Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #286: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension! (1984)

 

Dr. Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller) is a contemporary polymath. He works simultaneously as a physicist, neurosurgeon, rock star and test pilot. He and his mentor, Professor Hichika (Robert Ito) have just perfected the "oscillation overthruster," a device that enables an object to pass through matter. When Buckaroo installs it into his jet-powered car which he then drives through a mountain, he finds he's become an interdimensional traveller. He quickly returns to his own dimension, but not without an alien organism attached to his car. Then, a crazed alien scientist Dr. Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow) hears of Buckaroo's adventure to the Eighth Dimension and now, after escaping the asylum he's been confined to, recruits his extra-terrestrial followers to hunt Buckaroo down across the different dimensions.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension! was a critical and commercial flop upon its release in 1984 and, although it has generated a strong cult following since them, with all due respect to its fans, I think it deserved to flop. In theory I should've lapped it right up given how much I love science fiction movies and especially the '80s variety, as well as Lithgow's presence. But believe it or not, I was enormously bored. The narrative is admirably complex and unorthodox and the visual effects are brilliant for the era, but I just never thought director W. D. Richter cared for this tale. I found absolutely nothing rollicking, enthusiastic or charismatic about his direction; in short, it had no energy for me. I was also under the impression it was meant to be somewhat of a comedy but I found no traces of humour in Earl Mac Rauch's screenplay, which also is responsible for the sin of how Ellen Barkin's love interest character Penny is quite heavily objectified (although to Barkin's credit she tries to bring an emotional range to it where possible). Michael Boddicker's score also for me was too incongruously orchestral where an electronic Vangelis-style score would've engaged me considerably more (and, weirdly enough, Boddicker is reportedly known for composing electronic music).

The usually superb Lithgow tries hard as the over-the-top villain, but overall The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension! did not take me on anywhere near a journey of entertainment beyond my own dimension. 5/10.