MovieChat Forums > The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) Discussion > Am I the only one who doesn't understand...

Am I the only one who doesn't understand...

posted 12 years ago by Xenopickles
22 replies | jump to latest

WTF? I consider myself a cinefile, I remember every single movie I have ever seen and absolutely love sci-fi, but this movie completely stumps me! What the hell is going on, why was this ever made and is it really suppose to be funny?
I find to be very strange, but I assume it's suppose to be, just like Mars Attacks - for example, is it set in the future and if it is, why does everyone dress like they're from the past?
As a viewer, I don't feel included in the film's bizarre world...I don't know, it may just be one of those movies you have to see more than once to appreciate. There definitely was a lot going on and not a lot fully explained. No, I don't need my hand held, but why is Buckaroo a neurosurgeon/race car driver/rock star and also a superhero? I know you have to suspend reality and open your mind, but this movie may be a little too much for me.
Oh, and by the way, I loved Peter Weller as RoboCop!

"Get away from her, you BITCH!!!"

[–] cirvin1258 12 years ago

Jenvan,

The film takes place in "present-day".

It's about a group of geniuses who (re)discover a way to travel through matter via the 8th dimension, and attract the attention of an alien race that actually lives in the 8th dimension that had battled its own civil war, and who's enemy has been stranded here on Earth since our 1930's, with no way to go home - until now. (it's based on "War of the Worlds" radio show that first aired in 1938, except for the premise that when Orson Wells announced that it was "just a radio show", it was actually for real, and the bad guys are disguised as humans, all working for the same aircraft manufacturer)

And so, the "good aliens" threaten Buckaroo Banzai with Earth's destruction if he doesn't stop the "bad aliens" from stealing his technology, to get home - and once again wage war on their home world.

That's basically it, but it's one of those films that you have to watch from the beginning, preferably the "special" DVD, because some of the deleted scenes make the film make more sense. (I do understand that they have to edit for time constraints, but more often than not, the editors do a crappy job of maintaining a film's continuity)

[–] ttaskmaster 11 years ago

What the hell is going on, why was this ever made and is it really suppose to be funny?

When it was coming out, the film makers were asked what it's about and even they couldn't exactly pin it down.
I think the whole film is one massive inside-joke. Either you get it or you don't. Either way, it's ended up a cult classic. Just switch off and accept whatever happens in it as 'the way it is', I suppose.

Certainly you couldn't pull off a film like this today.

is it set in the future and if it is, why does everyone dress like they're from the past?

Filmed in the 80s, so likely set in that day. I suppose if you've only just seen this, they actually are dressed from the past!

it may just be one of those movies you have to see more than once to appreciate.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh, most definitely!!!!!!!
Expect five or six, with things one day just dawning on you while you're ironing or something.

No, I don't need my hand held, but why is Buckaroo a neurosurgeon/race car driver/rock star and also a superhero?

As the film producers said - Why not?
The film stretches a lot of things, but it's still possible I suppose.
My bro-in-law is an Actuary, pilot and golfer.
Brian Johnson from AC/DC is a rock star and a car racer.
Gary Numan is a rock star, car racer, professional stunt pilot and also an examiner for those pilots seeking their stunt display licences.

I know you have to suspend reality and open your mind, but this movie may be a little too much for me.

No worries - It's not for everyone

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[–] dijomaja-382-516639 11 years ago

When asked to define Jazz, Louis Armstrong said, "If ya gotta ask, ya ain't never gonna know", but I wouldn't say "never" with this movie. I know I tried to watch it once and turned off the tape (dates the story). I don't know why. I came back to it years later and became a big fan. Still don't know why.

[–] clouseau-4 10 years ago

When I was working at Sun Microsystems, one of the executives running my group was Bud Tribble. He has a degree in physics and a medical MD (delivered his own baby!) but went into technology. He was a member of the team that designed the first Macintosh computer. He would also play music in a band. I nicknamed him "Buddaroo Banzai."

The only piece missing is that he wasn't a superhero (as far as I know).

It's spelled Raymond Luxury Yacht, but it's pronounced 'Throat-Warbler Mangrove'

[–] Captain-Haggis 11 years ago

I'm tempted to think that bucket loads of cocaine played a large part in its production. :)

It's the only plausible explanation.

[–] Owen-13 11 years ago

Buckaroo and his band are largely based on a concept from the Doc Savage books, that this band of experts in this and that have been gathered under the leadership of a man so total in his Renaissance genius that he does many things better than anyone else, so much so that he is sought as a consultant by other experts in whatever. I am not a lover of the movie, but I think the best way to watch it is to quit trying to analyze it as it goes along, just let it flow over you and absorb it as it goes.

[–] Sulaimone 11 years ago

This is one of those movies that if it has to be explained to you, you'll probably never get it. Go with the flow and let things come to you by way of your imagination.

[–] ShannonTriumphant 11 years ago

That's the problem! You're over-thinking it. Trying to analyze it as you would with most movies. You need to sit back and as Hunter Thompson said, "Buy the ticket and take the ride". Don't think. Just enjoy. Any film with a neurosurgeon (Buckaroo-Peter Weller) who tells his colleague, Dr. Zweibel/New Jersey) during surgery: "Don't pull on that; you never know what it might be attached to." is not going to big on humor that needs explaining!

Don't expect any answers as to why there's a watermelon with tubes in it, or why Buckaroo practices with a Samurai sword in a moving RV, or why they let a little kid (Scooter) carry a loaded automatic weapon.

I mean, lines like (after "New Jersey"--Jeff Goldblum) explains the Grover's Mill/War of the Worlds hoax) "and they hypnotized Orson Welles to say it was all a hoax..or maybe it wasn't a hoax..."

Perfect Tommy: Orson Welles? Isn't that the old guy from the wine commercials?

Stuff like that...reducing an icon like Welles to some dude who sells wine and once got hypnotized by aliens from the 8th Dimension! (are you laughing yet? You should be!) The absurdity alone is enough. You don't need to understand much of anything and you don't need to ask "why?"...in fact you'll ruin it if you do, because, like the answer about the watermelon, it never comes.

Think Philip Glass music. What does it mean? NOTHING! But it's still great.

She deserves her revenge, and we deserve to die.

[–] gooney_77 10 years ago

I don't get it either. I just watched it again and was telling my roommate about it. You aren't the only one.

[–] darkdayforanime 10 years ago

It wasn't until I saw the film as a Sunday midday movie on tv in about 1996 or such that it finally seemed to click for me. I'd tried to watch it before, but I always found something better to do at the time.

I've watched it once every couple of years, since.

[–] bobbyf 10 years ago

BB is one of my favorite films, ever. (See my signature). It's a sci-fi comedy based on the old 30's-40's serials (think Charlie Chan or Flash Gordon.) It's ridiculous and hilarious. Some of the lines in it are so funny- like in the very beginning,

when Buckaroo and New Jersey are doing brain surgery, New Jersey touches a part of the patient's brain and Buckaroo says, "Don't tug on that, you never know what it might be connected to." Yet, he's a world-famous brain surgeon.

Ironic and ridiculous. And the movie is FULL of THAT kind of humor. It becomes quotable. A lot of those lines have become a part of my lexicon.

And for me, it never gets old. I watched it again last night for the nth time (this time with my son) and I noticed something new for the first time. There are other movies that are similar in their approaches to the humor: "Help: The Beatles", "Monty Python's Holy Grail," etc. Those are also some of my favorites.

Hey, it's not for everybody. But I appreciate that you say you don't get it as opposed to just trashing it.

Remember: no matter where you go, there you are. - Buckaroo Banzai

[–] trash1-5 10 years ago

It's satire, (DUH!) Considering when this came out at the
peak of the "Cold War" it's perfect. I Love it!

"History is a made at night, Character is what you are in the dark.
We must work while the clock she is a ticking,"

(LORD WHORFIN IS STRONG!)

"Where are we going?"

"PLANET TEN!"

"When?"

"REAL SOON!"

;)