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Out of all the films I saw as a kid, Buckaroo Banzai is one of the ones that has this aspect to it. When I first saw it I didn't love it, probably because of this. There was more there than I could process as an 8 year-old, but as the years went on and I revisited the film I got more and more out of it. It's actually very similar to the Big Lebowski in that on the one hand it's a simple action movie, one of a million in the 80s, that deals with the threat of an alien invasion thwarted by a small band of unlikely humans at the last possible moment. Yet the cast of characters is amazingly rich and the plot is, like Lebowski, unnecessarily complex and weird to a point where it all becomes much more than the sum of its parts.
I want to say that I first saw this film on HBO during the day on either a summer vacation or a weekend sometime in the mid-eighties, and like I said sort of dismissed it. Later on I would keep coming back to it because of the actors, a lot of which went on to star in other movies I loved (Peter Weller in Robocop, John Lithgow in Harry and the Hendersons, Jeff Goldbum in The Fly, Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future). I also love the unexplained "I just started reading in the middle of this comic book" feel the film has. All the unanswered questions. Who is this infamous World Crime League? Why is Perfect Tommy (Lewis Smith) so perfect? Who is Peggy Priddy, twin sister of Penny Priddy, and Buckaroo's first wife who was murdered? Why does New Jersey (Goldblum) have such an affinity for woolly chaps and 50s era cowboy clothing? Etc., etc., etc. In fact, in the film itself Buckaroo and his team, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, are stars of their own Marvel comic book, which was also released in real life by Marvel.
Add to this the dry delivery by Peter Weller of some really obtuse yet hilarious lines such as: "Hey, hey, hey. Don't be mean. We don't have to be mean because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are."
There are also a lot of little touches everywhere that make the film really fun to watch. How they manage to tie in the original invasion of the Lectroids to the 1938 Orson Welles broadcast of War of the Worlds is genius. I also love that the character names are silly and funny, breaking the unspoken rule of comedy of no funny names and still managing to pull it off. I mean Buckaroo Banzai? Penny Priddy? All the Lectroids being named John something or other (Christopher Lloyd's Bigboote is a standout.) Tie this together with insanely esoteric concepts like an 8th dimension that allows solid matter to travel through other solid matter, yet also serves as a gateway to either a parallel universe or as a worm hole to another galaxy, and you have a very rich and fun film that manages to mix action, comedy, and pulp nostalgia into one giant roller coaster ride.
I really do love this film, right down to its dated special effects (some much more effective than today's CGI nightmares leaking off the big screen) and corny dialogue. I love this film because it's intentional and crafted to be exactly what it is. I think the scene that sums this up the best is the end sequence, a wacky dance/walking montage set to some awesome 80s synth music that finds all of the characters in the film (except the bad guys I think, but including those who have died) dynamically joining up at a concrete drainage area to just, well, walk dynamically. It really is a beautifully shot scene with plenty of fun zooms, twists and turns that is so upbeat, yet so serious it's almost mind numbing. Wes Anderson made an homage to this sequence in The Life Aquatic at the end when all the crew members and characters meet up and walk to the ship.
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Reviews with images
Over The Top Rip Roaring Good Fun, Lithgow's Performance Stands Out
Buckaroo Banzai is one of those films I go back and watch again every few years. The eclectic plot line, characters and (by today's standards) hilarious special effects are a lot of fun. But what really makes this movie worth going back to is the cast. Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum and many others that were in this film saw their careers flourish in the following years.The movie is filled with over-the-top humor and crazy plot twists. Lithgow's Dr. Lizardo is stunning but don't discount Weller's or Goldblum's performances either. I still laugh at how all the aliens are named John... Of course, in the end Buckarro saves the world (we are all still here, right?).I'm kind of sorry there wasn't a sequel. The film seemed to keep that possibility open. Decades too late now.You gotta know if I keep coming back to this film I'm going to give it 5 stars. I see it very differently now then I did back when it first came out, but I enjoy it every bit as much if not more.
Top reviews from other countries
David P.
Un DVD qui vous donne envie de revenir dans les années 80
Reviewed in France on November 25, 2023
Laurence R. Hunt
An all time favourite - a masterpiece of its very narrow genre!
Reviewed in Canada on August 29, 2007
