Review – The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai

Add “Across the 8th Dimension” to the end of the title if you’re so inclined (though that serves to distinguish it from a sequel that was never made). Though I’ve seen this movie a couple of times before, this is a first for me for two reasons. First, this is the first time I’ve ever watched it from beginning to end without interruption. Second – and more important – this is the first time I watched it on my own, without being in the company of someone else who was absolutely convinced that it was the greatest movie ever made and absolutely convinced that I had to agree. Absent the pressure, I’m able to determine that it is in fact not the greatest movie ever made. It’s all kinds of 80s silly, and a lot of the dialogue is delivered in that mumbling nonsense cadence Popeye used to use in the old Max Fleischer cartoons. However, as long as you’re not expecting the greatest movie ever made, you should be able to derive at least some entertainment from this sci fi action comedy send-up of old serial adventure yarns (particularly Doc Savage). Mildly amusing