The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

W.D. Richter

Writer:

Earl Mac Rauch (writer)

Release Date:

15 August 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Beings from Another Dimension have invaded your world.

Plot:

Adventurer/surgeon/rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his band of men, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, take on evil alien invaders from the 8th dimension.

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Creature | Alien | Spacecraft Accident | Motorcycle

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Peter Weller	...	Buckaroo Banzai
John Lithgow	...	Lord John Whorfin / Dr. Emilio Lizardo
Ellen Barkin	...	Penny Priddy
Jeff Goldblum	...	New Jersey
Christopher Lloyd	...	John Bigboote
Lewis Smith	...	Perfect Tommy
Rosalind Cash	...	John Emdall
Robert Ito	...	Professor Hikita
Pepe Serna	...	Reno Nevada
Ronald Lacey	...	President Widmark
Matt Clark	...	Secretary of Defense
Clancy Brown	...	Rawhide
William Traylor	...	General Catburd
Carl Lumbly	...	John Parker
Vincent Schiavelli	...	John O'Connor

Also Known As:

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Portugal:M/12 | UK:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Norway:15 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

609 E. Channel Rd., Rustic Canyon, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Sherwood

Trivia:

Overall concept and several names appear to be taken from the Doc Savage pulp magazines of the 30's and 40's: both main characters are multi-talented surgeons, adventurers, and musicians; and both have an inner circle of sidekicks with nicknames (Renny, Ham, Monk, Long Tom, and Johnny, compared to Reno, New Jersey, Perfect Tommy, and Rawhide).

Goofs:

Continuity: During the closing credit sequence with Buackaroo Banzai and the gang walking in the aqueduct, Perfect Tommy is first seen wearing a white jacket and black pants. As they take their final turn in front of the "Buckaroo Banzai" graffiti on the wall, Perfect Tommy is wearing a completely different outfit - gray jacket and red pants.

Quotes:

New Jersey: Why is there a watermelon there?
Reno: I'll tell you later.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Angel: Harm's Way (#5.9)" (2004)

Witty Sci-Fi Spoof

W.D Richter's Buckaroo Banzai succeeds on many levels, thanks to a wonderfully droll sensibility and inspired casting. Peter Weller lends a perfect, dead-pan seriousness to the very 'out there' proceedings, while John Lithgow chews up the scenery as the fiendish Dr. Lizardo. Ellen Barkin is particularly fetching as Penny Priddy, while Jeff Goldblum stakes out his turf with an engaging feverishness that is all his own. Christopher Lloyd takes a relatively low-key approach to his role and does well for it, allowing for Lithgow's extravagance. Welding the pieces together is a delirious, kinetic script by Earl M. Rauch.The film, although essentially a spoof of science fiction films and comic book superheroes, remains a delightful, inventive enigma of eighties cinema. The look of the picture is quite good, and (considering it's meager budget) highly-digestible. Given that the film never found a mass audience, it is surprising that so many individuals seem to remember it as vividly, and as fondly as they do. I can only hope that after everyone has gotten their fill of a certain "galaxy far, far away", that a return to the more substantial basics of storytelling and characterization is deemed imperative. Meanwhile sit back, relax, and laugh yourself silly with a charming, 'little' film that tends to be so much more.