The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimention (1984) Review
March 22nd 2010 19:32
Sometimes it's hard to tell why a decent movie becomes a bucket movie, other times it's pretty obvious. Just hearing the long, laborious and bizarre name of this movie makes it pretty obvious why people passed it by. Buckaroo Banzai (As it will be referred to from now on) was release in 1984 nationwide, but despite a good amount of promotion and a heaping helping of merchandising the movie was a commercial failure and fell off the radar for a long time before it was re-discovered as a sci-fi convention stable and midnight movie.
The Film is a homage to the old-time movie serials, specifically Doc Savage. It features a non-super powered polymath hero named Buckaroo Banzai, and his team of equally skilled assistants the Hong-Kong Cavaliers
as they battle Aliens from planet 10 called “Lectroids”. The Lectroids are trying to steal Buckaroo's oscillation over-thruster so they can sneak back into their own dimension and wreak havoc. Director W.D. Richter does a decent job, the film felt like an old time action adventure, with a distinctly 80's style flair. The story is a bit confusing, and intentionally feels like your seeing a small part of a bigger series. The starring role goes to the multi-talented Peter Weller, who's deadpan performance makes the comedy all the more hilarious. The evil Lord John Whorfin is played by John Lithgow, who does an excellent job in the role of the evil dictator who's equal parts deadly and bumbling. A very young Jeff Goldblum is a lovable as always, and Christopher Loyd has a memorable role as Lord Whorphin's long-suffering right hand man John Bigboote (For some reason every alien in the movie has the first name “John” a running gag of sorts).
Buckaroo Banzai gained some clout at midnight movie screenings as well as being passed around in griany VHS format at sci-fi conventions. For those in the know, it's science fiction fandom's biggest inside joke. People wear embroidered patched for “Team Banzai” on their jackets, bumper stickers bear the commonly quoted Buckaroo Banzai proverb “Wherever you go, there you are”. References to this cult classic have even made it into the set design of Star Trek: The Next Generation” with the oscillation over-thruster
prop appearing as a “Spectral analyzer” in the episode “Pen Pals” and Buckaroo's “There you are” catch phrase appearing on the plaque on one of the starship sets.
Unlike many of the movies I review, Buckaroo Banzai came out in the golden age of movie merchandising and you can find lots fun merchandise like coloring books, t-shirts, action figures, puzzles and even a C64 computer game! Though this merchandise is rare, finding it is like finding buried treasure. This quirky film is best enjoyed in the company of friends, preferably friends willing to laugh at a weird, wild piece of movie history. If you get a chance, see it at one of the few theaters that play it at midnight, or at a sci-fi convention screening. Seeing it in a crowd is so much more fun than watching it alone.
The Film is a homage to the old-time movie serials, specifically Doc Savage. It features a non-super powered polymath hero named Buckaroo Banzai, and his team of equally skilled assistants the Hong-Kong Cavaliers
Buckaroo Banzai and his Hong-Kong Cavaleirs
The Team Banzai Embrodered patch, I own this patch and yes I wear it in public.
Unlike many of the movies I review, Buckaroo Banzai came out in the golden age of movie merchandising and you can find lots fun merchandise like coloring books, t-shirts, action figures, puzzles and even a C64 computer game! Though this merchandise is rare, finding it is like finding buried treasure. This quirky film is best enjoyed in the company of friends, preferably friends willing to laugh at a weird, wild piece of movie history. If you get a chance, see it at one of the few theaters that play it at midnight, or at a sci-fi convention screening. Seeing it in a crowd is so much more fun than watching it alone.
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Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight