Rating: Summary: You will either love or hate this movie Review: This is a movie that defines the term "acquired taste." It is a broad, profoundly silly science fiction movie about a globe trotting nuclear physicists/brain surgeon/rock star/comic book hero played by Peter Weller. It contains two races of aliens, all with the first name John (John Ya-Ya, John Smallberries ,etc.) It contains "before they were really famous" performances by Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin and John Lithgow. Russian comic Yakov Smirnoff plays an assistant to the U.S. president (This was 1984, remember).You will either laugh your rear end off or throw this DVD against the wall in utter exasperation. It's that kind of movie.
Rating: Summary: Dont trust other peoples reviews! Review: I brought this just judging by other peoples reviews, and its really bad, filled with 80's humour that isin't even close to funny, sure theres lots of extras but, because the films bad the extras are bad aswell. If (like me) your not really in to Sci Fi but think this movie will be funny, based on all the 5 star reviews, THINK AGAIN! I know its meant to be bad, but this isin't bad/good like Killer Klowns or Killer Tomatoes........... Its just plain bad!
Rating: Summary: How did this movie ever get made Review: It's fun, it's campy, it's proof that the 80s could get just as silly as the 70s--but you still have to wonder how such a weird movie got greenlighted. Makes you think of Hollywood as a much simpler place back then, although it's probably more the result of its usual flailing among trends. The movie is not exactly entertaining per se--more as an artifact of Earl Mac Rauch's very personal and kitschy sci-fi vision--like George Lucas with some sort of Duran Duran fixation. Must really be seen to be believed. Plenty of fun extras on the DVD make it worthwhile even for the uninitiated like myself.
Rating: Summary: No Matter Where You Go, There You Are. Review: I'm actually a BB fan who found out about Banzai through Star Trek from Denise Okuda superbly doing her job as the publicity officer for Banzai. She left tons and tons of BB references in her book, "The Star Trek Encyclopedia." I found the movie at a rental store and rented it. This is one of the best movies of all time. It's up there with Star Wars and Soylent Green. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who's looking to spend a good two hours on great quality fun. I mean who wouldn't love a story about a scientist-rock star-crime fighter who travels through dimensions to fight evil. I love this movie and I don't know anyone who wouldn't. I give this movie five stars.
Rating: Summary: why is that watermellon there? Review: this is a classic. If you like chesse than this is you're movie. The plot is nonsensicle, but great cast and great lines make it a must have.
Rating: Summary: FANTASTIC Review: This is a classic! Campy, creative, delightfully funny, a dash of romance, a bit of suspense and plenty of great action. And, with this cast how can you lose: Peter Weller, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum and John Lithgow all render quirky, engaging performances. As a combination of nuclear physicist, brain surgeon, race car driver, lead singer and guitarist, martial arts expert and genuine heart-breaking ladies man, Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller) fulfills just about every possible teenage ambition from the pocket protector types to the wannabe rock stars and jocks. Penny Priddy (Ellen Barkin) is witty, gutsy and...well, just plain HOT! Lithgow does a marvelous mad scientist/alien tyrant (you'll never really be sure of anyone named "John" again after seeing this movie!) and Jeff Goldblum is great as always. The DVD version special features are a lot of fun as well. All in all, if you're a fan of sci fi, comedy or just creative cinema in general, this movie won't let you down.
Rating: Summary: A strange world in and of itself... Review: Buckaroo Banzai is a bon vivant scientist/rock star whose exploits have led him to fame and fortune. His genius and talents cause women to swoon, men to raise their beers in salute, and children giggle with glee. He's the hero everyone wants to be. This is the world this film throws you into. The movie is successful on many absurd levels. However, it never quite reaches the level of either camp or sheer un-self-consciousness that it needs to become the cult classic it seems to want to be. On first viewing, you might find yourself wondering if you've missed the first installment of the Banzai trilogy - and you haven't. Earl Mac Rauch crafted a giddy homage to all the sci-fi serial characters of the 30s with a mix of 80s sensibility and a dash of Doc Savage and Our Man Flint. Peter Weller is fine, though the script doesn't really require much of him besides looking good in a suit and being able to speak well. Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, and particularly Clancy Brown and John Lithgow give fine performances without a single wink to the house. To better understand this film, check out its until recently hard to find novelization, written by Rauch, strangely enough told from the perspective of one of the film's minor characters. (If you love the film and haven't read this, go find it now!) Hope this helps!
Rating: Summary: What a strange thing Review: this movie really is.... We saw this film over an interval of time, straddled over about ten years. First, my kids and I (they were only seven or eight or so) on one dark hot night in summer SciFi festival in Perth. We had logged in for the Time Machine and War of the Worlds... VERY sophisticated audience, and this was like sit up all night sort of stuff, the kind of thing that you never forget. As if Perth wasn't strange enough.... But we encountered it again, had a worn out copy from an on air broadcast, late on night on SBS, again, Australia. But we were young then - the movie really has been there in the background for years for us. There is this late at night, misty and obscure aspect to this movie. Can't put it much better than that. An Italian villain turning into an alien, shape shifting rock and roll suddenly transforming into a personal rescue of a beautiful and sad girl.... Really, REALLY funny aliens, a sort of reckless madness that is a close cousin of the Marx brothers, (who knows?)impossible journies into solid rock, upside down physics, mad dialogue that works anyway... Was this made by students in a long ago time, care free and totally idealistic? Yup. Not many of those ones. This is a wonderful one off act which can't easy fit into one slot, it slides out the other side too easily. And you don't want it to end. There is this bafflingly very moving end part where the guys are all walking across a reservoir somewhere, the kind of place that maybe you saw when you were a kid, maybe some dusty place on the way to somewhere else. There's something like the beach boys in the background. Not quite that, though. Can't quite place it. Its sad really, you sort of know that you won't see them all again... To cap all the strangeness of this wonderful film, I am CONVINCED that somewhere, somehow, I saw this when I was really young, I mean way back in 1969 or some time when Desmond Dekker was in the charts and I was just a kid, with no burdens or fears, who would dream of being a secret agent or something, and now its 21 years later, or is it, who knows now, I'm old and misty myself, and the world is obscure and unobtainable, except in dreams and metaphor...
Rating: Summary: What's not to love? Review: The DVD edition of Buckaroo Banzai, including an alternate opening sequence, is the only way to view to this classic science-fiction/rock-and-roll/road flick crossover movie. Compared to watching a chopped up version on late night TV or a snowy VHS video, the DVD quality is superb, the sound effects are distinctive, and the plot is almost coherent. A must for any serious collector <g>.
Rating: Summary: A great modern "Cult Classic" Review: I never saw this film at the theatres but I like this quirky movie a lot. It features a wild plot about a scientist/rock star/brain surgeon/inventor and his gang who face off against a group of other-dimensional aliens. Like I said, quirky. You will either love it or hate it but I recommend watching it at least once.
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