The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension

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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension

PG

1984

1h 43m

Sci-Fi

Adventure

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

67%

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45 Reviews

69%

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10,000+ Ratings

Buckaroo Banzai is caught with his trusted allies, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, in a battle to the death between evil red aliens and good black aliens from Planet 10. Led by demonic dictator John Whorfin, who has taken over the body of Italian scientist Dr. Emilio Lizardo, the aliens try to get the Overthruster back from Buckaroo Banzai. But the good black aliens are willing to destroy Earth rather than let these renegades return to their planet.

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Critics Consensus

Sci-fi parodies like these usually struggle to work, but Buckaroo Banzai succeeds through total devotion to its own lunacy.

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Richard Corliss

TIME Magazine

08/20/2008

A state-of-the-art spaceship flying at the speed of light without narrative coordinates, Buckaroo Banzai is the very oddest good movie in many a full moon.

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

08/16/2007

Richter's comic genre hybrid comes complete with its own mythology, and team of established superheroes, and is curiously appealing.

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Variety Staff

Variety

06/05/2007

It violates every rule of storytelling and narrative structure in creating a self-contained world of its own.

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Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

01/22/2025

The vast, delirious joke of W.D. Richter’s sci-fi comedy... is that it plays like the 189th issue of a comic book that actually has no prior issues.

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Janet Maslin

Video Review

08/05/2022

3/4

Unmistakably tongue-in-cheek, the movie follows Buckaroo (Peter Weller) to the frontier of ultra-hip sci-fi parody. John Lithgow gets a chance to pull out all the stops as a mad scientist, and when things are funny they’re very much so.

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Alan Jones

Starburst

07/21/2022

Too wacky and spaced out for its own good.

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Squid M

@RT05722511 Aug 10

A lovely mess of a great movie waiting for someone to too fix it, that no one did.

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Robert J

@Slash_wisdom Jul 19

Buckaroo Banzai is just a fun film from start to finish. It embodies the energy of the 80s. Definitely worth a watch and just a good time.

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Torry N

@Torry22n Jun 12

I hated this mess of a movie the first time I watched it. I warmed up to it the second time. LOVED it the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh... Now I wish I had written it myself.

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Bucky R

@Bucky3085 Mar 31

Lithgow's finest role. Love this movie.

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Frans B

@FransB Mar 23

Wonderfully weird, sensibly silly and absolutely absurd. Amazing writing, storytelling like you've never experienced and cinematography that rocked the 80's, for sure. Star studded cast and each and everyone of them shines (some literally) in character. If you thought you've seen all ridiculously weird movies that actually makes a little sense, also in a weird way, you have not seen Buckaroo Banzai. This one does not draw or color outside the lines, there are no lines. Cult status confirmed

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Roberto N.

@Hover Feb 15

Do you like lunatic fringe comedy movies? Do you like science fiction? Are you ready to suspend any kind of belief in anything, sit back with a gigantic bucket of popcorn and a good Diet Coke, and just be entertained? Well, this movie is probably for you. It’s a real Romm. It’s truly a drive down lunacy Road, but if you like Monty Python or you like Green acres, it comes up with some pretty absurd comedy that some of us, including me find really refreshing and enjoyable. But it could be an acquired taste.

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W.D. Richter

Director

Peter Weller

Buckaroo Banzai

John Lithgow

Doctor Emilio Lizardo

Ellen Barkin

Penny Priddy

Jeff Goldblum

New Jersey

Christopher Lloyd

John Bigboote

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Official Clip - Inter-Dimensional Ford

2:20

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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Official Clip - Awesome Credits

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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Official Clip - Transmission to the President

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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Official Clip - Penny for Your Thoughts

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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Official Clip - Dr. New Jersey

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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Official Clip - Saving the Day

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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Official Clip - Dr. Lizardo Loses His Mind

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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Official Clip - Duck Hunting Discovery

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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Official Clip - There You Are

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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Official Clip - Holographic Warning

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Synopsis

Buckaroo Banzai is caught with his trusted allies, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, in a battle to the death between evil red aliens and good black aliens from Planet 10. Led by demonic dictator John Whorfin, who has taken over the body of Italian scientist Dr. Emilio Lizardo, the aliens try to get the Overthruster back from Buckaroo Banzai. But the good black aliens are willing to destroy Earth rather than let these renegades return to their planet.

Director: W.D. Richter
Producer: Neil Canton, W.D. Richter
Screenwriter: Earl Mac Rauch
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Sherwood Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 1984, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 16, 2008
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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