The movie's primary setting is the last day on Earth at a small gas station-diner in a fictional town located next to a nuclear power plant. The characters are diner employees and customers including Young Otto (Dean Stockwell) who has received ownership of the failing business by the Will of his recently deceased father. One employee, Lionel Switch (Neil Young) is the garage's goofy and bumbling auto mechanic who dreams of being a rock star. "I can do it!" he often exclaims.
The song "Breaking in the Wind" highlights the opening scene set in a post-apocalyptic world. Devo are bizarre in this film as radiated garbagemen, not surprisingly. Booji Boy is especially strange, with his mask, squeaky voice and gasoline-tasting.
Dennis Hopper who played the addled cook (among other roles) was performing knife tricks with real knives on the set. Sally Kirkland attempted to take a knife from him and severed a tendon. She spent time in a hospital and later sued claiming Hopper was out of control. Hopper has admitted to drug abuse during this time period.
The version of this film I watched was a VHS transfer, and as far as I know there has been no real attempt to bring this film out on DVD. I am not a fan of Neil Young, and I found this movie largely boring and pointless, but for the fans, a good transfer would work wonders: improved sound would be nice, but if the grainy picture could be cleaned up, this has the potential to become a cult classic.
If you're a die-hard Devo fan, or a Neil Young fan, try to track this one down. I wasn't too pumped about it, but your mileage may vary.
The song "Breaking in the Wind" highlights the opening scene set in a post-apocalyptic world. Devo are bizarre in this film as radiated garbagemen, not surprisingly. Booji Boy is especially strange, with his mask, squeaky voice and gasoline-tasting.
Dennis Hopper who played the addled cook (among other roles) was performing knife tricks with real knives on the set. Sally Kirkland attempted to take a knife from him and severed a tendon. She spent time in a hospital and later sued claiming Hopper was out of control. Hopper has admitted to drug abuse during this time period.
The version of this film I watched was a VHS transfer, and as far as I know there has been no real attempt to bring this film out on DVD. I am not a fan of Neil Young, and I found this movie largely boring and pointless, but for the fans, a good transfer would work wonders: improved sound would be nice, but if the grainy picture could be cleaned up, this has the potential to become a cult classic.
If you're a die-hard Devo fan, or a Neil Young fan, try to track this one down. I wasn't too pumped about it, but your mileage may vary.