HTF REVIEW: "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai across the Eighth Dimension! (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

I agree with Jack. In a certain way this is a very smart movie. It only seems cheesy if you really try to take it seriously. It also probably had the single worst P&S transfer, which is the only way most of us have ever seen it since I think about six people actually saw it in a theater. This is maybe my second most anticipated release to Miller's Crossing which Fox just seems to have given up on after announcing it several times.
Take her to the PITT!

 

[Bill Buklis]

When I say cheesy, I mostly mean in terms of the budget and acting. Story wise, however, this film is very good. It just goes to show that low budget films can be good, but they don't always look good. BB, doesn't look bad, but it does suffer from the budget. Limitations with this movie are merely financial, not a directorial problem.

 

[Rod Martin]

I was one of those "six" who ever saw it in the theaters. Wow. Must've been 16 when this was released! I am so stoked for this! This is why I got into DVD! January cannot come soon enough.

"Why is there a watermelon there?"

"I'll tell you later."

 

[Brian Duke]

I wasn't one of the 6 in the theatre, but the first time I saw BB was on a friend's videodisc player. Anybody remember that technology flop from the 80's?

- Brian

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

"If it was a snake it would've bit me."
It's lines like those that make you wonder if Peter Weller can really act.
I enjoy the film, but the one problem I still have with it is that it tries to hard to be a "cult" film. Other than my problem, the film is a fun trip for 102 minutes (but I still pefer Big Trouble In Little China).
I got the DVD today, and I must say, MGM did one hell of a job for a movie like this. For $15 you get a good anamorphic transfer, a nice sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track, and tons of extras (who the hell knew there could be so much information on a film like this?). Overall, I think my $15 was well spent.

 

[DavidEC]

While I did see this movie in the theater...

I feel that this is a great little 'GEM' of a movie that some will just love or hate.. with little inbetween.

I can say that in the late 80's there were fan clubs, much like the early 'Star Trek' fan clubs where fans wrote stories and did newsletters (Many with out computers!!)!

I know I have a hand full of them here!

Newsletters name: "World Watch One"

They claimed to have close to 5000 readers at one time.

The big news in one of the '86 newsletters was that Weller was going to be starring in a movie title 'Robocop' that would start shooting in August...

I do not know if the DVD has any trivia questions.. but from the '85 newsletter here are three of the 65 questions.

(1) Pennny's clear plastic handbag reveals that she owns a copy of what book?

(2) What is the name of the support group that is on call to help Team Bonzai when in need?

(3) What does the license plate on the jet car read?

--David

 

[Michael Reuben]

For years -- years -- fans lobbied for a widescreen LD release of this unique film. But it took the success of DVD in the much-reviled mass market to lay the groundwork for this spectacular new rendition. I missed it in theaters, so this is the first time I've seen it in OAR, and I feel like I've seen an entirely new movie.
Now for the supplements . . .
M.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

If this is what MGM's going to do for UHF, then they already have my money

 

[JohnS]

Never seen the movie. but I bought it anyway from Ron's great review and the prasie of it's film fans.
Plus I want to show my support for 'good' MGM Special Editions

 

[SteveGon]

So am I the only one that's gonna comment on how hot Ellen Barkin is in this movie? I was so bummed when I read Penny Priddy's character profile on the dvd and found out that she too, is killed by Hanoi Xan. :frowning:

 

[Tino]

Kudos to MGM for producing such an excellent SE of this great film.
It really is a great transfer for a film that's almst twenty years old, and the sound is also impressive. Nice job.
I too only had the horrible pan-n-scan Vestron VHS to watch all these years, and as bad as it was to watch it like that, I still enjoyed it every time.
In regard to the films budget, why are some of you claiming it to be "Low budget"? It seemed to me when I saw in originally in theaters and even now to be a averagely budgeted film with great production values, great visual effects,
etc..IMO, nothing to indicate it was a "low budget" feature. Anyone know what the actual budget was in 1984 dolars?
Obligatory quote:
Dr. Lizardo
"Sealed with a curse as sharp as a knife, doomed is-a your soul and a-damned is-a your life."
Buckaroo
"B-B-Buzz off."
:b

 

[Philip Verdieck]

This movie never tried to be a cult film. I don't think any film does. It just is. Why? Because its perfect. It is offbeat, humorous, original and strange. That is too much for many people to handle. They need to be able to shoebox a film into a specific genre. If they can't do that while watching it, they get dismayed and spend too much time thinking about what the movie is not, instead of enjoying it for what it is. They end up hating the move, because they couldn't get it. Another example of a movie that fits that category is Hudson Hawk.

I would say the effects were average for the time it was made, maybe below average but not low budget. There are too many people around here, who seem to have no sense of time, scale or proportion. If a movie doesn't have effects equal to the current state of the art, much less what state of the art was back then, they automatically lump it in the low budget category.

That is so wrong it isn't even in the same galaxy as the concept of "right".

Anyways. Someone posted elsewhere that Big Trouble in Little China started out as BBII, not quite but check this out, lifted from IMDB:

As a post-script, I'd like to mention that the novelization of this movie, written by Earl Mac Rauch, is great, and actually contains about 3 times the information and plot that is in the movie. If you can find it on Amazon or at a garage sale somewhere, snap it up, it's worth the search. Also, there's a script for BUCKAROO BANZAI VERSUS THE WORLD CRIME LEAGUE floating around too, which should be made no matter the cost if only to film one priceless scene - the cameo appearance of Jack Burton, Kurt Russell's swaggering truck driver hero from John Carpenter's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, who appears as a Blue Blaze Irregular and gives Team Banzai a lift!

 

[Chris PC]

Too bad us Canadians are left out in the cold on this one so far. Can't find Buckaroo Bonzai in Canada and I don't think it'll be released here yet.

 

[Bill Buklis]

If a movie doesn't have effects equal to the current state of the art, much less what state of the art was back then, they automatically lump it in the low budget category.

You make it sound like it's a shameful disgrace. Being low budget doesn't equal "bad" or awful. Nor does high budget equal good. There never is anything wrong with low budget. Many movies are made without big financial backing from major studios. A lot of these are quite good. Buckaroo Bonzai is one of those.

The only real problem with a small budget for an effects type movie is that it makes it a harder sell in the general mainstream. J6P likes to be wowed more than he likes a good story. Why do you think Armageddon did so well at the box office?

On the other hand, there are often exceptions. Terminator was a low budget film that did fairly well. Better now after the high budget sequel perhaps, but it was highly regarded even before.

 

[Kwang Suh]

Too bad us Canadians are left out in the cold on this one so far. Can't find Buckaroo Bonzai in Canada and I don't think it'll be released here yet.

The movie doesn't street till January 4th, eh?