Rating: 
Summary: Classic cult film. Interesting DVD special features
Review: I first heard of Buckaroo Banzai at a science fiction convention in 1984. The filmmakers were showing a preview and handing out Team Banzai headbands. The film was being pitched as a "docudrama" (though I'm not sure that was the word used at the time.) They presented it as if it were a dramatization of real events in the life of Buckaroo Banzai, a scientist/rock star/neurosurgeon/crime fighter, combatting evil red lectroids from planet 10. The marketing ploy assured cult status for the movie, though the nature of the film probably would have assured it anyway. Others have done a good job of reviewing the film itself, so I won't go into that beyond saying I loved it, and will instead focus on the DVD special features.I just finished going through the DVD features, and one of the most unusual aspects of the special features is that they never let go of the "docudrama" conceit. The director's commentary is with the director and the "real" Reno. There's an "unknown facts" subtitle track with "quotes" from Buckaroo Banzai, background information on the "real" people the movie is about, historical and biological information about red and black lectroids, etc. It's an entertaining concept, but I really would have liked more honest background information at times. There is some real information, but it often contrasts the actor to the "real" person he's playing, or talks about how the actor and the character go out clubbing. There's a "making of" documentary that seems to be a new documentary using some footage taken at the time the original film was made plus some new footage, and again, the director thanks the "Banzai Institute" and Buckaroo himself for their help in making the film. It's certainly worth watching. There's also a very interesting trailer for a CG Buckaroo Banzai TV series they were trying to get going in 1998. It looks like it would have been a fun series if they could have converted the style of the trailer into viable scripts. The deleted scenes are also interesting, and give a little more background on some of the characters, but it's easy to see why they were cut. Overall, I'd say the special features were among the best I've seen, with only "Legally Blonde" doing better for entertainment value in the added material. This DVD is a definite "must-have" for any serious sci-fi geek, and the rest of you out there will almost certainly enjoy it, too. To those who don't like the film, there's really only one thing to say: "Laugh while you can, monkey boy!"
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Special Edition packages i've seen.
Review: I won't say much about the movie, since others have done so better than I. Suffice to say that it is, in my opinion, one of the best cult films ever made. The packaging of the film in the special edition DVD release is amazing. Too many special editions are simply haphazard collections of trailers and pointless cut scenes. While this dVD does have the trailers and cut scenes (would have been nice if they could have been integrated into the movie, as the X-Men DVD did); it has soo much more. Trivia, commentary, interviews, all very well done; using the "docu-drama" format that really kicks it from "about the film" to something truly appropriate for a cult classic of this nature -- often contrasting the "real" story behind certain scenes with the "toned down for the film" version. "Pinky Carruthers' Unknown Facts", a running subtitle commentary with trivia and editorial comments (again, in the docu-drama vein) is so well done, and so funny, that it alone justifies the purchase of the DVD. But it's not alone. There is also detailed information on the Jet Car (a real jet car made by Thrust Racing), the "bunkhouse", the Lectroids, the "real" Team Banzai and the actors who portrayed them in the film, and much more. The transfer is amazing, with the clearest and cleanest picture i've seen, short of a "never before run" print in a theatre. The audio is also well done, there are no noticible compression artifacts visible anywhere. I have seen few special edition packages to compare (the only two that come to mind are Fight Club and Monty Python and the Holy Grail).
Rating:
Summary: Why did they cut out all that stuff back in 84?
Review: Hooray for DVD!
I saw "Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension" during its original theatrical run back in1984, and though I enjoyed its wacked-out (and sometimes very subtle) humor, I had no idea what the hell was going on plot-wise. The film opened with a screen full of text that gave me the entire background to the characters, but that quick burst simply wasn't enough to bring me into the movie's world. The movie seemed to start in the middle and work its way to both ends simultaneously. I'm telling you, if I hadn't been a Doc Savage fan as a kid, I would have never caught on to anything in the movie. For a few years I thought that my confusion was due to the fact that I was both drunk and high when I saw the film in the theater, but when I saw it on TV later on, I realized that I still didn't quite get it. Well, BB gained a cult following over the last decade and a half, and now it is getting the royal treatment on DVD. I can't go into all the extras, there are simply too many of them. The feature I want to discuss is the "Extended Version", in particular the restored original opening sequence which was cut from the 1984 theatrical version. This extensive opening sequence (which by the way features Jamie Lee Curtis as Buckaroo's mom) is presented in the form of archival footage from the Banzai Institute, with narration explaining the origins of Buckaroo (including his name) as well as the origins and functions of the movie's main plot device, the Oscillation Over thruster. I cannot tell you in strong enough terms how much the reinstatement of this opening sequence improves the film. If director W.D. Richter had left it on back in '84, the film might not have had to ferment 15 years to become a hit!
Rating:
Summary: Words To Live By
Review: This DVD offers it's viewer a great time. The extended version of the film provides new incites into character motivation. Extras, such as Pinky's commentary, offer previously unknown tidbits about Buckaroo and the Hong Kong Caveliers. Deleted scenes and still galleries give a glimpse of what happened behind the scenes. The picture and sound qualities are terrific. This widescreen edition of Buckaroo on DVD is a must for anyone who likes science fiction, adventure, the 80s, or just having a good time. And remember, like BB says, "wherever you go, there you are."
Rating:
Summary: They don't make em like this anymore, and what a shame!!!
Review: To start, we can be thankful that this camp classic/ cult classic is out on DVD. We saw the original in its theatrical release and had to see it again and again and again....John Lithgow steals the show and you will find yourself quoting his lines and laughing at the most unusual times; in church,... Peter Weller became one of my favorite actors from this movie. There are lots of other character actors you will recognize who deliver drop dead performances. Be alert as the dialogue can be quite droll. Your only regret will be that no other Banzai movies were made. If you do nothing else with your life, get the DVD and watch it again and again and again...
Rating:
Summary: This DVD was really worth the wait!
Review: This film has been tossed around for years in numerous legal battles, which prevented it from being released in DVD. Finally it is here, and is a great package. It has lots of extras including the alternate beginning with Jamie Lee Curtis. It offers two versions of the film, the origional theatrical release, and a directors cut. The transfer is beautiful, and it is great to finally see this film in it's origional wide screen version. The surround soundtrack is also quite good. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The "satire" was great [even reminded me of a few people], and the acting was good [loved Peter Weller and John Lithgow who was over-the-top!]. Whatever happened to the production of "Number 2"? I've been waiting to buy this DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD Slightly Dissapointing
Review: If, like me, you're a fan of this movie and are looking forward to the DVD with all the special extras, I must warn you; you *may* be dissapointed. There's a ton of stuff on this DVD, and you *should* own it, but the special feature I was most looking forward to was the most dissapointing to me. The running commentary by the director W. D. Richter and writer Earl Mac Rauch is nothing like what I was hoping for. I was hoping for a real examination of the writing and directing of the film, *as you'd expect* when the director and writer are sitting there for 2 hours talking about it. Instead we have the writer, pretending he's one of the *real* Honk Kong Cavaliers, from the 'real' world, talking about how 'accurate' the movie is compared to reality. The conceit here is that Reno wrote a book based on a real adventure, and Richter directed a movie based on that book. The writer is always referred to as 'Reno,' he's in this commentary *playing* the 'real' Reno who's played by Pepe Serna in the movie. This is something that might confuse the casual fan, something I'm sure Richter and Rauch thought would be deliciously ironic. A movie that many people (not me) found confusing with a commentary that further confuses the issue. I wasn't confused, I was just really sick of them explaining it over and over again because *they* thought it would be confusing. The writer doesn't actually talk much during the entire commentary. The director talks a lot about the casting, that's neat, but it's always within the context of the 'real' buckaroo. There's not much else about the production or filming of the movie. This notion, that the film is really a movie based on a novel written by a real Hong Kong Cavalier about a real event that happened to him and Buckaroo and the rest of the group, would be neat if we ended up learning a whole bunch about the group. It'd be neat to learn what the different divisions of the Banzai Institute are, how one becomes a HK Cavalier, what the Institute is working on now. We don't get anything like that. They spend most of the commentary making sure we understand the idea that the institute is 'real' in the first place. So it's an interesting idea with nearly 0 follow-through. The DVD is *packed* with extra features including deleted scenes, interviews, and just a ton of extra stuff, much of which is really cool. So, buy the DVD. It's a *great* print of the film, crisp, clear, a perfect transfer. The sound is great, though I found it frustrating that there were no subtitles and you have to go back to the menu if you want to switch audio tracks (very frustrating). But if you're looking forward to the inside scoop on how this movie was made (and if you're a fan of the film, how can you not be?) you may be dissapointed by the commentary.
Rating:
Summary: Get it real soon!
Review: The best part about the DVD version--apart from finally seeing the film in letterbox--was how it maintains that it's nonfiction docudrama instead of pulp sci-fi action comedy. The "Pinky Carruthers' Unknown Facts" subtitle overlay track pops up some hilarious pseudotrivia and commentary on how Rawhide isn't dead but comatose, that the Lectroids' holoprojector formed the basis for the DVD player, that the violent acts perpetrated by the Red Lectroids had to be toned down from what "really" happened, that Buckaroo took Einstein's preserved brain with him in the Jet Car at the beginning, and quotes like "Comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable." In addition to the deleted footage (Penny's lament included an unemployment agent telling her to be a hooker, the John Emdall holo reacted to Perfect Tommy's commentary on Soviet jumpiness), it allows you reintegrate the original "home movie" opening sequence featuring the death of Buck's parents. It even includes the Hong Kong Cavalier discography, Jet Car specifications (it has VTOL capabilities!), a Buckaroo interview by Reno, and the preliminary CGI trailer to the rumored follow-up TV series "Ancient Secrets & New Mysteries."
Rating:
Summary: Finally on DVD
Review: The picture on this DVD is quite exceptional, and the I found the sound to be a huge improvement over the VHS version I watched again and again in the 80s. A couple of the extras are interesting -- a computer-generated teaser trailer for the proposed Buckaroo Banzai TV series and an interview with the director -- but I found the "new scenes" to be disappointing. Few of them are more than five seconds long and most were cut with good reason. If you're a fan of the movie, though, you'll probably appreciate the better picture and the little goodies on the disc.
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