1984
Directed by: W.D.Richter
Written by: Earl Mac Rauch
Produced by: Sidney Beckerman, Neil Canton, Dennis Jones, W.D. Richter
Studio: MGM
Running Time: 103 minutes

Starring:
Peter Weller .... Buckaroo Banzai
John Lithgow .... Lord John Whorfin/Dr. Emilio Lizardo
Ellen Barkin .... Penny Priddy
Jeff Goldblum .... New Jersey
Christopher Lloyd .... John Bigboote
Lewis Smith .... Perfect Tommy
Rosalind Cash .... John Emdall
Robert Ito .... Professor Hikita
Pepe Serna .... Reno Nevada
Ronald Lacey .... President Widmark
Matt Clark .... Secretary of Defense McKinley
Clancy Brown .... Rawhide
William Traylor .... General Catburd
Carl Lumbly .... John Parker
Vincent Schiavelli .... John O'Connor
Dan Hedaya .... John Gomez

"I've been ionized, but I'm okay now" - B. Banzai

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." - B. Banzai

"Laugh'a while you can, monkeyboy." - Dr. Lizardo

"John Small Berrys?" - Reno

I quoted lines from this movie for years. My old recorded VHS copy has worn out after years of repeated viewings, so I am thrilled that it is now out on DVD.

The outlandishness of the main character and the far out plot seem on paper to be too much, but director WD Richter and the excellent cast pull off one of the greatest feats (in my opinion) in cinema history: Making a movie that really does defy pigeonholing into any genre or category. It is a pulp comic book, serial adventure, sci-fi, action-comedy movie with a dose of romance thrown in. John Lithgow's over the top performance as Doctor Lizardo and Peter Weller's superb job as Buckaroo along with the comic relief of Jeff Goldblum and scene stealing steamy innocence of Ellen Barkin help make this a true classic and one of my favorite movies of all time. The closest movie I can compare it to is another one of my favorites, Big Trouble in Little China.

For those who have not seen the movie, Buckaroo Banzai is a world famous Neurosurgeon, rock star, comic book character, rocket car driver and scientist. He also has his own organization of boy-scout like groups called Blue Blazers. His band, The Hong Kong Cavaliers, are a group of top scientists and all around good guys with very distinct personalities. Penny Pretty is the love interest of Buckaroo, who also happens to be his deceased wife's long lost twin sister. There is so much going on in this movie that I probably saw it three times before I totally understood the whole story. Which in a nutshell is: Black Lectoids = good. Red Lectoids = bad. Dr. Lizardo is a Red Lectoid. The Black Lectoids have discovered that arch criminal Dr. Lizardo is on the loose on planet Earth and they threaten to wipe out the entire planet to make sure that he does not escape. They give Buckaroo 24 hours to capture or kill him before they put their annihilation plan into place. With his band and a few others, Buckaroo infiltrates the hideout of Dr. Lizardo and manage to set things right. I really could go on for pages on details on the story and the plot, but you wouldn't believe me. There is no way anyone could have gotten so much into a 102 minute movie. And do you know what the most frustrating part is? At the end they display to be on the lookout for "Buckaroo Banzai and the World Crime Syndicate". They obviously had plans to make another film after this one made everyone rich and famous. When that didn't happen (at least from this movie) that meant that the sequel didn't happen. The screenplay has been written for years and now and again talk comes up that all of the main characters needed for a sequel are interested, but still nothing has come of it.

The disk is great with tons of extras including the segments "Jet Car All Access", "Pinky Caruthers Unknown Facts" and an alternate opening scene. There is another segment titled "Buckaroo Banzai Declassified Documentary" which is from the viewpoint that he is a real person. The writer and director also do a full length commentary and there are some other extras. There are also a host of easter eggs on this disk which include:

On the disc’s main menu, press the 'Left' arrow key on your remote control to highlight the center car. Now press 'Enter' and you will get to see a list of quotes from the movie.

Another one can also be found in the main menu. Once again, press the 'Left' arrow key on your remote control to highlight the Banzai car and then press it once again and the yellow button in the upper left corner will be highlighted. Press 'Enter' now to get a look at alternative menu designs for the DVD that were ultimately abandoned in favor of the final one.

Another one can be found in the 'Special Features' section. Select the 'Deleted Scenes' and then highlight the 'Special Features' menu entry at the bottom of the screen. Press the 'Left' arrow key now to highlight the melon and then press 'Enter' to get access to a made-up newspaper article about Perfect Tommy's experiment with dropping watermelons from the sky to relieve world famine.

Inside that hidden feature there is actually another one. In the newspaper clipping, hit the 'More' button to get to the second page and there press the 'Up' arrow key to highlight the Buckaroo Banzai logo. It will give you access to then see a brief interview with the director about the whole watermelon question, and a bit about a recipe for 'Chicken in a Watermelon'!

For the next hidden feature, go back to the 'Special Features' menu and go to the second page. Now select the 'Banzai Institute Archives' menu entry. Highlight the 'Special Features' entry at the bottom, followed by the 'Right' arrow key to highlight another Banzai symbol. This will give you access to a images of alternate DVD packaging designs for the movie.

The picture and sound quality are excellent on this disk. And at around $15-20, this is one of the best buys going on dvd.

Other resources for more information on this movie:

http://www.figmentfly.com/bb/bbindex.shtml
http://kumo.swcp.com/synth/text/buckaroo_banzai_script

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26 Sep 02 (rev. 7 Mar 03)