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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension 
Actors : John Ashton, Jonathan Banks, Ellen Barkin, Raye Birk, Clancy Brown
Studio : MGM (Video & DVD)
by MGM (Video & DVD)
Brand : TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Release Date : 2002-01-01
Publisher : MGM (Video & DVD)
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 0027616862785
UPC : 027616862785
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 210 reviews)
List Price : $14.98
Our Price : $6.55
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Americancivilwar.com essential video |
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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 Davis |
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Americancivilwar.com |
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Peter 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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Product Description |
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"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® nominees* Peter Weller and John Lithgow team with Emmy® winners Ellen Barkin and Christopher Lloyd for a fiendishly clever action-packed adventure in an outlandish world 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 to destroy Earth Buckaroo goes cranium to cranium with the madman in an extra-dimensional battle that could result in total annihilation of the universe!*1993: Short Film/Live Action Partners (Weller); 1983: Supporting Actor Terms Of Endearment (Lithgow)System Requirements:Running Time: 102 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG UPC: 027616862785 Manufacturer No: 1002040 |
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Perfect |
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The Princess Bride and Young Frankenstein perfect movies -- just like this one. If you've ever thought of yourself as a different sort of person, if people have thought you were wierd, this movie's for you. If you've never thought of yourself that way, this movie's still for you, because you'll laugh and change the way you look at things. Oh, for goodness sake, stop reading these reviews and just click on the darn movie! |
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Odd but interesting |
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This is definitely not something that will appeal to everyone. My opinion improved after repeated viewings. |
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There's no there there... |
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I'm sorry but I have to go against the flow of positive reviews and say this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It has moments - isolated performances such as John Lithgow's speech to the other aliens - that are pretty funny, but as a film it is a completely disjointed mess. There are many scenes that don't seem to connect to anything. The editors could just have easily shuffled the scenes and put them together in random order since it doesn't make any difference (and maybe they did). And could the acting have been more non-existent? No Mabel, it couldn't! Instead of getting well known actors it would have been easier for the film makers to wander around town until they found and recruited a local garage band. If you want to see a really bad sci-fi film that is funny in spite of its' awfulness have a look at Zardoz. If you really need Buckaroo Bonzai do yourself a favor and just get a movie poster - it will be less painful. |
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Not As "Out There" As I Expected |
Really, this movie is quite typical of what you'd expect in a sci-fi movie. Two scientists attempt to discover a way to travel inside of things based on the premise that atoms of matter are composed of mostly empty space. The scientist played by John Lithgow succeeds only partially, and the results of his experiment leave him in a nutty mental state. The other scientist later teams up with Buckaroo Banzai, and Buckaroo is the first guy ever to pass through a solid mountain by entering what I assume to be the 8th dimension.
Buckaroo is really the most likeable character in the movie. He never loses his cool and he can pretty much do anything. Unlike Neil Connery in Operation Double 007, Peter Weller makes this role somewhat believable.
Anyway John Lithgow finds out Buckaroo's experiment has succeeded completely, so he breaks out of the mental asylum to try to get his hands on some of Buckaroo's technological stuff that will finally allow him access into the 8th dimension. And we find out that the reason he wants to get there so bad is his body has been taken over by one of the alien beings from that dimension, and this alien wants to go home. Lithgow gives a terrific quotable speech when he's just on the verge of accomplishing this long awaited task.
But of course, he's foiled by that darn Buckaroo Banzai. A few good aliens from the 8th dimension warn Buckaroo that stopping John Lithgow is imperative or some kind of physical explosion will happen that will cause nations of the world to lose their cool and go to war with one another, destroying the entire planet. It's all very scientific. Buckaroo heeds their advice, gets help from an alien disguied as a Jamaician, and the world is saved.
This is like a heavily sci-fi movie with just a few eccentricities thrown in sporatically here and there. I figured it would have a LOT more eccentricities, but it's mostly just your typical, somewhat mediocre, sci-fi movie. Aside from the character names, the Buckaroo Banzai comic, Jeff Goldblum's cowboy costume, and the whole rock band image, there really aren't any eccentricities in this film.
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of sci-fi movies, which explains most of my disappointment, but I love the old 80's style music, and Buckaroo Banzai and his band are just plain cool. Even though I don't care for their movie all that much, I'll probably promote the characters themselves till my dying day. Buckaroo Banzai rules! |
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If you get the humor, this is for you |
I saw this movie in its original theatrical run. I remember liking it inmensely. I have not seen it since, and bought the DVD since it has a lot of extras. No dissapoinments here. The film still works for me, and the extras (WARNING-SPOILER AHEAD) continues in the same humorous vein, so if you get the humour, you will have hours of entertainment. And here is the key: reading other reviews I found out a lot of viewers don't get the humour. There is no way to explain what tickles some people over others. It does not make a film bad (as they say), but unique and different to the normal "satires" out there. So open your mind, go back to those years (it helps in understanding the humour) and have a blast.
The quality of the image and sound is very good. The extras are a blast (as I said-it continues in the vein of the movie), and it gives you a lot of behind the scenes information. It is a shame that the work print has dissapeared, since the quality of the added scenes in the extras is not very good (source is video), but it's better than nothing. Could not test the NUON features since I don't have a player that supports it. From what I understand, this is the only version in original widescreen, (the videos and laser were pan and scan) so you can enjoy the whole image (I was lucky to see the 70MM blowup on release, but the film is shot in 35mm). |
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