Reaction The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

1 reaction

1.1 critical reception
1.2 home media
1.3 legacy

reaction

fox hired terry erdmann (blue blaze code name silver fox ) , team of publicists including blake mitchell , jim ferguson promote film @ star trek conventions few film clips , free banzai headbands, have since become highly sought-after collector s items fans of film. studio made no attempts sell film mainstream audience traditional promotion, although there magazine advertising (primarily in marvel comics) , related licensing served viral advertising in limited venues. studio publicist rosemary lasalmandra said, nobody knew buckaroo banzai. there no simple way tell about—i m not sure knew . lithgow said, ve tried explain story line people , takes hour. mean it; s complicated. s terrific. every time tell people it, excited end saying, buckaroo banzai, remember heard first!

buckaroo banzai scheduled released on june 8, 1984 pushed august 15. opened on 236 screens , faced stiff competition against likes of star trek iii: search spock (also featuring banzai co-star christopher lloyd), indiana jones , temple of doom , ghostbusters. made usd $620,279 on opening weekend before grossing $6.2 million in north america.

critical reception

although reportedly dismissed critics strange , unintelligible @ time of release, film received positive reviews 71% of 34 surveyed critics on rotten tomatoes. bill cosford of miami herald praised unusual film : comedy springs odd combination of self-effacement , self-absorption characterized of saturday night live characters , continues provide bill murray work. , though buckaroo banzai comic strip, s relentlessly hip, hipper goofy. cosford added, there inside jokes , quotations movies, television , pop music, , there s lots of weird activity on edges of film, suspect banzai might rewarding second time around. first or second, film defies easy explanation. s anarchic comedy 1980s, closest in spirit marx brothers might have been if grown on themselves, , had had benefit of post-star wars special effects. s adventure in buck rogers mold, aliens employing wide array of weaponry, including arachnids space, guys fighting mobile command post aboard cavaliers doubledecker tour bus. pace of both jokes , action of airplane!, , more spoil fun.

dave kehr, in chicago reader, wrote, richter seems have invented elaborate mythology hero ... never bothers explicate it; film gives mildly annoying sensation of being left out of not private joke . in review new york times, vincent canby wrote buckaroo banzai may turn out pilot film other theatrical features, though 1 hard top pure, nutty fun . richard corliss, in review time, wrote, creators, earl mac rauch , w.d. richter, propel film such pace , farfetched style without ph.d.s in astrophysics , pop culture lost in ganglion of story strands. 1 wonders if movie ambitious, facetious , hip own box-office . film critic pauline kael wrote, didn t find hard accept uninflected, deadpan tone, , enjoy buckaroo banzai inventiveness , gags bounce off other adventure movies, other comedies. picture s sense of fun carried me along .

danny bowes, writing retrospective in 2011 tor.com, said film paradoxically decades ahead of time , yet of time; s profoundly movie by, for, , of geeks , nerds @ time before geek/nerd culture mainstreamed, , movie pre-cg special effects , pre-computer age production design essential part of good-natured enthusiasm. @ time hip, modern take on classic sf now, thirty years later, indistinguishable sf cinema inspired in terms of appeal modern viewers: charmingly old-fashioned special effects, , comparatively innocent earnestness of tone.

home media

buckaroo banzai released on dvd on january 4, 2002, mgm home entertainment. released on blu-ray arrow video in united kingdom , featured part of shout! factory s shout! select blu-ray line in united states on august 16, 2016. shout! factory release contains two-hour retrospective documentary featuring interviews weller, lithgow, brown, serna, smith, vera, lloyd , director w.d. richter, among others.

entertainment weekly gave dvd release b+ rating , wrote, fans drool on extras, including illuminating deleted scenes (of particular note alternate opening detailing buckaroo s tragic childhood, featuring jamie lee curtis banzai s mother) , director richter s commentary, reveals colorful behind-the-scenes battles studio execs . ign gave dvd highest rating , thrilled special edition treatment landmark cult film has received @ hands of mgm. video great, sound great, there tons of extras ... bottom line, if re buckaroo fan, home video version have been waiting .

legacy

buckaroo banzai has since attracted loyal cult following , has been quite popular on home video. richter said, has had dramatic reactions of ve worked on. loathe , others willing die . director feels film failed commercially because narrative complex. have had more coverage scenes. have edited film better , there many master shots , two-shots left little editor work with.

wired magazine, in 2009, celebrated 25th anniversary of release of film near , dear many geeks came of age in 80s. adventures of buckaroo banzai across 8th dimension great, adventurous, geeky movie, enough silly science fiction , great characters fill 3 lousy summer blockbusters these days... , gave many great, geeky lines quote. cosford of miami herald said in review, suspect buckaroo s odd musings, particularly 1 being there no matter go, enter popular argot on scale of s beef? —and prediction has been proved right. (there page @ cafepress buckaroo banzai quotes gifts, example.) entertainment weekly ranked buckaroo banzai #43 in top 50 cult movies. film ranked #21 on magazine s cult 25: essential left-field movie hits since 83 list. guardian has cited buckaroo banzai 1 of 1,000 films see before die .

the current incarnation of comic strip dick tracy has seen 2 subtle references film in storyline. in strip dated october 22, 2013, there reference business named emilio lizardo crematorium . in strip dated november 7, 2013, dick tracy s granddaughter honeymoon tells him attending hong kong cavaliers concert hope of getting perfect tommy s autograph.

filmmaker wes anderson pays homage ending of buckaroo banzai in final sequence of 2004 film life aquatic steve zissou. in both scenes, members of cast (including jeff goldblum, appeared in both films) join film s lead in long walking sequence.