MIDDLE-AGED MATINEE! #9 - 'The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'

'The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension' (1984)

I’m back with another “Middle-Aged Matinee!” review, an article where I’ve been visiting or revisiting films from the year of my birth, 1984. This time, I’m taking a look at one of the wildest and weirdest movies to come out in ‘84. That movie is “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension” and it was nowhere near a hit when it was released, but it did manage to gain a surprising cult following over the years.

I, for one, saw the movie for the first time only a couple of years ago. I had avoided it in the past because people had told me that it was random, that it was all over the place, and that it was just plain weird. However, that sometimes ends up being the right cup of tea for me so while I was a little surprised that I enjoyed the movie, I wasn’t that surprised.

Now, I will try to get to the gist of what this wacky sci-fi comedy is about. Dr. Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller) is a neurosurgeon, physicist, a leader of a band, and a martial arts master. His team, which is also his music band, are the Hong Kong Cavaliers and they’re sort of an “A-Team” like mercenary unit.

Anyway, Banzai has developed a device that allows you to travel through solid objects, which Banzai tests by driving through a mountain. However, in between, there is an 8th dimension and when Banzai returns on the other side of the mountain, he may have brought something back.

Banzai and his team are ready for anything the aliens throw at them!

It is revealed that the leader of the aliens is Dr. Lizardo (John Lithgow), a scientist who got temporarily stuck in the 8th dimension and was possessed by one of the beings trapped there. Now that Lizardo sees that Banzai has a way to get back to the dimension, he sets out with other exiled aliens to go after Banzai and his team.

Oh, and the other aliens from Planet 10 (the ones who banished Lizardo to the 8th dimension) are here to blow up Earth now that they know where the alien exiles are located.

If any of that sounded bizarre, trust me when I say the movie is crazier than anything I can describe. There are several subplots and other distractions, some are necessary and others not so much. It’s like they took sci-fi, action, comedy, and romantic films and threw them into a blender and this is what came out of that exchange.

Yet, I will say that the movie’s plot is really not that hard to follow. Banzai developed a device that attracted aliens exiled on Earth and now they want to get it from Banzai so they can return home. That’s the biggest plot point you’re gonna need to pay attention to.

The cast here is stacked. Peter Weller is great as Banzai and gives a genuinely good lead performance. Weller is also joined by solid supporting stars such as Clancy Brown and Jeff Goldblum in early performances for both actors.

The production design is also good given the time and money that the movie had. This was not a high budgeted affair. The production designers had to take a bonkers script and make it a reality. While they were limited with their resources, they actually succeeded more than they failed.

The long and short of it is that the movie is not for everybody. You’re either going to love it or you’re going to hate it. When I show this movie to friends, I tell them that whether or not they like it or hate it, they’re right with either outcome. It just so happens that I fall into the camp that loves this out-of-this-world ‘80s extravaganza.