reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (08/01/84)
According to the LA Times, "Buckaroo Banzai" will be opening August 10,
nationwide. They also mentioned that it is very weird and very funny.
By the way, "Android" is an American picture, not Canadian, made at New World
Pictures (Roger Corman country) on sets left over from something like
"Galaxy of Terror".
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!reiher
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{ihnp4,ucb}!ucla-cs!reiher
"Is the baby smiling, or is it just gas? Which do you want it to be?"reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (08/13/84)
"Buckaroo Banzai" (more accurately, "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai:
Across the 8th Dimension") is a very strange film. As far as I'm concerned,
strangeness is a point in a film's favor. I like films which are different,
and this is what pleased me most about "Buckaroo Banzai". (They could
probably make a pretty good comedy out of the meetings the creative folks
had with the money folks, trying to explain just what they wanted to do.)
This is a difficult one to summarize. There's this guy, Buckaroo Banzai (he's
half Japanese). He's the world's greatest neurosurgen and physicist. He and
his equally intellectual pals also form a hot rock band, and save the world in
their spare moments. This has made them tremendously popular with just about
everyone. Buckaroo has just come up with a device called an overthruster,
which allows him to travel through solid objects by going into a different
dimension. Unfortunately, a much earlier experiment of the same kind
screwed up badly. One of the participants in that experiment, a Dr.
Emilio Lizardo, went insane, apparently. Actually, his body was taken over
by an evil being from another dimension. More of these beings, exiled from
their home dimension, are trying to build a craft to return to their home, so
that they can take it over again. The folks in charge there think this is a
bad idea, and will blow up the Earth, if necessary, to prevent it from
happening. Who can save us? Why, Buckaroo Banzai, of course.
The plot is so far off the wall that it really doesn't pay to try to delve
into it in more detail. Suffice to say that a lot happens fast. "Buckaroo
Banzai" is blessed with a very fine script, courtesy of Earl Mac Rauch,
which moves quickly and always has a few surprises. Unfortunately,
"Buckaroo Banzai" is a good example of how important a director is to a
film. W.D. Richter had been a writer up to this point. This is his first
directorial job. He isn't quite up to it.
Now, don't get me wrong. Richter doesn't ruin the film, or anything. He's
perfectly competent. However, he takes what had the potential to be a really
fine film and fails in his assignment. He can't put across the script as well
as it deserves. The action scenes never really thrilled me, and far too many
of the neat throwaway bits were obviously from the script. Nothing wrong with
the script being inventive, but it's so much better if the director is, too.
Richter has mixed results with the actors. Peter Weller plays the title
role. He had two choices: he could underplay it or overplay it, since the
part would never work at a realistic level. He chose underplaying, and
perhaps went a bit too far in that direction. None the less, he looks
comfortable in the part, so I can't complain too much. John Lithgow, who
plays Dr. Lizardo, went in precisely the opposite direction, with splendid
results. He plays it all with a juicy Italian accent and definitely steals the
picture. (Lithgow has tremendous range. He went almost insane in "The Twilight
Zone", and played a nice, normal guy in "Terms of Endearment". He played a
Bible Belt preacher in "Footloose" and a transexual in "The World According to
Garp". For my money, he's one of the most talented actors working in American
films.) Jeff Goldblum has a lot of fun playing a brain surgeon who joins
Buckaroo's team. He's ready for medicine, high tech, and rock and roll, but
he hadn't figured on saving the world quite so soon. Some of the other actors
playing Buckaroo's sidekicks are able to make themselves stand out. Some
aren't. Ellen Barkin manages nicely as a girl Buckaroo saves from suicide and
prison, especially since the script requires her to serve as one of the film's
many intentional loose ends.
I liked "Buckaroo Banzai" a lot, but it disappointed me, too. Unlike "Indiana
Jones", or "Star Trek III", or "Gremlins", the script gave it a fighting chance
to be really special. Instead, it just turned out different. Given the way
things are in Hollywood nowadays, I'll settle for different. But, gee, I
really yearn for special.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!reiher