The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension is a curious film insomuch as, right up front, it has an inconsistency with the title (the opening credits simply read 'Buckaroo Banzai," despite what the film is officially called), and the opening narration veers considerably away from the words on the screen. Weird. At any rate, it's a fun, frolicking, rollicking comic book movie, that, also, curiously, has few highs and lows; actually none. It presents its camp, comic book vision as evenly, as sedately as actor Peter "Naked Lunch, Robocop" Weller. Jeff Goldblum, Dan Hedaya, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, and Ellen Barkin are along for the ride.

(But the whole cast is incredible and perfect.)

Buckaroo Banzai is a comic book superhero, polymath, rock star, brain surgeon, and astrophysicist who rides a jet car through a mountain where an alien organism attaches to his car. This is right after he and Jeff Goldblum are seen performing brain surgery, Goldblum delivering dialog most naturally and convincingly manner (which he always excels at). Later Goldblum will don a Wild West outfit and go on a mission to whip some Red Lectroid ass.

Dr. Emilio Lizard (John Lithgow), a caricature Italian mad scientist, sees that Banzai has broken through to the "Eighth Dimension," something HE wanted to do, and tried to do, back in the Good Year 1938. Lizardo escapes from the "Home for the Criminally Insane," while Red LEctroid aliens are landing in Grover's Mill, New Jersey, which, by the by, Orson Welles tried to warn us about in his famous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast.

Penny Priddy (Ellen Barkin), the twin sister of Banzai's lost love, tries to kill herself while Banzai and his band The Hong Kong Cavaliers are performing in a nightclub. Penny is jailed for what is a mistaken assassination attempt, but Banzai later frees her. This is no good because she ends up on a Red Lectroid ship refusing to tell the Red Lectroid aliens (who are red, as opposed to the Black Lectroids, who are green) where the "Oscillation Overthrust" is. For some damn reason.

I'm not sure how this situation resolves itself, and, for the sake of a simple review, I have to say, I'm not giving up any spoilers here (I am occasionally guilty of doing that). Peter Weller looks pretty good here, and all the Hong Kong Cavaliers are pretty handsome; smart, and well-dressed. I like the fact that one of them is called "Perfect Tommy" (for obvious reasons).

Christopher Lloyd gives an outrageous performance, as does Lithgow, as "John Bigbooté" a disguised Re Lectroid who gets eighty-sixed by Lizardo, although, again, I'm not sure why. Weller is detached and cool; a perfect comic book superhero except for when the Lectroids send energy blasts through the telephone that allow him to see the hidden alien shapeshifters in their natural, toad-like states.

At the end of the picture, the Hong Kong Cavaliers take a walk through a sort of vast outdoor liminal space under a blazing blue sky, with appropriately enough, the "Blue Blaze Irregulars", the Captain Midnight Decoder Ring set that is armed to the teeth and ready to do battle. The closing soundtrack music is jaunty synthetic stuff, and I would have preferred even swaggering rock. At the very least, the ending is a little too happy-assed to be very impressive, but I guess it's a reflection of the Yuppie zeitgeist of 1984. Or thereabouts.

Buckaroo Banzai, after avoiding it for years, turned out to be a tremendous lot of mindless cinematic fun. Just don't expect high highs or low lows here; its fun comes off as restrained, its joys aimed at you like a fist in a velvet glove.

One worn by a Lectroid. A Red one.

Buckaroo Banzai HD Trailer

Connect with me on Facebook