The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai across the 8th Dimension

In 1984 I first saw Buckaroo Banzai and found it manic and confusing and totally amazing (I think the title prepares you for that sort of film). Buckaroo Banzai was a modern day Doc Savage. I had to watch the film again before I could fully understand it. It became a cult film, and rightly so. Crazy ideas, great sets, props and direction, and a brilliant cast – Peter Weller, John Lithgow (preparing for his role in Third Rock From the Sun), Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin, and Christopher Lloyd (preparing for his role in Back to the Future).

Banzai (Weller) uses his Oscillation Overthruster (not to be confused with a Flux Capacitor) to break through to the 8th dimension. When Lord John Whorfin (Lithgow, who seems to have been instructed to overact as much as possible) hears this he plans to return himself and the rest of the Red Lectroids (quite a collection of actors later known for playing oddballs), who have been banished to New Jersey since 1938, back to Planet 10 to try, once again, to take control. The Black Lectroids (who look and sound like they are from Jamaica) appear in space and threaten to start World War 3 if the Red Lectroids aren’t stopped. It’s up to Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers to save the day.

In 2008 the film didn’t seem as manic or complex, but it is still brilliant piece of work and has the most amazing eighties fashion. It’s a bit like music from that era, what seemed crazy then seems not so crazy now, but the fashion is still wild. There should have been a sequel, or a series films, to provide the thinking person an alternative to Indiana Jones. They do tease a sequel at the end of the movie, Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League, but it, sadly, never happened.