REPO MAN

Universal, 1984, Color, 92 mins.- DVD

Tracey Walter: “The more you drive, the less intelligent you are.”

Suburban punk Emilio Estevez is a disaffected jerk with no future, until he hooks up with car reposession agent Harry Dean Stanton and his pals at the Helping Hands Finance Company. Their beat is “Edge City,” a skewed version of L.A. where everybody eats generic food and drinks generic beer, and where the behavioral code of the colorful “Repo Men” seems to offer something better to Estevez. Of course, it also leads him into conflicts with other outfits, angry car owners, and evil government agents, but it’s all part of the “Intense” life of the repo crowd.

The cleverly-designed story has its various characters routinely crossing paths, with one element weaving- literally- through it all: a 1964 Chevy Malibu with a trunkful of dead aliens, driven by an outlaw nuclear scientist who is fleeing a set of personal demons bad enough to drive somebody to a lobotomy.

This cult classic is a cheap, rude, violent picture- and that’s just fine, because it’s also an energetic, quirky, funny picture, infused with an infectious goofiness. Writer/director Alex Cox creates a surrealistic world full of oddball characters and situations that get weirder and weirder until the out-of-this-world climax. The disc comes with audio commentaries and trailers, and a limited edition is available with an info booklet and the punky soundtrack CD.

 

THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE

British Lion, 1961, B&W,104 mins.- DVD

Leo Mckern: “I’d say there’s about four months before there’s a delightful smell in the universe of charcoaled mankind.”

From the bad old days of Cold War nuclear paranoia comes this, the original “Global warming” picture. Man’s messing around with The Bomb shifts the Earth’s axial tilt and moves it closer to old Sol, which will cause the abovementioned worldwide barbecue. As the film opens, reporter Edward Judd, in a broiling London, waits along with the rest of the world for the results of a desperate plan to save humanity.

The story then unfolds in flashback, with the boozing has-been Judd eking out a living at a metropolitan newspaper, until he smells a rat on a routine story and busts the secret catastrophe wide open. There is a full spectrum of reaction to the impending doom, from Bacchanalian revels to panic to calculating attempts at survival. But through it all runs a rich stream of humor, with wisecracks from Judd and a fellow reporter played by the ever-colorful Leo McKern.

It is this snappy dialogue, along with the realistically-observed reactions of the city’s populace, that lifts this film above the usual end-of-the-world cheesiness. The story’s wrap-up is ambiguous, but don’t let that put you off- getting there is the fun part. The disc comes with extras including commentary by writer/director Val Guest and a photo gallery.

 

HELL IN THE PACIFIC

CRC, 1963, color,102 mins.- DVD

It’s 1944, and a war in microcosm plays out when downed U.S. airman Lee Marvin finds himself trapped on a picturesque dot of land in the Pacific with Japanese soldier Toshiro Mifune. There is instant conflict between these two, with the normally stoic Mifune playing against type by freaking out at the sight of the American.

Marvin exploits the other’s fear, using the best weapon at his disposal- his wits. Their fight, like the larger conflict, is filled with pain and needless destruction, but the two men eventually wind up with a common goal- survival.

Much of the story is told visually, even when the two characters communicate, as neither man understands the other’s language. Aided by director John Boorman’s staging, the two actors skillfully carry the story along, showing us the effects of this forced “Vacation” on their characters.

When they finally decide to try an escape, you will root for them- but uneasily, because like death and taxes, there is no escape from the war. The disc contains an alternate ending which provides an interesting contrast to the somewhat abrupt finale of the film- one of its few notable flaws.


          

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© Melt Magazine 2001