The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension Reviews and Ratings


  • dazmcc
    August 29, 2009
    dazmcc
    Brilliant. Just brilliant.
  • itbegins2005
    August 24, 2009
    itbegins2005
    Buckaroo Banzai: neurosurgeon, particle physics engineer, martial arts master, rock and roll star, consultant to the President, and head of the influential Banzai Institute. Has there ever been a cooler character to appear on the silver screen? While it is true that the eponymous...( read more) lead of the film is a fantastic bit of comical exaggeration, and that many of the characters surrounding him are just as strange and uniquely interesting, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension suffers from a serious, fatal flaw: it literally does not have anything resembling a coherent plot. The funny thing about this is that, at first, this is a great asset; the film is at its best at the beginning, when crazy concepts are tossed about with wild abandon, a random melange of wackiness with no form or structure to it. The problems come when the bizarre mish-mash of ideas thrust upon the screen finally do resolve themselves towards a specific dramatic destination; its as if the film becomes lackluster and uninteresting BECAUSE of its attempts to pull itself together into something more lucid, rather than in spite of this. The story, such as it is, begins when Banzai and his crew of scientists and engineers construct a jet-car that, through the use of a lazer channeling energy through the ingenious device called an Oscillation Overthruster, pierces the barrier between our world and the Eighth Dimension, a formless, electric limbo. Banzai soon discovers that he has inadvertantly opened a doorway for the malevolent Red Lectroids, an alien race from Planet Ten who are imprisoned in the dimension and whose remaining agents, led by Dr. Emilio Lizardo (alias John Whorfin), a scientist possessed by a Lectroid during an initial experiment with the 8th dimension, need the Overthruster to free their comrades and return to Planet Ten to rule over the benevolent Black Lectroids. In response, the Black Lectroids present Banzai with an ultimatum: stop the Red Lectroids from succeeding, or the Black Lectroids will instigate World War III. Or something like that. Leading the charge against this indecipherable onslaught of insanity is Peter Weller as the good Dr. Banzai himself, a man so immersed in the bizarre that he regards everything with cool scientific objectivity, no matter how outlandish it may be. Weller is the grounding force for the movie, the straight man to the plot's clown, even though his character is just as extreme as any other in the film; combining bits of a tweed-wearing professor with a rock-and-roll star, he projects an air of cool confidence that never goes too over-the-top- though it does go just over-the-top enough to fit into the movie (only Peter Weller could deliver a line like "Oh... the deuce, you say" without sounding like a moron). On the other side of the spectrum, you get John Lithgow going completely nutty as Dr. Emilio Lizardo, a scientist possessed by the interdimensional alien John Whorfin. With a preposterous accent, ghoulish appearance, and perpetually hunching, sinister gait, Lithgow plays the villain-as-cartoon, the zany bad guy stereotype who's more a bungler than a threat to anyone. Lithgow claimed to be going for a Dr. Caligari, silent-film presence with the character, and he does well with the operatic-ness (is that a word?) of the guy, which, on the screen, just makes him funnier. The rest of the cast, which includes Clancy Brown, Jeff Goldblum, and Christopher Lloyd, are pretty much just along for the ride, as the plot zig-zags in bizarre directions, from the revelation that Orson Welles' broadcast on Halloween 1938 was, in fact, real, to the discovery of sinister Red Lectroid sleeper agents at a press conference (with the accompanying dialogue "THERE! EVIL PURE AND SIMPLE BY WAY OF THE EIGHTH DIMENSION!"). The special effects are pretty decent by the standards of the time (a lot of lightning effects pepper the film), though I think the spaceship models were intentionally made to look fake- and if so, bravo; the fact is, the plot stretches credibility so much that feasable special effects are completely unnecessary- it's SUPPOSED to look stupid (though I can't help but think that Banzai's rock-star get-up was actually supposed to be cool at the time). The music is... painfully bad. Synthesizers were never my thing, and this movie is rife with them; I always thought they served to lessen the dramatic impact of music rather than enhance it. Sure, the joke is that the music is supposed to be "futuristic", but come on, they could have done better than that. The fact is, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension is kind of a mixed bag, with its uniquely dry sense of humor sometimes working marvelously and other times falling flat on its face (the original opening being a sterling example of the latter). Still, it is an immensly enjoyable trek through the depths of science fictional absurdity, one that merrily pokes fun at all the pretentions and cliches of the genre while playing the whole thing straight throughout. It ultimatlely comes across as the most bizarre, over-the-top sci-fi movie serial you've ever seen, kind of an anti-Star Wars. It may take some getting used to, but there's a quirky, hilarious film here, made just for the kind of high-brow sci-fi fans who may have forgotten just how absurd this genre really is.
  • herecomesthemoney69
    August 11, 2009
    herecomesthemoney69
    Was some weird ass 80s shit here. Story was stupid and the aliens looked pretty lame but did have some sort of coolness to it, I bet this is probably a cult classic.
  • leguy60653
    July 29, 2009
    leguy60653
    this is one funny movie.
  • crichardson5
    July 28, 2009
    crichardson5
    Sad no sequel ever materialized (except for a quasi-related movie "Big Trouble in Little China")
  • kater16123
    June 29, 2009
    kater16123
    my favorite nickname for a cousin
  • psyclock7
    June 28, 2009
    psyclock7
    Where ever you go there you are...Love this movie, seen it a few times.
  • sinaiwinterwolf
    June 17, 2009
    sinaiwinterwolf
    Really need to see this movie. One day I will.
  • bigmanhere89
    June 16, 2009
    bigmanhere89
    Remember, no matter where you go... There you are.
  • swhyman
    June 14, 2009
    swhyman
    Could not get past John Lithgow's exaggerated behavior, so I did not see the whole movie.
  • VTAcinephile
    June 13, 2009
    VTAcinephile
    Nearly perfect. One of the best films ever made. Funny and smart. Probably why it isn't well received by the masses (they aren't!).
  • thirdrail1
    June 12, 2009
    thirdrail1
    It's been twenty-five years and I STILL lay awake some nights hoping Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime League will get made. As long as Peter Weller is alive there is hope.
  • helwigs
    June 8, 2009
    helwigs
    I remember watching it on Sci-Fi back when they actually showed old Sci-Fi movies, and Tremers was on every day.
  • inkedbuggy
    June 5, 2009
    inkedbuggy
    With this good of a cast...how bad can it be?
  • frodofan
    May 21, 2009
    frodofan
    Weird. Random. Doesn't really make sense and yet it COULD have been really cool. A bomb at the box office apaprently - you can see why! Jeff Goldblum is the best part, appearing for the most part of the movie in a bizarre and funny red cowboy outfit. He also has the best and most...( read more) random line of the film, "Why is there a watermelon there?"
  • quick0000
    May 11, 2009
    quick0000
    This very overrated pot-luck tries to be a movie, a musical and a comic book. It fails.
  • Soundsofmadness
    March 27, 2009
    Soundsofmadness
    No thankyou - Not interested
  • browndude3649
    March 20, 2009
    browndude3649
    too many actors too mention. luv it!
  • alang95123
    February 10, 2009
    alang95123
    quite possibly the BESt movie ever made!!!







    arguably the greatest move of all time. PERIOD.
  • nickymo89
    January 7, 2009
    nickymo89
    Cult classic from the mid 80s whose cutting edge SFX are really showing their age. For a brain surgeon, scientist, rock star, comic book hero, adventurer that is good at so many things, he had trouble holding my attention. His attributes were so quickly gleamed over that none sto...( read more)od out. However, goofy 80's over-excessivenes that are nonetheless fun hold this adventure serial type of sc-fi homage together and while I don't fully get the whole cult classic appeal of this flick, I understand that others would.
  • hypathio7
    December 16, 2008
    hypathio7
    I didn't get this. It wasn't as fun as the posters and video case label and hype make it sound.
  • xxxcli213xxx
    December 10, 2008
    xxxcli213xxx
    no thanks not my kinda thing
  • usmcbrcn
    December 4, 2008
    usmcbrcn
    Fairly good scifi flick
  • wlb119
    November 8, 2008
    wlb119
    Guitar-playing brain surgeon Buckaroo Banzai travels into the 8th dimension, prompting the evil Dr. Lizardo (a brilliantly warped John Lithgow) to steal Buckaroo's oscillation overthruster in order to destroy Earth with an army of evil aliens. Ridiculous? You bet. It's also a ...( read more)blast.
  • StaisilD
    October 23, 2008
    StaisilD
    Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller), who is, to say the least, multi-talented. Brain surgeon, rock star, theoretical physicist, action hero, and the star of his own line of semi-biographical comic books. Buckaroo's interdimensional experiments with his new invention, the Operation Ove...( read more)rthruster, throw Earth into an alien war, and he finds himself with scant hours to save the world. Peter Weller, as Banzai, gets to play to his strengths, though in his case it's an icy-cool deadpan heroism, quiet, calm, and rigid. But Jeff Goldblum is certainly the most memorable here as a new recruit to Banzai's team. Director W.D. Richter keeps things moving as breathlessly as possible, sometimes too fast for us to absorb everything, learn character names, or even allow certain sentences to be finished. A pleasing draught of old-fashioned serial adventure clichés.
  • cuddlesgb
    October 16, 2008
    cuddlesgb
    What a weird film! This is what you do in between more important stuff.
  • maxpowerhjays
    September 4, 2008
    maxpowerhjays
    pretty good for what it is
  • kailuashane
    August 24, 2008
    kailuashane
    this love is the shit a must see
  • asteria6
    August 6, 2008
    asteria6
    Wheee! This was awful, in the Army of Darkness way.
  • jbardsleyjr
    July 23, 2008
    jbardsleyjr
    The true meaning of a cult movie. If you love it, you LOVE it. If not, it's OK at best.
  • kozureokami
    July 16, 2008
    kozureokami
    It's not my planet, monkeyboy!
  • bchall
    July 8, 2008
    bchall
    Only reason it's not a perfect score is 'cause Ellen Barkin weirds me out.
  • sweetteasutlery
    June 22, 2008
    sweetteasutlery
    "No Matter Where You Go... There you are..." "So What... beeg deal!" "It ain't my *#(#& planet, monkeyboy!" That about sums it up, but seriously it's a walk on the sci-fi side of my imagination and who can argue with a man who can cut open your brain and play guitar?
  • TheTaskmaster
    June 6, 2008
    TheTaskmaster
    a flick with the balls to be shamelessly uncool. one of the few truly crazy films NOT made by asians.
  • ericdub
    June 5, 2008
    ericdub
    Utterly bizarre and baffling classic. This movie is clearly playing by a set of rules all its own.
  • fillopx5
    May 30, 2008
    fillopx5
    Laugh while you can Monkey boy!. A straight classic and must see
  • braddad68
    May 24, 2008
    braddad68
    Possibly one of the worst movies ever made! It took me 24 years to try it, and I shouldn't have!! I could only take about 25 minutes of it! Just a shame all of that talent went to waste: Weller, Goldblum, Lloyd, etc. Not to mention the money!
  • jeffwickliffe
    April 22, 2008
    jeffwickliffe
    One of the best cult classics! Peter Weller, John Lithgow
  • threefolddado
    March 13, 2008
    threefolddado
    Get a sense of humor, monkey boy.
  • sw691999
    February 25, 2008
    sw691999
    I can't get enough of this movie.
  • soulxside
    January 26, 2008
    soulxside
    Easily one of the best sci-fi films ever made.
  • cacutshaw
    January 25, 2008
    cacutshaw
    A perfect film. A comedic sci-fi genre mashup. Now where's Buckaroo Banzai vs The World Crime League?
    No matter where you go, there you are.
  • ranthonysteele
    January 15, 2008
    ranthonysteele
    I watched this film on opening night, after smoking a joint in the theater parking lot. That night, it was the best film I had ever seen. It hasn't aged as well as I hoped, but it remains one of my favorite films. The watermelon scene remains my favorite irrelevant piece of fi...( read more)lm footage ever shot. I still laugh when I think about it.

Summary

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension Summary