Empire Records

1995 Directed by Allan Moyle

They're selling music but not selling out.

The employees of an independent music store learn about each other as they try anything to stop the store being absorbed by a large chain.

Anthony LaPaglia Debi Mazar Maxwell Caulfield Liv Tyler Robin Tunney Renée Zellweger Ethan Embry Coyote Shivers Brendan Sexton III Ben Bode Rory Cochrane Johnny Whitworth James 'Kimo' Wills

Alternative Titles

Sexo, Rock & Confusão, Deseos Cumplidos, Μουσικο Πανδαιμονιο, Mousiko pandaimonio

comedy drama music

90 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by adrianbalboa ★★★½ 7

what i would give to work at a record store in the nineties. think of the cropped sweater + mini skirt possibilities. think of the boys in oversized shirts and cardigans. this is my ideal life
Review by Holly-Beth ★★★½ 4

a time machine to 1995 when it was liv tyler’s world and we were all just living in it
Review by yazz! *･ﾟ✧ ★★★ 2

oh to be a hot, well-dressed teen who works at a record store and gets to dance around with my friends on the rooftop whilst the best song ever recorded — this is the day by the the — plays in the background
Review by dunya. ★★★★ 1

Why don't part time jobs like these exist in real life?
Review by Hollie Horror ★ 21

OH MAN! What a piece of shit!!!
This is the first movie in my Nostalgia Overload list where I came out on the other side of the re-watch absolutely hating a movie I once loved. I haven't seen Empire Records in about 15 years but I honestly used to love it. How embarrassing.
This movie is a very corporate look at what they consider "indie" films, with an ironic twist..you know..considering the entire plot of the movie is an independently run record store trying to avoid being bought out by a national corporation.
I hate everyone in this movie; all of the annoying, over-the-top, insincere caricatures of "gen Xers," MARK: THE MOST AGGRAVATINGLY IRRITATING OF THEM ALL, Robin Tunney as…
Review by Lizzy ☭ ★★★★ 9

if i owned this record store it would be insufferable for everyone because the only albums i would ever allow in stock would be by Mitski
Review by denice ★★★½

this film radiates nothing but good energy and some of you just don't like to have fun
Review by vee ★★★★

i would kill for nineties liv tyler
Review by aaron ★★★★½

oh what I would give to work at empire records alongside liv tyler
Review by Sally Jane Black 22

I really could not figure out how they could afford to have the whole staff there at the same time, except if the nightly total is $9,000, I mean, that's pretty good, right. Other unbelievable things include actually every other part of this film. Nothing in this film is believable. It is as if John Hughes tried to make a Hal Hartley film. It is as if Reality Bites were made by NBC instead of MTV. It is as if that reporter who believed all the fake grunge slang made a movie based on it. And if you go in expecting a train wreck, it's quite enjoyable.
You can see the good movie lurking underneath this one. It's usually frustrating…
Review by Ian West ★ 16

Might break some hearts here but that’s life. I Haven’t watched this in twenty years and for good reason... I was the target audience for this movie during its heyday and even back then I thought this was just ok—way to corporate to ever be as punk rock as it’s so desperatly trying to be and loaded with egregious gen x caricatures that made me want to dry heave even back then. It’s even worse now—I rarely say this but I HATE this movie... I can’t stand record store culture (I worked in one for about 3 years) and every character in this movie is like nails on a chalkboard for me.
I’m never going to watch this again and…
Review by siobhan ★★★

oh to work at an indie record store in the 90s and sing/dance to music all day and for you & your co-workers to put aside your differences to save your store from being bought out by The Man™

Recent reviews

Review by hannah ★★★½

90s liv tyler was the blueprint
Review by ANDREA ★★★★★

I decided I'd rather kill myself than meet Rex Manning
Review by ariana ★★★★½

so cute loved it
Review by RealVICG ★★★

This movie will be like going to a museum in 50 years
Review by Alessandro Musmeci ★★

I like the soundtrack tho
Review by Brit

Gave up midway through lol
Review by Lewis Mize ★★★★

Another 90s cult classic that I love in spite of its flaws.
The incredible young cast including Liv Tyler, Renee Zellweger, Ethan Embry, Robin Tunney and several others, but leading the pack is Rory Cochrane as the Zen-like Lucas in a mesmerizing performance. The elder statesmen, if you will, can't be forgotten though with the likes of Anthony LaPaglia, Debi Mazar, and Maxwell Caulfield as the love-to-hate-em Rex Manning and the reason we celebrate April 8th.
I love all the little touches and the oh so 90s elements most notably in the fashions, including the puffy shirt in the Rex Manning music video made most famous by that one Seinfeld episode. You also have the "Have a nice Daze" poster…
Review by rebeca_jrds ★★★★

nossa... eu queria TANTO trabalhar numa lojinha dessas!!!
obs: por que os homens não se vestem bem assim mais?
Review by bella ★★★★½

i quite frankly want to be every single person in this film also massive bisexual panic watching this Send Help
Review by silvia ★★★★★

uf, lo que daria por trabajar en una tienda de discos en los 90
Review by flo ★★★★

i am lucas, lucas is me
Review by Thomas ★

Among the worst movies I've seen, but as far as bad movies go, it's a fun one. Despite what some say, I found it wildly unpredictable, as it seems to be completely out of touch with popular music and normal human behaviour. It's also virtually plotless, which I wasn't expecting. No wonder nobody saw this when it came out.