The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension [DVD]

Out of all the films I saw as a kid, Buckaroo Banzai is one of the ones that has this aspect to it. When I first saw it I didn't love it, probably because of this. There was more there than I could process as an 8 year-old, but as the years went on and I revisited the film I got more and more out of it. It's actually very similar to the Big Lebowski in that on the one hand it's a simple action movie, one of a million in the 80s, that deals with the threat of an alien invasion thwarted by a small band of unlikely humans at the last possible moment. Yet the cast of characters is amazingly rich and the plot is, like Lebowski, unnecessarily complex and weird to a point where it all becomes much more than the sum of its parts.I want to say that I first saw this film on HBO during the day on either a summer vacation or a weekend sometime in the mid-eighties, and like I said sort of dismissed it. Later on I would keep coming back to it because of the actors, a lot of which went on to star in other movies I loved (Peter Weller in Robocop, John Lithgow in Harry and the Hendersons, Jeff Goldbum in The Fly, Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future). I also love the unexplained "I just started reading in the middle of this comic book" feel the film has. All the unanswered questions. Who is this infamous World Crime League? Why is Perfect Tommy (Lewis Smith) so perfect? Who is Peggy Priddy, twin sister of Penny Priddy, and Buckaroo's first wife who was murdered? Why does New Jersey (Goldblum) have such an affinity for woolly chaps and 50s era cowboy clothing? Etc., etc., etc. In fact, in the film itself Buckaroo and his team, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, are stars of their own Marvel comic book, which was also released in real life by Marvel.Add to this the dry delivery by Peter Weller of some really obtuse yet hilarious lines such as: "Hey, hey, hey. Don't be mean. We don't have to be mean because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are."There are also a lot of little touches everywhere that make the film really fun to watch. How they manage to tie in the original invasion of the Lectroids to the 1938 Orson Welles broadcast of War of the Worlds is genius. I also love that the character names are silly and funny, breaking the unspoken rule of comedy of no funny names and still managing to pull it off. I mean Buckaroo Banzai? Penny Priddy? All the Lectroids being named John something or other (Christopher Lloyd's Bigboote is a standout.) Tie this together with insanely esoteric concepts like an 8th dimension that allows solid matter to travel through other solid matter, yet also serves as a gateway to either a parallel universe or as a worm hole to another galaxy, and you have a very rich and fun film that manages to mix action, comedy, and pulp nostalgia into one giant roller coaster ride.I really do love this film, right down to its dated special effects (some much more effective than today's CGI nightmares leaking off the big screen) and corny dialogue. I love this film because it's intentional and crafted to be exactly what it is. I think the scene that sums this up the best is the end sequence, a wacky dance/walking montage set to some awesome 80s synth music that finds all of the characters in the film (except the bad guys I think, but including those who have died) dynamically joining up at a concrete drainage area to just, well, walk dynamically. It really is a beautifully shot scene with plenty of fun zooms, twists and turns that is so upbeat, yet so serious it's almost mind numbing. Wes Anderson made an homage to this sequence in The Life Aquatic at the end when all the crew members and characters meet up and walk to the ship.

'The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai' nearly defies definition! A cult classic, this send-up of alien invasion stories, pulp fiction heroes, and adventure movies is a love/hate proposition; while I found it to be brilliant fun, many of my friends thought it was incomprehensible! One thing for sure...There is NO other film quite like it!Buckaroo (played with laid-back coolness by Peter Weller) is a Japanese/American race car driver/neurosurgeon/rock star/comic book hero who, with his rock 'n roll commandos, The Hong Kong Cavaliers, balances his time between saving lives, pushing the boundaries of science, troubleshooting for the President, and playing gigs in nightclubs (lost, yet?). The film opens with his performing surgery, recruiting a new Cavalier member (a pre-stardom Jeff Goldblum), then hopping into a prototype race car, supposedly to break the land speed record, but actually to test a device that would allow man to travel through solid objects by adjusting their molecular density! (NOW are you lost?)The experiment works, but thrusts Bonzai temporarily into the Eighth Dimension, a kind of Phantom Zone for criminals from Planet Ten. The breech allows an alien invasion to begin, as Planet 10 stormtroops (frog-faced creatures who all take the names of various celebrities named 'John') get their marching orders, and invade New Jersey!This is not the first time the Eighth Dimension has been breeched; in 1938, Dr. Lizardo (John Lithgow, in his funniest performance ever) attempted a similar experiment, but his head became stuck, temporarily, in the hole! An alien presence entered his mind, and Lizardo was shipped off to a mental hospital, where he plotted the destruction of the human race ("Laugh-a while you can, monkey boy! You all are-a gonna die!") Freed by the invasion force, Lithgow begins to carry out his threat!Meanwhile, Bonzai meets Penny Priddy (Ellen Barkin, in an early performance), the twin sister of his lost love, while the Hong Kong Cavaliers are performing at a gig, and begins wooing her with his philosophy of life ("No matter where you go...there you are.") A frantic call from the President and a murder attempt breaks up the romantic interlude, and the adventure REALLY begins! (If you aren't lost by now, you may just be a Buckaroo fan!)The film careens from one climax to another, scarcely allowing the viewer time to think (which, in a film like this, may be a GOOD thing!). Director W.D. Richter deftly keeps the tone light, although there is a heartbreaking death scene tossed in. As the situation grows more desperate, alien Black Lectoids, and the Buckaroo Bonzai Fan Club (Team Banzai) arrive to lend a hand! Will Good triumph? Will Buckaroo find happiness with Penny Priddy? Will the sequel, with Buckaroo taking on a world crime syndicate, ever be made? (Sadly, as the film bombed in it's initial release, THAT appears unlikely!)Loaded with more imagination than any three films you can name, and a oddball sense of humor, to boot, 'The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai' is a wonderful, wacky triumph, that challenges you to toss aside preconceptions, and 'enjoy the ride'!I HIGHLY recommend it!