Product Details

• Actors: Chris D., Chris Shearer, Dave Alvin, Devon Anders, Luanna Anders
• Directors: Allison Anders, Dean Lent, Kurt Voss
• Writers: Allison Anders, Dean Lent, Kurt Voss
• Producers: Marcus DeLeon, Robert Rosen
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Criterion
• DVD Release Date: January 16, 2007
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000K0YLXW
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,242 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
As with Jim Jarmusch's Stranger than Paradise, Border Radio may be a small movie, but it marked the arrival of a significant talent. (Both debuts were also shot in black and white.) Co-directed by UCLA film students Kurt Voss, Dean Lent, and Allison Anders, it's a post-punk noir with documentary interludes. Chris D. (the Flesh Eaters) is Jeff Bailey, a name swiped from Robert Mitchum's character in Out of the Past. After the LA cult rocker steals money from a man named Skelley, he sends three hip thugs to collect ("The Clash are the cornerstone of social significance in rock and roll music," one insists. "It's just like dumb heavy metal," counters the other), so Jeff hightails it for Mexico. That leaves wife Luanna (Luanna Anders, Allison's sister) in the lurch. Bandmate Dean (X's John Doe), flaky roadie Chris (Chris Shearer), and Luanna spend the rest of the film trying to track him down. As for Anders, it would take another five years before Gas Food Lodging finally made her rep. With its low budget, four-year shoot, and ramshackle acting, Border Radio may be less technically adept than Repo Man, to name another film set in a similar milieu, but shares its anarchic spirit. And Lent's sundrenched 16mm cinematography and Blaster Dave Alvin's twangy score, fortified by tracks from Los Lobos and Green on Red, make it required viewing for fans of the LA punk scene, as well as the consistently underrated Anders. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description
Before carving out a niche as one of nineties’ American cinema’s most distinct voices, Allison Anders made her debut, alongside co-directors and fellow UCLA film-school students, Kurt Voss and Dean Lent, with 1987’s Border Radio. A low-key, semi-improvised post-punk diary that took four years to complete, Border Radio features legendary rocker Chris D., of the Flesh Eaters, as a singer/songwriter who has stolen loot from a club and gone missing, leaving his wife (Luanna Anders), a no-nonsense rock journalist, to track him down with the help of his friends (John Doe of the band X; Chris Shearer).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a time capsule of los angeles - and more., January 12, 2007

By	g. speedlace "Frontier Gentleman" (Hollywood, CA) - See all my reviews

Originally scripted as a grim film noir homage, a series of financial dry spells stretched out the film's production schedule to three years, whereupon the screen story underwent as many dramatic changes as any of the hard-living bands from the music scene the film adopts as its backdrop.

Star Chris D. insists in the supplemental features that the original script's noir aspects are what attracted him to the project, but it was only once he became involved that the thing took shape as a "rock movie," with the added participation of D.'s friends (and sometime bandmates) like John Doe and Dave Alvin. Alvin went on to create an eclectic and memorable score for the film (now out of print, sadly), with players culled from friends and colleagues from X, Los Lobos, The Blasters and other local heroes.

Not every film could survive three filmmakers AND active contributions by everyone in the cast, but then it's a rare project that manages to pack this much simpatico talent onto one movie poster.

Additional DVD extras include deleted scenes, a potent "trailer" (including several moments not in the finished film) set to a driving musical score, and a pair of loose, enjoyable commentary tracks. Another welcome addition is Chris D. and The Flesh Eaters' vintage ain't-no-WAY-this-is-running-on-MTV music video for their classic "The Wedding Dice" (comically mangled by Chris Shearer in the film itself).

Had it followed its intended "straight noir" course, BORDER RADIO may well have survived as an interesting curio; but as it turned out, the film stands as a fitting elegy to an era, both in its depiction of a musical phenomenon's sunset and for its unique collaborative approach to filmmaking. That both still feel like breaths of fresh air twenty years on only stands as a testament to their legitimacy.

Like so many of the "lost" bands of the music scene it salutes with unabashed affection, BORDER RADIO is ripe for rediscovery.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining rookie debut by Allison Anders., May 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Border Radio [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Border Radio was the first film made by the nowfamous Independent filmmaker Anders. the filmmade before her groundbreaking GAS, FOOD,AND LODGING WAS TITLED AFTER THE L.A. ROCKABILLY BLASTERS song,BORDER RADIO.The film takes placein a small Texas town,where a murder takes place.I can't say much more but if you're a Indie Filmfan you will definitely like this film. A firstfilm so you should'nt expect great anything.Butdefinitely a fun film. It was made and developedwhile Anders was still at the Sundance Institutein 1986,so you can prepare yourself for a cheaptreat,but a good one. Good soundtrack,too.Withcameos' by BLASTERS front man Dave Alvin, andX Vocals man John Doe. Give this film a try, please..... c. 1987. ALLISON ANDERS. SUNDANCE INSTITUTE.

5.0 out of 5 stars john doe rocks my socks, November 27, 2008

By	R. Andreas "raz-a-dazzle" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

amazing cinematography, beautiful shots and locations, and interesting plot. i like this film more so for those great shots and improved scenes, but all around i loved it.