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- Ronald Epstein
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai........
I can tell you right now that my personal opinions
of this movie are not going to be a popular amongst
members of this forum. I didn't get Buckaroo Banzai
when it was released by Vestron Video back in the
eighties, and I still don't quite get it today.
Yet, this piece of low-budget shlock has found a
cult following amongst people that have been
demanding for its release.
As far as I can place it, Buckaroo Banzai (Peter
Weller) is a gifted brain surgeon by day, a
nobel prize winning scientist by night, and a
rock guitarist on top of it all. He is the first
man to travel into the Eighth Dimension, a world
that makes sane men INSANE. Thus is the case with
the demented Dr. Lizardo (John Lithgow) who is after
Buckaroo's overthruster contraption that will enable
him to go back to the world he once penetrated.
Those of you that somehow view this movie as
some sort of cult masterpiece are going to be
extremely happy about the effort MGM has put into
this Special Edition release. This is one of
those releases that makes you shake your head and
say, "this came from MGM?!".
Frankly, I have seen MGM come a long way in a
short year. This Special Edition ranks right up
there with some of the better releases this year.
To begin with, the film sports an all-new anamorphic
2.35:1 widescreen transfer that is incredible. Picture
is very clean and the colors...oh the colors....so
vividly bright they are! There's a scene where
Banzai visits Penny (Ellen Barkin) in jail. To see
how natural her flesh tones look show that the
accuracy in transfer was given much consideration.
In another scene, we first meet New Jersey (Jeff
Goldblum) who is standing in front of the tour bus.
His rodeo shirt is vivid red. The character standing
next to him is wearing a tie that literally glows
neon blue. In another scene, a simple color of
a yellow telephone vividly jumps off the screen.
This transfer looks exceptional for a catalog title.
The audio is also something to rave about. With
a newly mastered 5.1 Audio Track, this soundtrack
packs a lot of punch. Though the rear soundstage
is reserved for music ambiance and occasional spaceship
and helicopter flyovers, it is the front soundstage
that packs the power. Sound is very bright with
terrific stereo separation. Even my SV SUBWOOFER
was extremely active throughout the film providing
rumbling bass throughout.
Once you pop the disc in, you are greeted with
an elaborate menu system that mimics the cockpit
of an alien craft with colliding asteroids outside
the window. When selecting PLAY MOVIE you are
presented with the choice of watching either the
Theatrical Version or Extended Version.
What I am unclear about is how much additional
footage has been added to the EXTENDED VERSION.
From what I could see in comparing, the EXTENDED
version has an alternate opening that gives a
clever background of Buckaroo's childhood and his
first encounter with Professor Hikita (Robert Ito).
This footage is just a tad rough around the edges
and I did notice a brief picture freeze as the
new footage switched back to the original (or vice
versa).
Looking at the back of the DVD box you would
be amazed at the list of extra material that
makes up the Special Features of this DVD.
To begin, there is commentary with Director
W.D. Richter and writer Earl Mac Rauch.
I was very upset to learn there were no English
subtitles included on this disc. Shame on MGM!
What has replaced the subtitles is an option that
can be turned on or off called Pinky Carruther's
Unknown Facts. Totally in character as if part
of the entire organization, Pinky gives us facts
about each scene via text outside the widescreen
borders. Want to know how fast the jet car really
went? Want to know about Einstein's attempt to
break the time barrier? There's a lot of interesting
trivia that is presented to the viewer, but perhaps
not best to watch during initial viewing as it is
distracting.
In case you choose not to watch the EXTENDED VERSION,
you can simply watch the added Alternate Opening
from the Supplemental area. As I noted, I am
guessing this is the only added footage to the film.
Buckaroo Banzai declassified is an elaborate,
newly created documentary that uses original interview
footage of all the major cast members from 1984 to
give an overview of the film. The funny thing about
it all is even the cast members have no idea what
this film is about or what genre it should be placed
in. Back in the year 2001, Director W.D. Richter
talks to us from a production mixing room. Dwelling
into archives, he picks out what he believes to be
original props and designs from the film including
what could be the original oscillating overthruster.
We see some interesting footage of make-up artist
Tom Burman explaining the mold process of creating
foam rubber masks that were worn by the alien
characters including John Lithgow. Careful attention
was given to keeping the actor's own facial features
intact through the masks so that they could easily
be identified on screen. We get a look at the clay
modeling of the Yoyodyne fathership and the smaller
escape pod. Richter talks about how much Jamie Lee
Curtis loved the concept of the movie and wanted a
role in it. The end result is her appearance in the
added opening sequence. You'll also find out why the
decision went down to remove that opening. The
documentary winds up with a look at the special
effects work that went into the film -- especially
all the jet car effects.
There are 14 Deleted Scenes that are rough
image workprints. They range from backstage with
the Cavaliers to Buckaroo telling Penny how her
sister was killed by Hanoi Xan. Fortunately, the
raw footage is shown inbetween the scene that
precedes it and follows it (in many cases) so that
you know exactly where that deleted sequence would
be placed.
A 3-minute promotional trailer, JET CAR TRAILER,
was originally produced in 1988 to promote a Buckaroo
Banzai television series. This digitally created
trailer seems a bit dated over 20 years later, but is
still interesting to watch. For fans, this must be
a real treat as this trailer could only be previously
seen at select science fiction conventions.
A creative Character Profile feature gives
us a multi-window look at the many characters of
the film. Click on any of the more than a dozen
character names and get a text profile that gives
the complete background history of that individual
character.
Jet Car All Access shows us and tells us
everything we wanted to know about Buckaroo's
jet car. Supported with video, drawings and
mathematical schemes this seems to be a very
thorough overview of the car's design.
There is a Photo Gallery with dozens
upon dozens of publicity stills broken down by
the film's timeline as well as individual characters.
You'll also find many behind-the-scenes shots
of the cast behind the camera as well as the aliens
hanging out with Director W.D. Richter.
Banzai Institute Archives is a whole mess
of material thrown into one area including
technical schematics on the tour bus; publicity
material including radio and media interviews;
movie reviews; photos of access badges and even
Hikita's Diary written from the perspective of his
character.
The film's TEASER TRAILER is also included.
To sum it all up....
It's bad enough when I have to sit for hours
going through the material found on Special
Edition discs from Fox, Dreamworks and Universal.
Now, MGM is putting out these elaborate DVD
Special Editions that take forever to wade through.
Not that I am really complaining -- actually, it's
amazing to see what a fantastic job MGM has done
with this DVD and it's great to see that the studio
is finally putting this kind of effort into their
releases.
I wish this had been a movie that I would have
personally enjoyed. I didn't. The film is just
way too out there for my tastes. Still, I understand
the impact this film has amongst many, and the
need for MGM to do something special for that fan base.
This is truly one of the very best discs to
come out of the MGM camp, and it is my hope that
MGM continues to put this kind of effort into future
releases.
Release Date: January 1, 2002
