Every so often, I still find myself humming the end theme to Buckaroo Banzai and a little bit of swagger sneaks into my stride. That's why the watermelon is there.
Back in 1990 when I was hired to build a software startup from scratch, the first offices I rented -- in a classic business stripmall in San Diego -- had two entrances. One, the main entrance, had a professional sign (done by the complex) that gave the company's name. The other entrance, for the developers, also had a professional sign (done by the complex) that read: "Banzai Research Institute". Everyone I hired understood that sign.
So I finally found the reason why the watermelon was there. And it's pretty damn interesting. I don't mean the "fruit that can be airdropped" thing, I mean the reason it's in the film. Apparently, the crew kept getting note after note after note about the film demanding changes during the first week or two of production. Then one day, the notes stopped. So the director decided to test this, went to a cart selling watermelons, put one in the scene, and filmed that line to see if he'd get a note back about it. When he didn't, he realized that the executives weren't paying attention anymore so they could do whatever the hell they wanted.
Yanno, this may be why Rick and Morty works so well. Yes, there's world building, but most of it is offscreen and new things are introduced as if they've always been there. We don't get "as you know" dumps, stuff just happens and we accept it as normal in the world. Why is there a machine in the garage that does x y and z? Rick must have made it at some point. Where did the cybernetics come from? Must've been when he changed bodies. Why does it pass butter? Who cares! It just does.
RomLoneWolf23 that's a universe I want to live in, I love Buckaroo Banzai and I was so disheartened when I found out that Kevin Smith's television series fell apart because that might have been the only chance to see Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League...
Hanoi Xan, the villain from the never made sequel, was essentially Lo Pan, the main villain from "Big Trouble in Little China". That film was cowritten by the creator of Buckaroo Bonzai & was originally conceived as a sequel/side-quel. They were hoping to build a shared movie universe back then in 1984. WOW!!! This movie really was far ahead of it's time.
No way! That makes so much sense.I was 12 and 14 when they came out.Shaped my life,hell my wife's fav movie of all time is Big Trouble in Little China.
Quicksilver Whoa, mind blown! That would be epic! Buckaroo Banzai and Big Trouble in Little China together in the same universe? I wonder what would be next!
Earl Mac Rauch created/wrote Buckaroo Banzai. W.D. Richter directed Banzai, and did rewrites on the existing Big Trouble script. Beyond a similarity in tone and some of the same personnel involved, there's no real connection. (well, except for that thing in the original fan newsletters sent out by Fox when they realized Banzai-fans were ravenous for more stuff)
I detected an unexpected fury in your text commentary over Lord John Whorfin's speech at Yoyodyne. My sorrow for the loss that produced such an emotional response. BBI Marineris.
SOMEONE once said to Trump when entering office, like Perfect Tommy at the BB intro... ...She'll hold.. Just be cool... And now... you get what we got here in 2019. Trump is very akin to Banzai.
When I try and convince people to watch The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, I say "It's a completely silly movie that takes its silliness completely seriously." That's really about the easiest way to describe probably one of the most unique films ever made. And I agree, it's a brilliant spoof of a genre that didn't even exist when it was made, and so there's a whole new layer to it now that it didn't have before. I predict it will only grow in cult popularity as the Shared Cinematic Universe craze grows, because it's hooked into the phenomena at every level. And I'm actually kind of okay now if the franchise never gets off the ground again. . . making it an actual cinematic universe at this point would kind of undercut one of it's main jokes.
'Now here comes the part where I name drop a French dude' Haha! I got that, it was a reference to his other videos. I now feel rewarded for my loyalty to this franchise.
...Don't tug on that! You never know what it may be attached to... A warning you do not want to hear during brain surgery. Funniest, most intense, glibness ever.
My parents first showed my this film when I was about 10. I was simultaneously confused and enraptured. It felt like there HAD to be more of this universe but... there just wasn't. And honestly, there's something magical about that experience. As if the film itself slipped into our world from another dimension.
It wasn't just the film that was played deadpan. In the DVD commentary they treat the entire thing as a dramatization of actual history. It's frigging awesome.
Anthony Clay Happy Birthday!! + (You'll never convince me that his Beauty and the Beast 3-parter a few years ago wasn't a birthday present to me specifically.)
I can't believe that I found this video from 5 years ago today. I actually got to watch this movie in the theater in a city where the top local movie critic called it trash. For me, it was and will continue to be a treasure.
I found it. The reason for the watermelon. Here's the official explanation provided by W.D. Richter, director of Buckaroo Banzai, in the official newsletter on April 1986. "Team Banzai botanical agronomists have been for years hard at work on the problem of hunger in Third World countries under constant revolutionary turmoil. A non-political, humanitarian effort, their goal has been to find ways to feed starving peoples in remote areas where traditional food delivery systems prove woefully inadequate. Often the only way to get the nourishment into the bellies of the needy is to hit and run, avoiding all petty ideological side-taking. What you see in the Critical Stress Lab is a revolutionary watermelon capable of withstanding impact pressures of 300,000 pounds per square inch! Sweet, juicy and vitamin-packed, this remarkable fruit can be dropped from the bomb bays of low-flying aircraft into the backyards of disenfranchised villagers in the remotest backwaters of this angry planet. Just another Team Banzai effort to cut through all the unnecessary crap around us and help people help themselves. Look for high-impact, low cholesterol eggs next... and sooner than you think, shatter-proof whole-wheat taco shells."
BUT.... (From the article) That gives us the answer "in-universe," but the real reason behind the watermelon has nothing to do with Buckaroo Banzai or experiments or any of that stuff. It has to do with politics in Hollywood. You see, the production of Buckaroo Banzai was plagued with problems. The producer David Begelman fought with the film on every level, constantly sending notes and making changes. Then at one point, the notes stopped coming. The crew asked, "Is anyone watching us? Does anyone at the studio still care?" So they did an experiment. In the director's commentary for DVD, Richter explained that they went out to a street vendor, bought a watermelon, and stuck it in the machines. They shot the watermelon scene, and waited. Surely, such a bizarre moment that disrupted the whole flow of the action with no logical explanation would draw the attention of any studio crony that watched it. When they got no response, the crew knew that no one was paying attention, and they could do whatever they wanted."
Heh heh! Thanks Jooknar! Actually, popcorn is better to drop from bomb bays, popped during drop, can feed exponentially more people. Just Hot, Bag, Salt, Butter, tag, on the way out the plane. Truth is more interesting than any fiction- but fiction gets us to Truth.
You omitted the best part (same source, the book): having developed the indestructable watermelon, the next problem is to solve is how do people open it to eat it?
Furthering the intertextuality: the special features on the DVD always state that the film is biographical in nature, and that all events and props were approved by the Banzai Institute. So the greater universe this film takes place in...is our own. Think about THAT for a second.
Like in old Fantastic Four comics, when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby appear as themselves, and in that world Marvel Comics produces official comics of the FF. Kids will come up to the FF with comics for Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny to autograph.
I'd file that under ...D... for DEEP. The alien invaders represent... whom? I leave it to you to suss. Notice Banzai has no super-powers at all except acumen and applied knowledge. An invitation to us all. Nice, Omni.
Another film from this time period I would say accomplishes the tone you're describing here is Big Trouble in Little China, where Jack Burton is an idiot sidekick dropped into a story absolutely stuffed with "True Believer Moments." I'd argue Big Trouble's most direct descendant in modern cinema is the first Guardians of the Galaxy, where the main characters are more concerned with their personal issues than the rest of the galaxy or even each other until the very end.
13:30 -I love this scene because it involves a 15 year old talking to the smartest, richest man in his world, and because of that even though he really wants to just say "With great power comes great responsibility" he stops himself because Tony might respond with "Where'd you hear that, a fortune cookie?" Or a similar quip about how "lame" it sounds. Which is itself an intertextual moment about remakes and adaptations that decided they were too smart for the kind of idealism the original work had
I'm surprised you didn't bring up how this all fits in with your colleges. Going back and watching older TGWTG videos was often like reading a comic book with no context. Cameos from people who don't exist anymore, jokes that don't make any sense if you weren't there at the time, it's all very... melon like. Not just them, of course, pretty much anything in old internet land is kind of like that.
Also, this is why I love "All-Star Superman." Crazy imaginative elements of Superman mythos are just there, so much incredible stuff around him that undoubtedly involves so many stories that "true believers" might know, but which just makes Superman and his world seem so much larger than life to a layperson like myself. It's wonderful.
This one time a friend and I were hanging out and suddenly I just put on the first part of Kyle and Tony's review of La belle et la bête and I just let it play without explaining anything and it's the opening number and she's just staring at the screen like "whaaaaaaat even is this what is happening what's with all this weird shit you watch" and meanwhile I'm laughing at Paw's best/worst cameo.
nessesaryschoolthing you’re right! It’s even how I started branching out into other reviewers. I used to just watch the NC and then he released Kickassia and I was so interested in who these other people were, like Linkara and the sudden appearance of Dr. Insano.
"Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension is like watching a cinematic universe superhero film without having seen the other films in that cinematic universe." Best description ever!
As Ernie Cline once said: "The Geek Wants Out. He wants to talk to you. He wants to give you his doctoral dissertation on why The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is the greatest fucking film of all time!"
My grandma didn't have many VHS tapes but she had this one because a cousin had a small roll in it. When I finally watched it and was old enough to understand it I fell in love with it. There's not enough love out there for this film. Thanks for this video.
The funny thing about Buckaroo Banzai is that I just discovered it last night, right in the middle of the film, and I was blown away by it. It felt like an all-star b-movie sci-fi fantasy parody which combined the sensibilities of John Carpenter's They Live and Escape from New York, Alien Nation, Devo, The Last Starfighter, Dr. Who, Space Mutiny, countless movies from MST3K's library, and various absurdist plays. As a fan of your Shakespeare reviews, I was surprised and excited to learn that you analyzed this film. I feel too that many modern superhero films could learn from Buckaroo Banzai. I even think aspiring sci-fi/fantasy parodies and satires could learn from Banzai.
Trivia Time: A year later in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Pigboy (I think it was him) used the line: "Always remember, whereever you go, there you are". I always found that synchronicity in scripting odd but fascinating. :)
"be nice" - I think this is a big part of why I like you and your show so much Kyle. You don't do this show to bully, critique, or take apart movies, but rather to appreciate and look at them with a critical eye as to better understand the complexity of the pieces that make them up.
Thank you for helping me put my love for this ridiculous, overblown, unapologetic movie into words. Well-handled transtextuality is absolutely fascinating and such a great way to expand a universe. The watermelon works especially well, I think, because it's presented with as much absolute confidence and gravitas as the rest of the movie. There's a sense that there IS an explanation in-universe, it's not just an absurd aside or a nod to the audience, and it would make sense if you heard the explanation -- you just never do.
When George Lucas was creating Star Wars, inspired by old movie serials, he made the first movie Episode 4 because he claimed that in the serials all the really good stuff happened towards the middle. But, if we're being honest, Buckaroo Banzai feels more like an Episode 4 than Star Wars ever did.
@@timothywalden5099 It wasn't called that, but Lucas had a back story and selected a section of it "in the middle" as stated. I don't think the prequels are that back story, I think he reconsidered most of it later on. I won't get into the quality aspect of what we ended up with...
@@bb5242 We have enough unused scripts of the OT movies to know that they didn't originally fit with what we got. Also, IIRC, he once said he always wanted to make three trilogies, and when a sequel trilogy looked unlikely*, he said these six were all he planned. So, um, Lucas's concept of "the plan I always had" seems to be very flexible. *Yes, there was a time when Star Wars movies didn't seem like a good bet. The prequels, special editions, and so forth burned a lot of fandom goodwill.
This video just makes me grin. I'm a long-time Banzai fan and I've got reprints of Doc Savage in the attic - seeing the whole thing summed up so excellently just makes my day. Keep up the phenomenal work.
I have the geekiest BB story. I went to a sci fi convention when I was 16, got drunk for my first time and met some new friends including a girl. Feeling emboldened I asked her out and so, "True Believers", I, your hero, went on his first ever date and took her out to see....drum roll.....Buckaroo Banzai. Short story. Afterwards I tried to kiss her goodnight, failed and never saw her again. Buckaroo Banzai, however became part of my life....."sealed with a curse as sharp as a knife....doomed is your soul and damned is your life". No regrets...
You're over thinking the watermelon. The watermelon was a test by the film makers to the studio heads. They figured that if they stuck a watermelon in that scene, and the studio made no comment on it being there, then they figured that the studio heads had given up on trying to rein them in.
Buckaroo Bonzai does what I feel more scifi/fantasy media should do in general. Don't waste time with technobabble and backstory, just present a world for the audience and go. Much more enjoyable than paragraphs upon paragraphs of Space Economics.
That's a double edge sword though. You can very easily get into moments that leave the audience saying why did that happen, can (sci-fi/fantasy object) really do that or do they not have (everyday object) in this (sci-fi/fantasy) world?
If the story follows it's own verisimilitude, not really. 'Not explaining things to the audience' doesn't mean the same as 'not having internal rules'. If you present an everyday object in your SFF world and treat it as normal, questions won't be asked. It's only if you treat it as something weird that people will scratch their heads over it. Not an SFF film, but most people I know didn't even notice the seashell smartphone thing in In Follows, because it was just presented as a normal thing in the movie's world.
I disagree with the idea that Economics can't be interesting. Anything can make for an interesting narrative, so long as you frame it correctly. Just look at Extra Credits's Extra History series about the South Sea Bubble. So long as you can present the conflict in a coherent manner and make that conflict matter from a human standpoint, economic conflict can be perfectly entertaining.
Economics can be interesting in certain settings, sure. Descriptions of literal evolution can be interesting - I myself enjoy the opening of the novel 'Code of the Lifemaker' which is just 20 pages of evolution. But ultimately, that is not a story, that's just background. And I truly believe that a lot of SFF could benefit from writers cutting out the fat of all the background to actually focus on their story. To put it another way, there's a reason most adaptations of Le Mis cut out most of the book.
Isn't that what pretty much what Lord of the Rings and Star Wars did for those two genres respectively? Star Wars has basically zero technobabble explanations for stuff (the prequels anyway), just names for stuff that are used in natural conversation. It depends a bit on the goal of the author of course. If your work is plot or character driven it's most likely that long exposition would feel unnatural and detract from that. But Fantasy and SF are both genres of speculative fiction and plenty of works in that supergenre have a different goal: Explore an interesting what-if scenario. Worldbuilding is not always just a backdrop to the stage our characters act on, it can have value in itself. If that's not your taste that's fine of course. But it's worth to make the distinction between works by what their focus is. Some of my absolute favorite SF books have characters with minimal depth (not badly written by all means, just not really given any focus) but have burned themselves in my memory through their wildly imaginative setting and the joy of discovering it's intricacies (Examples: Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Foreward , The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan, Evolution by Stephen Baxter)
They should do a sequel with all the surviving cast and frame it as though the series didn't die with one film, like don't make the promised sequel, make like the 4th or even 10th film of the series
I actually like this idea. They could make occasional references to "that time you nearly died in Norway" or "yeah, well nobody would've believed what we found in Antarctica, either!" and not explain it. Let the fanfic writers decide what they found in Antarctica. They can't do too much of that, but they could do a few. Maybe three or at most four, scattered over the movie.
The Watermelon, as explained in the Pinkie Carruthers bonus subtitle track on the Director's Cut DVD was part of a program to create foodstuffs that could withstand tremendous force so that it could be air-dropped to starving people without the expense and hassle of parachutes.
The Banzai institute was trying to develop food that could survive being airdropped into places that needed food. They succeeded with the watermelon. Unfortunately they were nearly impossible to cut into.
Great analysis! I felt that way when I first picked up Watchmen. I read a little, and then thought, "Did I get the right issue? Is this the beginning? I think I missed a lot here, I have no idea who these people are or what's going on." If I were reading any other comic, I would have been right. Buckaroo Banzai cut through the boring parts. It knew that we knew how franchises work. Here's something else I think BB did that ultimately makes the movie a genuine classic. (Besides the ridiculous amount of talent in this movie!) Even though the creators knew we were meta-aware nerds, they also knew that it didn't stop us from liking The Shadow and Batman anyway. Despite, or because of the many meta references, BB lets you enjoy the goofy story as a story. It's humor doesn't feel cynical at all. All the meta jokes are not a cynical commentary but a joyful commentary. "You get this joke because you're cool and one of us." As an adult, it gets harder to just have a good time and give in to the more positive aspects of superhero movies. (That might be why they keep getting darker and darker :) ) Here, I think, the winks and nods are all there to give us permission to do just that. The good guy, is good. He fights bad guys who are bad and does science and helps people. He's good at things nerds like me like. You can legitimately root for him. The strangeness of the movie keeps the kids away and gives it an outsider status that lets viewers relax into the story and feel like they belong there. "Imagine if people like 'Captain Midnight' were real. It would be pretty cool right? We know you're adults, and smart, and you know things, but now that that's out of the way, it's ok to enjoy this. So please, have fun."
Buckaroo Banzai came out in 1984! You would have HAD to have been a comic book, sci-fi, pulp geek kid like me to looove this film. And I did. I just understood it on a deep level, and thx to Kyle for pointing out the process of that and how it relates to todays 2010 era of super hero film and tv. Man, I laughed at the watermelon scene, because I got it. I knew what that was instinctively. I was a teenager then so I couldn't intellectually tell you what it meant, as Kyle has done here so eloquently... but I dug it man! :)
"You would have HAD to have been a comic book, sci-fi, pulp geek kid like me to looove this film." Wrong. i still love it today and i was a go out side and find frogs lizards and cool sticks geek :P
Okay, I didn't see it until sometime in the mid-80s when it HBO, then I watched multiple times around then. I was in Upstate NY, and *nobody* else ever talked to me about it. I had no idea it has this big cult following until many years later when I went to college and there was the rudimentary Internet and by then I had forgotten about it. I wish I had been a bit savvier, I maybe could have found folks down state that were into it. We had a big Rocky Horror scene upstate, but I never liked that at all.
Saw it in the theater when it came out and it immediately became, and has remained, my favorite movie ever. I don't think any other flick could possibly challenge it on my list, based on what's being filmed these days.
I think one of the reasons I really kind of got it when I was a kid and a lot of audiences didn't is that we didn't have a whole lot of money growing up. So when I got the occasional comic book, it might have references in it to events/plots that happened in other books which I never had the opportunity to read. So I grew up having these moments of unfulfilled references that I just had to take as their own thing.
As a child I owned the comic book of this movie and when you read that you are immediately aware of it's super hero nature. Reading it invoked exactly that similar feeling of entering an existing world that you had when you picked up Superman or Spider-Man. Sure, those books paid a bit more attention to bringing in audiences with explanatory introductions or monolouges, but the feel of a bigger cosmos, already written and out there was the same. The race driver-scientist-surgeon-rock star doesn't even feel much different from the billionaire-scientist-martial arts master-crime investigator in his impossible array of skills.
He's a prototype Tony Stark, another character I connected with (even before MCU). I was less enthused about Stark's drinking habits having no problems with addiction myself, though.
This movie marks the true beginning of the 80s and the guideline for many heroes of today, although it is not given the true honor that should be given ... Yesterday I saw 'Ready player one' and in fact I was thrilled when they mention it . Long live Buckaroo Banzai!!!!
It helps that it was chock full of top drawer actors - Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin, and in a smaller role Christopher Lloyd. It was able to bring you up to speed by referencing War of the Worlds 1931 radio broadcast - which acts as a touchstone. Once you have that bit of knowledge, lots of things drop into place - like humans have an alien infestation, which if not handled could lead to bigger problems. As for Buckaroo himself, who wouldn't want to be a neurosurgeon/physicist/rock star who is a ladies man? Instant buy-in.
Great points and analysis! Now we know "why" there is the watermelon. Buckaroo Banzai references scenes and movies there are just not there. Brilliant! Didn't get that point before and I've seen the movie since the 80s, now it makes much more sense! It's one of the best movies ever made!
About the "Why is there a watermelon?", you should've also brought up the "Three seashells" reference from "Demolition Man", although, it's not a superhero movie. They also never explain anything about the shells but every nerd and movie fan knows what people are talking about somebody mentions them.
LoganHunter82 The two have different meanings though. The watermelon is meant as an in-joke to the hypothetical fans alluding to a previous adventure. The Three Seashells is meant to showcase the absurdity of the world and only became an in-joke for that specific absurdity.
I'd argue that D-Man is a superhero movie. Marvel even has a character called D-Man, who has a very "Wolverine in Brown" like costume. Because he's a (insert name)-Man character going up against an enhanced Super Villain in a sci-fi future.
LoganHunter82 dude, someone from the Demolition Man writing Department released a statement years ago about the three seashells. I'm not going to go into details because I'm going to leave that one for you to find but I... trust me it is out there somewhere. It's informative but not very pretty.
If I wasn't broke af all the time, I would support you on Patreon. You should be way more popular (and successful) than you are. These are so great! Keep up the good work!
Thank you for this. This movie blew my mind when it came out and I really appreciated this analysis. I will say I hope they don’t make a sequel, not even with Kevin Smith. It kinda needs to remain its own thing. Not knowing why the watermelon is there is way better than anything anyone could come up with.
Loved the review / commentary. Even the French dude, though if you'd gone much longer I would have had a moment of existential despair and dropped my computer in the toilet. The central insight re "true believer" moments, though, is gold. Thanks.
As a long time fan of Buckaroo Banzai, I greatly appreciate this tribute. Also, that saying, "No matter where you go, there you are", is itself a shout-out. It was first used in the comedic stylings of "Professor Irwin Corey, the World's Greatest Authority". ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RHlLmYVCzKY.html
You had me at 'weird superhero movie with Jeff Goldblum in it'. I've heard good things about this movie, but I always heard it was hard to actually find a copy. Is that true? Is it able to be streamed anywhere legally?
Looks like you can watch it on Amazon video for like 4 bucks? Everything I can find is the special edition, but I can't imagine it'd be different from the original. You can also get DVDs of it if you're into that sort of thing.
Kyle you are awesome! I see what you did there. That is the intertexuality form of transtexuality when you quote Buckaroo Banzai saying "Don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, cuz, remember, no matter where you go...there you are." You made me smarter sir. How very clever.
The watermelon was being tested for being able to safely airdrop food into Africa, but the problem was that it was strong enough to survive a fall but too strong to be split open.
Saw it when it was released, instantly loved it. A movie that seemed to speak to me directly like none other. It went straight to my top shelf of greatness, where it has remained ever since. O and nice analysis, cheers. Quite good. The watermelon indeed, there must always be a watermelon, a story without one is lacking in the substantive ephemera that gives a world ballast.
The writing of this was complex and genius. I'm serious. You are not only trying to reference without outright copying, but you are also putting in all these things that are as if you were already in the know! Very brave! I didn't like the movie at first. But every time it came on TV, I couldn't turn the channel. Do you want to know another amazing thing? They finally did a novelization of this movie! That was also complex and rather genius.
This 'lost franchise' feel is why I love the book 'Master and Margarita'. You have Satan himself wreaking havoc in 1930s' Moscow, organizing an annual sacred ball of devils and you're left to wonder 'So... What the fuck does Satan do the rest of the time? Or Jesus? Or God? Also, what the fuck happens to the protagonists in the end?' That's probably the only book classic that I dearly wish had a sequel, preferably several.
I love Buckaroo Banzai. It's funny, it's quirky, it's entertaining. It's a movie not a philosophical treatise. It's immensely enjoyable, and that's enough for me. Unfortunately after watching this video now I've got that damned watermelon stuck in my memory.
Juan Luis Vargas Pareja, I also do not understand why Kyle Kallgren referred to Godzilla and King Kong as copycats. I took them as reboots of long standing classics not copycats.
Bob from the Jacksonsvill TGIFriday's is referenced earlier in the Deadpool movie. In the first scene at the bar, TJ Miller exposits: "so what was Special Forces doing in Jacksonsvill, anyway?" Wade rplies: "That's classified. They do have a wonderful TGIFriday's".
Speaking as someone who's old enough to have seen Buckaroo Banzai in the theater: Yah, that's a good analysis, but at the time we knew what comic books were, and were able to embrace The Watermelon Enigma. At least some of us were... Fandom got it, the wider audience didn't. It came out just about the same time as The Last Starfighter, which made more money. Starfighter dealt with similar themes, but was more relatable, because you didn't have to accept the watermelon. You only had to accept that video games were cool, and that Robert Preston was from outer space.
The best description of Buckaroo Banzai I've ever come across is that it's the second movie of a trilogy, without the first and third movies. And the only reason I can come up with for all the Lectroids being named John, is that "John' in their language is similar to "Che' in Spanish. I admit it's not a great explanation, but it's all I've got.
FYI, Dr B Banzai had a huge impact on BattleTech, the boardgame that evolved into the Mechwarrior RPG. He and his mercenary unit, Team Banzai, lead the research efforts at New Avalon Institute of Science. My favorite homage of the movie.
Turns out the real reason behind the watermelon is much more mundane, but also kinda funny. Basically the studio heads and execs really didn't care about this movie, and the cast and crew wanted to test just how much they didn't care. So they stuck a watermelon in one scene and filmed the watermelon bit, and sent off the finished shots to the execs for feedback and approval/rejection. When the feedback made no mention of the watermelon that was when they confirmed to themselves that the higher-ups didn't give a shit about the movie any more and they could basically do what they wanted with it.
I actually rented and watched this movie last night, and while it was pretty good, it was kinda hard to get into it. I'm guessing it's because I never watched the first few Buckaroo movies, so I wasn't really emotionally invested in any of the characters.
Anyone who finds the genre of Superheroes and the Pulp Action (Tarzan)/Pulp Scifi (Perry Rhodan, Buck Rogers)/Pulp Fantasy (Conan) hero silly has to throw away all the characters from mythology and folklore. The Greek gods and demigods, the shapeshifting Celtic heroes, the Norse Edda, the medieval tales of dragonslayers and Christian saints performing magical miracles, King Arthus and the quest for hte Holy Grail. And that's just European folklore.
this is probably my new favorite video on the internet to me, textuality (inter, meta, hyper, whathaveyou) is always one of the most thrilling literary devices.
I can't remember where I learned of the ideas first, and I'm probably bastardizing them, but I think this is a case of having an "open" work of art or a "closed" one. Like, an open one doesn't feel the need to explain itself while a closed one does. This is sort of abstract but this doesn't have to do with the plot, even though that's certainly part of it. It's somewhat easier in literature because of how you structure sentences but it can have as much to do with style or theme as with plot, as I mentioned. This is why I would rather take Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 than have the entire MCU. Like, "closed" movies were all the rage in the 80's, in contrast to the very "open" 70's. This is not a question of quality, but just how movies were thought about. Like, I think that for me I would rather have a single entry into a non-existant franchise than an entire franchise. Because it's more interesting. This is part of why I love Sin City so much, despite the (for different reasons) horendous sequel. I don't know if I have a point, or if i'm saying something not blindingly obvious. But, the video made me think about this.
Wonderful analysis of the superhero genre and Buckaroo Banzai. My issue these days with the superhero genre is that it is pushing the agenda that in order to make a difference in the world, you have to have so-called superhero abilities. This is in fact the farthest from the truth. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead
If you want to talk about ancient cross-references, look at Servius who wrote a commentary on the Aeneid. They do reward deep knowledge especially intertextually.
