MovieChat Forums > The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) Discussion > Well, Reading the Messages here Convince...

Well, Reading the Messages here Convinced Me...

posted 18 years ago by WavyG
18 replies | jump to latest

I watched the movie. Congratulations, you actually convinced me. I must say, I rather enjoyed it. I already had a pretty good idea what to expect of the film after reading the messages here, so I wasn't really blown away by anything. It was, quite simply, "cute." It was like a pastiche of a "B-movie" or old-time serial, only played straight, rather than campy (which is kind of what I was expecting it to be). In fact, it was so straight, I actually found it to be kind of dry half-way through. I have also been told that it has to be viewed multiple times to understand everything, but I thought it pretty much made sense the first time. I will be sure to watch it again, just in case.

My only complaint was that there were so many "sidekick" characters, there was not enough screen time to get to know anybody well enough to care enough about them. Its like, many things are "hinted" at, but never explained, so as to give the feeling this is part of something much bigger, but it really isn't (notably, the "Stay tuned for the sequel..." message at the end, which of course, never happened). But I guess that's what everybody loves about it--its quirkiness.

There are too many questions to ask. Like, why is so it important to show that he is a brain surgeon, and a rock singer, etc. at the beginning, when none of these things are ever called upon again? And, of course, the biggest question of all: Why is Jeff Goldblum dressed like a cowboy? I know there's no answer to that, but that's what they want me to ask, right?

[–] dijomaja 18 years ago

Congratulations. You have taken the first steps on an occasionally goofy but thoroughly enjoyable journey (I'm pretty much a newcomer here, myself). I had most of the reservations you mention but they seem to matter less as time goes by. I think most of us here would love to see a sequel, prequel or even some filled-out subplots but 20 years is a long time between episodes. The book is good although it only addresses a few of your concerns and I was disappointed in the first "graphic novel". I think most fans would be hard-pressed to say exactly what it is that makes this story so enjoyable but I'll bet they don't care, either.

[–] VernonWellsClone 18 years ago

i've heard quite a lot about this film, and i caught it on the sci-fi channel lasst week.

although it seemed messy, the cast and original ideas, as well as the strange dialogue, kept me interested. The end sequence was fun as well. I wouldn't say it was amazing though, even in a cult sense.

[–] dijomaja 18 years ago

It's one of those films that gets more enjoyable with repeated viewing; some things make (a little) more sense after you've seen it all the way through at least once. My understanding is that the edited-for-TV version leaves a bit out. The re-released DVD has a slightly-extended version that fills in a few blanks. The book is good, too, but I waited for quite a while for Amazon to send a copy before cancelling the order and getting one of their used copies (even though it's technically back in print). And I agree that the ending sequence seems to be a bit over-rated in some circles.

[–] WavyG 18 years ago

I even got my co-workers into it. I took the tape to work to and left it in my "movie drawer" (yeah, we watch movies at work) to share with whomever wanted to check it out. One guy said it was really cool how it was like an "A-movie" trying to look like "B-movie," and I thought, "weird...that's the exact same reaction I had." But then, he went on to say, "I couldn't tell if it was a new movie or an old movie," and I had to wonder. He really couldn't tell from the *band scene* that this was from the height of pure eighties dreck???

Strange, I thought, how everyone's reaction who watched it was mostly praising it, when none of them had even heard of it before, and I didn't even "hype" it up at all--I just left it in my drawer. It's just one of those movies, I guess. I wonder if my reaction would have been greater had I just watched it and not read about it first on the "Internet."

[–] artistathome 16 years ago

No. You are not supposed to ask why they show all the things he is. He is half Japanese, I think.

And yes---they show he is a rocket scientist, a brain surgeon, a band member, and all round good guy, who just happens to save the world. That is part of the fun!!! ya goof.

Buckaroo is everything. And his team love him and will do anything for him because he is one of the good guys.

And part of the game between us and the movie makers is we accept it. No questions asked. It's all in fun. And you don't pick apart fun.

GReat movie. When I am depressed I watch this.
Literally from the first scene I am chuckling to myself.

Yes, some of it is tongue in cheek. It has to be. The scene where Emile Lazardo runs into the wall with black hair and comes out with red? Screaming? And then puts electrodes on his tongue and juices himself up? And they have to tell him to stop it cause he uses up too much voltage?
priceless.

And the band, the Hong Kong Cavaliers? and their outfits? Oh my gosh. just priceless, especially when you realize that it was the mid 80s and that was THE fashion and now in 2008 we think it is corny.

The movie needs to be watched about 4 times to appreciate it. And Jeff Goldblum wears the cowboy outfit so he can fit in. he was not cool like the rest.

[–] Billy_McAvoy 16 years ago

GReat movie. When I am depressed I watch this.
Literally from the first scene I am chuckling to myself.

I hear ya... The moment I see the 'ford' emblem on the grill of the "Jetcar" I start cracking up.

...Guess What S1m0ne! We have now entered an age where we can manufacture fraud faster than our ability to detect it

[–] WavyG 16 years ago

The moment I see the 'ford' emblem on the grill of the "Jetcar" I start cracking up.

I don't get it. (I'm not a big car buff.) What's the joke here?

[–] MadSimian 16 years ago

The joke is that Ford has a long-standing reputation for making sub-standard vehicles. Not exactly the type of car you'd expect to see being the basis for a jetcar. lol

BTW, hiya Wavy. Nice to see you outside the INTK board.

Arcanum_V on punctuation(and mis-use of): "Are you pregnant? I think you missed a couple periods."

[–] WavyG 16 years ago

What up, bro! Well, strange, but I've driven nothing but Fords for years, so I never knew anything about them being sub-par vehicles. Joke's on me, I guess.

[–] MadSimian 16 years ago

I know. I've driven a lot of different makes in my day and out of them all Ford and Oldsmobile make the most reliable.

Arcanum_V on punctuation(and mis-use of): "Are you pregnant? I think you missed a couple periods."

[–] MelCooley2 8 years ago

The joke is not that Ford makes substandard cars. First of all, that is not their reputation. The humor comes from the fact that they built this high-powered, jet vehicle...but they didn't really "build it." They just took a consumer grade, street legal pick-up truck and strapped a couple of jet engines to it. (Hey, for all I know, that's what you really do when you're going for a land speed record. Shrug?) But, from the audience perspective, the chuckle is that Buckaroo and his team are operating by their own rules...doing things their own way (and on their own budget), and so are the film-makers. They could've take the Ford logo off of the truck, but they said, "Let's leave it on and see how many people realize that it's just a plain-old truck under all that super-sonic technology."

You know, now that I think about it, WHATEVER vehicle they used, it was going pretty damn fast. Honestly, that "jet car" might have really been some tricked-out Ford pick-up truck with real jet engines strapped to it. Anybody know?

[–] gnome-5 15 years ago

"The scene where Emile Lazardo runs into the wall with black hair and comes out with red?"

Holy Sh!t! As many times as I've seen this movie, I've never noticed that! (Runs off to put movie on.)

[–] Lord-Z 16 years ago

--"My only complaint was that there were so many "sidekick" characters, there was not enough screen time to get to know anybody well enough to care enough about them. Its like, many things are "hinted" at, but never explained, so as to give the feeling this is part of something much bigger, but it really isn't"--

That was one of the points. It was supposed to feel like an episode in a longrunning series of movies. There are callbacks to previous (unmade) movies and characters who aren't in this one.

The writer had actually written dozens of outlines for the movie and begun dozens of different scripts. Many of them were collected in a folder and became previous adventures and backstory.

http://www.madmanoz.blogspot.com/

[–] MuggySphere 15 years ago

I'm a recent convert too..... I lvoe this film

[–] kmorrison1 15 years ago

Why is that watermelon there???

[–] MuggySphere 15 years ago

What watermelon?

[–] kmorrison1 15 years ago

I'll tell you later.

[–] jefgg 8 years ago

I assumed Jeff Goldblum's character dressed like a cowboy because he liked Western style clothing. I guess he was an "urban cowboy" and that was why they called him "New Jersey".