satire, a GREAT soundtrack and much more. With this film and the brilliant Sid & Nancy (another film you should see if you have'nt)Alex Cox announced himself as a great director. Unfortunately, he seemed to want to self destruct a promising career with the release of two deeply flawed but nonetheless interesting films Walker and Straight to Hell. This is a man who needs to direct again? Where is he now??

Cult classic
Of all the low-budget films to come out of the Eighties, Repo Man, Alex Cox's dark cult comedy about Eighties urban sprawl and alien paranoia, is one of the better ones. Emilio Estevez stars in one of his earliest roles as Otto Parts, your modern apocalyptic teen up to his armpits in drugs, sex, and parental neglect. He soon finds a way out through Bud (Stanton), an ace repo man, who gives him a job and teaches him the ways of the car repossessing trade. The two wander through the guts of L.A. in search of a '64 Chevy Malibu, priced at 50 thousand dollars, and run into a cast of bizarre street characters: feds, girls in distress, a lobotomized nuclear physicist, and really, really dumb criminals. Estevez gives one of the best performances of his career, honing his acting skills as a punk white boy just in time for his role in Coppola's The Outsiders, released later that year. Cox, who wrote and directed the film, creates a strange but hilarious view of our culture, a brilliant satire on modern society.

What the f*ck do I know?
One thing I do know is this film is a modern day masterpiece.Unlike anything made before it.A true work of art and absolutely essential to any great DVD collection.Better than Gone With The Wind.It will make you wanna go to L.A. but stay home and watch Repo Man instead.I really wish they'd release the made for TV version of it as well.Along with the high art of Richard Elfman's brilliant Forbidden Zone, Repo Man is in a class all by itself.SUPERB!

not what i had expected
I was thouroughly pleased upon seeing repo man. Though i Admit it was defintitletely not what I had expected. A friend recomended the movie to me saying it was apunk rock thing, and it was actually an acurate portrayal of the punk rock lifestyle of the 80's. WHOA no way, thats the last time i trust that guy. What I did discover was a magical glowing, flying spacecar, which everyone and their mother wanted. It's brilliant, just half way through the movie it takes a twist for the strange. I'd recomend this movie to anyone. This is probably Emelio's only good performance ever so that makes the movie that much more special.

"The more you drive, the less intelligent you are."--Miller
Wow, ummm....interesting. Finally something different. No, I mean this is REALLY different. About time to, cuz lately I've seen a string of bvad movies, so it's nice to see something cool and original every now and then. 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? For some, actually for many, this film will come of as stupid and random, but for those of us who "get" it, this is a breathe of fresh air. Using clever, if somewhat odd, story telling, this film should keep you entertained and amused throughout the entire duration of the film. I say rent first, then but. ... Read more

Amazon.com

After the cultish success of Repo Man, maverick director Alex Cox made the film that remains his masterpiece--a loud, brash, abrasive, painful, funny, and utterly brilliant screen biography of British punk rocker Sid Vicious and his American girlfriend Nancy Spungen. As played to perfection by Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb, Sid and Nancy are made for each other, serving their mutual strengths and weaknesses and rising with the punk-rock fame of Sid's group, the Sex Pistols, while falling into the ultimately lethal pit of drug abuse. Cox doesn't pull any punches or compromise the unsavory aspects of this passionate love story, so the film presents a harsh mix of emotional and physical anguish tempered by the very poignant and genuine love shared by its tormented central characters. Through it all, the film emerges as an intimate and yet oddly epic chronicle of punk's glory days of anarchic sex, drugs and rock & roll. It's as dynamic and confidently directed as any screen biography before or since, no less fascinating for its unpleasant aspects as for the touching emotions at its very human core.--Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (91)

Cinema, not Documentary...
Is it full of historic inaccuracies? Sure. Is it an accurate portrayal and timeline of the events as they occured? From time to time. Was it a thoroughly intriguing journey, seen at "ground level" of what is arguably one of the most notorious "crash and burns" stories of our time? Without doubt. Did Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb accurately portray Sid and Nancy? In essence, YES. The soundtrack (provided by ex-Clash member Joe Strummer), the lighting, and settings serve to push you (I have to admit, for me sometimes unwillingly) through the fall and then plummet of Sid and Nancy. The movie was in turn serious, grotesque, cartoonish, erotic, embarassing, fascinating, and beautiful. All of it seemed appropriate. Throughout, I felt I was in a seat, right behind Sid and Nancy's, on a wild roller coaster ride with them. I just seemed inevitable that it ended the way it did. The story never leaves the rollercoaster tracks. The world just seemed to rush by faster and faster, until it is just a blur. You can't help but feel uncomfortable as you watch the lives of these two characters reduced to a hopeless,"from high to high" existence in room 100 of New York's famous Chelsea Hotel. (Watch for Iggy Pop and his wife in a quick cameo in the hallway at the Chelsea) You realize that Sid Vicious is a modern "Everyman" representing every "famous" and non-famous junkie caught in a great downward spiral. The movie provided, for me, unforgettable images. For all of the other elements, this movie is in the end a love story. These two tragic characters are left with only the deep love for each other and addiction. The love was not enough for Nancy and too much for Sid.

great movie
Wonderful movie!Very hard to find in my area,unless you order online.Gary Oldman amazingly is a dead ringer (no pun intended) for Sid Vicious at the beginning (although in most of the film he looks nothing like him,except for the hair).The only I didn't like what how unclear they made his death at the end.If you don't know much about Sid,the ending is confusing.They way Nancy died was confusing,too (You can't really tell whether he stabbed her,or if she ran into the knife).But it does add mystery to the movie at the same time,which is why I rated it a 5.

Anarchy in the Sid Vicious
Wow, now that is what I call a shocking film. Sid & Nancy is not so gory or grotesque as it makes you turn your head sideway. Yet through their outrageous dialogue, disturbing actions and the gut to document the most vicious lifestyle in such colorful details and tribute to reality, the movie gives viewers cold shudders like never before.

I won't leak much of the film story-wise. What I would is that Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb reenacted Sid & Nancy to near perfection. They make audience really feel their passion and pain towards each other.

Criterion Collection did an amazing job in releasing this powerful documentary film with invaluable extras. It's long out-of-print and it could be quite pricey, but it well worths it. Afterall it's just like Sid said, "What do you do with money, for instance? I can think of one thing to do with money. One thing. That' s what I do with all my money. Every half-penny of it." :)

Brilliant, sad, and disturbing...
God, What a movie. The story of Sid and nancy was not only pitiful, but strangely romantic. This was not easy to watch- it was disturbing and really sad, but undeniably brilliant. I would recommend it.

a disturbing film but it has an important message
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD version of the film.

This movie while distrubing has an important message. This film shows the devastating effects of heroin abuse in graphic detail.
We see the couple lying in bed high on heroin, completely oblivious to the danger of the fire that they started in their apartment. We see them become severly depressed and suicidal. As a Christian I find a message like this important to a film.

With regards to the graphic detail of the troubles one can liken it to the depiction of the crucifixion in "The Passion of the Christ" or the graphic depiction of radiation poisoning in the anti-war film "The day after" While some scenes I found unnecessary for the depiction, it is clear they wanted to appeal to a broader audience.

This film may offend many audiences and is certainly not for children.

The Criterion DVD has many extras including a phone interview with Sid. It also has the the infamous TV interview by Bill Grundy which led to thousands of complaints and ruined his career.

It also has 2 short films and an audio commentary track which is also good. ... Read more

Reviews (91)

Cinema, not Documentary...
Is it full of historic inaccuracies? Sure. Is it an accurate portrayal and timeline of the events as they occured? From time to time. Was it a thoroughly intriguing journey, seen at "ground level" of what is arguably one of the most notorious "crash and burns" stories of our time? Without doubt. Did Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb accurately portray Sid and Nancy? In essence, YES. The soundtrack (provided by ex-Clash member Joe Strummer), the lighting, and settings serve to push you (I have to admit, for me sometimes unwillingly) through the fall and then plummet of Sid and Nancy. The movie was in turn serious, grotesque, cartoonish, erotic, embarassing, fascinating, and beautiful. All of it seemed appropriate. Throughout, I felt I was in a seat, right behind Sid and Nancy's, on a wild roller coaster ride with them. I just seemed inevitable that it ended the way it did. The story never leaves the rollercoaster tracks. The world just seemed to rush by faster and faster, until it is just a blur. You can't help but feel uncomfortable as you watch the lives of these two characters reduced to a hopeless,"from high to high" existence in room 100 of New York's famous Chelsea Hotel. (Watch for Iggy Pop and his wife in a quick cameo in the hallway at the Chelsea) You realize that Sid Vicious is a modern "Everyman" representing every "famous" and non-famous junkie caught in a great downward spiral. The movie provided, for me, unforgettable images. For all of the other elements, this movie is in the end a love story. These two tragic characters are left with only the deep love for each other and addiction. The love was not enough for Nancy and too much for Sid.

great movie
Wonderful movie!Very hard to find in my area,unless you order online.Gary Oldman amazingly is a dead ringer (no pun intended) for Sid Vicious at the beginning (although in most of the film he looks nothing like him,except for the hair).The only I didn't like what how unclear they made his death at the end.If you don't know much about Sid,the ending is confusing.They way Nancy died was confusing,too (You can't really tell whether he stabbed her,or if she ran into the knife).But it does add mystery to the movie at the same time,which is why I rated it a 5.

Anarchy in the Sid Vicious
Wow, now that is what I call a shocking film. Sid & Nancy is not so gory or grotesque as it makes you turn your head sideway. Yet through their outrageous dialogue, disturbing actions and the gut to document the most vicious lifestyle in such colorful details and tribute to reality, the movie gives viewers cold shudders like never before.

I won't leak much of the film story-wise. What I would is that Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb reenacted Sid & Nancy to near perfection. They make audience really feel their passion and pain towards each other.

Criterion Collection did an amazing job in releasing this powerful documentary film with invaluable extras. It's long out-of-print and it could be quite pricey, but it well worths it. Afterall it's just like Sid said, "What do you do with money, for instance? I can think of one thing to do with money. One thing. That' s what I do with all my money. Every half-penny of it." :)

Brilliant, sad, and disturbing...
God, What a movie. The story of Sid and nancy was not only pitiful, but strangely romantic. This was not easy to watch- it was disturbing and really sad, but undeniably brilliant. I would recommend it.

a disturbing film but it has an important message
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD version of the film.

This movie while distrubing has an important message. This film shows the devastating effects of heroin abuse in graphic detail.
We see the couple lying in bed high on heroin, completely oblivious to the danger of the fire that they started in their apartment. We see them become severly depressed and suicidal. As a Christian I find a message like this important to a film.

With regards to the graphic detail of the troubles one can liken it to the depiction of the crucifixion in "The Passion of the Christ" or the graphic depiction of radiation poisoning in the anti-war film "The day after" While some scenes I found unnecessary for the depiction, it is clear they wanted to appeal to a broader audience.

This film may offend many audiences and is certainly not for children.

The Criterion DVD has many extras including a phone interview with Sid. It also has the the infamous TV interview by Bill Grundy which led to thousands of complaints and ruined his career.

It also has 2 short films and an audio commentary track which is also good. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

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-honor 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 ... Read more

Reviews (94)

A Classic Cult Film!!!
Repo Man is THE classic cult movie. It's a real original! A wacky and complex masterpiece that defies description. Emilio Estevez, in his one and only good role, is the title character, a teenage punk who lives with his hippie parents in L.A. The always brilliant Harry Dean Stanton is the veteran repo man who takes Estevez under his wing and shows him the ropes of the trade. To reveal more would be wrong, one of the many pleasures of this movie is the wild surprises and twists that the film springs on us. Let's just say the film mixes a punk attitude with bizarro science fiction, hysterical comedy, satire, a GREAT soundtrack and much more. With this film and the brilliant Sid & Nancy (another film you should see if you have'nt)Alex Cox announced himself as a great director. Unfortunately, he seemed to want to self destruct a promising career with the release of two deeply flawed but nonetheless interesting films Walker and Straight to Hell. This is a man who needs to direct again? Where is he now??

Cult classic
Of all the low-budget films to come out of the Eighties, Repo Man, Alex Cox's dark cult comedy about Eighties urban sprawl and alien paranoia, is one of the better ones. Emilio Estevez stars in one of his earliest roles as Otto Parts, your modern apocalyptic teen up to his armpits in drugs, sex, and parental neglect. He soon finds a way out through Bud (Stanton), an ace repo man, who gives him a job and teaches him the ways of the car repossessing trade. The two wander through the guts of L.A. in search of a '64 Chevy Malibu, priced at 50 thousand dollars, and run into a cast of bizarre street characters: feds, girls in distress, a lobotomized nuclear physicist, and really, really dumb criminals. Estevez gives one of the best performances of his career, honing his acting skills as a punk white boy just in time for his role in Coppola's The Outsiders, released later that year. Cox, who wrote and directed the film, creates a strange but hilarious view of our culture, a brilliant satire on modern society.

What the f*ck do I know?
One thing I do know is this film is a modern day masterpiece.Unlike anything made before it.A true work of art and absolutely essential to any great DVD collection.Better than Gone With The Wind.It will make you wanna go to L.A. but stay home and watch Repo Man instead.I really wish they'd release the made for TV version of it as well.Along with the high art of Richard Elfman's brilliant Forbidden Zone, Repo Man is in a class all by itself.SUPERB!

not what i had expected
I was thouroughly pleased upon seeing repo man. Though i Admit it was defintitletely not what I had expected. A friend recomended the movie to me saying it was apunk rock thing, and it was actually an acurate portrayal of the punk rock lifestyle of the 80's. WHOA no way, thats the last time i trust that guy. What I did discover was a magical glowing, flying spacecar, which everyone and their mother wanted. It's brilliant, just half way through the movie it takes a twist for the strange. I'd recomend this movie to anyone. This is probably Emelio's only good performance ever so that makes the movie that much more special.

"The more you drive, the less intelligent you are."--Miller
Wow, ummm....interesting. Finally something different. No, I mean this is REALLY different. About time to, cuz lately I've seen a string of bvad movies, so it's nice to see something cool and original every now and then. 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? For some, actually for many, this film will come of as stupid and random, but for those of us who "get" it, this is a breathe of fresh air. Using clever, if somewhat odd, story telling, this film should keep you entertained and amused throughout the entire duration of the film. I say rent first, then but. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Effective neo-noir
Alex Cox, the director, has one of the great 80s cult films to his credit--Repo Man--and while The Winner does not have the same resonance, it is still a solid piece of work.

The strong cast--Rebecca deMornay, Michael Madsen, Billy Bob Thornton, Frank Whaley, Vincent D'Onofrio, Delroy Lindo, and Richard Edson--does an excellent job of playing out their standard neo-noir roles. Yes, there is some measure of formula-typing here, but it is, after all, neo-noir. DeMornay's femme fatale is not a demon (like Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction), but more a nasty vixen who undergoes a change of heart, but, unfortunately, too late. Frank Whaley is terrific as a small-time con man whose motor mouth oozes false schmaltz. Billy Bob Thornton in an uncharacteristic role, sporting a goofy toupee and serving as a henchman for Delroy Lindo's suave Kingman, is a bit on the stiff side, but given his hinted-at affliction, maybe that's understandable. Michael Madsen has one of his many roles as a brute and does the role justice.

And Vincent D'Onofrio is effective as well in the title role. One of the flaws of the film is that it shuttles back and forth between characters so frequently that aside from DeMornay's and Whaley's roles, no one character is developed enough to establish a strong identity.

But the plot is strong and occasionally sparkles with some of the director's characteristic flashes of archetypal-metaphoric wit. A great example is the winking out of all the lights at the end of the film. Cox himself appears briefly as a wacky French choreographer named Gaston, responsible for the dancers's routines at a chintzy Vegas place called, appropriately, the Par-A-Dise.

It's at this place that the title character finds himself most of the time. He's a gambler who never loses--so everybody's after his money. The femme fatale wants him for it. His ex-con brother (Madsen), carrying a mysterious filled-in sleeping bag, needs the winner's money to keep getting by, the way he has been after finally leaving the slammer. The trio of lowlife crooks (Whaley, Edson in one of his well-done 'dopey' roles, and another guy) want the money he creates out of nothing, and Kingman wants to exploit him for it. But the winner is a guy who just does what he does, after almost committing suicide. The winner's mix of innocence and impulsiveness is, for all the brief flashes of this mix that do come through, handled well by D'Onofrio, but as mentioned above, the character is not developed enough for the viewer to feel for him.

It's the plotting, a lot of the snappy dialogue (thanks to writer Wendy Riss) and the director's witty style that make this work as well as it does. Not a great film, but enjoyable and fun.

Creative and entertaining
This movie is very good, but not a masterpiece - which is why I can not give it 5 stars.

The basic plot is very simple. The story is about a gambler that can't lose. He placed his first bet on a Sunday and therefore he always hits the casinos on Sundays - and still can't lose. Around this basic plot other stories start to develop. So the movie is not really about a gambler that can't lose, but rather about human nature, greed and relationships. Do you think your life would change if you simply could not lose in a casino? Of course it would, and so does this guy's life; surrounded by new "friends" and enemies.

The movie has a good basic structure, a good concept, a few unexpected twists, good dark humor and a good ending. Above all it does not fall into a ready-made mold of modern Hollywood movies and for the simple fact that it is creative and different (and good) it is worth your time. And if you happen to be a collector you should not regret adding this one to your collection.

A Different Tale Of Life In Vegas
I liked the different storyline of life in Las Vegas.It shows the people side of Sin City.Phillip, fate and good fortune find him when he's ready to give up on life-then can't lose at the gambling tables.Louise,a singer who gets stuck in town from debt sees her ticket out in Phillip,Louise is a vixen and con woman and Phillip can't resist her(It'd be hard for me not to give into lust for Louise myself).Greed takes over as word of Phillips luck gets around and several unexpected twists and turns come and go--Phillip really loves Louise and gets to her little by little.If you've been to Las Vegas as I have--well I always thought about the people who make up Vegas not just visit but live and work there and that's why I liked this movie.I thought the whole cast made this a great movie to watch!!

my opinion
I really liked the movie alot. I especially liked Ms. DeMornay's singing, she can show me the lights of Las Vegas anytime. I've been to Vegas 1 time and looked around alot and think this movie is the closest to real Vegas that I've seen! I thought everybody acted good especially Ms. DeMornay. It had everything,action,humor,mystery,romance,drama etc. I liked it so much I bought it. I only noticed 1 flaw, a scene where Ms. DeMornay is driving a car and her hands turn but the steering wheel didn't-hey it's in the script. I have yet to see a movie I didn't like with Ms.DeMornay, just another example of her range and depth and guts to portray different roles. I think she's the best and the rest are legends in their own minds! Jim.

A very well thought-out and well acted dark comedy and adven
The viewer content of this film contains sex scenes, acts of maltious violence, and adult language. I enjoyed this film very much, the plot was good, and the acting was good, especially that of Micheal Madsen who played Wolf, The brother of Philip whom can't loose at the casino and who everyone in the story wishes to take advantage of. From a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 9. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

What in the world were these people thinking?
Straight to Hell (Alex Cox, 1987)

Alex Cox made a very fast name for himself in the mid-eighties, releasing two classic films in the space of three years, Repo Man and Sid and Nancy. Then the downward slide began, and precipitous it was. Straight to Hell, Cox's fourth film, may well have been the nadir; it's hard to imagine a filmmaker this talented making a film this bad, and impossible to imagine a filmmaker this talented making one worse.

Straight to Hell is a spaghetti western that's ingested a large number of psychedelic drugs. It follows three hitmen (scriptwriter Dick Rude, ex-Clash guitarist Joe Strummer, and the only actor in the bunch, Sy Richardson) through a couple of botched jobs in Mexico, after which they flee to the strangest desert town to be found outside Jodorowsky's similarly muddy western El Topo. In fact, not only the town has Jodorosky written all over it in unreadable graffiti; the whole film, with the exception of the added love interest, could have been cut from the same cloth as was El Topo. There are, no doubt, art film fans who would consider that a boon, but I always found El Topo to be the weakest of Jodorowsky's movies, and Cox undercuts an already unstable base with amateur acting, and then adds the always-annoying Courtney Love in a major role. The project was bound for disaster from day one. If you've seen El Topo (or the better distillation of it that is the last third of David Lynch's film Wild at Heart), you can safely pass this up and head straight for Cox's more recent documentary work. * ½

of course it's weird- it's Alex Cox
I saw this movie once, in college and was boggled by all the randomness- it seems like every character has a different foreign accent, Zander Schloss sings a song about Disco Hotdogs, Grace Jones makes out with Dennis Hopper (and in the 'making of' featurette he forgets her last name!!!! oh my god!!!!!), Joe Strummer gets his vampire love on, and Courtney Love wails a lot of catchy phrases in her pre-plastic surgeries, screechy voice.
It's pretty sweet, all in all.
If you like that sort of thing.
The 'making of' part explains how the film came about and why it's so disjointed.... and it is a pretty sloppy piece of film making... but it's cool that it was made and had enough support to make it out on DVD.
The only thing that disturbs me about the film is that they keep saying 'Shikso' or maybe 'shiksa' when I think they meant to say 'meshuggah' or something. I dunno. It's really odd.
I like this movie in the same way that I like the Fishing with John episodes, Buckaroo Banzai and The South Park Movie...and maybe Liquid Sky.

I've Been There...
...just by watching this movie.

Straight to Hell comes off as a purely self-indulgent vanity piece. Like the road to Hell, I'm sure director Cox had very good intentions when he got together with many of his friends in a small Mexican ghost town (actually Spain) and just let the camera roll while everyone improvised. Given all of the peronas involved (including many legends from the early 1980s punk scene and independent filmmakers) you would expect something at least slightly interesting to occur. Unfortunately, the result is just directionless and meandering. Whereas films like Repo Man are iconoclastic and make interesting comments about the disintegration of society, this is just a mess about a bunch of adults acting silly. It may have been fun to film, but it is a chore to sit through.

I wonder if Cox truly felt he had created a worthwhile movie, or if he just tried to salvage whatever he could from the footage he shot after going to the expense. Whatever the case, this disaster bascially ended Alex Cox's career by making it impossible for him to find any further financial backing (he only made one more cheap film in Mexico). Talk about going out with a whimper.

For those who care, this is Courtney Love's first film, from before she became famous through marriage. Everything else about Straight to Hell is equally as trivial as that piece of information.

Good to be bad
There's a difference between "film" and "movies". Film is a serious endeavor to be studied and savored. Movies are to be enjoyed. This is a great movie in the tradition of "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Santa Clause Conquers the Martians". As film it was a sorry mess. Dang good thing we came to see a movie eh?

Many people have made the mistake of expecting a serious drama here or a common comedy. I think the movie was made to be a strange as possible. Come on gang, a gang of Irish coffee addicts terrorizing a South American town?

Look at it as good clean fun and silliness and you can't go wrong

Alex Cox has been eaten by an alien
"Straight To Hell" is a complete waste of money. The only reason I continued to watch... was to see how Dennis Hopper and Grace Jones could possibly elevate the film, but even their brief and unsatisfying appearances could not resuscitate this dead dog... ... Read more

Reviews (94)

A Classic Cult Film!!!
Repo Man is THE classic cult movie. It's a real original! A wacky and complex masterpiece that defies description. Emilio Estevez, in his one and only good role, is the title character, a teenage punk who lives with his hippie parents in L.A. The always brilliant Harry Dean Stanton is the veteran repo man who takes Estevez under his wing and shows him the ropes of the trade. To reveal more would be wrong, one of the many pleasures of this movie is the wild surprises and twists that the film springs on us. Let's just say the film mixes a punk attitude with bizarro science fiction, hysterical comedy, satire, a GREAT soundtrack and much more. With this film and the brilliant Sid & Nancy (another film you should see if you have'nt)Alex Cox announced himself as a great director. Unfortunately, he seemed to want to self destruct a promising career with the release of two deeply flawed but nonetheless interesting films Walker and Straight to Hell. This is a man who needs to direct again? Where is he now??

Cult classic
Of all the low-budget films to come out of the Eighties, Repo Man, Alex Cox's dark cult comedy about Eighties urban sprawl and alien paranoia, is one of the better ones. Emilio Estevez stars in one of his earliest roles as Otto Parts, your modern apocalyptic teen up to his armpits in drugs, sex, and parental neglect. He soon finds a way out through Bud (Stanton), an ace repo man, who gives him a job and teaches him the ways of the car repossessing trade. The two wander through the guts of L.A. in search of a '64 Chevy Malibu, priced at 50 thousand dollars, and run into a cast of bizarre street characters: feds, girls in distress, a lobotomized nuclear physicist, and really, really dumb criminals. Estevez gives one of the best performances of his career, honing his acting skills as a punk white boy just in time for his role in Coppola's The Outsiders, released later that year. Cox, who wrote and directed the film, creates a strange but hilarious view of our culture, a brilliant satire on modern society.

What the f*ck do I know?
One thing I do know is this film is a modern day masterpiece.Unlike anything made before it.A true work of art and absolutely essential to any great DVD collection.Better than Gone With The Wind.It will make you wanna go to L.A. but stay home and watch Repo Man instead.I really wish they'd release the made for TV version of it as well.Along with the high art of Richard Elfman's brilliant Forbidden Zone, Repo Man is in a class all by itself.SUPERB!

not what i had expected
I was thouroughly pleased upon seeing repo man. Though i Admit it was defintitletely not what I had expected. A friend recomended the movie to me saying it was apunk rock thing, and it was actually an acurate portrayal of the punk rock lifestyle of the 80's. WHOA no way, thats the last time i trust that guy. What I did discover was a magical glowing, flying spacecar, which everyone and their mother wanted. It's brilliant, just half way through the movie it takes a twist for the strange. I'd recomend this movie to anyone. This is probably Emelio's only good performance ever so that makes the movie that much more special.

"The more you drive, the less intelligent you are."--Miller
Wow, ummm....interesting. Finally something different. No, I mean this is REALLY different. About time to, cuz lately I've seen a string of bvad movies, so it's nice to see something cool and original every now and then. 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? For some, actually for many, this film will come of as stupid and random, but for those of us who "get" it, this is a breathe of fresh air. Using clever, if somewhat odd, story telling, this film should keep you entertained and amused throughout the entire duration of the film. I say rent first, then but. ... Read more