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!!!"

[–] trash1-5 10 years ago

It's satire and very well done for the time period.

PRESIDENT WIDMARK: "Buckaroo my good friend, I uh don't know what to say,
Lectroids? Planet Ten? Nuclear extortion? A girl named John?"

Watch it a few more times. You'll get it.

It has aged a bit but it's still funny as all get out.

"Buckaroo, The president just called and is wondering is everything
O.K. with the alien space cloud or should he just go ahead and destroy Russia?"

"Tell him yes on one and no on two."

"Which was yes, the destroy Russia or the number 2?"

[–] trash1-5 10 years ago

"You look awful Buckaroo."

"You don't exactly light up a party yourself Penny Priddy."

"So what, Big deal!"

[–] vantikaci 10 years ago

I actually paid money to see this in a theatre when it came out in 1984.
As a 23 year old, and now 54 year old woman- I immediately recognized that it was narrowly targeted to late teens early 20s white suburban males to pander to their latent fantasies.
Banzai? A testosterone driven scream of war in a (Japanese) hopeless situation (google it.)
Hong Kong? Chinese- hence the mishmash of quasi-racist confusion of the time.
AN adult male dressed up in a cowboy outfit? (Jeff Goldblum)- need I say more?
(The Fly, or Videodrome)

The Mussolini like Lizardo (literally wrote Il Duce on his wall)-and the tired reference to the evil of Hitler blah blah blah-

And of course the female "lead"- as the twin of his "true love"- her physical attributes are interchangeable and nothing else matters. She is the helpless pawn,abducted, who waits passively as an afterthought until the last few minutes of the movie to be rescued by the electro/magic healing of our hero-and her first response to his powers is a sexual awakening of her thigh- her face comes second. UGH.

Remember, this generation grew up fetishizing war they saw their older brothers and cousins fight- but had one of their own upon whom to release those base impulses.
So it was a movie written,directed,and produced by privileged white males for privileged white males who couldn't yet imagine that not everyone held their same interests and views.

[–] BobbyDupea 10 years ago

I was a white male in the age group you specified during the perior this movie came out, and I can tell you for a fact that your sexist, racist stereotypes of suburban white males are both inaccurate, hypocritical, and offensive. I didn't hold any of the "interests and views," or any of the "latent fantasies" you claim I held, and I never will. In addition, your claim to know the intentions of the filmmakers in creating the film is laughable.

My real name is Jeff

[–] jameswgarrity 9 years ago

Wow. You're sexist, racist and ignorant. Your last sentence there pretty much clinched it. Yipes.

[–] cirvin1258 9 years ago

Gee...

I'm half Black, and I thought the movie was brilliant!

[–] ErgonomicSpliff 8 years ago

I actually paid money to see this in a theatre when it came out in 1984.

So you didn't sneak in. Admirable, if extremely boring.

her face comes second.

It was Ellen Barkin. Of course her face came second.

Remember, this generation grew up fetishizing war they saw their older brothers and cousins fight- but had one of their own upon whom to release those base impulses.

My dad faught this war and I did no "fetishizing" about it. You are so far off-base with your psychobabble it's laughable.

So it was a movie written,directed,and produced by privileged white males for privileged white males who couldn't yet imagine that not everyone held their same interests and views.

No. It was a fantastic farce based on a super-nerd comic book character who had a strange sense of humor and an unspoken confidence that no other nerd possessed. It was a movie made by nerds for nerds. No one involved in the film pretended otherwise.

You come off as a frigid, humorless feminazi. Lighten up and enjoy.

[–] Jigsaw737 9 years ago

It makes about as much sense as the average Futurama episode. Just enjoy it!

I love this movie.

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The IMDb forums: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

[–] rrandcoyote 9 years ago

Robin Hood and his merry men save the universe and the girl.

At its core, it's still good guys vs bad guys.

[–] cwatson6387 8 years ago

Robin Hood and his merry men save the universe and the girl.

At its core, it's still good guys vs bad guys.

Spot on! Despite the Sci-Fi setting I've always seen it as an homage to the Golden Age of Hollywood.