When Twilight was a thing I worked in a clothing store. Kids come up and ask me, "are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?" I'd answer, "Team Banzai" which confused the hell out of them.
When I had cancer, my wife and I used this song as our inspiration. When I had to walk into the Oncology ward for more chemotherapy, we'd hum it, and I walked in pretending I was Buckaroo Banzai. ("Don't embarrass us." "Have I ever?") It really helped my morale as I faced another horror-show of chemo. After treatment, we'd go for long walks to regain my strength, and we walked to the beat of the song. Whoever composed this song -- thank you!
Lithgow appears on talk shows occasionally. Of course, he has a long, illustrious career yo discuss. He always remembers playing Dr Lizardo. With great affection.
When walking around town with my ABW has told me on several occasions to stop whistling. Once she finally saw the end of the movie with me she sighed and said "Buckaroo? Seriously?"
I LOVE this movie. See it more times than I can remember. I would love to see an anime version of the 2nd movie promised at the end so that all the original characters can come back without age being an issue. That would be totally freaking awesome!
This is another one in my favorite list of movies that I saw in the theater when I was a kid, me and my brother really thought that there was going to be a second part to this cuz they totally left it open. There's such a huge Community following for this movie still waiting for a sequel. We need to get this one rebooted and up and running again cuz it was too good of a movie to leave just as is.
Oh hell yes. Love this movie and were it possible I'd drop $1k to see Against the World Crime Org. I really wish they had made the sequel. Never considered anime though. That would work, I'd be more than happy to see the sequel as anime.
When my friends and I saw this movie in high school, the character Perfect Tommy reminded us so much of a classmate named Terry (tall, thin and blonde) that he was known forevermore as Perfect Terry. Buckaroo and Team Banzai lived on as minor characters in the Battletech game setting until the were eventually phased out by renaming them due to legal concerns.
Thank you Mark. This is one of my favorite movies. Yes, Buckaroo was weird, but that was it's magic. One of the best parts was the "Declaration of War - Short Form." If you want another campy movie, Remo Williams, The Adventure Continues was awesome.
There is a little tear going down my face with happiness, finally your doing which happens to be the best cult art movie of all time. Buckaroo Banzai is more then a Sci Fi movie it's hard to explain, but it's every movie fan wrapped in to one.
Every episode of Minty's 10 things makes me want to immediately pull up that movie. Hard to not binge watch 3 to 4 of these at a time. Keep 'em coming Minty. These are brilliant, and the connective threads you find blow my mind every single time.
"Buckaroo Banzai" has been a die-hard favorite of mine since its theatrical release. The soundtrack is just as awesome. So many fantastic quotable lines in the film. BTW, Mark, the group of actors were not walking around the streets of L.A. during the closing credits music. That was a dam area of the L.A. river by the freeway near the Sherman Oaks Mall. The Marvel comics were adaptations of the movie script. Also, for any major fans, I highly recommend reading the novelization since it fills in a lot of grey areas not explored in the movie. If you thought the film was wild, the continuation comics are even weirder. They're good, but not as memorable as the film.
@@magoomba1954 The watermelon was an experiment to deliver food. You drop the watermelon from an airplane, it doesn't shatter and you can still cut it open and eat it.
John Bigbooty, best alien name ever. Loved this movie as a kid, even had the Marvel limited series. Def one of those 80's movies. Me and my wife are huge fans of Shaw Bros 70's king fu, glad to see that was an influence.
Thank you so much Minty. I fell in love with this movie in 1984 and I watch it as a moral imperative every 6 months (= Thank you for also throwing in the watermelon. Only those of us in the know really know how important that watermelon was. Please don't forget Billy Vera. No one seems to remember him or his singing career. Keep up the great work Bruce!
mark dude how many times can i say this... you ROCK... this channel ROCKS.... and you keep making me smile with stuff i love and watch alot.... to be honest minty this is one of my fav youtube channels of all time!....
Dang, it's been a couple decades since I watched that. I still remember a few scenes though, when the truck goes down the cliff and the old man is still in it at the bottom, "In my country, door handles do not break".... or something like that, classic.
this is what you would get if you threw a bunch of random ingredients into a pot an came out with something tasting absolutely wonderful... irreplicable ! I've always loved this one an what an incredible cast!! always hoped to see that sequel..
When I was working with John Lithgow in The Crown we spoke about Buckaroo and he mentioned that it was the most fun in any film or show he had ever worked on. Also when I was working as a DJ in a London Club I always used the closing music from Buckaroo when I closed my session. Aso read your pages, it was the Search For Spock NOT The Quest for Spock.
I saw a 'behind the scenes' short about BB back in 1984. Ellen Barkin said frankly that sometimes the cast weren't sure what was going on. But they had a great time making the film.
Buckaroo Banzai struck a chord with me way back in 1984 but above all it was a movie with a very positive and confident message....after all if you don't have positivity and confidence what have you got?
I loved this film, still do. I saw it in the theater in 1984 when I was 16 in an afternoon show and it's the only film I've ever seen that I liked so much that when I walked out of the theater I went straight to the box office and bought a ticket for the next showing (!) It's just a great fun film, pure entertainment, pure art film.
The creators of Star Trek:TNG were HUGE BB fans! There are literally dozens of references to Buckaroo, Yoyodyne, they even use the overthruster prop at times.
Thank you! I enjoy all your videos, but this one brought back such nostalgia from when I was a kid. I was in the fan club, had my Blue Blaze Irregular name, got the comics, etc. It has some great life lessons. My mom was very sick back then, and this movie is one of the things that helped me cope. It helped me bond with a life long friend, too. Thankfully, my mom did get better. And the theme song still makes me feel hopeful and courageous.
Buckaroo is totally a 'son of' Doc Savage. Doc was a genius and an expert in many high skilled professions, just like Buckaroo. Savage, also, traveled with an entourage of highly skilled side-kicks and had adventures both mundane and other-worldly. The similarities are uncanny. With the recent revivals and reboots, maybe we will be lucky and a series about Buckaroo Bonsai will be created. If they do, I hope they cast carefully and get writers who are up to the task.
Fact no. 11: A lot of characters and names of Buckaroo Banzai made into the lore of the Battletech universe that has been created by FASA as the basis for a Mecha tabletop game in the same year as the movie debuted: 1984. In the lore of the Battletech universe, there is a mercenary unit called team Banzai led by an enigmatic and genius level engeineer/doctor/(Mech-)warrior called Dr. B. Banzai and one of the 3 Battalions of this unit is even called "The Honk Kong Cavaliers". The unit is a badass mercenary unit as well as a research lab for the development of innovative technology and they ended stealing the unit logo being the mirrored Bs you have shown on the VHS jacket @06:27. Even the characters Rawhide, Reno and (Perfect) Thommy made it as characters into the lore of the Battletech verse.
End credits for movie showed main characters strutting across the Sepulveda Basin dam outfall that prevents flood by Los Angeles river. This location has appeared in numerous Hollywood movies and TV commercials. Located where 101 and 405 freeways cross in SoCal. PS - movie score is one of the most memorable ever!
THANK YOU!!! We always wondered where that was filmed! I guessed it was some Flood Control place (kind of like in Terminator 2), but had no idea. Finally, we know.
One of my favorites. I watch it a couple times a year. There is no way they could create a sequel or a remake, the creativity and imagination required doesn't exist today.
This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I believe this movie is the reason I love all things strange when it comes to movies, laid the groundwork for me to love Dr Who, and gave me an appreciation for B movies in nearly all forms.
I remember seeing this in the cinema when it first came out, and when it ended, my friends and I looked at each other and said WTF did we just see?!?? I love this film because it's so beautifully weird. I also had co-workers who would register at conventions as John Bigbooty and John YaYa
Sometimes I just find myself being sad and depressed that the 80's are over. It was such an amazing time to be a kid. Almost like there were the 80's..... And then there was the rest of the past
as a true Buckaroo Banzai Blu Blaze irregular Diehard since it release, i knew this film was too good to for the general public at large, but nerd culture at the time got it completely. Also Film back then wasnt released over the entire country in one day. The Studio put the film out traveling the Prints city to city week to week month to month. In Los Angeles it opened in a 1st week of August in regular theaters. I still have my Team Banzai Headbands, Noveilzation , Comics, Viewmaster set, poster, postacards, Presskit with Welller autographed, Vestron VHS, Unoffical soundtrack on cd(Please release and official one Michael Boddicker!!) Laserdisc, Beta, DVD, and Blu-ray(Both Shout and Arrow, and Steelbook). Also have the very rare Buckaroo "magic thru the mountain mini hand toy.
Buckaroo Banzai is the total embodiment of science-FICTION. Many people now seem to want realism in their movies. But I will always love science-fiction the way Buckaroo Banzai presents it as pure fun and entertainment. It always has been one of my top favorite movies. When it came out, my initial reaction to seeing it was, What the hell did I just see? I LOVED IT! My life changed forever after that. Can we get an official CD release of the soundtrack now please? :). This is up there with Barbarella in my opinion.
I love realism in scifi (say Interstellar & Oblivion). But movies like BB that are just so much pure fun to watch will always be great. Both are great, but movies like BB are far more rare.
I didn't see it when it first came out but I do remember the toy ads in comic books at the time. It's definitely a cult classic. Recently sat down and watched it with my wife who'd never seen it before. It was fun watching her reaction to it.
I was introduced to this movie last month, this is now one of my top 10 favorite movies! Now minty covers This? It's been a great month ❤ Thanks minty, love from the US.
This movie change my whole life perspective..... I found it on a whim in 2012 - 2013. It goes into mind and deeper 🧐 .... Definitely have to watch it more than once 🤓
Thanks +Minty, Buckaroo is my 2nd favorite sci-fi flick of all time (original Blade Runner is no. 1). This is the first video of yours that I've watched, instant sub. There's tons of suggestions here in the comment section but might I suggest a couple that weren't mentioned? How about The Last Starfighter and Enemy Mine?, I consider them both highly underrated. Keep up the great work!
One of the things I like about this is they got all of the "different" looking actors in Hollywood for the 'lectroids: Lithgow, Lloyd, Hedaya, and Schiavelli. I'm actually surprised Goldblum got to be a human ...
Working my way through your back catalogue, I had to start with Buckaroo. Such a great movie it paved the way for me to Repoman,, The Fourth Man, Diva, you get the picture. There was a day when I could recite the dialogue in it's entirety by heart. Love your work.
Saw this in the theatre when it came out. Absolutely loved it, so far ahead of it's time. Some would argue, too far, since that theatre wasn't very packed.
You forgot about the book!! Rauch wrote a book version of the movie as told by Reno & documentation from the Banzai Institute. It's got a lot of other info. How Reno worked for a think tank & ended up as a Hong Kong Cavalier, Pecos (who's a woman btw which was why Perfect Tommy was offended & didn't shake New Jerseys hand), how Dr. Emilio Lizardo was still in his own mind he was just essentially "sharing" it with John Whorfin, stuff involving Hanoi Shan & his murdering of Peggy Jones (Buckaroo's wife), AND the biggest kicker, that Rawhide is still Alive! He's just in stasis until they can find a cure to the "spider" bite. Just because John Conner said there's no cure doesn't mean Buckaroo & his team are gonna give up! That book was amazing!
OMG. I was born in 82, and I've never seen this movie. Just based on the cast, I want to watch it RIGHT NOW! I'm going to take a gamble that it's kid friendly, and I'm going to download it now and watch it with my kids tonight. Then we all get to see it for the first time.
I've been putting off watching this film for ages because of various things popping up but not anymore, this looks so bonkers ambiguous and cool. Great video Minty 👍☺
Love this movie. Actually saw it in the theater when I was a teenager. Definitely one of the weirdest sci-fi movies that I've ever seen. I wonder if Rick & Morty's creators were influenced by this as well as Back to the Future.
BuckarooBanzai is GENIUS, it was a live action comic book- in the same way that the Blues Brothers (another BB) was a cartoon. Genius, and a true successor to the pulp fiction of the early days. Blue Blazer Regular, KH
@@kungfew1396 Yup! Also, the special edition DVD takes the prize for most Easter Eggs in a DVD (remember when DVD's had Easter Eggs?), with Easter Eggs within Easter Eggs!
@@HareDeLune There is a great hidden 80s gem that doesn't get mentioned very often but I highly recommend it to you, if you haven't seen it and watch it, please tell me if you loved it! It's a medieval magic adventure called THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER! It's an 80s cult classic.
@@kungfew1396 Is that the one where they're searching for a magical throwing weapon, and there's an Elf that can shoot multiple arrows from his bow like a machine gun?
Hey Minty,,,, THANK YOU for doing this video. I have watched it several times, this is my ALL-TIME favorite movies and some of these I didn't know! AWESOME VIDEO,,,,, as always!
This movie was a childhood favorite of mine. The campy and quirkiness is like eating a mental Twinkie. I always hoped for a sequel but it’s too late. I would love to see a Netflix series spring up from this movie though.
I'm in my 40s and just saw this movie, only person I ever heard mention this movie was 20 years older than me, and was a sci fi encyclopedia especially star trek, they had thick books of dialogue of every episode cataloged in a library so yeah that kind of fan. I think 85 there was so many movies out that it went completely under the radar, even didn't hear about it on VHS back in the day. I would have loved to see it at theatre or drive ins, or where ever back then. Today you look at all the stars in it, will blow your mind how it got marketed wrong, such a fun movie with elements from of the 50s to the modern and futuristic tech, and it is so great that today ppl think that this movie is real in a way and aliens are living among us.
I'm in my 40s, consequentially grew up in the 80s and loved sci-fi movies. Yet, I've never seen this movie. I guess I know what I'm doing tonight. Thanks Minty!
I have always wondered whether there was like a bad print of the movie being circulated on home television channels back in the day, because I remember watching this on HBO one night and turning it off after like 15 minutes because every scene was so dark I could barely tell what was going on and the whole thing was significantly quieter than the previous movie that had played on the same channel. I feel the time is finally right for me to try to watch a quality copy of this movie!
Want to know why 'Big trouble in little China' feels like 'Bukaroo Banzai'? Its because 'BTilC' is a retooled version of the 'World crime league' script
But it's NOT Why does everyone believe this?! Big Trouble in Little China was originally conceived and scripted by two newcomers to Hollywood. The following two quotes are from Starlog Magazine (Issue 109, August 1986, Volume 10) pages 10-13. The name of the article is "John Carpenter - Kung Fu Hollywood Sytle" by Steve Swires and the two quotes can both be found on page 11. "Originally conceived as a period western by neophyte writers Gary Goldman and David Weinstein, Big Trouble was updated, streamlined and extensively rewritten by Richter." "Due to a ruling by the Writers Guild of America, Gary Goldman and David Weinstein receive sole screenplay adaption, with Richter credited only for 'adaption.'"
Great video about a great movie. One correction: W.D. Richter did not direct the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers, he wrote the screenplay. Philip Kaufman directed it.
Awesome !! Banzai has been an absolute favorite since i first saw it in the theaters. The novelization is one of my all time favorite novelizations Rauch finally wrote a sequel novel a few years back: it might be hard to find but Buckaroo Banzai: Against The World Crime League does exist. Thanks, Minty, for covering a fave !!!!
