Les Aventures de Buckaroo Banzaï à travers la 8e dimension

You will either love or hate this movie. If you get it it is a barrel of laughs. If you don't get it, you say . . . What the hell is this nonsense? It has been said that it's a comedy with all the punchlines removed. But they are there, you just have to read between the lines. It's kind of like one of those Magic Eye Puzzles. You have to look at it with the right kind of eyes. Otherwise you'll just see it as a crappy 80s sci-fi spoof. But trust me, there's more there than meets the eye. Some of the jokes aren't obvious on first viewing, or the 100th for that matter. You may want to consult the DVD extras or Pinky Caruther's 10,000 little known facts. With a bit of research, you can find out the reasons why that watermelon is there!

This is a fun film. It doesn't take itself seriously and neither should the viewer.

The plot centres around a pre-Robocop Peter Weller's character (the implausibly named Buckaroo Banzai) who is a scientist/rock musician/surgeon...seems to be talented at just about everything. In his lab he perfects a device for travelling through solid matter on the pretext that 'solid matter' is in fact 80% empty space. True enough and so far so good.

In the movie, the 80% of matter that is space turns out to be the 8th dimention, and Banzai unwittingly causes some nasty alien "lectoids" to enter our dimension. With the help of good lectoids he and his rock band have to save the day.

John Lithgow really steals the show with some excellent madcap lines. The big name actors clearly knew this was not to be taken seriously and though the plot is OK it is the one-liners in the script that make the movie so enjoyable. Special FX are early 80's par for the course, this is not the highest budget film ever! The only question is why didn't the advertised sequal ever make it to the screen?

Aliens hiding on Earth, all with the first name of "John". A deranged mad scientist named Dr. Emilio Lizardo. A band of sidekicks named the Hong Kong Cavaliers. And in the center of it, Buckaroo Bonzai -- the part-time particle physicist, part-time brain surgeon, part-time rock'n'roller. How could this not be fun?

You're not watching this for the deep inner meaning. You're watching this because it's ridiculous and the actors know it is. John Lithgow is absolutely over the top as Lizardo. And Jeff Goldblum does a great comic turn as New Jersey.

A totally ridiculous 80's Sci-fi movie. The first scene has our hero drive through a solid mountain, and from there it gets bonkers. Great fun, makes Mars Attack look sensible. As for the cast, it's a who's who of 80's / 90's TV and film actors.The effects are terrible but the movie is great fun. A must watch.

No matter how cheesy the sci-fi plot sounds, some great actors & acting make this a cult winner...Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin, John Lithgow, and Christopher Lloyd - who else could successfully mix neurosurgery, 80's clothes (the only cliché characteristic of the movie) and a Rock Band into a Sci-Fi plot? I like it because it's a good balance of using a bit of science brain cells, a bit of budding FX stunts...It goes further to reassure those of us who believe you can still have a great movie without bad language or skin. The writer had some fun with names too - just enough to make you smile and not take away from anything. Who knows? Maybe Yoyodyne Propulsion Labs is THE precursor to Star Trek-dom?