(Unintentionally) continuing the Buckaroo theme, we have a "cult classic" from the eighties that we've somehow managed never to have seen up till now. Like all good cult movies, this one was a flop at the time of its release, which isn't really surprising. The title itself is probably offputting to most people, and the plot is pretty much un-summarizeable. But here goes. Back in the thirties, two scientists, a Japanese one called Professor Hikita, and an Italian called Dr. Emilio Lizardo (played appropriately outrageously by John Lithgow) experimented on a method to gain access to a parallel world, the 8th dimension. In a manner reminiscent of
Back to the Future, which also features Christopher Lloyd, this involves achieving a high land speed in an appropriately-powered vehicle. Lizardo starts the vehicle (in his case, a kind of sled on a monorail) prematurely and, while he succeeds in getting his torso stuck in the 8th dimension, appears to have gone insane when he is pulled out. We later learn this is because his body has become occupied by an evil alien supervillain who had been imprisoned in the 8th dimension by the aliens whose planet he had terrorized.
His name is Lord John Whorfin (it turns out that every alien on this planet, male or female, is called John). But nobody knew that at the time, and just locked him up in an asylum for the criminally insane. Flash forward to the eighties, and Professor Hikita is now being assisted by the brain-surgeon/rock musician/adventurer,
whose parents (one Japanese, the other American) were killed by The World Crime League (which was to set up a sequel, teased in the end credits, which has yet to come to pass), Buckaroo Banzai, played by Peter Weller, who would go on to star in another (more successful) cult classic,
Robocop. His vehicle of choice is some kind of souped-up rocket car, and he manages to drive through a mountain by jumping into the 8th dimension while inside it. His success is witnessed from the asylum by Dr. Lizardo/John Whorfin, who decides now is the time to escape (by killing a guard,
whom I
knew I recognized, and finally realized was Mike Ermantrout from
Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul, only young and with hair) and steal the device that Dr. Hikita has perfected. Meanwhile, watching from in orbit, are the
good aliens, who are determine to prevent Whorfin from using the device to return whence he was banished to wreak more havoc. There are also two groups of competing aliens, bad (played by Christopher Lloyd and two other very familiar faces,
Vincent Schiavelli and
Dan "Cheers/Blood Simple" Hedaya)
and good (the surviving member of which is played by
Carl Lumbly (whom I knew from
Cagney and Lacey). There's also a love story of sorts, as Buckaroo notices a crying woman ("Penny Priddy" - played by Ellen Barkin) at one of his shows and recognizes her as the twin of a woman he was in love with once. Meanwhile, the "good" aliens communicate to all (including the President of the USA, who is immobilized in a back-stretching thingie, for some reason) that they will destroy a region of the USSR unless Whorfin is stopped, as this will cause thermonuclear war to break out (which will help them, somehow). Buckaroo and friends (who include Jeff Goldblum, being very Goldblum-y in a setting that is entirely appropriate for full Goldblum-ing), discover a way that enables them to see through the alien disguises to expose the lizardy-faced aliens beneath. (Did this idea influence John Carpenter's
They Live? I'm sure he took that secret to his grave.) And the crew (The Hong Kong Cavaliers
- notably Perfect Tommy, who survives, and Rawhide, who perished by alien spider (but would go on to be the voice of
Spongebob's Mr. Krabs) rush around chasing John Lithgow and his bad aliens as they try to launch the spaceship they've been building since they invaded the USA on the Halloween that Orson Welles transmitted
War of the Worlds - which was actually a real report of a real invasion. Confused? Again, this was
destined to be a cult movie, watched and re-watched on VHS. But I've got to say that it is a lot better than most self-consciously cult movies, and despite making no sense whatsoever, has surprisingly good effects, enjoyably cheesy clothes and music, and genuinely funny lines delivered by a spectacular cast. Don't make the mistake we made of not watching this movie for far too long! Now to track down the extended cut which features Jamie Leigh Curtis in a flashback about Buckaroo's parents!
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