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

(3 👽's out of 5)

"No matter where you go, there you are!" 

Director

W.D. Richter

Cast

Peter Weller - Dr. Buckaroo Banzai
John Lithgow - Dr. Emilio Lizardo / Lord John Whorfin
Jeff Goldblum - Dr. Sidney Zweibel
Christopher Lloyd - John Bigbooté
Ellen Barkin - Penny Priddy
Lewis Smith - Tommy "Perfect Tommy"
Robert Ito - Prof. Tohichi Hikita
Vincent Schiavelli - John O'Connor
Bill Henderson - Casper Lindley
Damon Hines - Scooter Lindley
Carl Lumbly - John Parker
Clancy Brown - Rawhide

No doubt Sci-Fi fans across the interwoven makeup of my personal social media accounts have waited with shaking breath full of anticipation, unable to contain themselves wondering what movie I'd post about next. Well, here it is. 

When I came up with this particular blog, the 1984 star-studded cinematic Sci-Fi experience, "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension" was one title I had on forefront of my mind to watch and comment on.

And by star-studded, I mean it has RoboCop himself, Peter Weller along with John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd, Vincent Schiavelli, and that moody prison guard from "Shawshank Redemption," Clancy Brown.

I have never seen this movie before, but I've definitely heard of it. You don't forget a title like "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension." It sounds corny yet intriguing. It draws you in with the idea that you just gotta see this. It's one of my favorite Sci-Fi titles, second to the 2001 movie, "Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack." It just rolls off the tongue.

This movie feels like an ode to all self-proclaimed nerds and geeks out there. Perhaps that wasn't the case back in 1984 when it was released. But it sure feels that way now.

Banzai (Peter Weller) is a half Japanese, half American race car driving nuclear physicist, neurosurgeon, rock star crime fighter who has to battle aliens. 

He and his mentor, Dr. Tohichi Hikita (Robert Ito), have successfully designed a breakthrough device called an "oscillation overthruster" which allows a solid object to pass through another solid object. 

The film opens as they test the overthruster by strapping it to a jet car that Banzai drives straight towards the side of a mountain. 

The car successfully travels through the side of the mountain and comes out on the other side in one piece. When Banzai is within the space occupied by the mountain, he breaks through into the 8th dimension. 

When he's back in the normal dimension on the other side of the mountain, Banzai discovers an alien creature attached to the underside of the car. 

Anyhow, this amazing scientific breakthrough makes the news. Dr. Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow), who's incarcerated at the Trenton Home for the Criminally Insane, catches the story on T.V. 

This news sets him off as he and Hikita built a prototype oscillation overthruster back in 1938.

Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai.

However, Lizardo tested it before all the kinks and bugs were fixed, and his attempt to pass through matter caused him to be stuck between dimensions. 

While in the 8th dimension, Lizardo was attacked by aliens until his colleagues were able to free him. 

He came out of his experience with much more violent aggression than he previously had. 

Well, now he knows Banzai has travelled across the 8th dimension. So, Lizardo escapes the asylum to go find and steal the overthruster. 

Meanwhile, Banzai and his band, "The Hong Kong Cavaliers" are performing at a night club when Banzai stops the music to address a girl, Penny Priddy (Ellen Barkin), who's crying in the audience. 

He talks to her for a moment before dedicating his next song to her. While he croons Penny, sheattempts suicide by pointing a gun to her head. 

However, someone bumps her arm, and she accidentally fires in the air. The band mistakes the gunshot as an assassination attempt, leading to her arrest.

Banzai goes to visit Priddy in jail and discovers she's the long-lost identical twin sister of his late wife, Peggy. So, he gets her out of prison. 

Later, during a press conference where Banzai answers questions about the overthruster, the journey through matter, the alien creature he found on his car, and his experience in the 8th dimension, Banzai gets a phone call from the President of the United States. 

When he takes the call, there's phone interference caused, unbeknownst to Banzai, by aliens in their spacecraft heading to Earth. 

The aliens send an electric shock to him through the phone which programs his brain to see aliens disguised as humans. 

John Bigbooté (Christopher Lloyd) and John O'Connor (Vincent Schiavelli) are two of these humanoid aliens present at the press conference. 

They disrupt the conference and kidnap Hikita before Banzai chases them around and rescues his mentor. Banzai can see them as the horrible aliens they really are. The Cavaliers come to rescue Banzai and Hikita, and then all return to the Banzai Institute.

While they're all there, a humanoid alien named John Parker (Carl Lumbly) delivers a message to Banzai on behalf of the leader of the peaceful Black Lectroids of Planet 10.

The message is from a female Lectroid named John Emdall (Rosalind Cash) who informs Banzai that the Black Lectroids have been at war with Red Lectroids, and banished them from the 8th dimension. 

When Lizardo was trapped in the dimension back in 1938, the leader of the Red Lectroids, Lord John Whorfin, took over Lizardo's mind and body. On top of that, Whorfin helped a lot of his allies escape that day. 

So, now that Banzai and Hikita have successfully mastered the overthruster, Whorfin and his allies will certainly try to steal it so they can free more Red Lectroids.

John Emdall wants Banzai to stop him. If he doesn't, she promises the Black Lectroids will attack Russia from their ship, blame it on the U.S. and that'll start a nuclear war which will destroy the world and the Red Lectroids. 

Well, Banzai doesn't have much of a choice now.

Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Sidney Zweibel.

So, he and the Cavaliers track the Red Lectroids to a company called Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems in New Jersey.

They also figure out, thanks in large part to Dr. Sidney Zweibel (Jeff Goldblum) that Orson Welles's 1938 broadcast of "War of the Worlds" was actually a real news broadcast cover the arrival of the Lectroids. But they forced him to claim it was all fictional.

At Yoyodyne, the Reds have been trying to build a craft, disguised as a U.S. Air Force Bomber, that can successfully cross into the 8th dimension.

As the Cavaliers are figuring out what they're going to do, Red Lectroids break in and kidnap Penny Priddy. It won't be long before the aliens realize she has the overthruster with her. 

Banzai and the Cavaliers need to rescue her and get the overthruster back before it falls into the hands of the Red Lectroids, and the Black Lectroids attack Russia which will destroy humanity. 

"The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension" is definitely a product of its time. Still, it's a movie that doesn't get enough attention. 

After all, it was up against some strong competition as "Ghostbusters," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "The Terminator," "Amadeus," "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," and "Gremlins" were all released the same year. 

It's a spectacle that needs to be experienced firsthand. 

It's a cult classic in the true meaning of the term. That is, it has its fanbase while it tends to whiz past mainstream audiences. I sincerely appreciate that fanbase. 

John Lithgow's performance really carries the movie. He has so much energy and enjoyment in his insane villainous role. It's a performance that deserves so much acclaim and nods, if it hasn't received a lot already. Check out this 2016 interview where Lithgow discusses his role in this film. 

A lot of the lines, as quirky as they are, are hard to forget. There's a lot of quotable catchy stuff in this flick. 

"History is-a made at night. Character is what you are in the dark."

Or, "Lithium is no longer available on credit."
How about, "Evil pure and simple by way of the eighth dimension!"

John Lithgow shouts this line in brilliantly insane over-the-top typical 1980s Lithgow fashion, "May I pass along my congratulations for your great interdimensional breakthrough. I'm sure, in the miserable annals of the Earth, you will be duly enshrined." 

Then there's this line! 

"Buckaroo, I don't know what to say. Lectroids? Planet 10? Nuclear extortion? A girl named 'John'?" Try dropping that line out of context at a party, or something. 

Also, Christopher Lloyd's character is called "John Bigbooté." That can't be ignored. It definitely came from the mind of an eight-year-old. All throughout the movie, they keep addressing him as "Bigbooté." It's said over and over again! Bigbooté!

I believe this is the directorial debut of writer W. D. Richter. His name would next be found as a writer for the 1986 John Carpenter movie, "Big Trouble in Little China." He was also a writer on "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978) and the 1991Stephen King movie "Needful Things" which stars Max von Sydow.  

This movie is like a mix of Dr. Who, Star Trek, and a of 80's punk to taste. 

It drags on a bit at times, especially with Banzai and the Cavaliers chasing aliens and all that. 

It packs in too many plot points for the audience to take in, coming across as scatterbrained and disjointed. 

Even so, the movie has creativity which makes it clear that the movie is trying really hard. It deserves recognition for its efforts. 

It's supposed to be a Sci-Fi satire, but the satirical nature comes across subtly, except with names like, well... Bigbooté. 

Some of the lines sounded very scripted and are delivered awkwardly. 

And some of the actors portraying aliens clearly sound like they're talking through Halloween masks. That's likely because they're wearing masks.

However, the characters are likeable enough, but too many of the side characters aren't captivating nor interesting. And I have no doubt Goldblum tapped back into his role, Dr. Sidney Zweibel, when he played Dr. Ian Malcolm in "Jurassic Park."   

Looking past all the problems, the movie manages to be a fun film that allows the audience to let loose, not take the experience seriously, and escape life for 102 minutes. I can see why "Buckaroo Banzai" has a cult following. The imagery and story, as overpacked as it is, is imaginative and fun. 

The movie ends with the claim that Buckaroo Banzai would return in "Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League." That unfortunately never happened. I'd watch it. 

Anyways, this movie is definitely an experience to say the least.