Dudes is a 1987 American independent film directed by Penelope Spheeris, written by Randall Jahnson, and starring Jon Cryer, Catherine Mary Stewart, Daniel Roebuck, and Lee Ving.

A Western revenge story in a contemporary setting, its plot concerns three punk rockers from New York City who attempt to make their way to California.

Written as a dramatic, action-filled "punk Western" set in the modern era, the finished film also contained elements of comedy, road movies, and a heavy metal soundtrack, the combination of which made it difficult to market.

Jesse outfits the pair in exaggerated western costumes and gives them use of a beat-up 1959 Buick Invicta complete with bull's horns mounted to the hood.

Finding the town empty, the pair get drunk and have a vision in which they meet the cowboy, named Witherspoon, accompanied by a trio of Native American warriors from Biscuit's dream.

Missoula and Blix murder two sheriff's department officers and invade the jail in an attempt to kill the boys, but Jessie arrives just in time to break them out.

Grant once again sees Witherspoon and the Native American warriors, now accompanied by Milo, who ride off into the distance and disappear in a cloud of dust just before Biscuit and Jessie arrive.

[3] In the early and mid-1980s, he later reflected, the punk and art rock scenes in Los Angeles were demonstrating a certain fascination with the West, exemplified by Wall of Voodoo performing cover versions of Spaghetti Western songs, the Dead Kennedys covering "Rawhide", and the Meat Puppets mixing punk with country music, which influenced his crossing of the two genres in his script.

[2] Tejada-Flores had been impressed by her previous directorial work, particularly her 1985 film The Boys Next Door, and felt that she could tell an enthralling story from the mix of genres present in Jahnson's script.

[3] Jon Cryer, who had recently gained attention for his role in the hit film Pretty in Pink, was attracted to the eclectic nature of Dudes' script as well as the opportunity to play the hero, which he had not done before.

[5] He had difficulty with the scenes that required him to drive a car; He had earned his driver's license while performing in Torch Song Trilogy in Los Angeles several years prior, but used public transport and taxis in his native New York City and had very little experience behind the wheel.

"[6] In preparation for the role she trained with a stunt performer who specialized in gun play, learning how to twirl her revolver so it would slide right into its holster.

"[6] Daniel Roebuck, a character actor who had recently finished filming River's Edge, was reading scripts in search of new roles and was struck by the uniqueness of Dudes.

[7] When given the part, he had to have the sides of his head shaved and his hair tied into place for the duration of filming since it was too time-consuming to take apart and re-tie the mohawk for each shoot.

"[8] Flea felt honored to be cast, since Dudes was a chance to work alongside trained actors whereas in Suburbia he had been among a group of "street kids" similar to himself, all without acting experience.

[5] Roebuck, however, recalled that he and Cryer were being trounced by the extras, who were actual punks, and that first assistant director Guy Louthan's plea to the crowd to "not hurt the real actors" only caused them to be targeted more.

[8] A scene in which Grant flirts with a woman played by Pamela Gidley and gets into a brawl with her boyfriend was filmed at popular punk hangout the Atomic Cafe.

[2] For one of the driving scenes, Spheeris suggested that Cryer, Roebuck, and Flea sing "Hava Nagila" while headbanging to show that their characters were enjoying their road trip; this inspired a scene in Spheeris' later hit comedy Wayne's World (1992) in which the main characters sing along to "Bohemian Rhapsody" while driving and launch into headbanging.

[6] While filming the climactic showdown between Grant and Missoula, Ving heard that there was asbestos in the building being used and refused to re-enter it, so the sequence had to be rewritten and edited to show less of his character.

[8] At the time, the Los Angeles punk rock scene was giving way to heavy metal; Spheeris liked both genres, and worked them both into the soundtrack, although she later thought this caused confusion regarding the tone of the film.

In a retrospective review, Jon Bush of Allmusic rated the soundtrack album 3 stars out of 5 and pointed to the Megadeth track and Steve Vai's version of "Amazing Grace" as highlights.

[1][2] Additional songs used in the film but not included on the soundtrack album include "Bathroom Wall" by Faster Pussycat, "Dirty Pool" and "Dead Dog Man" by the Little Kings (a group featuring Gore Verbinski), "Guitarget" by Four Big Guitars from Texas, "Yard Dog" and "Rock 'n' Roll Till the Cows Come Home" by the Tail Gators, "Waltz Across Texas" by Ernest Tubb, "Cocaine & Whiskey" by Ned Sublette, a rendition of "Blue Suede Shoes" performed by Robert Gordon and Chris Spedding, and renditions of "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" and "Mexican Radio" performed by Vance Colvig.

[5] Cryer later viewed Dudes as a bridge between Spheeris' prior dramatic films Suburbia (1984) and The Boys Next Door (1985) and her later success with the hit comedy Wayne's World (1992).

Still, there are enough eccentric touches to hold the interest, like the exuberantly vicious Mr. Ving in his villain's role, and the character calling himself Daredelvis (Pete Willcox), who has somehow worked a lot of Presley mannerisms into his act as a rodeo clown.

"[10][11] Critic Michael Wilmington also gave the film a mixed review in the Los Angeles Times, calling it "an entertaining movie from a bad script.

She's also cast interesting actors who keep going pleasantly over the top, as in a good Abbott and Costello movie", singling out Ving and Roebuck's performances as examples.

[14] Writing for Not Coming to a Theater Near You in 2011, Victoria Large called it "something of a bridge between the cult, punk films that started [Spheeris'] career and the slick Hollywood comedies that the director is perhaps more widely associated with.

And while it’s true that melding the spiky strangeness of Suburbia with the agreeable silliness of Wayne’s World makes for an uneven viewing experience, Dudes is also a fun watch.

"[15] In 2015, critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a B− rating, calling it an "off-beat road adventure comedy" that "has some Easy Rider vibes going for it", concluding that "the violent clash between cultures makes for absurdist adolescent drama, but it's weirdly entertaining.

[5] As added features for this 30th anniversary release, Spheeris conducted interviews with Cryer, Roebuck, and Flea reflecting on the making of the film.