A scientist/rock n' roller/brain surgeon/samurai fights evil aliens named John from the 8th dimension.
My Rating: Severe Eyebrow Twitch Warning My Review: In the cult movie world, there is The Rocky Horror Picture Show and then Buckaroo Banzai. These two films have the largest cult followings of any of the strange flicks we present on our page, and for a good reason. . . although I'm not quite sure what that is.Buckaroo is odd. Very odd. So odd that you might be rewinding at the beginning going, "What the flippin' flapjack did I miss?" You didn't miss anything, patient viewer, this movie is out to mess with your mind. I read once that the best way to explain this movie is to compare it to jumping in to the middle of a series of movies. You feel like this is Part 6 of something, since it doesn't start at the beginning. I like that explanation, so I'll leave it at that. You must have a blank, tabula rasa mind watching this. Just be a conformist: accept what is happening and go with it! Buckaroo (Robocop, er, Peter Weller), a Jack-Of-All-Trades, is currently riding his rocket car into the 8th dimension, inhabited by bad dudes all named John. They come to earth and try to fight us, but Buckaroo and his Hong Kong Cavaliers are there to stop them. I feel so funky trying to explain this... it's like trying to explain a dream that really made deep sense to you while it was happening, but no one is really going to know what you are talking about in the morning: "And so, this snail gave me a hug, right, and said I was from the Land of the Lollipop People! Can you believe that?
I personally didn't find this film as engrossing as other famous cult movies, but it wasn't bad. Just very disjointed and nonsensical. There are a lot of great, great lines, including the famous: "No matter where you go, there you are." Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd, and John Lithgow join the cast (I didn't even have to look up their names! I'm so proud of myself, > like when the giant snail came up to me...). Definitely worth a rent, even better at a party of your bizarre friends. Sure you have bizarre friends, right? If you don't call us and we'll send a couple of us mutants over to your place for company.
Recommended for: Comic Book Fans College students that just can't make up their minds as to what they want to be: be everything!