Multiple plot strands at first seem unrelated, but bind together closer and tighter as the film moves along. Otto and the other Repo Men are on the lookout for a 1964 Chevy Malibu, with a $25,000 bounty. So are some creepy FBI agents, who stalk and kidnap Otto. And so are Helping Hand's arch-rivals, who careen into the plot whenever things are getting dull. The car's driven by a nuclear physicist in from Los Alamos, who warned a CHP officer not to look in the trunk (with deadly results). Otto's punk friends find the car while breaking into a pharmaceutical factory, but they're too stupid to keep it. (These three are some of the dumbest criminals ever shown in film, including Kevin Kline's Otto in _A Fish Called Wanda_) Otto finds love, after a fashion, but since this is Reaganesque LA, even his girlfriend has her own motives. ("Otto! What about our relationship?" Otto's reply is a brilliant retort to Cary Grant's last line in Gone with the Wind.)

The film abounds with hilarious throw-away lines, signs, and labels. Several scenes take place in food stores, and all the food is generically labeled. Multiple viewings are required to catch them all; be sure to read all the signs in the windows. Even the TV preacher shows up on several television sets. Repo Man takes its structure from Miller's bizarre rant about the cosmic latticework of interconnectedness, because everything is interconnected, and Miller turns out to be right about all of it by the end. "And flying saucers are... You got it. Time Machines."

Top it off with a TERRIFIC sound track by Iggy Pop, Black Flag, The Circle Jerks, and a host of others from the punk scene and this is one of the best movies ever made.

What makes Repo Man so unique is the obvious satirization not only of regular, and in this case conservative Reagean-esque, culture, from the "John Wayne was [gay]" speech to Bud's trashing of Russia, but the send-ups of punk culture (Let's go do some crimes! Yeah, let's get sushi and not pay!) Otto is the everyman in every sense of the word, as he - like us - realizes that no matter what culture he tries to be a part of, he never fits in, and those strains of culture are so rife with stupidity and hypocrisy that he no longer wants to belong. Like The Graduate and Fight Club, Repo Man also refuses to supply a stock answer, instead making the audience question instead of spoonfeeding them. Plus, it's roll-on-the-floor funny, with some of the best oneliners since Evil Dead 2 or Terminator 2. Alex Cox made Repo Man while still in film school, and he basically admits it's little more than a trumped-up student film. The lack of budget is obvious at times, but the killer screenplay and direction more than make up for that slight fault. As usual, the movie looks excellent on Anchor Bay's DVD; the sound and video are as clear as you can ask for, with a remixed 5.1 audio track to boot. There's a great commentary track with Alex Cox, some castmembers (sadly, no Harry Dean or Emilio), and some crew; it's a lot like a Kevin Smith commentary, with everyone sitting in one room, having a great time talking about a great film. There are no other extras to speak of, unless you buy the collector's tin (which does not look like the normal Repo Man cover - it looks like a California license plate, with Repo Man on it). The collector's tin has the soundtrack on CD and a booklet about the movie with a little comic in it. Unless you are a major fan or must have the best of the best of the best edition, there's no need to buy the more expensive version, but if you want it, you'd better get it quick, because at 30,000 copies, it'll be gone before you know it.

I would definitely check this movie out if you can, and would recommend buying it to anyone who asked.