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Backaroo bonzia9/4/2023 Lizardo by going full-tilt weirdo he’s the type of guy who electrocutes his tongue to get himself going. 20th Century Foxīut the real star of the show, as any fans of old serials know, is the villain. John Lithgow in The Adventure of Buckaroo Banzai. Jeff Goldblum has a small role as the newest Cavalier, a surgeon and pianist who is also a cowboy named New Jersey. Far more important than their backstory is how they look, especially in terms of Perfect Tommy’s (Lewis Smith) incredible outfits. Who are the Hong Kong Cavaliers? They’re Buckaroo’s friends. It’s the type of logic that works for kids but would never really fly in today’s backstory-laden sci-fi epics. The Hong Kong Cavaliers, who are also never really explained, make up for their mystery with a whole lot of style. An opening scroll reveals that Buckaroo Banzai has an American mother and a Japanese father, meaning he began life as he lived it: “going in several directions at once.” It’s a little ridiculous, to put it lightly, that the decidedly un-Japanese Weller, whose stoic cool is admittedly terrific, plays a Japanese character.īeyond that, the movie successfully creates a fun little world for itself, one in which presidents hang out in circular beds discussing alien invasions and in which scientists are constantly looking for a man named Buckaroo. It’s worth noting some details feel papered over. Rather than attempt to give audiences Flash Gordon, with the outer shell of a hero masking a deeper internal struggle (think Luke Skywalker), director Richter and screenwriter Earl Mac Rauch tried to build a new kind of character from scratch. The cast of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai. Very quickly, with its opening scene of Banzai performing surgery before driving an experimental jet car that can drive through matter, the movie establishes itself as having very little to do with reality. Kael called their lives “a boy hipster’s dreams of glory that are almost pre-sexual,” though she didn’t mean this in a particularly harsh way. Together with his best friends and backup band the Hong Kong Cavaliers (who are also all scientists), Banzai tests really cool cars, plays in bands, and fights evil villains. He’s a physicist, neurosurgeon, experimental test pilot, and rock star all at the same time. Buckaroo Banzai (pre- Robocop Peter Weller). If you asked a particularly imaginative 10-year old what they wanted to be when they grew up, their answer might accurately describe Dr. Buckaroo Banzai aimed to adopt a similar storytelling ethos but unlike its influences, Buckaroo Banzai wanted to be weird. Above all else, these sci-fi stories sought to wow audiences with far-out worlds, aliens, and never-ending twists. Buckaroo Banzai Declassified - An original featurette on the making of the film featuring W.D.Not a direct parody of those franchises Kael mentioned, Buckaroo Banzai still shares an important strand of their DNA: namely, the golly-gee excitement of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and other comic-book or radio serials of the 1930s and ‘40s. Q&A with stars Peter Weller and John Lithgow moderated by filmmaker Kevin Smith, filmed at Lincoln Center, New York Audio commentary with writer-director W.D. Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing High Definition Digital transfer of the film from original elements by MGM With strong references to sci-fi and pop culture that span Thomas Pynchon and Orson Welles, Buckaroo Banzai is a film made by fans for fans and counts filmmakers including Wes Anderson and Kevin Smith among its admirers. Lizardo and the Red Lectroids are seeking the Overthruster to take over the world and Banzai, with his team of agents/band musicians, The Hong Kong Cavaliers, must stop them before it’s too late! The Overthruster allows him to travel to the 8th Dimension, but this feat draws the attention of the Red Lectroids, an alien race (led by Christopher Lloyd) who have teamed up with Banzai’s nemesis, the deranged Dr Lizardo (John Lithgow). Peter Weller is Buckaroo Banzai, a physicist-neurosurgeon-martial arts master-secret agent-rock star who has just made history with his invention, the Oscillation Overthruster. From the writer of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Big Trouble in Little China comes a pop-sci-fi adventure that defies convention and went on to become one of the cult hits of the 80s.
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