Production The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

1 production

1.1 development
1.2 screenplay
1.3 casting
1.4 pre-production
1.5 principal photography

production
development

in 1974, w. d. richter s wife read review of dirty pictures prom, debut novel dartmouth college graduate , writer earl mac rauch. richter, alumnus college, read book, loved , wrote mac rauch letter. 2 men began corresponding , when writer told him interest in becoming screenwriter, richter offered him open-ended invitation visit him in los angeles attending university of southern california , working script analyst warner brothers.

screenplay

years passed , richter became successful screenwriter. mac rauch took richter on offer , arrived in l.a. richter proceeded introduce writer producer/director irwin winkler gave mac rauch rent money next 6 months. on several dinners, mac rauch told richter , wife character named buckaroo bandy whom thinking of writing screenplay. richter , wife liked idea , paid mac rauch $1,500 develop , write it. according mac rauch, script inspired out-and-out, press-the-accelerator-to-the-floor, non-stop kung fu movies of 70s . richter remembers mac rauch wrote several banzai stories , thirty or forty pages script, abandon storyline , write new 1 . mac rauch recalled, s easy start , then—since re not serious should be—end writing half of ... shove hundred pages in drawer , try forget it. on years, started dozen buckaroo scripts ended way .

mac rauch s original 30-page treatment entitled find jetcar, said president - buckaroo banzai thriller. on, 1 of revisions mac rauch made changing buckaroo s surname bandy banzai wasn t crazy it. however, richter convinced him keep name. hong kong cavaliers appeared in these drafts, but, according richter, never went completed script. mac wrote , wrote never wrote end . draft entitled strange case of mr. cigars, huge robot , box of hitler s cigars. mac rauch shelved work few years while wrote new york, new york martin scorsese , other un-produced screenplays.

in 1980, richter talked producers frank marshall , neil canton filming 1 of screenplays. out of meeting, canton , richter formed own production company , decided buckaroo banzai first film. under supervision, mac rauch wrote 60-page treatment entitled, lepers saturn. shopped mac rauch s treatment around production executives peers no 1 wanted take on such unusual subject matter 2 first-time producers , first-time director. canton , richter contacted veteran producer sidney beckerman @ mgm/united artists, whom canton had worked before. beckerman liked , introduced richter , canton studio chief david begelman. within 24 hours had development deal studio. took mac rauch year , half write final screenplay , during time, lepers treatment became lizards , lectroids planet 10. of film s detailed character histories taken mac rauch s unfinished banzai scripts.

a writers guild of america strike forced project languish in development more year. begelman left mgm because several of projects had performed poorly @ box office. put of future projects, buckaroo banzai included, in jeopardy. begelman formed sherwood productions , exercised buy-out option mgm banzai script. took 20th century fox agreed make $12 million budget. mac rauch ended writing 3 more drafts before had shooting script.

casting

to cast role of buckaroo banzai, richter wanted actor both heroic grease on face, , project kind of intelligence associate neurosurgeon , inventor . studio wanted recognizable movie star, richter , canton wanted cast relatively unknown actor. richter looked in new york city because assumed actor experience on stage , small films able interact props . had been impressed peter weller s performance in shoot moon , met him. @ first, actor hesitant take role because unclear on overall tone of movie. campy? cartoon? or sort of wacky, realistic film catch people sideways—and not cartoon , weller remembers thinking. richter told him banzai s story , convinced weller film. actor says based character on elia kazan, jacques cousteau, albert einstein, leonardo da vinci, , adam ant.

for role of dr. emilio lizardo, studio wanted cast unknown actor, mac rauch had written role john lithgow in mind. weller, not sure character, richter convinced him claiming real feast actor wonderful jekyll , hyde character , actor said. lithgow told interviewer, have had roles came close going on top. in twilight zone went on top several times. role on top. makes role in twilight zone seem model of restraint. in wild, red fright wig , rotten false teeth thick italian accent. s wild. lizardo s accent, lithgow spent time italian tailor @ mgm , recorded voice. changed walk of old crab, , because alien metabolism supposed messed . lithgow said of character, playing lizardo felt playing madman in cabinet of dr. caligari .

ellen barkin, played romantic interest penny priddy , describes film if terry southern had written star wars. none of characters quite should be—just kind of thing. richter s choice play john bigbooté christopher lloyd. richter first met jeff goldblum on invasion of body snatchers , wanted him play new jersey. actor admired writing , eager work cast director had assembled. lewis smith asked dye hair blond. took 8 hours, , saw go red orange fluorescent yellow white.

clancy brown said character common sensical. s everyman of film . robert ito determined role of dr. hikita, disguised himself old man, designing own makeup job age himself 30 years.

pre-production

production designer michael riva had worked richter before , spent 2 years working on banzai before pre-production. , richter studied kinds of art , literature film s look, including medical journals, african magazines, , russian history. inspiration of lectroid masks came riva sporting lobster on nose. richter based lectroids alien form on canadian anthropologist s extrapolation of dinosaurs might have evolved if had survived, modified concept because have required prosthetics have immobilized actors. makeup consisted of 12 separate pieces of latex appliances per alien. each actor s makeup unique, casts taken of faces. outfits influenced contemporary russian lifestyles , went greens, blues , yellows because, according riva, sick , anemic. richter wanted black lectroids have warrior-like demeanor, in elegant, not fierce fashion . costumes came african tribal markings. red lectroids, riva consulted russian history give them baggy-suited, moscow bureaucrat sort of image . buckaroo s look, costume designer had him wear gianni versace sports jacket , perry ellis suit , tie. wears recut giorgio armani fabric suit.

principal photography

by time of filming, richter had 300-page book called essential buckaroo consisted of notes , had every incomplete script mac rauch wrote on years. principal photography began during second week of september 1983 on locations in , around south gate, industrial suburb of l.a. buckaroo s neurosurgery scene new jersey shot @ lakeview medical center in san fernando valley. jet car sequences shot in october on dry lake north of san bernardino mountains. vehicle designed , built riva, art director stephen dane , thrust racing owners jerry segal , george haddebeck. segal started ford f-350 truck, reinforced frame assembly, added front end grand national stock car, borrowed air scoops dc-3, , one-man cockpit modeled after messerschmitt fighter plane. under hood, segal modified ford engine oversized carburetor , nitrous oxide injectors. oscillation overthruster created riva , visual effects supervisor michael fink out of gyroscope metal frame, wires, circuits, , tiny strobe lights added. design basis flux capacitor in 1985 film future. prop reused number of times on various star trek episodes.

cinematographer jordan cronenweth hired film s director of photography but, halfway through production, producers replaced him fred j. koenekamp. several scenes shot cronenweth, including iconic nightclub scene, included in final cut, though cronenweth goes uncredited.

the banzai institute exteriors shot in rustic canyon, los angeles, interiors filmed in art deco house designed in 1931 mgm art director cedric gibbons wife, dolores del río. deserted rooms @ brentwood s v.a. hospital used dr. lizardo s room @ trenton home criminally insane. lizardo s 1938 laboratory filmed @ deserted industrial site, alpha tubing. set decorators rented collection of 1930s electrical props used in original boris karloff frankenstein films. interiors of yoyodyne propulsion systems shot in abandoned firestone tire factory. production rented warhead nosecones modern props , had televisions going time on set. wilmington s department of water , power provided location dr. lizardo s shock tower , served yoyodyne exterior. weller remembers during scene character tortured dr. lizardo, never laughed hard in life! had stop takes on , on over segment because laughing @ banter between [christopher] lloyd , [john] lithgow. armco steel plant in torrance housed lectroid launch hangar. finally, 12 weeks of filming done on backlot , soundstages @ mgm. film s closing scene, in characters join each other walk credits play, shot @ sepulveda dam, adjacent concrete la river bed.

richter , riva did not want metal spaceships , opted more organic deep sea oyster shell. gregory jein, inc. , stetson visual concepts built spaceship models , worked off sketches production illustrator tom cranham , used seashells guides. richter purposely gave film unpolished because real world appears ramshackle—because people repair whatever s around them .