There are just far too many quotable moments in this to pass by:
“There are monkey-boys in the facility.”
New Jersey: “Is he making fun of me?”
“Joy is work. Work, work, work.”
“Where are we going? PLANET TEN! When? REAL SOON!”
And dozens, dozens more.
As you might notice, I got my first chance to re-watch tonight. I’m planning to see it at least once more this week, but this was first blood, so to speak. (Thanks, Sean, for bringing your copy over while I’m still waiting for mine to arrive.)
I remembered this movie as fun, but I forgot just how fun it is. The last time I saw it was around 2000 with some friends of Audra’s, and before that I was a kid when it hit cable not long after it abandoned theaters. I wondered how I’d think about it now, and I’m happy to say that I enjoyed it even more than before.
A large part of the credit for this goes to Sean, who’s been slowly indoctrinating me in comic storylines a bit each day over lunch and what have you. For some reason, I never got into comics as a kid – probably for the same jackass reasons I never was able to enjoy Dune, LOTR, or numerous other great works. After lots of discussion, I think it actually comes down to learning to consciously (and purposefully) set the point of my suspension of disbelief. Setting this level correctly allows one to enjoy a dramatically larger – literally – group of art, and it’s a key to enjoying Buckaroo Banzai.
I love the “extended” intro, which we watched. For those not familiar with this tag-on to the late DVD release, it’s a three-to-five-minute “documentary” film at the beginning that shows home movie footage of Buckaroo with his parents. (Check out his mother, BTW, who shined in Trading Places.) It really helps to set the mood, explaining a lot of things that you’d never know if you hadn’t read the original Japanese comics – like, for example, that Buckaroo’s so damn smart because his parents are both geniuses. You also discover that his father originally invented the overthruster, which very much helps you understand the plot around Whorfin/Lizardo.
And what about Goldblum’s performance? Can anyone in the universe do “confused genius figuring out the plot from sketchy details” better? Hell, no.
One thing that makes so many bits of dialog quotable is the fact that the one-liners are tossed off exiting scenes. Like Jersey’s, “Is he making fun of me?” as Buckaroo walks into the jail. In that getup? Of course not. He’s talking about something else, right?
Perfect Tommy totally made me think of Handsome Rob from Italian Job. “Why’s he get to be Perfect Tommy? Because he is Perfect Tommy.”
While it’s fun to overlook the bad effects, sometimes it’s fun, too, to just look right at them and enjoy the camp – like the “thermal pod.” Did anyone else mistake it for Alf?
One of my favorite moments, though, is when Perfect Tommy is wandering through the lectroid living area. “They just sleep here,” he says, as they walk by three lectroids watching TV, eating potato chips, and drinking beer. “Joy is working. Work, work, work,” the speaker overhead reminds them. I’m still laughing.
But still, I can’t help but note that I’m still a Buckaroo Banzai fan primarily because I just love the concept. I love the idea of Buckaroo just being so good at everything that he’s a rock star surgeon particle physicist stunt driver test pilot badass with six-guns. My hero.
I’m convinced that the right writing and production team could totally pull off a modern, re-imagined Buckaroo Banzai with this-decade effects and a serious plot. Maybe there’s room for that sequel after all.
I’ll post more when it has time to settle in – and maybe I get the chance to watch it again – but in the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys re-watching the movie as much as I have.
