This is a movie you have to watch 3 times to begin to truly appreciate it. The 1st time you are like “what the hell did I just watch?” The 2nd time you you start to pick up on the lines and and can follow the story. The 3rd time all the lines, characters all make sense and you just have a great time following along.

This might be the most underrated movie of the 80’s. Thank you for doing this one. Hardly anyone has.

1930s pulp adventure filtered through 1980s pop culture, with extra absurdity added because why not. Glorious.

What a great year it was. Streets of Fire, Night of the Comet, The Ice Pirates, The Last Starfighter, Body Double, Repo Man, C.H.U.D., Phenomena, and this one of course.

Between Pecos never appearing, the watermelon joke, and the sequel set-up, I love everything about this movie! Jeff Goldblum and Ellen Barkin re-unite in Mad Dog Time, one of the weirdest gangster films you will ever see.

One of my favorites. I've been saying, "No matter where you go, there you are." since '84. Recent Oscar winner, Jamie Lee Curtis was also in this as Banzai's mother. Unfortunately her scene, that served as a flashback before the credits was cut. That clunky exposition was added. That scene, along with others is on the DVD. Still hoping for a sequel.

I'd give all the Twilights, Maze Runners, Divergents, and every M. Night Shyamalan movie for a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai.

According to rumors, the production designer picked up some watermelons on the way into work and the director put one into a scene to see if the producers at MGM were viewing the dailies they were being sent. The line was improvised. And apparently the producers never mentioned the watermelon thus proving they were not paying close attention to the production.

I’ve only seen one other reaction to this. It is officially my all-time favorite movie. I’m so happy you reacted to it. The more times you watch it, the more you see. It truly is amazing how many actors are in this. There is a cut opening scene that is a flashback of how Buckaroo’s parents die. Jamie Lee Curtis plays his mother.

The director of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, W. D. Richter, also wrote the screenplay for John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China.

One of my favorites lines in a movie that I always quote, “Laugh while you can monkey boy!” SUCH an underrated film, with my favorites casts ever. Great review 👍

Part of the whole joke of the movie is that it's the experience of dropping into the middle of a cinematic universe where you haven't seen any of the movies before it. Like having Avengers 2 be the first MCU movie you ever see.

12:58 Sums up perfectly how just about everyone is the first time watching this movie. 32:14 That Arnold impersonation was on point. Sadly this movie never got a sequel like it was supposed to. That being said, the promised sequel of Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League DID eventually get made in book form recently and is worth checking out if you're a fan of this movie.

I remember seeing this in a empty theater and feeling like I was having a fever dream……..crazy ass flick.😂

John Lithgow got all the best lines in this movie. " Character is who you are in the dark".

I really liked Rawhide. Not even death could stop him from walking with the team in the closing credits.

Christopher Lloyd was my favorite character. One of the weirdest, greatest, most 80's films ever. I'm glad that you finally watched it! And the Arnold impression was top-notch. 😂

Trivia: Yoydyne Propulsion Systems exists in the Star Trek universe. You can find them on various things such as control panels and dedication plaques, indicate that parts of Federation starships were manufactured by Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems or YPS. There is also a listing on the "mall directory" in Deep Space 9.

Finally someone is reacting to Buckaroo Banzai.

Clancy Brown... the one that died. Highlander was his breakout role with Sean Connery

As so many have said, the first time you watch this movie you will be questioning everything. I have watched it numerous times and even though it is bizarre, I absolutely love this movie. I have used the song playing over the closing credits as the ringtone on my phone off and on for years.

Imagine watching this when it released. It was extra-original and at that time there were no truly big names, but each one nailed their performance. I love Lithgow's character. It was shades of 3rd Rock from the Sun long before he did that show. Emilio Lazardo as Dr. Dick Solomon. I truly love the organic nature of the tech; very ahead of its time.

One of my favorites. Silly, odd, ridiculous, memorable. John Big Booty.....Bootay tay tay. Everybody is in this. Even Clancy Brown, voice of Mr Krabs. Oh yea, Repo Man after this of course.

Finally, someone watched this. Great cult classic.

As someone from NJ, the New Brunswick jail never looked so nice as it does in this film. I love the NJ references in this film. It's just too bad most of it was filmed in CA. Just like Dunder Mifflin in the Office taking place in Scranton, PA when you can see CA palm trees in the distant background scenes whenever they're outside in the show.

No one could've pulled off Buckaroo Bonzai but Peter Weller. A completely dead-pan "Evil! Pure and simple from the eighth dimension! Grab'm!" Weller talked about how hard it was to keep a straight face in the Shock Tower scene--Lithgow screaming at him in the over-the-top accent while Christopher Lloyd eats Cheetos dressed as an alien. He kept falling out of the Shock Tower with laughter.

The Oscillation Overthruster a.k.a. Flux Capacitor did in fact predate Back to the Future. It is a prop used in many, many science fiction films and television series. It is just one of those things that prop guys like to put in shows as an Easter Egg or an homage to previous films. There are lists on the internet you can look up but it has appeared in Babylon 5, most of the Star Trek series and on and on. There is another one called the "Blinking Tubes" which also shows up in a large number of science fiction films and series. In Airplane 2 William Shatner even comments on them and how they don't seem to perform any function other than blink. They are just one of those things that prop guys do as a nod to one another.

Some of my favorite movie quotes come from this movie, "Where are we going?!" "Planet 10!" "When!?" "Real Soon!"

Perfect Tommy changes wardrobe in every scene. Rewatch the end credits. He changes clothes mid credits and the guy next to him looks at him like WTF!?

'Doc Savage, Man of Bronze' set the stage for this movie. Doc Savage was a mystery man; surgeon, poet, musician, adventurer, soldier, spy. He surrounded himself with talented specialists, depending on the mission.

Clancy Brown and Carl Lumbly are both in this movie - veteran character actors, they’re also notable voice talents - known to the nerd world as Lex Luthor and The Martian Manhunter in many DC Animated projects.

Fun Fact: The movie they advertise in the end that Buckaroo will return in was actually what became Big Trouble in Little China. That movie was supposed to be a sequel to this movie, except that this one bombed so hard the studio did a 180 and reworked the outline to be completely independent.

Peter Weller was also in "Dexter" as the detective hired by Quinn to investigate Dexter and Lumen in Season 5. He also directed many episodes.

This movie gave a lot of breakthrough careers

I have no less than 5 copies of the movie on DVD, two tshirts, a movie poster, a fridge magnet, several cosplay identification badges, quite a few pins, a copy of the Marvel comic book adaptation and the topper is a YoYodyne Propulsion Systems coffee mug. To this day the movie remains my favorite of all time. I might attend a Comic-con soon and get a pic with Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller). Buckaroo Banzai was my first real action hero even before they were called that. Peter Weller in an interview once said Buckaroo isn't a superhero and is made better by the people he surrounds himself with. Those hard rockin' Hong Kong Cavaliers, Buckaroos most trusted inner circle. Turning 60 this year reminds me that next year the movie celebrates its fortieth anniversary. I even have my eye on an Oscillation Overthruster. Update: I actually now have a screen accurate Oscillation Overthruster

Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum, Cristopher Lloyd , Clancy Brown,etc ...what a great cast movie

Back in the day this was my all time favorite movie! I even had one of the highly sought after Team Banzai headbands! I even know WHY THE WATERMELON WAS THERE!!!

No, the greatest joy is the joy of _doody_ . They were also barely holding their fudge right then.

This movie was almost designed to be a cult classic box-office bomb. It's essentially a franchise movie... without the franchise. The film references books, comics, video games and a whole universe of Buckaroo Banzai tie-in media that... didn't exist in the real world. Buckaroo Banzai himself (and the Hong Kong Cavaliers) is partially modeled after pulp science fiction hero Clark "Doc" Savage, Jr and his "aides," experts in various fields who always have a part to play in their adventures. The HKC just have more members, and are also rock stars. With a gonzo plot, cryptic background references to other adventures, and an infectious joy littered throughout the film (everybody seemed to have a blast making the movie, with one exception), it's just one of those movies that either hooks you or leaves you baffled. (The watermelon was there because there was this one producer who seemed to hate everything about the movie, and tried to micromanage all of the fun out of it, until they started putting in tests to see if the guy was paying anymore attention. When the watermelon scene went off without pushback, they figured they had free reign to be as weird as they wanted to be. And thank god they did).

"No matter where you go, there you are." I still quote that line.

Thank you, for doing Buckaroo Banzai! One of my favorite films of the 80s!

John Parker (the guy with the dreads) is played by Carl Lumbly the same actor who played Dick Halloran's ghost in Doctor Sleep.

Thanks to whomever sent them a copy. So many iconic 80’s artifacts scattered in the background. Remember bubble wrap was kinda new in ‘84. Ellen Barkin at her finest other than maybe The Big Easy, which is one you should def watch. “No matter where you go, the you are.” is my mantra and is actually profound when you figure it out. Especially today with so many people cultivating hyperbolic artificial personalities online. Thank you for being the first I’ve seen react to this movie. It means a weird amount to me. P.S. check your copy it might have the deleted scene where Jamie Lee Curtis briefly plays Buckaroo’s mom.

If you are familiar with 80's comedians you may notice the Secretary of Defense is being played by Yackof Smirmov. He emigrated from the old Soviet Union. I remember seeing him perform on the Rodney Dangerfield Young All Star Comedian special on HBO in 1985. I think Kevin Smith was talking about doing the second movie but that was several years ago. Since then it's been in development hell.

"The catbird seat" is an idiomatic phrase used to describe an enviable position, often in terms of having the upper hand or greater advantage in any type of dealing among parties. It derives from the secluded perch on which the gray catbird makes mocking calls.

This was one of the rarest of films,where many of these actors had a long good career in Hollywood.Peter Weller,Christopher Llyord,Jeff Goldblum,Ellen Barkin,John Lithgow,Clancy Brown and others.

Peter Weller was also in Dexter. You know, Stan Liddy.

The end credits walk with that song is well worth the experience...

Also, one of Buckaroo's guys is from another 80s classic called The Heavenly Kid.

“Remember, no matter where ya go, there ya are, holding your fudge.” I nearly lost mine for a second, that hit me funny, then the Schwarzenegger in agony sound really made me almost lose it.😂

"Sealed with a curse as sharp as a knife, Damned is you soul and doomed is your life."

Oh HELL to the YEAH! One of my top five films of all time, it's been a guiding light to me since I was 15 and watched it twice during its two weeks of theatrical release. "Yooos-a more hooney! Find-a out what she knows!" By a conservative estimate I've seen this movie more than 100 times, the first 50 off VHS, and I still spot new stuff in it on almost every viewing. May we all have a Buckaroo Banzai adventure in our lifetimes.

It feels like right from the start all the actors have been playing these characters for years and it's up to the audience to catch up. Luckily by the end it does all pay off (except for the watermelon). One thing that I always love are the special effects. They were clearly way too ambitious but stuff like the big ship appearing out of the clouds in front of John Carter and Buckaroo Banzai still looks super cool

This is one of my favourite films with a great ensemble cast.

The hero walk at the end is a fan fave scene. Way back before it was released, there was a push for it at Atlanta Fantasy Fair. They gave out merch which I still have to this day. We saw it in the theater on opening weekend and it's still one of our all time favorite movies.

Best impression of Arnold’s suffering in Total Recall.

I'm soooooo happy someone (and especially you guys) reacted to this. This movie had such a major impact on my childhood, and I love it as much now as I did then. I agree with those advocating the rewatchability of it. There are so many little things that you may miss on the initial watch. My favorite character overall is probably John Parker. His awkwardness was super entertaining to me as a kid. My favorite member of the Hong Kong Cavaliers was probably Perfect Tommy. He just seemed like a fish out of water compared to the rest of them. But I liked his look. There is so much backstory that has grown from this film. There are websites, books, comics, and so much more that continue the story, and provide background on the characters. There is also an actual explanation of what the watermelons were doing in the lab. Which was a relief to me because I fixated on that as a nine year old, and the mystery haunted me for decades.

There are Q&As about this film with several of the cast members posted on KZfaq; they all loved working in this film; Lithgow’s kids say it’s the best acting he’s ever done; Peter Weller doesn’t understand the movie, but he loves how much it’s fans love it, and had a great time making it… …and the in-universe explanation for the watermelon in the hydraulic press is that Team Banzai was in the process of developing foods that could be air-dropped into starving regions, or natural disasters, anywhere there was a shortage of food; the melons were being tested to see if they could withstand being dropped from a height into places where they didn’t have the infrastructure to land cargo planes; lastly, there are several female members of Team Banzai, but Pecos is the only one named checked; she and Perfect Tommy are probably the two members of the group most popular with the public, after Buckaroo, of course…

Other great 80s classics that never get reactions are Time Bandits (fantasy), Blue Thunder (action) and Used Cars (comedy).

Oscillation Overthruster is a special power-up in the online tank game "BZFLAG". It lets you drive your tank through solid buildings and such. The power of 80's movies.

I grew up watching this on video disc. The big vinyl kind. I never really understood it then, still loved it. It wasn't until I watched it when I was older that I understood it. Lol Man, talk about what if's...if Brandon Lee hadn't died...he would've been the perfect Buckaroo Banzai in a '90s remake. R.I.P.

"Remember , nomatter where you go , there you are." I Love EVERYTHING about this movie.

A fun bit of trivia - there was a flashback scene at the begining with young Buckaroo and his parents. And his mother was played by Jamie Lee Curtis

Am I alone in thinking Lewis Smith (Perfect Tommy) here looks almost exactly like James Franco?? He’s like an 80s Doppelgänger of him.

Lewis Smith was in Southern Comfort and the Heavenly Kid in the 80's.

Classic flick! Weird and goofy as hell, but funny as all get out. Can’t wait to hear what you think of it?

i was 11 when this came out in 1984..my brother brought this betamax(vhs) movie home with him after his basic training in 1985 along with pink floyd the wall and we watched them together..this was one of his favorites...he then moved away to germany....rip brother(2009)

This is an interesting coincidence. This posting of "Buckaroo Banzai" occurs on the same day that I found a copy on DVD at a thrift store. The last time I watched it might have been on VHS.

Now how many people recognized the President as the same actor who played the scary Gestapo officer from Raiders of the Lost Ark?

One of my favorite films. So glad you watched this one! "...and remember, no matter where you go...there you are..." :)

The Guy in the Hat(Pinky ) that that was at the gate and was in the group when Clancy Brown(Rawhide) dies , Is Billy Vera of "Billy Vera & The Beaters" , who Had the 1987 hit, "At This Moment". The Guy in the dreadlocks ,(Carl Lumbly as John Parker) Is From The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. He's the Black Super Soldier.

This movie was part of my childhood and is still watched frequently. My dad has a book that talks about everything in this movie even explains the watermelon. It's not the novel version of the movie. Cowboy Curtis Peewee's Playhouse

Best ending credits in the history of cinema. That song just sticks in your head like super glue. You cant help but smile when you watch it.

'No matter where you go, there you are!"

I've not watched something from you two in a long while and I absolutely loved your reactions in the past. So glad you did this. I love this movie and it's a good reason to come back.

This movie was huge in my group of friends, we all saw it. I married my darling husband in 1988, and the soundtrack to this movie played a huge roll in our reception playlist. Everyone bopped to it, and it was glorious. Hong Kong Cavaliers Forever!!! ETA: 16 years after this was released, we relocated to New Jersey for job reasons, and we live right near Grovers Mill. LOL

Saw this in the theater several times. Lots of fun!

“Orson Wells…from the wine commercial.” Yes, that was also him. He wasn’t doing much else after the mid-late 70s.

You ask about the name of Banzai's group. There's different levels. Collectively all members are considered "Team Banzai" The band Is known as the Hong Kong Cavaliers, which is also is core team of scientists/muscican/badasses... Then there's the volunteers, which is sort of a global network of people known as the Blue Blaze irregulars, they essentially supply safehouses, tactical support, and local muscle for operations. The Blue Blaze Irregulars also has a youth group similar to boyscouts but more focused on advanced sciences, known as Blue Blaze Irregular Junior members. The Novelization is written by the screenwriter and is a bit more in depth, There was a big promotion to try to turn it into a TV series in the late 90's early 2000's but it never manifested. The DVD extras at that time share some of the story ideas, and also shows their headquarters which is a subterranean base made from a repurposed nuclear missile site. Failing to get funding for the series, the writer then turned the idea into a comic book which is actually pretty good. If I remember correctly the story involving Peggy Priddy's death also involved the ghost army of Ghengis Kahn and the World Crime League advertised during the closing credits. The recurrence of the number 88 is because it resembles the letters BB. I once had a Team Banzai T-shirt which on the front had a giant "BB" with the first "B" in a mirror image with wings behind it. The front of the Hong Kong Cavalier mobile command unit (tour bus) shares this same logo. You'll occasionally see a patch or a pin with that logo, or with the "88 target" logo from the side of the rocket truck at comic conventions and that sort of thing. My initials are BB, so that made the shirt extra fun.

Best movie ever. Bar none. Perfect representation of ‘80s pop-culture.

The greatest Science Fiction movie ever! It continues the tradition of Doc Savage with an amazing cast.

Congrats on the reading/narration Mrs, that was AWESOME!

One of the cops that investigated the spaceship crash was 'Taggart' from the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, he was my neighbor in 1971. We lived in an apartment in North Hollywood, and in the big earthquake that year he lived on the first floor, and during the quake, he opened his front door just as the swimming pool wave crested, into him and flooded his unit. When I knew him at that time, he was in commercials and the show 'Room 222'

Favorite member of Team Banzai Rawhide, who dies near the midpoint. Played by Clancy Brown who you may recognize from Highlander, Shawsshank Redemption, Starship Troopers, Earth 2 or his 1001 voice acting roles. When home video became a thing and this movie took off and became a cult classic; attempts were made to make a sequel. From IMDB: The movie's ending invites the viewer to watch for the upcoming film "Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime League". This was the real title for a sequel that Sherwood Studios planned to make, if this film had been successful. Unfortunately, it was a box-office bomb, and Sherwood Studios went bankrupt. However, after its release on video and cable, the film became a cult favorite, much in the same way as Mad Max (1979) (which crawled from obscurity to spawn two sequels). Legal wrangling, due to the bankruptcy, prevented any other studios from picking up the sequel rights, and even many years later, MGM had to fight through a pile of red tape simply to get the OK to re-release it onto home video (DVD). In 2021, the novel "Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League" was finally released. Also I have heard rumors that with the bankruptcy of the studio the rights reverted to the original writer Earl Mac Rauch (IIRC he wrote a book first) and he was impossible to bring around re a sequel.

The World According to Garp (1982) is a fantastic film starring Robin Williams and featuring John Lithgow in an unforgettable role, also stars Glenn Close.

Clancy Brown who played Rawhide is the evil guard in Shawshank Redemption and Sgt. Zim in Starship Troopers.

For a while Kevin Smith was supposed to be working on a TV series of BB a few years ago. There are comics and maybe a few books of it if I remember correctly.

No matter where you go, there you are.

YoYoDyne is right up there with Cyberdyne, Wayland-Yutani, and Nakatomi as company references in other movies.

This, Flash Gordon, and The Highlander are all movies I absolutely love and want reboots/sequels to. But they really need the right director for either of them. I think Taika could do a good Buckaroo or Flash really well. Hand Edgar Wright the other movie. Keep it silly with a serious story.

And the actor playing the President played Del Gue in "Jeremiah Johnson".

This flick pulled together all of the "different" looking actors of the day for the Johns. That was a great move.

The sequel, *Against The World Crime League,* was released a couple years ago as a novel by Earl Mac Roach who wrote the original and several comic miniseries released between this and that. There was also a weird tv series pitch that just would have had Buckaroo going around saving the world with the jet car. Perfect Tommy is the best of the HKC, because he's perfect.

Can confirm. My name's John, and I'm probably an interdimensional alien.

Jamie Lee Curtis plays Buckaroo's mom in the old family movies in opening I just LOOOOVE this movie.

Oh heck ya.. as a member of the Blue Blaze Irregulars I can't wait to see your reaction to this great cult classic film!

I'm fairly certain that the flux capacitor in Back to the Future copied the oscillation overthruster in this movie

I still remember seeing this on USA Up All Night. Just an amazing cast.

You're not wrong about the Oscillation Overthruster and the Flux Capacitor. The LED prop was the same. The prop was also the Self-Sealing Stem Bolt on Star Trek DS9. And just to be extra weird, the Secretary of Defense is also named John but he's not a Lectroid...

Loved it when it came out and got to see it weekly as a local theater had a bunch of fans who kept it in the marquee during the summer (Westminster Mall, Calif.) Rawhide was my favorite, but my mom was soft on Perfect Tommy.