Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across The 8th Dimension. No Matter Where You Go, There You Are.

#buckaroobanzai #moviereview #80s #1980s #80smovies
Stam Fine Reviews looks at the cool and quirky 1984 movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension, directed by WD Richter. Peter Weller stars as Neurosurgeon and musician Buckaroo Banzai, a guy who also wants to drive through mountains. He meets his dead wife's hitherto unknown twin sister, and has to stop a plot by Dr Lizardo to something something overthruster something something. The plot just happens, but this is all about the cool factor. So cool.
Also stars Ellen Barkin, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd.

[@toddboughn5168]

I think Gene Siskel summed it up perfectly at the time, calling it a "silly movie for smart people."

[@ricardocantoral7672]

That's a dickish thing to say.

[@bkjbearcat78]

Someone described this movie to me as ‘80s American Doctor Who. After he said that I can’t stop seeing it. I can see this character take on Cybermen and others.

[@evertonporter7887]

I always thought Jeff Goldblum would have been a great Doctor Who.

[@mallninja9805]

I loved showing this film to my 20-something kids and their friends about a year ago. Their universal reaction as the credits rolled was "What the hell was that??" Fun times

[@NieR.Amanda]

Should have shown it as a double-feature with *Howard The Duck* and watched their heads explode.

[@5stardave]

This is my favorite movie ever. The more times you watch it, the more things you pick up. It is a movie you have to actually watch to understand. Not casually view while you're chomping down on your snack of choice and bothering the person next to you with:, "What is that?", "why are they doing that?", "why is the President lying upside down?". Some people need everything spoon-fed to them.

[@toddclayton]

Watched this video with my GF sitting next to me. She was awed/horrified that I could quote every single scene "Stam" played.

[@Beer_Dad1975]

@carruthers100 I got this out on VHS in the early 90's because all my friends said it was cool (I guess I was maybe 16 or 17 at the time) - I gave up watching at around the 70 minute mark I think - I probably enjoyed the first 45 minutes, then I got "worn down to a nub" as Stam states here and just got horribly bored extremely quickly. I guess I should try again 30 odd years later!

[@mattheweernisse1963]

"There aren't too many English-language films like 'Buckaroo Banzai,' at least in this era." What are you talking about? Did you somehow miss seeing "Big Trouble in Little China"? They're like the perfect double feature.

[@mallninja9805]

You leave Jack Burton alone!

[@TomTermini]

Yes, BTiLC was derived from BB Against the World Crime League ...

[@SurlyInsomniac]

Same screenwriter for both, IIRC.

[@CaminoAir]

The supporting cast is impressive, extending to Vincent Schiavelli, Jonathan Banks, Dan Hedaya, etc. I saw it on VHS a long time ago and I agree with your assessment.

[@ScottIngram]

I'll be honest, I remember enjoying this movie but I don't remember why EXCEPT for that end credits sequence which blew me away the first time I saw it and still makes me grin when I come across it on KZbin.

[@RighteousBrother]

Funnily enough - that's the only thing I can remember from the film.

[@briancross7835]

07:34 Bigbooté flipping off Worfin kills me every time!

[@carlrood4457]

Interesting that you brought up Doc Savage. I know the creators have kind of denied it, but Buckaroo Banzai seems inspired by that pulp character. Both are geniuses and experts in a wide variety of subjects. Both surround themselves with a team of experts in various fields. Both go on adventures and fight bad guys.

[@WPQ190D]

Excellent point. Nice.

[@Ubernerd3000]

This is an absurdist riff on that kind of ‘young man’s adventure’; the 70’s and 80’s saw a wave of a lot of characters like this being re-packaged and re-published in cheap paperback books...they took what would have been a not atypical 50’s pulp sci-fi adventure, and gave it an ‘80’s new wave/new romantic’ coat of spray paint, and played it completely straight...

[@0311Mushroom]

And the hero was a doctor that was an adventurer and did many other things.

[@x-crisis]

Wes Anderson did actually do his riff on this movie in Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, even copped the cool walk ending.

[@SurlyInsomniac]

And of course Jeff Goldblum is in both.

[@donaldcampbell3043]

@@SurlyInsomniac yeah what I came here to say

[@0311Mushroom]

And just like BB, including characters who had died in the movie.

[@SurlyInsomniac]

This came out when I was a teen so I was the right age for it and loved it. I totally get why it might not be to everyone's taste, though. In fact I rewatched it many years later and found it insufferably smug. I then rewatched many years after THAT and came back around to loving it. No matter where I went, there I was.

[@deathlokprime2645]

Liked for the last sentence.

[@ScottIngram]

This comment took me on a journey then brought me back home. 👌

[@doktor_ghul]

The more material I read about BB and his Cavaliers ( the novel, the comic books, the recent Dark Horse novel of the script for BB Against The World Crime League, etc. ), the more I can see the entire world of Banzai. As far as it being intended to be cool, "cool" is not a thing you can intend to be. Cool is often out of step or rediscovered after years in obscurity. You can't make cool. You can only find out afterwards.

[@chaskahuayhuaca3330]

Maybe you needed to see it as a kid. Never felt the need to “understand” it, always loved it.

[@carlrood4457]

No matter where you go. They're you are. Rumor has it that the sequel would have revealed that Penny is in fact Peggy. It's all part of the very comic book vibe of the story. There's even an in universe comic book about Buckaroo Banzai.

[@oglieotr8256]

One of my favorite movies. Love it

[@AnthonyP73]

This looks like it had ALL the 80s in it.

[@wingracer1614]

That is a good description

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Yeah, definitely "hip to be square" attitude.

[@MattMcIrvin]

As much 80s as you can possibly cram into a film.

[@sevenoh70]

Did you say Buckaroo Bonsai? Make like a tree and get outta here! Actually this movie has a lot of weird connections with the Back to the Future trilogy. Christopher Lloyd, producer Neil Canton, production designer Rick Carter, and both movies feature a home-made dimension-splitting vehicle made out of an ordinary car. Both machines guided by a special device - the oscillation overthruster/flux capacitor. At one point Buckaroo even rides his cycle through the same tunnel Biff drives though in BTTF II

[@wingracer1614]

There is a connection to another great movie as well. Big Trouble in Little China is sort of a sequel to this.

[@stellaoh9217]

Peter Weller plays it serious 80's and it works so well.

[@christopherwaldrop5293]

I read a review of Buckaroo Banzai that started, "Is it possible to make a cult film on purpose?" We're still talking about it so obviously the answer is yes.

[@MattMcIrvin]

Once The Rocky Horror Picture Show became a weird midnight-movie hit there was this push to make movies actually intended to play to that crowd. I think this was one of them. I'm pretty sure I saw it at a midnight showing.

[@akshaytrayner1960]

I love this film I wish they make something like this now

[@oobrocks]

Here’s the thing folks: everyone complains they hate remakes or sequels but when Hollywood makes an original film, it bombs 😢

[@lisvender]

And it always seems to take ten years to reappraise them and recognize their greatness!

[@oobrocks]

Thumbs up

[@0311Mushroom]

Original can be good or bad. BB, awesome. Young Einstein with Yahoo Serious, still unwatchable trash.

[@rodneyclarke6477]

" No matter where you go.There you are." I still use that line. And Goldblums manic energy is turned up to four not eleven. Great review as always keep up the good work.

[@splashpit]

When l was a kid we had a rotation on video pick for Saturday night viewing , l lost my pick privileges in the rotation after bringing this gem home.

[@solidshadow01]

Count me as one of the small but loyal fans. Enough that I have Banzai Institute badges on my jacket that nobody recognizes.

[@permiek]

love love love this film

[@loftlegacy]

A film that was years ahead of it’s time in terms of telling a story with little character development. Arrow did an awesome job with the Blu Ray with some brilliant extras.

[@patrickmartin7692]

My Dad HATED this movie because my 9 year old self had to watch it all the time. He had a different name for it however. Still rhymed with Buckaroo though 🙂

[@kali3665]

The movie didn't explain a dang thing, and we loved it. True, it took us several viewings to understand it, but it is so rewarding when we did.

[@scarpad]

My #1 favorite movie

[@Alkeeros]

I liked the feel that this was an ecclectic group of characters who have gone on all sorts of adventures. Like you stumbled into the fourth movie in a long running series and the first two established the characters and it didn’t start ramping up until maybe this movie or the one right before it. But I will agree that quirky energy doesn't sustain the whole movie

[@__hjg__2123]

John Smallberries best movie.....ever.

[@inkermoy]

Don't forget John Yaya.

[@tskmaster3837]

This movie is aggressively quirky when it should have been passively quirky. But in order to do that, it would have to be more than just quirky.

[@garethspotfur1]

thats what this movie is, a 1930's doc savage pastiche translated the 1980s. a gentleman adventurer doing things with SCIENCE, and fighting bizzare foes.

[@TheUballe]

These reviews are so much fun while taking a hearty morning dump.

[@MarkHyde]

Such a cool and quirky review of a very cool, hip and quirky movie :)

[@deeconstruction8163]

AoBB:At8D has big "I feel like I should be enjoying this more than I am" energy.

[@reesetorwad8346]

First time I ever saw this (and every time since,) when the nightclub performance happens, right after Penny's little gun fires, everybody on stage ('cept BB) whips out a weapon, at least one guy rocking a Mac 9 or 10, I laughed so hard I had to pause the vcr. It looked like the HK Cavaliers were always ready to throw down in a split second. This tells us a bit about their lives. They're not paranoid, their fears that BB could be killed are rational, he's made enemies. Instant world-building.

[@TheAyeAye1]

I like the whole thing. I was one of the dozens of people who saw it in the theater. The novelization of it is actually interesting and good. It's kind of a goof on Doc Savage.

[@peterwyetzner5276]

"On any other world I would be like a million years old, but here on Sakaar..." (smiles)

[@michaelhorning6014]

Love it love it love it.

[@Blindgenxgamer]

That's Big Boo-tay! 🤣

[@jollyjohnthepirate3168]

They had no music when they filmed the cast marching down the L.A. river.....so they're all marching to Billy Joel's Up Town Girl at the end.

[@mrd5024]

I shared a dorm room with a guy who used to play the movie on a loop.

[@6581punk]

The DVD of it is one of the few discs to support the Nuon system, a sort of games system chipset for DVD players.

[@johnhyatt4905]

It makes total sense to me. I love this movie, but what do I know….. I may be an alien.

[@reb3102]

I was in early college when this came out. I remember enjoying it as it was so weird and different. Haven't watched it in years but have the DVD in my collection. Probably should give it a re-watch.

[@citykids]

Great video, I remember watching this movie as a kid and thought it was the greatest thing ever! When I saw it again on DVD years later, it made me question every decision I've ever made :(

[@joemadden4160]

Saw this film about 5 times in the theater that summer of '84. Love it. So much so, I own a copy and watch it once a year.

[@sandytrunks]

I played a drinking game while watching this YT. Every time the Stam said "cool" I took a shot. Just got out of the hospital after three years in a coma. F**k you Stam! 😰

[@StamFine]

Cool.

[@lylarose2696]

I love this movie. I love the humour.

[@THEOUTCASTSCREATIVE]

I thought I was the only person who had seen this. I use to own a BB bandana that they gave away to promote the film.

[@davidhaasz4609]

LOL I had that too!

[@SamLowryDZ-015]

I always though this was a film about miniaturised overburdened donkeys

[@mikenichols3849]

for some reason this made me think of the film, "Tank Girl."

[@tikidino]

Love this movie! Shortly after the movie came out I found the book at a used book store. Written as one of many and annotating other novels which don’t exist which I wish they did. Wrote as a pulp novel in the vein of Doc Savage. Buckaroo is a modern telling of a 30’s - 40’s pulp hero. The quirky and cool vibe is a slice of the 80’s “best”. Still waiting for the sequel as stated at the end…….

[@TylerSkylionChilders]

Kevin Smith: "It's the first nerd art film"

[@beatrixwickson8477]

I really wanted to like this film and I still do. Maybe time for a rewatch and see if I'm now cool and quirky enough.

[@oldmanonyoutube]

I loved Buckaroo Banzai back in the day. I even had the comic books.

[@virginiakramer9055]

Buckaroo Banzai is sui generis. And I love it.

[@Jazmine4014]

A true "rara avis" from a decade of great movies!

[@lisvender]

Holy crap, Mike Ehrmentraut’s in this. I’m almost as surprised as I was to recognize him in Gremlins

[@StamFine]

he's in everything!

[@WillPrather]

This is one of those rare movies that doesn't explain itself. The audience is dropped into this whole already existing world and expected to figure it out. It's more a tongue in cheek documentary than anything else.

[@silverbane8065]

I loved the fact that so many other shows added tiny bits of this movie to themselves. If you took a walk along the Promenade of Deep Space Nine (back when the set was available to tourists) you could stop to look at the listing, which showed where all the stores and companies were, and what their names were. There was a listing on the board for both "Yoyodyne Electronics" and the "Banzai Institute" lol. And if you ever played the old South Park games (playstation original and Nintendo 64 days) there was a section with aliens and a spaceship. I laughed myself silly when Cartman was there and I spotted the "No MonkeyBoys" sign XD as I knew where it had come from.

[@travishiltz4750]

I will hear nothing bad said about this movie! Quite possibly one of my favorite movies of all time. Definitely in my top 5 My favorite descriptions of BB that I've heard is that it's a comic book adaption of a comic book that doesn't exist or that it's a cliffhanger serial squashed into one episode. I think it's both those things, with a wheelbarrow of 80's new wave stirred in. and holy moly...that cast! Shame we never got the sequel.

[@killswitch1982]

Stam Fine makes damn fine content.

[@shanebluett5560]

I love this movie, have it on DVD try to watch it once a year

[@christopherwilson3754]

Your review perfectly sums up my feelings towards this film. I want to love it but merely like it. It's one of those films that has a nerd (before it was cool. I'm 55) I'm supposed to love. I just can't get there.

[@Alondro77]

Buckaroo Banzai... American mother and Japanese father... and he has all the coolness... my god... HE'S JOTARO!!!

[@Daniel-zy8rz]

Love your stuff but it does sound like you're pronouncing banzai as 'bonsai' through this vid. Battle cry Vs little trees. 🤔

[@_Hofnarr]

I never quite knew how to describe this ‘till the marvel thing happened. Now I just say “Imagine they made Age of Ultron without any of the other movies” Still love it tho… when you’re 8 this movie rocks

[@thebaccathatchews]

It's not so much a movie as it is an experience. And even I can admit it's not for everyone.

[@5stardave]

It is for everyone, but not everyone is for it. Sadly, not everyone has evolved enough to appreciate this cinematic masterpiece.

[@plebius]

I thought I had seen all these types of movies, and grew up during this period. Love them. Somehow Buckaroo bonsai sailed past me until today..Sorry got to go, The pirates are calling me.. arghhh

[@scockery]

In an old Starlog magazine from 1984, after the movie just flopped at the box office, Weller said he felt it would become a cult movie. Yeah, well. I felt that the film was less than the sum of its parts/cast. (Gee, I typed that before he said it in the video.)

[@WPQ190D]

I was watching this movie yesterday and having fun in a very peculiar way. It's like eating a hamburger with a very expensive wine. What stands out most about its structure is how the film keeps attention going through unconventional and mostly unglamorous language. It is certainly a screenwriter's film where the elements translate into images and dialogue that work well on paper but not necessarily well on screen. The art direction is organic and fun. Regardless of whether the film is a masterpiece or not or whether it is for all types of viewers, I wish there were more films like this one.

[@johnswift376]

I have given this film multiple chances, but just can't quite bring myself to fully accept it. I love Lithgow's performance and the cast is excellent, but I always come away feeling let down. Is it time to try again?

[@andrewensign5830]

That is because you where not 16 and sitting in the theater watching this magical creation and comparing it to what you where watching otherwise... Yes, it is mess, but a glorius mess where even regular people get to help the hero and be part of something bigger than themselves. It was very cool.

[@oobrocks]

A stam fine film 😅

[@NealKlein]

You nailed it again, and I love you for it. And after reading the comments, I see another thing you do, Stam, besides entertain and educate us: you bring people together.

[@TomTermini]

Unofficial sequel - Big Trouble in Little China!

[@deacondawg1416]

It coulda been SO GOOD.

[@GyroFootlose]

I also wanted to like that movie. It felt like one that was made for my sensibilities, but I just didn't care for it. As you said, it started well enough, but I got bored at some point and didn't understand how it happened. It's like they did if Bill and Ted was taken seriously, if you know what I mean.

[@yoshi5I4]

I love this movie I saw it so many times that it helped molded my taste in media so if Buckaroo was to start a cult I might be one of the first people in the Kool-Aid queue

[@Chipiliro613]

Cool

[@heidifedor]

You need to check out an animated series from the 60’s called Clutch Cargo.

[@TheBeird]

Good God this film has an amazing cast! I tried watching this a few years ago but fell asleep. Not cause I was bored but it . . . has a vibe. I’ll give it another go one day. I’ll take a risk like Buckeroo Banzai over another Marvel brain fart these days

[@holseyd]

good movie analysis of a movie that didn't make much sense to me as a kid and even now i still can't really wrap my brain around. the cast was great however and i'm glad they pretty much all went on to doing more films and TV work that they are much more well known for. i love most all things 80s with a few exceptions and this movie is definitely one of them.

[@michaelstaunton1632]

Enjoying the content of videos on your channel well done 👌👌

[@doktor_ghul]

You want a movie that makes you go " what the hell?", try Mike Jittlov's WIZARD OF SPEED AND TIME. It'll spin you right round.

[@MattMcIrvin]

Mike's a really nice guy, too.

[@shawnvines2514]

As a kid, I made up my mind that a few movies just made my head hurt but were worth trying to understand. This movie and Brazil were migraine level 3.

[@TheInfinitySystem]

Hard mood on Brazil.

[@donaldcampbell3043]

Buckaroo Banzai appeared and is kind of cannon in the sci-fi tabletop war game Battletech

[@bodine57]

Yoyodyne - a growing excited company

[@srdxxx]

_Buckaroo Banzai_ is one of those movies that you love for the style and aesthetic and the atmosphere. _The Crow_ is another off the top of my head. Tight pacing, compelling dialogue, riveting plotlines, these are not their strengths..._Twelve Angry Men_ they are not. They aren't even simple stories, well told. They unapologetically rely on attitude to carry them and can succeed on their own terms if competently done. This makes them hit or miss for people, but when the hit they can hit some people hard.

[@misaeljoelvera6631]

I loved and laughed throughout. Maybe I have bad taste 😀

[@xiaoka]

I’m still waiting for the sequel….

[@TheFreeBass]

My problem w/ movie reviews is that everyone seems to be looking for "meaning" in films, or trying to explain why they should (or shouldn't) be worthy of this award or that accolade. Nobody seems to appreciate movies as just good mindless fun entertainment, & that's exactly what this movie is. And it's BigbooTAY!!!

[@ricardocantoral7672]

I like BB but my problem is, it's quirkiness attracts me to the film and I enjoy it. However, I wish it was better constructed. The concept of the film did not feel fully realized.

[@lisvender]

This is kind of how I felt about The Hateful Eight. I read a lot of criticisms about its pretentiousness and inability to make real statements about racism and misogyny, and I scratched my head. It's Tarantino, people, not Faulkner!

[@ivane5110]

I saw this in the theaters when it came out and remember the experience, even if not the movie, very well. I loved and disliked it at the same time. I disliked the over the top/campy parts enough to have only once afterwards try and watch it again. But the potential the movie had from what I did like is what makes it have a special place for me. This felt just like you said; like a Doc Savage movie almost, and like an old pulp magazine and 50s Golden Age Sci Fi comic all in one. Had it kept to that, it'd probably have been one of my favorite movies ever.

[@TheInfinitySystem]

Buckaroo Banzai is essentially Tom Swift, Jr.

[@Alondro77]

John Lithgow shows his true form in this movie...

[@adamwhite9330]

Vincent Schiavelli. Make an entire video about him and I will forgive your sin.

[@theproplady]

There's a rumor that "Big Trouble in Little China" was the intended sequel to this movie but it isn't true. Both films do have the same vibe though - a quirky adventure starring a confident hero in a weird world filled with practical effect creatures and SFX. Both were ahead of their time and left audiences scratching their heads. I'd argue BTinLC was the better made film and greater than the sum of its parts, mostly because it understood that its protagonist was something of a joke. It also had a tight plot and pacing that never let up.

[@carlrood4457]

Between this and RoboCop, how did Peter Weller avoid being a bigger star?

[@DenkyManner]

It's a mystery. Maybe he just made bad choices? Or just non-mainstream choices. I've never heard anything about him being difficult to work with or an addict it anything, which is one reason other actors quietly become less famous.

[@MattMcIrvin]

@@DenkyManner I think he had an aversion to garbage. I recall him saying he took Robocop because it had a great script, Robocop 2 "for the jing" and then he was out.

[@MotiviqueStudio]

No mention of D.W. Richter / Big Trouble in Little China? There's so many things I love about this movie, but I do hate the "grossness".