Buckaroo Banzai

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Written by KTP

The Adventures of Bucakroo Banzai across the 8th Dimension:  I’m still waiting for Buck to take on the World Crime League.

The only way I can picture Buckaroo Banzai is the opening of the Big Lebowski. “Sometimes there’s a man…” Well, sometimes there’s a script. Sometimes there’s a script that just fits for its’ time. Sometimes there’s a script that just boggles the mind how something so unique, weird, bizarre, and cool can slip through the cracks of the Hollywood checks and balance system. Sometimes there’s a script that makes all the actors involved go, “What the fuck!,” in either confusion or pure joy. Sometimes there’s a crew that gets together and takes that script and knocks it out of the park. Yes, I’m talking about the film where Jeff Goldblum wears the dumbest cowboy outfit ever, and John Lithgow calls Jonathan Banks a monkey boy.

Just roll with it.

Buckaroo Banzai starts off with a brief exposition of the origins of Buck. The film drops you into his world like you are parachuting into fucking Normandy. Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller), a neurosurgeon, particle physicist, test pilot, and rock star (not kidding), is testing out a device called the oscillation overthruster. Naturally, a man of his caliber does so by strapping himself into a jet car and driving through a mountain, into another dimension, and bringing back an alien organism thus providing proof of life beyond our world. Upon hearing of Buckaroo’s success through the news, Dr. Lizardo (John Lithgow) contacts his friends at Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems so they can steal the overthruster for their own needs. You see, Lizardo’s body has been infiltrated by a “Red Lectroid”, a race of beings from the 8th dimension that have been exiled from Planet 10 (it gets better) by the Black Lectroids who look, act, and talk like Jamaican Rastafarians. Once he gets the overthruster, he plans on starting up the invasion on Planet 10. It’s up to Banzai and his colorful crew of rock star/bodyguard/assistants, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, to stop this from going down.

"Hey asshole! Only I can make fun of Goldblum you motherfucker."

You remember in Under Siege where the film tried to make you believe that Steven Segal was a fucking cook? Buckaroo Banzai doesn’t give a fuck whether you buy it or not. You are introduced to him being late to a test flight of his jet car because he was busy helping someone perform brain surgery. Next scene, Buckaroo is jamming at a nightclub with his band. Sure, you gotta buy the whole Rasta aliens, the president with a busted back having a direct line to Buck, and the fact that everyone silently buys it, but there lies the draw. This is your hero and this is the bizarre world he lives in; the stranger it gets the more fun it is.

Have you ever been so cool that you stopped an alien invasion, banged your lost girlfriend's sister, and been too busy to talk to the president all in a fucking bowtie? The answer is no.

On top of all this, the film purely condenses the 80’s, from the over the top science, the special effects, and even the padded shoulder blazers. This film doesn’t roll around it. It pushes it to the front and lives it. This film could never have been made today without turning into to some shitty indie flick you constantly pass over in your Netflix queue. Thank God someone dumped millions of dollars into this film and rolled the dice. We are better for it.