Repo Man 4K Ultra HD

In "Repo Man," a weathered repo man (Harry Dean Stanton) in a desolate Los Angeles, takes under his wing a nihilistic middle-class punk (Emilio Estevez). The job becomes more than either of them bargained for when they get involved in repossessing a mysterious––and otherworldly––Chevy Malibu with a hefty reward attached to it. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary featuring Director Alex Cox, Executive Producer Michael Nesmith, Casting Director Victoria Thomas, and Actors Sy Richardson, Zander Schloss, and Del Zamora, "Plate O'Shrimp" interviews with Musicians Keith Morris and Actors Dick Rude, Olivia Barash, and Miguel Sandoval (HD 19:19), interview with Iggy Pop (HD 11:57) "Repossessed" roundtable discussion about the making of the film, featuring Cox, Richardson, Rude, Zamora, and Producers Peter McCarthy and Jonathan Wacks (HD 25:31), "Harry Dean Stanton" conversation between McCarthy and Actor Harry Dean Stanton (SD 21:21), deleted scenes (SD 25:11), Cox’s “cleaned-up” television version of the film (SD 01:36:54), trailers, an essay by critic Sam McPheeters, a 68-page illustrated production history by Cox, and a 1987 interview with real-life repo man Mark Lewis.

The 1.78:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD Dolby Vision/HDR10 picture, reviewed on a VIZIO Quantum X P85QX-JI UHD/HDR display, was photographed on 35 mm film stock and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate format, with supervised restoration by Director Alex Cox. This is a peculiar production that feels unfinished, despite the 4K restoration. Picture quality, rather than filmic, is home videoish with low production values, as in very real, and unattractive urban environments. The imagery capture is amateurish in terms of camera capture and post-production. Shot on film, grain is generally smooth though noticeable throughout. Color fidelity is decent with good flesh tone delineation and decent environmental hues. HDR contrast is decent as well with good black levels but shadow delineation in some scenes is poor. White levels never seem to reach realistic levels. Resolution is revealing past the film grain veil but generally soft. This is a weird movie and presentation but fans will likely be pleased with the visual effect. (Gary Reber)

The Linear PCM 2.0-channel monaural soundtrack is undistinguished with poor fidelity and lack of dynamics, the result of age-related production imperfections. The sonics of the music are crushed. However, dialogue is intelligible throughout. The production is simply mediocre. (Gary Reber)