“The very oddest good movie in many a full moon,” Buckaroo Banzai combines “humor, imagination, a little oriental mysticism and a passel of sharp performances [into] very chic sci-fi” (Time)! Oscar(r) nominees* Peter Weller and John Lithgow team with Emmy(r) winners Ellen Barkin and Christopher Lloyd for a fiendishly clever, action-packed adventure in an outlandishworld you’ll want to visit again and again! Brilliant brain surgeon Banzai (Weller) just made scientific history. Shifting his Oscillation Overthruster into warp speed, he’s the first man ever to travel to the Eighth Dimension and come back sane! But when his sworn enemy, the demented Dr. Lizardo (Lithgow), devises a plot to steal the Overthruster and bring an evil army of aliens back todestroy Earth, Buckaroo goes cranium to cranium with the madman in an extra-dimensional battle thatcould result in total annihilation of the universe! *1993: Short Film/Live Action, Partners (Weller); 1983: Supporting Actor, Terms Of Endearment (Lithgow)The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension is one of the most agreeably insane movies ever made. Peter Weller stars as Buckaroo, an acclaimed neurosurgeon, particle physicist, and, of course, rock star. He travels with the Hong Kong Cavaliers, a band of hard-rocking scientists who are also really good dressers. Buckaroo’s interdimensional experiments with his Operation Overthruster throw him (and the Earth) straight into the middle of an alien war, and before you know it, he’s got just a few hours to save the world. Confused? Hang on, we’re only 10 minutes into the movie. Buckaroo Banzai hurls you right into the middle of its comic-book universe and keeps going at a breakneck pace. It’s chock-full of overlapping jokes (even as we’re trying to make sense of Dr. Lizardo’s hospital room, a voice calmly announces that “lithium is no longer available on credit” over the PA system), hilarious throwaway dialogue (“You’re like Jerry Lewis: you give me hope to carry on.”), and weirdness just for the sheer joy of it (“Why is there a watermelon there?” “I’ll tell you later.”). You’ll want to watch it at least twice–there’s just no way to catch everything the first time around. Ellen Barkin has a terrific time doing a dead-on film noir moll parody as Penny Priddy, and John Lithgow turns in a brilliant manic performance as Dr. Lizardo/John Whorfin. There is no reason not to own this movie unless you are cold and dead inside. Laugh while you can, Monkey Boys. –Ali DavisPeter Weller plays that Renaissance Man, Buckaroo Banzai, a neurosurgeon, car racer, rock singer, and alien chaser in this overdone sci-fi adventure from 1984. After crashing his nuclear-fueled race car and causing a disturbance in the eighth dimension, Banzai releases some extremely unappealing aliens into our atmosphere. First-time director W.D. Richter (Late for Dinner) pulls out all the stops, resulting in a manic dash that is often incoherent. The intent may have been to re-create old-time serials with a pulp-fiction bent, but the screenplay, full of macho dialogue and cool poses, tries too hard. We could have done with a less complicated story and more character development. Still, consider this flawed fun, because it may be silly, but it is also clever. Originally released as The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. – Rochelle O’Gorman
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March 5, 2010
#1
Im not actually a kid. (its year 2004)This movie is the worst movie i have ever seen.
You will deeply regret wasting your time on seeing this movie. The story plot is horrible, everything is cheesy, and the whole movie altogether is bland. Even though this movie got good reviews, they were lying. Remember this review, because you will agree with me if you do watch this piece of crap.
March 5, 2010
#2
I’m 28 years old and until yesterday, I’ve never seen this “famous” movie.
Incredible, it’s simply awful on every points, really hard to watch from debut to end; the only interesting element is the music, but unfortunately, most of tracks from the score are not present in the film or mixed at minimum volume!!
That’s all I can tell you, I think people who loves this movie
must be happy and smile everytime without know why!
Tomorrow I will have to destroy this DVD with my car.
March 5, 2010
#3
First, I must admit I have exceedingly low standards when it comes to enjoying movies. This is especially true with sci fi. My wife just shakes her head as I buy DVD’s and record movies she can’t stand.
Having said that, this movie stunk. It was so bad I’ve never been able to actually sit through an entire showing. I can’t even have it running on the TV as a mild distraction while doing other things, as I keep thinking I missed something interesting, rewind, and find I didn’t miss anything at all. There’s no plot, no substantial action, no special effects, no suspense, and certainly no climax. If someone taped two hours of grass growing, slapped this title on it, and sold it, I don’t think anyone would notice.
I’ve seen very few movies I didn’t like, and this one is at the top (or bottom) of that list. It only got one star because this site won’t let me put zero. Blah!
March 5, 2010
#4
I really, really, REALLY tried to watch this movie; I gave it many chances, but it was so abysmally bad I have never been able to stomach more than thirty minutes – and I demand those thirty minutes of my life back!
Insipid plot, scattalogical direction, cardboard comic book charactors, this movie “ranks” (pun intended) with “Plan 9 From Outer Space” for the worst of all time.
I really hate not finishing what I start – this movie was an exception.
March 5, 2010
#5
After watching this film, I immediately knew I’d just witnessed one of the lowest points in motion picture history. However, that in itself was understandable–after all, how many people can truly claim they’ve beyond a doubt seen one of the worst films ever made? Not to say Buckaroo Banzai was the only bad film I’ve watched–I’ve seen many terrible films which hollywood studios have passed off as real entertainment, including “Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot.”
Buckaroo Banzai, at its best, made absolutely no sense, had no real point, no incredible action scenes to speak of–not much of anything. But that’s all okay. There are many pointless, worthless films out there.
What struck me as inane about Buckaroo Banzai was this–it seems to have a large following. Some strange “cult” film appeal, which apparently leads people hopelessly into the love of obscure and pointless things (some may prefer to call it “existential,” or “experimental”) has led most of the reviews I’ve read of this piece of garbage to be praising.
In the special features section of this DVD, the director tried to pass of this ridiculous piece of mess off as a “cult classic.” Then he continued on to say that the lack of cohesion of his film was due to lack of funds.
This film simply had NO plot, NO developed characters, and NO sense! A joke was made which played on the name of one of the characters, “Perfect Tommy.” However, nowhere earlier in the film had any understandable reference been made to this character as Perfect Tommy. I did not understand the joke until I watched the special features in which the director explained it all–and even then, the joke was terrible.
There is NO excuse for bad filmmaking. To create a [bad movie] and then tell audiences that you intended to make it that way is a petty excuse, and it’s a shame anyone ever fell for it. I suppose some director should come out of the woodwork and say that “George of the Jungle” was actually supposed to be a profound intellectual dialogue on idiotic filmmaking, or that “Master of Disguise” showcases Dana Carvey’s genius at making himself look like an untalented, albeit sometimes mildly funny fool.
There is no excuse for bad filmmaking. And there is certainly no excuse for Buckaroo Banzai.