Super Movies! The one with a superhero who's not a superhero

 

 

Title: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai aka The Adventures of Bucakroo Banzai Across The 8^th Dimension

What Year?: 1984

Classification: Irreproducible Oddity

Rating: Ow, My Brain!!! (Unrated/ NR)

 

As I write this, I’ve been on a bit of a 1980s binge. That presented the perfect occasion for a movie I have been meaning to do a ludicrously long time. It’s an entry whose very inclusion in this feature requires even more arm-waving than Heavy Metal and They Live. To me, however, it was an integral part of my comic-book pop culture experience long before I saw it. Once I thought of this feature, I knew it belonged here. I present The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, a movie I might never have seen or heard of if not for ads in old comic books.

Our story begins with a test of a new vehicle, a sort of rocket car with a special overthruster that allows it to travel through solid matter, possibly either to save on tolls or always have a place to park. The pilot proves to be the titular Buckaroo Banzai, a billionaire, inventor, brain surgeon and actual rock star (well, more like blues meets techno neo-swing), because in a 1980s movie, Mary Sue was not only an acceptable model for a character but an ideal one. After the trip, he finds an unknown if seemingly harmless organism stuck to the car, apparently the fauna of another universe. We also meet a former colleague of Mr. Banzai’s late father named Dr. Lizardo, who took part in a similar experiment only to come out raving mad. In reality, he’s either possessed or replaced by an evil overlord who has been waiting for an invention like Buckaroo’s to return to our universe. Buckaroo must keep the overthruster out of the hands of Lizardo and his concealed alien minions, with help from a nominally friendly alien faction that still isn’t above taking out Earth as collateral damage if they lose. But the greatest challenge may be a troubled young lady who just might have the key to his past- and his heart!

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai was a 1984 science fantasy film directed by W.D. Richter, based on a character, story and script developed in collaboration with novelist/ screenwriter Earl Mac Rauch. The film starred Peter Weller (see Robocop 2, Leviathan, etc.), with John Lithgow (see Santa Claus The Movie) as Dr. Lizardo and Ellen Barkin as love interest Penny Priddy. An extensive supporting cast included Jeff Goldblum (see Earth Girls Are Easy), Clancy Brown (Pet Sematary 2), and Christopher Lloyd (see… Star Trek 3?) as chief minion John Bigboote (pronunciation a running gag…). The theme music, used only in the end titles and certain excerpts within the film, was composed by Michael Boddicker, otherwise best known as a synthesizer performer. While the film had a medium to high budget of $17 million, it was not given a corresponding budget for marketing on television or “mainstream” publications. Most of its limited advertisements were instead printed in comic books, presumably on the assumption that it would have the greatest appeal to superhero fans and younger readers in general. The movie included a teaser for a sequel, which the creators of the film later downplayed as a joke. Whatever the intentions of the filmmakers, the film was unsuccessful, earning only $6.3M. It gained much greater popularity as a cult film, eventually being featured or referenced in other media such as Ready Player One. Efforts to develop a sequel or “reboot” have failed to progress, in part because of reported conflicts over rights to the film and characters.

For my experiences, as I have alluded, this was a movie that I only knew existed because I saw ads for it in old comics, probably around the early 1990s. What’s strange in hindsight was that given this context, it never crossed my mind that there was anything unusual about the film itself. I hadn’t heard of it, and wouldn’t for years to come, but it wasn’t the only time I ran across a movie I hadn’t heard of before in this fashion. Even the wonky title and goofy character names in the ad didn’t seem that odd for the ‘80s/ ‘90s, especially with Marvel comics as a frame of reference. In a final irony, I finally watched the movie and still didn’t know the full story, which from what I know now is that of a cursed production to rival Star Trek 5, with possibly even greater confusion and active hostility from studio management. My effective verdict was that it was not much more or less than good fun. That left a decade or so to second-guess myself before I got hold of it again.

Moving forward, the main thing to talk about (at least after the astonishing theme music) is the title character. It goes without saying that his range of careers and skills I completely and surely willfully preposterous. That, in turn, has invited the argument whether this qualifies as a superhero movie. Certainly, Buckaroo has counterparts in the annals of superheroes, especially Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark. (Okay, yeah, Iron Man probably kind of ripped off Batman.) On the other hand, there are signs of earlier roots which are difficult to pin down. When I was preparing for this review, a correspondent suggested Doc Savage as a source, which definitely feels in the right neighborhood. I find more immediate parallels in 1960s-‘70s animation (see, dear Logos, my Captain Scarlet post). What has fascinated me most is that Buckaroo is never pushed into the “strong, silent” and implicitly “dumb” stereotypes of masculinity. He communicates well, both professionally and personally; he can talk others through their emotional problems; and he certainly isn’t afraid to express his own feelings. This is the part that seems surreal specifically for the 1980s timeframe, except, many of the background sources I have mentioned were showing intelligent and emotionally complex male characters before, during and after the decade’s collective freakouts, a whole other rant I will get back to momentarily.

For the arguable con side, the core “problem” is that this really does feel like a first installment that wasn’t really trying to be the best. The central plot never gets far ahead of the hero’s personal trials and side antics, while the heroics needed to defeat the villains are mild as such things go, without any doubt as to the outcome. Quite a few more issues rise from the nature of the villains. The aliens are more comic-book than Buckaroo, and more goofy than sinister even by those standards. What’s all the more problematic is that neither they nor their opponents ever do much that a human couldn’t; indeed, this could have been quite a bit more interesting if they had native collaborators to do their dirty work on the lines of They Live. There’s a further missed opportunity in the apparently racial divide between the “red” and “black” factions, which hints at a backstory that might make the villains either more or less sympathetic without ever being explored. Finally and rather counterintuitively, we never have any cause to doubt that they are fundamentally rational, strange mannerisms and grandiose posturing notwithstanding. This is the logical villainy of Rupert Thorne, not the actual insanity of the Joker or Megavolt. That’s not bad by any means, but it misses the one thing that makes so many outwardly goofy villains utterly terrifying on more considered analysis.

That leaves the “one scene”, and I’m going with the one that has kept my interested in the film. A little ways in, Buckaroo is performing with his band when he pauses and says, “Is somebody crying?” That actually draws an apology from someone in the audience. That’s when the spotlight turns on Penny, who at first sight is impressively a mess. At first, she is unwilling to talk, but he draws her out enough to tell her story. Buckaroo continue with semi-philosophical comments like, “Don’t be mean,” and, “Wherever you go, there you are.” He then starts the next number, while several of the bandmates continue to scrutinize her. In the midst of it, she draws a gun… and puts it to her own head. And this is where I can go on a cluster rant. I can say as a self-advocate, this is a quite good portrayal of a mental-health intervention. Of course, it shows things you really shouldn’t do, but there is far more done right that the media still don’t get. And that comes back to the movie’s baffling place in 1980s-‘90s masculinity, where anti-intellectualism and homophobia were pretty much a chicken/ egg thing. Right at ground zero, however, we have this film portraying an attractive, intelligent, heterosexual guy who can talk feelings as well as physics. The real lesson is that “goofball” genre films like this could be vastly more intelligent about gender roles, sexual orientation and mental health than the “mainstream” pop culture.

In closing, I have to say that I am finally at the ending I planned for this feature. For me, it was the perfect choice, if only because there is truly no other like it. That, in turn, is why I have chosen to designate it “unrated”. To me, this is a film I could have given any of my usual ratings, depending on the part and my own mood. The fair compromise was always to let it be its own thing, and let you the viewer draw your own conclusions. With that, I can end another chapter. “Home is where you wear your hat.”