The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension!

This is a movie with an awesome start.

By which I mean its title.

In fact, let’s be fair, it does actually have an awesome start.

Somewhere in the desert, a team of scientists are attempting to cross the bridge between our dimension, and the eighth one which exists in the gaps between all of the tiny atoms in our one.

Wow, what a concept.

The only known way of making this jump is to travel at an incredible speed towards an object large enough to theoretically pass inside of.

After a fascinating attempt in the present-day, we then get a flashback of John Lithgow as the quite mad Dr Lizardo, enthusiastically accelerating towards a brick wall.

And Lithgow is indeed one of this film’s successes. He plays the whole thing as way over-the-top comedy, despite the absense of much that I could positively identify as humour.

One scene that I did laugh at early on, was when Buckaroo, whilst singing in a bar with his band, singles out a lonely crying female in the audience to play a song especially for her, to cheer her up.

BUCKAROO BANZAI (singing): I don't have plans or schemes…
And I don't have hopes and dreams...

(SHE GETS MORE UPSET)

I don't have anything...
Since I don't have you...

(SHE MOUTHS THE WORDS OF THE SONG TO HERSELF)

And I don't have fond desires...
And I don't have happy hours...

(OTHER COUPLES START GAZING AT EACH OTHER ROMANTICALLY)
(SOBBING, SHE QUIETLY PULLS A PISTOL FROM HER HANDBAG)

And I don't have anything...

(IN RESIGNATION, SHE POINTS IT AT HER TEMPLE)

Since I don't have you...

Sadly after this scene, my feelings about this film headed in the same direction as the girl’s.

Within minutes, aliens with quite disppointing prosthetics were on the scene, and there was a spaceship in Earth’s orbit, sort of compromising the early promise of a story about the creepy dimension inside Doctor Lizardo’s brick wall.

The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eighth Dimension! is a movie that people seem to either love or hate. I’d prefer to think that I merely tolerate it. I didn’t follow the story (which immediately prejudices me) and the comedy that I assume was there didn’t work for me either, although I did spot some subtle political swipes. (but what do I know – my brain went stale sitting through Jacques Tati's 'masterpiece' Playtime)

The very final scene was quite upbeat, (despite appearing to have been shot as an afterthought on a quiet Sunday morning several months later), and I actually found myself rooting for a sequel. The trouble was that I was presuming a second chance would not repeat all the problems that I’d had with the first one.

I suppose the bottom line is this:

The film is well-loved, and even today there is still talk of a sequel. If they make it, I’ll go see it.

Whether or not I ‘get’ it.

Until then, 5 out of 10.

(available here)