It's simultaneously dorky and witty, it's very comic-book: Buckaroo is a superhero (neurosurgeon, test pilot, musician, basically Batman with a healthier psyche), there's this whole network of Blue Blaze Irregulars (who are simultaneously comic fans and researchers), he's surrounded by witty eye-candy (Perfect Tommy!). It's full of pop-culture references and the aliens are ridiculously over-the-top.
Plus he's rich and has his own plane, jetcar, and mansion/research labs. But he has his secret angst in how his parents died & his last girlfriend/fiancee did too. It's completely OTT.
Anyone want to take a shot at explaining the Buckaroo appeal?
I suppose it depends on your tolerance for weird things coming out of left field. My favorite parts are Dr. Lazardo and Jeff Goldblum's character. I don't have a good reason that I can put into words.
But it isn't just the over-the-top and coming out of left field. Buckaroo simply revels in being OTT and left-field -- with a straight face.
I realized that they are kind of similar
W.D. Richter co-wrote Big Trouble and directed Buckaroo.
W.D. Richter co-wrote Big Trouble and directed Buckaroo.
I knew there was some actual production link between the two, but I couldn't remember.
Also Buckaroo plays with all kinds of tropes in a thoroughly knowing way. There is a lot of reference to radio programs-- radio heroes always had fan clubs pretending to be part of the hero's story the way Buckaroo has the Blue Blazer Irregulars--but of course in this movie the club actually IS a network of people who help defeat evil, as well as the whole "War of the World" cover story and the president looking like Charles Foster Kane. Also the end is a lovely nod to Sleeping Beauty, only with electricity. The sheer crazy joy the film takes with storytelling and genre and language just delights the hell out of me.
W.D. Richter co-wrote Big Trouble and directed Buckaroo.
Huh! Well, I like John Carpenter.
I loved Buckaroo Bonzai as a kid, and I still enjoy it today. It's whacked, off-the-wall, but I dunno, grounded while still being silly? I haven't seen it in a while, but now I want to!
It's weird, most of the ways you're describing the movie seems like it would be my sort of thing, but I think it's all coming back to tone. I wasn't a big fan of
Bubba Ho-Tep
either, which also tried to walk the line between serious and silly. It's a tricky balancing act, and I guess sometimes it works for me and sometimes it doesn't. I really wanted to like it!
Also, I think I always conflated Buckaroo Banzai with Flash Gordon, so I expected him to have crazy space adventures. He didn't even have any adventures in the 8th dimension!
What PC said except for expecting Flash Gordon. Also, don't know how to explain this, but for me it was the wrong kind of straight facedness. And something about the timing bothered me a lot. Heh, I don't think we will fully understand each other on this. But at least I get the BB love a bit more even if I can't share it. I wonder if I'd like the comic book.
