MovieChat Forums > Repo Man (1984) Discussion > Did anyone else hate this movie as much ...

Did anyone else hate this movie as much as I did?

posted 16 years ago by sakurabubbles666
64 replies | jump to latest

I saw it a few days ago with my mother because she was all, "Have you ever seen this? Let's watch it."
It was so god-awful, I couldn't bring myself to look away.
Horrible excuse for a film.

It had some silly lines, which I admit I laughed at, but... MY GOD.
Awful.

Grah. It was just so pointless!

When it was finished, I looked over at my mother with an expression on my face that must have been downright hilarious. Because she laughed her butt off and then was like, "I just wanted to see your face!"

I've read some of the other messages here and I now understand that this film is more about nostalgia than anything.
Well, it came out four years before I was born... So, I guess that's why I can't wrap my brain around it.

Not trying to offend anyone with this message by the way; just stating some opinions and such.

:3

[–] henriku_san 16 years ago

It's your opinion to have.

I loved it however. I'm of the opinion it deserves to be on imdb top 250.

[–] rosiecadaverdog 16 years ago

Agree. The movie was inspired. Harry Dean Stanton and Tracey Walter the standouts. Almost 25 years and people still quote from the movie. That is very cool.

[–] bluefellow 16 years ago

This movie was inventive and clever when it came out and remains so to this day. Although you have to wonder about people who still quote it 25 years later...

"I don't want any Commies in my car. No Christians, either."

[–] aimeeandevan 16 years ago

Isn't that the definition of a classic?

[–] maz89 11 years ago

People quote Star Wars too. Doesn't make it good.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

[–] evilreincarnated 14 years ago

I love this movie. I often watch cult classics since they are often some of the best films out there that go un-noticed or appreciated. Tracey Walter is amazing in this film and the same for Harry Dean Stanton too.

It is a little weird but it totally suits the movie and the soundtrack is pretty awesome too.

As for the haters, each to his/her own I suppose but I urge you to watch it again sometime and maybe you'll begin to see why people love it so much.

[–] h3adlin3 16 years ago

:::Spoilers Ahoy!:::
I would say it was the Big Lebowski of its time. The film encapsulates the nihilism and disenfranchisement of the punk movement and youth in general. And shows how such people are easily swayed towards nationalism and fascism. The Car everyone is looking for offers Otto an escape from his meaningless life (first as a punker, then as a repo man) in more ways than one. You can draw your own conclusions from the fact that the car is being driven by the inventor of the neutron bomb who having been driven mad by the magnitude of his crime against humanity, has stolen a deceased alien that is going through some sort of radioactive decay, and stashed it in the trunk. Does this 'mean' anything? Well aliens have sometimes been thought of as gods, and it is in a car, a type of machine, and it does save Otto in the end. A Deux ex Machena, perhaps?

But that is a very astute observation re: nostalgia. Those of us who came of age when this film came out do tend to act towards it like hippies looking back at the sixties. Which is the first and last time I'll admit to having a common ground with a hippie.

Tom Head
http://www.h3adlin3.com/
http://www.hardsalami.org/

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (10277) a year ago

Which is the first and last time I'll admit to having a common ground with a hippie.

^ ^ ^
This. We hated hippies so intensely. 🤣

[–] CleanMachine 16 years ago

Me...
My Finger is still pressing FF while typing;)

Lame a 6.7 on imdb - kind of inside joke...
sorry

[–] fvernic 16 years ago

Your mother shouldn't let you watch these kind of movies.....

I agree with the analogy to the Big Lebowski, that's what it was for the 80's, however it would be difficult to understand if you didn't live it.

1/505 LRSU 82-91

[–] gfarrell80 16 years ago

Who watches a movie like this with their mom?

Yeah, this movie is great. It touches on so many things. Nuclear war, silly government conspiracy theories, religion, capitalism versus communism, 'punk' culture, youth identity and becoming a man, male/female relationships, finding a philosophy of life for oneself, PLUS IT IS ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS.

And who ever said there was actual dead aliens in the trunk? I don't think that can be confirmed. I think it was supposed to be just a source of really powerful radiation. Then the car turns into a spaceship/time machine at the end, but I think that had to do with an ending re-write.

[–] munky_funky 10 years ago

I have to say my mother brought me to the theater to watch A Clockwork Orange when I was still a baby. Then twelve years later, she walked in on my brother and me just beginning to watch the movie. She decided to watch it with us. Somewhere during the Billy Boy rape scene, she screamed for us to turn it off. Now there is a movie no son should ever watch with his mother. But then again, I watched Caligula with my whole family once. But that is another story. But I do have to agree with you, Repo Man was a great movie.

[–] sakurabubbles666 14 years ago

xD
My mother shouldn't let me watch these kinds of movies?
I'm not a teeny-bopper, hun.

Twenty-one as of this past October.

[–] yellowrobe1 14 years ago

I'd say wait several months and then watch it again. The first time I saw it I was less than impressed but now I am thoroughly blown away by it. I give it a 10/10, there's nothing else remotely like it.

[–] emdenholm 14 years ago

I just watched it last night with my daughter (she's 16) and it wasn't nearly as funny as I remembered. We got a couple of laughs out of it ("Let's go do some crimes!") - but I think I know "the look" that you gave your mother 'cause my kid gave me one heckuva "look" as well!

[–] oneal301 16 years ago

I totally agree. I saw it this weekend with a friend and we both agreed it was the most pointless thing we've seen in a long time. There were some funny parts but the whole alien thing in the trunk was so stupid and out of place. I've seen some brilliant comedies were the jokes weren't obvious and they were still really funny once the punch line became clear, this just wasn't. My 2 cents.

[–] holborne 14 years ago

I totally agree with the OP -- I detest this stupid movie. I don't see an ounce of wit or anything else worth wasting one's time on. Its cult status is completely inexplicable to me.

[–] theendisnear1 14 years ago

I was only two when this movie was released, and it's my second favorite film of all time even now, and always has been (first goes to "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," and I can't explain that one either.).

This movie is cynical, it's warped, it has all these amazingly badass one-liners and tiny details. The soundtrack is awesome. It's weird. It looks seedy and dingy, which is exactly what the filmmakers were going for, I think. The urban wasteland is amazing. The symbolism is rife and clever. The performances are all top-notch, and Estevez has never been so likeable.

I adore this movie so much, and I think one of the small things that makes me so happy with it is that to enjoy it, you really are part of a club. I've shown it to people many times before, and only about half of them like it at all, and maybe one out five fall in love the way I did.

It's an indefensible movie. You either go for its insane style and dark undertones or you don't.

"Let's go get sushi, and not pay."

[–] holborne 14 years ago

>It's an indefensible movie. You either go for its insane style and dark undertones or you don't.

Well, that is true. Same thing with Napoleon Dynamite, which I've stopped recommending to people who haven't seen it since so many people think it's ludicrous and don't get why I like it so much. And I guess Napoleon Dynamite, which is basically a sweet, off-kilter fairy tale, is sort of the polar opposite of Repo Man. In fact, I wonder if someone did a simple random sample, they wouldn't find an inverse correlation between opinions of Napoleon Dynamite and opinions of Repo Man.

[–] moldz 14 years ago

God I hate "film students"...
If you were 20 when it came out you might understand the movie.
Thanks for playing though.

[–] Prismark10 13 years ago

Its an off beat cult film that is never going to be to everyone's taste. I watched it when I was 20 and I still did not find it all that great.

Its that man again!!

[–] billy51482 13 years ago

You know, kid, when somebody posts *#@$*#! like this about Repo Man on imdb, my first reaction is, I wanna punch their *#@$*#!-ing lights out. But you know somethin'?

You're - all - right!!!!

[–] 13 years ago

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