A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

While I've never personally been a fan of this 1984 production, directed by W.D. Richter, it has many fans who will be thrilled by the new Shout Select (yes, a new sub-label) Blu-ray, with extras spread across both the Blu, as well as the SD discs.

The film has been available in standard definition, and on Blu as an import, but thanks to Shout, it's making a domestic premiere.

Quality is commensurate to their new label, and I hope that Shout continues to oversee that quality as the Select brand continues.

Color, black levels, grain structure, all work toward a pleasing image.

No problems here. Just another quality effort from Shout / Scream.

Image - 4.5

Audio - 5

4k Up-rez - 4.5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Recommended

RAH

 

[Dee Zee]

Definitely a cult classic but one I really enjoy in a strange way. Thanks for the review Mr. Harris

 

[dpippel]

Lithium is no longer available on credit.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Glad to hear it is a quality release. I'll be picking this up soon. Longtime fan.

 

[John Burton]

Can not wait to replace my crappy DVD version of this movie!

 

[davidmatychuk]

Can not wait to replace my crappy DVD version of this movie!

If you're a Buckaroo Banzai fan, you'll want to keep your crappy DVD version, which was packed with fun extras that aren't on Disc 2 of the new release. I was very pleased that the Blu-Ray has the usual Shout! Factory reversible cover, which features the artwork that appeared on the old Vestron Video VHS and laserdisc releases. And I'm also very pleased that the spine of the case bears the designation "1" of the new Shout Select series. Good call, and it's a wonderful treat on Blu-Ray. By the way, I much preferred the 2.0 audio to the 5.1 audio, which seemed much weaker (and quieter).

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Dave, what extras are missing from the BD?

 

[Lord Dalek]

Dave, what extras are missing from the BD?

That fake "trivia" track, the Banzai Radio interview, and two easter eggs. Nothing really earthshattering considering you get a whole new commentary and documentary that isn't "in-character" like MGM's extras were.

 

[davidmatychuk]

Dave, what extras are missing from the BD?

There's a lot of fun still-frame stuff, like posters, a CD discography (with all the song titles for each album), biographies of the characters, etc.. They really made an effort to please the long-time fans with that DVD back in 2001. I'm not sure what the "NUON" enhancement was supposed to involve, but that too was prominently featured on the DVD cover. It's getting rarer and rarer for me to not keep an old DVD of something new to Blu-Ray because there are features not ported over to the new version, but I'm okay with it. Some people look at owning any hard copy of a movie as redundant in the wonderful new age of streaming but needless to say, I'm not one of those.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Nuon was a failed attempt to increase the interactivity not only of DVDs, but some videogames as well. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuon_(DVD_technology)

 

[Robert Crawford]

Amazon is now selling this release for $15.92!

 

[Jeff Cooper]

This was a childhood favorite of mine growing up. Haven't watched it in forever; I have to imagine it hasn't aged very well...

 

[dpippel]

Are you kidding??? It's JUST as awesome as it ever was! The Blu looks mighty good too.

 

[Alf S]

One of my favorite quirky movies of the 80's my friends and I used to quote it for years after. I haven't watched it in probably 20 years.

If I can find it in a $5 bin I think I may actually buy it.