Kevin Smith's SMoviola "Buckaroo Banzai" at the 49th New York Film Festival

The Film Society's new bi-monthly series curated and hosted by award-winning filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma) returns for a special NYFF edition with writer Earl Mac Rauch and director W. D. Richter's gonzo, Pynchon-esque cult favorite, starring the incomparable Peter Weller as Japanese-American particle physicist, neurosurgeon and all-around renaissance man Dr. Buckaroo Banzai. Fighting to save planet Earth from an invasion of interstellar aliens-unleashed from another dimension by the insane Dr. Emilio Lazardo (John Lithgow) and now posing as defense contractors-Banzai joins forces with a volunteer army and his wife's suicidal twin sister (Ellen Barkin), and the outlandish merriment begins. Just remember: no matter where you go, there you are. In person: Kevin Smith, Peter Weller and John Lithgow.
Camera & Edit: Ahmed Khawaja

[@jacko250]

"Back to the future is a film that stays in your heart; but Buckaroo Banzai is a film that stays in your head"

[@UserUser-oy8ch]

yeah so they got the flux capacitor design from this movie

[@AlanCanon2222]

It so does.

[@anagram8]

Yes indeed, well said. Back to the future was definitely inspired by this film. How could you not? Even a said adversary can appreciate fine work of another. Be foolish not to. Back to the future used the intel to realize the audience wasn't ready for the dope azz intergalactic planetary battles. So they spun their way into the science part of the narrative. Hey ain't mad at that, still gotta pay a bill or two 😂 so they chose the blue pill, cool pill. That other pill, the red one, That's Buckaroo Banzai one. The closest thing to it today would be 'Men In Black' which is cool. But I would watch Buckaroo Banzai every time because of the charming and clever way it chose to introduce and tell that story. There's plenty of science for the geek scientist in all of us, but introducing inter-dimensional beings. That still knocks it out the park for me. And it's done in a cool, charming, stylish way all the way through the entire film. Even the cheesy nuances are supercool. How about the holograph "John Emdall" played eloquently by the late great and super sexy Rosalind Cash. CGI would taken all the fun out of you looking at whatever the heck that is and try to make it make sense to your mind. How they pulled that off was both cheesy and cool at the same time. Here's something I just notice cuz I'm a nerd and I started watching film because I have to wait every 2-5 years to watch it again because I might lose myself watching it and can't function properly until I find myself again. This film so layered and simple, I find myself getting tangled up and enjoying so I gotta do something else. Anyway, Dr. Lazardo is plugging himself up the juice and if you look to his right. There are pictures on the wall with a caption at the top. This is me: Dr. Lazardo and picture of himself and then below is I believe and "Here's everybody else" with a copy of this strange looking creature multiplied several time. I almost fell off the couch. Here's my favorite: "Lithium will no longer be sold on credit" says the voice of the PA system at the hospital. Her voice said something like, it is hilarious in the context.

[@andycauble2427]

Underrated classic. Still semi-patiently waiting for "Buckaroo Banzai Against The World Crime League".

[@viscountalpha]

+Andy Cauble the sad thing is, it would actually be better then some of the shit that's coming out now.

[@geoffreylane6160]

Hell fucking yeah.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

"Semi-patiently," indeed.

[@arbhall7572]

Yeah that is a far away dream now. The ownership rights are an epic mess. Kevin and Marc talk about it on an ep of Fatman Beyond. Something like 5 different studios have a claim to either production or distribution rights, which are all owned by a singular parent company, the original writer has some claim to it, but hes dead now and the family hates the studio. Like I said, its an epic mess and I know Im missing parts Add to that everyone is 30 years older, and only relics from this generation really give a shit about it. The studios just wont invest in something this weird and awesome. Maybe they would, they made Battleship the board game into a movie along with the Emoji movie. So what do I know.

[@eeledahc]

@@arbhall7572 It would be nice is someone came along and did an alternate reality/ dimension version of it with different names, maybe a different look but basically the same weirdness so you know what it is and no one can copyright claim it. Or has it already been approached?

[@ObservantPiratePlus]

This film literally inspired me to explore every different aspect or discipline that I knew I had an aptitude for, becoming an electronics tech, and later an engineer, studying martial arts, becoming an on-stage musician for live performances, getting certified as a working private investigator, designing electronic security systems, having pieces being in international art shows, being an illustrator, videographer, photographer and graphic arts consultant, and so much more. I may not be a neuro-surgeon, etc. like Buckaroo Banzai, but I'm happy that I've taken the journey that I have, to become kind of my own version. Good times! Future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!

[@reedsawyer5704]

Bravo! This movie was an inspiration for me also.

[@hankscorpio8928]

Same here. Over my 50 years on this planet I’ve been a sound designer for trailer music a composer for experimental film, a steel drum builder, a revolutionary, a Freemason, a Buddhist, a TEDx speaker, a marksman and a fencer 🤺 in several styles and a slight of hand expert and broke up a church over double standards. Buckaroo Banzaii is my influence. Thank you to everyone who worked on and started in the film.

[@Goosemeyer]

Every member of the cast had been the "Quirky" guy in other films.Vincent Schiavelli, Lithgow, Weller, Christopher Lloyd, Goldblum always played a lone whacky character. This film threw them together in what I consider an underrated classic.

[@jnnx]

Goosemeyer I think in C U R R E N T Y E A R, the term “underrated” has become...overrated.

[@123612100]

jnnx Sometimes, but when a movie such as buckaroo isn't as huge as it should be calling it underrated applies.

[@123612100]

Having nothing but "quirky" actors is what also probably contributed to it's weirdness.

[@jt1929]

Character actors. Other great films with like actors would be the Thing, Sorcerer and the Ninth Configuration

[@HandofDave]

I had the great pleasure to meet John Lithgow while I was serving as his late dad's 'computer guy'. A total gent.

[@MarrockV]

I imagine Peter Weller was just happy to talk about something that wasn't RoboCop for a change.

[@johngore5127]

Everybody who loves this movie knows why they do. It's COOL, and we all want to be one of these characters, even if only in our minds.

[@jfvirey]

I'm amazed that Peter Weller says 18:26 he modelled Buckaroo Banzai after Jacques Cousteau and Adam Ant, because when I first saw the film back in the 80's, I still was an Adam Ant fan, and I thought Buckaroo Banzai looked like him.

[@jrice73]

There's a lot hate for Kevin Smith, but man, oh man, when he talks about stuff like this, his sincerity is beyond noble. For Smith, myself and a whole helluva lot of BB fans out there, that ad in Marvel Comics, did indeed put a seed into our mind and make us yearn for this film which we knew absolutely nothing about, but that seed was so full of wonder and mystery, once we did see the film, it was primed and ready to become part of our collective consciousnesses and our souls for all time.

[@JRTodd]

Nice! I actually saw Buckaroo Banzai in the theater, twice...then got the poster, then the VHS...and I still have a TEAM BANZAI headband...yep

[@ROOKTABULA]

I have a sealed set of 3 BB View-Master reels!

[@x-crisis]

I think Buckaroo Banzai would approve of Peter Weller's glasses.

[@1sttobylopez]

"Either it won't work or it'll be really really interesting" little did John Lithgow know it was both!

[@Ireneharnack1138]

One of the first DVD’s I purchased and my former husband was like, “where do you find these weird movies no one’s ever heard of?!” Glad I’m not the only one!😁

[@superslug1000]

Want a new husband? 😉

[@Ireneharnack1138]

@@superslug1000 the old one left, so yeah.

[@KonElKent]

My brother is just shy of nineteen years older than me (there are several siblings between us, he's the oldest, I'm the second-youngest), so by the time I was in my teens, he was reasonably well established in life. I remember when I was fifteen, I was at his place looking at his video shelf and asked "What's Buckaroo Banzai?" He insisted that I find out on the spot! I'm forever grateful...

[@djmikefoxx4509]

I love the way Kevin Smith asks questions like a fan, rather than a film maker

[@texasatan]

I watch Kevin Smith in this video and he seems like the High Priest of Geekdom, he even looks like he's wearing robes, talking passionately about something he loves like only a geek can, and I love hearing him talk about a movie I loved as a kid and still love as an adult. This video rules.

[@TheMichaelBeck]

I remember the 80s. I graduated HS in '86. We didn't need the internet or cellphones or GPS. It was an amazing experience growing in America back then. I weep for the future of our country and our planet.

[@SuperSnakePlissken]

Another example why I argue 1984 is one of the best years ever in cinema, music, and culture of all-time. This video is priceless.

[@corywilliams2255]

I am totally with Kevin Smith on this. BUCKAROO BANZAI is one of my all-time favorite movies. When I first saw it on the recommendation of a friend, I thought, "This movie is five different flavors of weird...and I am LOVING every bite!"

[@kerriganm]

I was on a date. We drove past a small movie theater and he said, “You want to see that movie?” I said, “Sure.” I was 16. I had never heard of Buckaroo Banzai, nor had he. I left that theater a changed girl; my mind was absolutely blown. At the moment, I still have two Buckaroo Banzai t-shirts, two sets of the comic books, And one “super-special” comic. The fact that the sequel never was made is one of the great sorrows of my life. Thanks, guys, for one of the greatest films ever made. ❤

[@0dnan]

The sequel came out as a novel a few years ago.

[@eXtremeDR]

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension - is a great semi-documentary. ^^

[@maxhamman]

I cant even tell you how many times I've watched this movie. It is still to this day one of my top ten favorites.

[@imfrcd]

I first saw this movie when it came out in VCR in '85/'86? Just found & bought a DVD from eBay in 2020. The joy never changes. "don't be mean, you don't have to be mean. Remember...."

[@christophermcknight8489]

I have loved this movie since the first time I watched it as a child. That the actors still cherish this work, brings a smile to my lips. Kevin Smith is a great human being and it is wonderful that he exalts the things he loves. It gives voice to so many of us who share his eclectic tastes.

[@toddstevens13]

Weller has to be in two of the biggest Cult way out there movies with this and Naked Lunch.

[@coffeefan841]

Robocop ;)

[@Wildcock23]

Don’t forget “Shakedown”!

[@chiefscheider]

Not to mention The New Age, with Judy Davis and the one and only Adam West. Seriously overlooked flick

[@notnatsstanton8673]

This movie still holds a very special place in my heart - would love to see remade but at the same time scared of what they would do to it. But most of all would love to see the never made sequel.

[@chiefscheider]

Sequel, sure. Remake, no f***in' way!

[@burkesongs]

It's such a wonderfully bizarre film! The bit about the dialect coach is great!

[@pinz2022]

"John Bigboote, more power to him." The only line he doesn't shout.

[@Mulder-Scully]

W.D. Richter was a co-writer on another one of my favourite movies Big Trouble in Little China.

[@ShroudedDay]

I am in nostalgia heaven watching this.

[@davidcohen4518]

I saw this movie last week while on acid, it was simply genius

[@Wildcock23]

I just saw it yesterday on shrooms… it was spectacular.

[@radiobabylon]

true works of art, be they books or paintings or films or music or what have you, are the kinds of things that every time you encounter them, you take something new away from the experience because every time you encounter them you bring something new to the experience. the best art grows WITH you, constantly revealing new layers while hinting at depths still unexplored, waiting patiently for you to be ready for their discovery. you get out of them what youre willing to put into them. buckaroo banzai, i think, firmly qualifies as one of those works of art. i personally have never much cared for it, yet always have appreciated it, and find myself drawn back to it time and again... i dont particularly like it, but i certainly value it as a unique piece of cinema history.

[@MadsterV]

It always looked to me like Litgow had a lot of fun doing this one.... this confirms it

[@ROOKTABULA]

His opening comment: That's EXACTLY what happened to me! I still remember that poster ad in the comics! Still have a few ish's with it!

[@markgerrard1892]

I'm so glad this popped up. I've loved this move for ever and Kevin nailed it with his synopsis. Speaking of which, I'd love to see a Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino collaboration - what a movie that'd be!

[@MovieMax1701]

You know, i loved this movie my entire life..when i was a young boy, like 3 i first saw Buckaroo Banzai and it was one of my three favorite movies at that age next to crocodile dundee and Star Trek IV The Voyage Home..(i know i was a toddler, but my parents taught me great taste at an early age.) I still remember seeing weller in robocop for the first time when i was like 12, and now everytime i watch Buckaroo Banzai, when im at the scene where buckaroo is being tortured in the shock tower, bigboote turns up the power and buckaroo is screaming in pain, i will say everytime “well, at least he’s doing better than he was in the beginning of robocop.”

[@K4rt80y]

Why should I watch this? Because your perfect.

[@AlanCanon2222]

You have a point there.

[@geneawisea2708]

Kevin Smith is the Best when he just is himself and not pandering to the mob. Loved meeting you 26 years ago Man and while you’ve broken my heart dozens of times in the last 6 or 7 years, I still Love You

[@jimhill6586]

they hooked me after the rocket car had the typical ford engine knock. that would occur after shut off, when hot. the details of funny and strange were reaching the edge. Not too many got the subtle humor.

[@michellejones2416]

“ Buckeroo Bonzai” is an absolute gem of a movie. I loved, love and, will ALWAYS LOVE this movie 🎥. Thank you so much for sharing!!!! Anyone who can appreciate this movie has a monumental imagination ,the capability to accept the non conventional and, think squarely out of the box. 💝♾

[@lisaleone2296]

"How should we market this film" WOW. This is better than most films

[@hankscorpio8928]

38:13 This guy right here. Im a sound designer. All the coolest people I know love this movie- composers, comic shop owners, major network tv producers, artists- all of’em. And yeah, we’re all guys in our 50’s 😊

[@janosfernandez945]

It took me 20 years to remember that I actually saw a movie called MegaForce, it took me 2 minutes to KNOW that I LOVED Buckaroo banzai :) !

[@jaredscott367]

I remember MegaForce, my stepdad rented it. I loved it as a kid, but it was really cheesy

[@alanhindle3149]

I was fourteen when this came out and I was so obsessed I reverse-mandela-effected myself, absolutely convinced that Buckaroo Banzai was already an existing series of films. It started in the middle of a pre-existing world, it promised to continue shortly, obviously there was more already out there. I hounded my local movie rental shop staff, the cinema managers, comic book store employees, the folks at the dungeons and dragons store downtown, I might have even written a letter to nameless executives at the studio demanding to know what the other films were called and where I could find them to rent. All I got were bemused and slightly terrified shrugs. Then Spinal Tap, Repo Man and The Last Starfighter came out and I had new obsessions. But Buckaroo has always stuck with me, whistling as I strut down a long street.

[@hikerbro3870]

Lithium will no longer be available on credit.

[@thatpovguy]

BUCKAROO BANZAI was the first of two films I rented when a video rental store opened in my neighborhood. The other one was THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (also 1984). Both remain in my top 10 favorite list.

[@markmaranta1979]

Yep. You had to watch it twice to put all that stuff into place. Watched it uncounted times since... this was my first DVD.

[@PrimetimeD]

Oh wow I'm crying watching this. Tremendous

[@janosfernandez945]

That was a PULP movie updated to the 80's, with the sense of wonder, unbelievable heroes and quantum physics taken to FUN, RIDICULOUS heights on par with the popular literature it came from ! When I hear " Cult Movie ", I always think " Buckaroo "

[@LaSabrinaSabrosa]

Thank you for sharing this! I think it's really interesting stuff- and a bit surreal, too, because I was also 14 in ' 84, like Kevin, and can relate to so much of what talks about in his intro (except I was doing it in New Orleans, and I'm not a dude)-1 of my all time favorite movies :)

[@the1realanalogman]

This is a great interview!Gateway Film Center in The OSU campus area is showing throughout the year (2017) the top 101 cult films of all time. Last Sunday was one of several performances of Buckaroo Banzai in 35mm! So cool to see it again on the big screen! My fav cult film ever!

[@CaericArcLight]

Had a blast that night. They need to do it again.

[@guillermoazul220]

One of my favorite movies of all time. Watched it over and over again.

[@hankscorpio8928]

20:40 this right here. This is why this film is so impactful - they all had *fun* working on it. This translated directly into their performances and was beautifully summed up in the closing credits scene. Im still bummed we never got the sequel, but at least se have closing credits “march” scene. With that ending, they’re off on another adventure still looking as “1984 New Wave Cool” as ever. Could you see the sequel coming out in 1987? Would they start playing hair metal? That would have been a nightmarish end to the franchise. Instead BB is frozen perfectly in time.

[@RachelKadushin]

I remember when the promotion team came to Lunacon and gave out the headbands and pins. Also that the film was released during the summer olympics. I think I saw it when it came out, but was very disappointed that there was next to no media promotion and it was out of theaters in one or two weekends. Now, hearing Kevin's story of missing it at the theaters, I'm glad I was in New York City at the time and got to see it.

[@spazmobot]

This is my favorote movie OF ALL TIME. Since I was little I wanted to do what Buckaroo did -everything. Wanted to try everything, wanted there to be that shot of random wtf in my life. Wanted to own myself completely and unappologetically as this movie does. Just defined so many values and inspirations and love for life.

[@Sam-rf8yh]

What a great vid. So much fantastic info on this classic. Lithgow seems like such a gentleman.

[@VNVgirl]

I llove that comment - me too! He is! It's nice to see :)

[@ZiddersRooFurry]

oh my god I just fell in love with these three all over again. The honesty and sincereness is awesome

[@heyitslance5483]

Part 2 needs to be made.

[@timothyball742]

Computer only if this gets made!

[@ThePunisher1138]

Well said about Buckaroo! Possibly the most iconic movie of my childhood!

[@maquabear5242]

Great interview!

[@browsertab]

This is such a great channel. So much great content.

[@geneawisea2708]

Buckaroo Banzai and Big Trouble in Little China are spiritual cousins. Genre defining

[@bevrosity]

i'll have to rewatch this movie. been a long time. looks like they had a good time there that night.

[@rickytoddbotelho9555]

Great interview. Great.

[@edcliffe2988]

Like Slaughterhouse Five, if you don't bother to read the little precis at the beginning of the film, you will be lost. Read it, and it is so easy to just go with it. Loved BB... A Buckaroo Banzai RPG!!? Oh boy!

[@excommando1]

It was probably the 7th viewing of this movie that I GOT almost everything that was happening.

[@delfin7461]

I remember seeing this when it came out and after the film my friends and I looked at each other and said WTF did we just see?!?! But whatever it was we loved it! One of my all time fave weird comedies.. I worked as a company where the guys would sign in at conferences as John Yaya or John Bigbooty (big BOO TAY) Kevin is right, nothing is like this film at all.. you just are along for the ride

[@karithay]

In retrospect, it is amazing how this film provided such a diverse array of positive male role models/characters and positive male relationships, particularly given how different they were from the popular male leads of the time.

[@constancemiller3753]

"weird wonderful movie that takes you to places" art film:) and Raising Arizona.

[@adammorris2522]

on of those movies that truly has everything.

[@manofaction1807]

And THIS is why we put up with Kevin Smith. Because no matter how much he tries, he's one of US.

[@dilutedembreo1]

Thanks!

[@thomasballard1753]

Absolutely priceless.

[@vapormissile]

this goes with the movie. this post needs to be in the credits...

[@daveconleyportfolio5192]

A heroic genius surrounded by a lovable supergroup of wildly diverse characters? If you switch "Tony Stark" for "Buckaroo Banzai," it seems like an inevitable hit. But the culture just wasn't ready for it -- just as the culture wasn't ready in the 1970s when George Pal did "Doc Savage," based on the Kenneth Robeson books that set the template for ALL of this stuff.

[@iamchillydogg]

It's a crime there hasn't been a good Doc Savage film.

[@patrickholt2270]

"Wherever you go, there you are" comes from a character called Eccles on The Goon Show, written by Spike Milligan.

[@caronstout354]

It's also known as Oliver's Law of Location...

[@darwinwins]

this is the very best example of a film ahead of its time

[@AZBound3]

The movie was way ahead of its time. A classic though!

[@immoosiesmom]

Love this movie!

[@davewebster5120]

John Lithgow is probably the best living actor. He can do everything and it's cool when he chooses to do stuff like this when he could be on broadway winning a tony.

[@RaptureMusicOfficial]

Brilliant movie, great fun talk!

[@ShroudedDay]

John Lithgow is just a treasure!

[@MichaelMcClelland1]

I too felt Buckaroo Banzai was a sea change in story telling. I got the novelization, the comic mini series, and eagerly awaited the sequel when I was a kid. I feel especially cheated about the watermelon, because Buckaroo said he'd tell us later.

[@Imustscream]

I was richly rewarded by the Watermelon mention at the end :)

[@Kazzlin1]

I just watched the blu ray (Australian import. I don't know why it's not available in the US) and got just as much joy out of it as I did 31 years ago. I love this freakin' movie.

[@teeniebeenie8774]

dont git no better than john lithgow LOVE HIM

[@atlas2atlante1]

SIMPLE PURE 80,S CINEMA ONE OF THE BEST UNDER RATED SCI-FI MOVIES OF ALL TIME INCREDIBLE UNIVERSE STILL TODAY. AND BEST ENDIG TITLE SONG

[@pinz2022]

I just knew the gang was having a blast while filming it.

[@jaewok5G]

this movie and the hitchhikers books will alter the way you think. At some point in college I had acquired the video store standup of Peter Weller … way better than just a poster.

[@JamesJones-zt2yx]

Oh, man... I remember writing to a company that made and sold fannish stuff asking about a Team Banzai hachimaki. They said they begged for the right to make and sell them, told the owners it would be like printing money... but no. Weller and Lithgow nailed it--the marketers didn't know what they had.

[@Knight3rrant]

Chiming in as one of those creative types who was blown away and inspired by BB. Going to go look for the BB RPG now....

[@paulcoy9060]

This guy's a surgeon, an inventor, a martial artist, he travels with his weird group of friends who are also tops in their fields, he has a cool vehicle --- oh, wait a minute, I'm thinking of 1975's "Doc Savage", with Ron Ely. And they both needed a sequel against the World Crime League. Lots of connective tissue between these two movies, is all I'm sayin'.

[@kimsikoryak3830]

The greatest movie in its genre. The ONLY movie in its genre!

[@steghuman9063]

After watching this movie for the umpteenth time, it occurs to me why I love it, akin to a brain barrage, nonstop detail big deep thought theories juxtaposed with corny camp fun. Most movies serve a plate of a few different types of easily recognized foods that viewers with narrow insight can grasp (therefore enjoy) this movie tries not only to add every edible ingredient but stuff that might be poison as well. The universe is absurd,,, memories of potentially infinite heat exchanging in "one" persisting instant, this "now" is all that actually is , this movie gives crams "now". People will either get this and enjoy it , or be unable to and condemn it due to thier own short comings...

[@howardshere4370]

What was the watermelon for?

[@abicyclist]

I'll tell ya later.

[@damnsurfer522]

My father and I are still waiting for sequel.

[@efrem1]

Hear Hear!! No matter where you go, there you are.

[@heldlightning7118]

Awesome movie

[@KevinJDildonik]

Lithgow has repeatedly said he loved BB because the cast were amazing to work with, but he never had any idea what the movie was until he heard Kevin Smith explain how fans see it.