The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

1984
Directed by W.D. Richter

It's difficult to give a rating to Buckaroo Banzai. Chances are, you're either going to love or hate this campy and extremely odd low-budget sci-fi spoof. To me, it's a complete riot, full of non-sequiturs, cheap gags, inside jokes and general weirdness; but I wouldn't be surprised if somebody said that they felt they were not in on the joke. You definitely have to pay close attention to get a lot of the humour, and even then you might find yourself lost. There is a non-sensical, slightly insane dynamic to Buckaroo Banzai, and if that's not your idea of comedy, then you might be better to avoid this film.

Discussing the plot could get a bit complicated, so I'll be brief instead. Dr. Buckaroo Banzai is a brilliant polymath, equally at ease performing brain surgery, engaging in theoretical physics, playing the guitar, french horn, piano, and singing in his band the Hong Kong Cavaliers, gunslinging, brandishing a samurai sword, and adventuring. When Banzai drives a modified Ford pickup through a mountain using a prototype Oscillation Overthruster, he discovers an 8th dimension existing parallel to our own universe - except that he wasn't the first to discover it. That honour goes to Dr. Emilio Lizardo, who literally made it halfway into the 8th dimension and was possessed by the evil dictator Lord John Whorfin of Planet 10. Stranded and determined to return to his homeworld, John Whorfin plans to take Dr. Banzai's Overthruster. With the help of other extradimensional beings called Red Lectroids (all named John), Whorfin puts into motion events that may lead to the destruction of planet Earth. It's Banzai's job to stop him, along with the rest of the Hong Kong Cavaliers - all gunslingers and scientists like himself.

The cast is awesome. Peter Weller plays Buckeroo Banzai with a combination of zen-like detachment and Flash Gordon swagger. The great John Lithgow is the nefarious Dr. Lizardo - a true lunatic. If this movie had nothing else but Lithgow and his ridiculously funny Italian accent, it would already be a classic. Definitely the funniest I've ever seen him be. Ellen Barkin is hilarious as the unbalanced and comically over-sexualized Penny Priddy (what passes for a love interest in this most bizarre film; at one point, being held for ransom and bravely telling Banzai not to give in to the kidnappers' demands, Banzai rather unromantically tells her to "get off the phone"). Highlander's Clancy Brown and Lewis Smith are standouts as Rawhide and Perfect Tommy, members of the Cavaliers. Jeff Goldblum plays a cowboy brain surgeon who for some reason is nicknamed New Jersey. Buckaroo Banzai even has Christopher Lloyd as a Red Lectroid.

The humour is weird to say the least. So many things are going on at any one time, your head might be spinning a little bit. Some of the humour is immediately appealing, but a lot of it doesn't make sense at first. You sort of just have to roll with it and be prepared for anything. I honestly still don't get some of the jokes. I have no idea why there is a random watermelon in one scene, and they never explain anything. I'm thinking the commentary in the special features might be instructive. But for the most part, Buckaroo Banzai has me laughing my ass off constantly. An example of the humour: in the middle of a rock concert, Dr. Banzai stops the show because he hears somebody crying in the audience. His encouraging words for the suicidal woman and the restless audience? "Hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean... cause wherever you go... there you are." He then mispronounces her name and launches into a sappy ballad. Using completely absurd deduction, various characters have epiphanies about the nature of the bizarre phenomena they encounter. A Lectroid with a Jamaican accent (a hilarious Carl Lumbly) wearing something out of Little Richard's wardrobe and named John Parker, arrives with a big pink box for Dr. Banzai. In the box? A hologram player that can only be viewed with goggles clearly made out of bubble wrap. One Red Lectroid announces his comrade's death in complete seriousness: "John Valuk is dead. He fell on his head." You get the idea.

The filmmakers make the best possible use of their limited budget. The interiors of the alien spacecraft are full of random junk ranging from tin cans to plastic tubing held up by electrical tape. The Lectroids themselves are just people wearing Halloween-costume grade masks. The ship itself looks like a conch shell. Clothing ranges from new wave to lounge act to cowboy. All of this just makes the movie funnier. It actually blends together to really compliment the overall feel of the film.

It's actually amazing to me that they managed to get Buckaroo Banzai produced at all. In today's market, there is no way that it could exist. People are not willing to work for their laughs anymore; everybody wants everything laid out, plain and accessible. The makers of Buckaroo Banzai were not going to have any of that. Good for them, and too bad for us that we won't see another film like it. A true original, Banzai is deservedly a cult favourite. I just wish more people knew about it.

8.8