Buckaroo Banzai | Welcome To The Basement
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2018
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Sci-fi July starts off with a blast as we rocket into the eighth dimension with our hero Buckaroo Banzai.
In Seen It, we take a trip back in time with the 80’s Cable Roundup, with masters of beasts, things that are wild and stories that never end.
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All film footage is used in accordance with fair use and US copyright law. All music in the show is used with full permission of the composer.
Welcome To The Basement" is a show about watching, discussing and having fun with movies. None of the discussion or riffing is planned ahead of time.
The movie announced on Facebook before every new episode. We do discuss the entire movie, including the ending, so if you want to avoid spoilers, watch the movie first. - ตลก
For some reason, the Ernesto "No matter where you go, there you are" stinger almost made me cry this week...
The walk at the end of Buckaroo and the Wes Anderson movie also have Jeff Goldblum in common.
Old 80's joke....
Ya know what HBO stands for?
Hey Beastmasters On
Yes, Wes Anderson in the Life Aquatic commentary explicitly says that since he had Jeff Goldblum in the movie, he also wanted to do hommage the ending walk of Buckaroo Banzai
He also said he watches this show every friday!
Kyle Kallgren had a theory about this movie. It's essentially a franchise movie that started in the middle.
Does this mean we're going to see Revenge of the Sith on a future episode of Welcome to the Basement? That would be hilarious
I certainly considered it, but it is prohibitively long for our show.
I would love to see you guys tear proto-Vader a new one.
Buckaroo Banzai may be a little weird but I really loved it as a kid and it still holds FUN nostalgia for me today! I LOVED the end credits "walking" too! lol
I love this movie so much. It's everything I love about pulp film making and the weird references to stories that seem like they came from earlier sequels that don't exist are so weirdly charming to me. The way the film looks and moves, the performances, and just everything about it.
I remember someone once said about this movie imagine reading a comic book on issue 275 but you have never read the other 274. Basically we are dropped into the middle of this guys life a lot of stuff has already happened we're just supposed to go along for the ride which honestly is kind of cool not everything needs to be an origin story and it lets the viewer fill in a lot of blanks.
Yes, exactly. You're dropped into the middle of a universe you're expected to already know about... but you don't... so you just have to go with it.
Love any movie where they dont explain anything and you just have to go along for the ride.
Some analysis of this movie I've seen suggest it's an homage to old pulpy characters like Doc Savage and such, which would be individual stories but have their own internal continuity (like the stuff the Marvel movies are doing). Buckaroo Banzai is basically part 7 or 8 of a saga that doesn't exist. The Watermelon joke, the Blue Blaze Irregulars, the thing about Buckaroo's wife being dead, etc. are all references to previous stories that don't exist. Considering the popularity of the Marvel movies now, that weird joke that permeates the whole movie is actually kind of more relevant now than ever.
Exactly. It's like a satire of movies that didn't exist yet. Although of course Batman, Superman, Spiderman and other super hero movies existed, but they were written as stand-alones, in contrast to their intricate comic book sources. If there's a movie source, it would be serials like Buck Rogers, Green Hornet, etc.
That's a great interpretation actually. It makes perfect sense. I read a lot of that kind of stuff and those pulps do have that kind of continuity. It also explains why we don't really get to know anybody: the characters would have been introduced in previous adventures.
Doc Savage was cool, but was reimagined so much better as Doc Brass in Planetary. Comic series. Best I've ever read. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_(comics)
It's like if Marvel had only released _The Avengers_ without any of the movies that came before or after. And ending with an announcement for the next movie, which also doesn't exist is kind of perfect. It works great as a satire of the idea of an "extended universe," even if that wasn't the point.
I see you are also a fan of Kyle Kallgren.
ZX Spectrum (colloquially known as the Zed-X Spectrum) was an 8 bit Computer released by Sinclair in the UK
Indeed! I am old enough and English enough to have owned one.
And in North America as the Timex-Sinclair.
I had the Zed-X 81. I had lots of fun growing up with those clunky things before my dad brought home an IBM PC..
Intellivision --> Commodore 64 --> Amiga 500 --> PC
This one came out when I was a teenager and I thought I would love it... watched it once and never again. I'll probably need to watch it again... so much talent in it.
Believe it or not, Matt, but the plot of BB makes complete sense. It just takes multiple viewings to piece it together. I'm betting that if you did the Immersion Tank with it it would end up being one of your favorites. It's just a delight that it even got made.
And regarding the watermelon; the studio gave very little support to the production (and to the marketing, which is a big reason it bombed at the box office) to the point where they shot the watermelon scene just to see if anybody at the studio was even bothering to watch dailies. When nobody at the studio asked about it, they decided to put it in the film as a little FU.
Pretty much this. I heard someone once describe it as "It uses the same grown-up storytelling as FROM Software's games: It isn't interested in spooning-feeding you, so you have to be open-minded and have enough self-respect to get it". The conversation and deciphering is part of the experience, by design.
It’s hard for me to put into words - how much I love Matt and Craig
For some reason my college library had the script for this and, having read it, it made so much more sense.
Childhood classic.
Makes as much sense now as it did back then.
One of my favorite Lithgow roles.
Reminded of it daily, as I have an old school surge protector on the bottom rack of my desk.
I can turn my speakers, light and monitor on and off with my toes.
This movie was written by Norman Mailer!!! LMAO! "The duece you say?" ..."oh my soul?"!!!
Oh man oh god oh man
The one thing I don't like about Buckaroo Banzai is that they never reveal what the organism accidentally brought back from the Eighth Dimension is. They start to talk about it, then "the President calls" and it's never discussed again.
Piper at the Gates of Dawn, good shit Matt.
I didn't see Buck until a few years ago. Love it. It's a broken mess, so I totally get anyone who doesn't enjoy it, but some part of me grooves with what this movie was trying to do.
After trying to make the sequel for decades, Buckaroo Banzai was continued in comic book format.
Everyone knows that in the 80s, HBO stood for "Hey! Beastmaster is on"
And TBS is The Beastmaster Station
I first watched this when I was 17 and I had no problem following it at all.
They created this well developed world, drop you in the middle of it, and gives you credit for being smart enough to keep up.
It's humorous to me that it confused you. 😅
Not Perfect Timing, Matt. It's Perfect Tommy. Why? "Because you're perfect."
The sound editing and mixing in this movie is so terrible...throw me a bone!
BlameSociety Check out the Shout! Factory release. It's a great restoration with many extras but that said, maybe it's your monitors or your ear holes? 😋 I also have the version you have and didn't have any issues like what you describe
There was a guy I knew who was in a new wave band in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in the mid-80s...and he based his entire look on Perfect Tommy. :)
Finally! This movie is one of my favs and is a big part of why I love Clancy Brown (he makes Highlander so much better).
"Bigbootay! BIGBOO-TAY!!! TAY TAY!!!". BTW: I've got a sealed trio of Buckaroo Banzai Viewmaster reels so there was some merch!.
That peewee herman impression was nearly perfect lol.
I love how, throughout the whole movie, nobody once questions New Jersey's choice of cowboy costume.
I love the living crap out of Buckaroo Banzai. You just have to keep watching it. Around the fifth viewing you learn to love it.
I watched Buckaroo Banzai on a recommendation from a Greg Proops podcast several years ago.
I found it so utterly mindless & confusing till about half way through till I started to get it.
That night, I watched it three times, back to back, and each time I saw more and more of the fun and humour.
There's a lot of backstory that will never be explained, and you don't need it - just strap in and enjoy.
This is a mad, fun rollercoaster of confusion, where it's obvious that just everyone involved was having a whole load of fun, style, and enjoyment.
That's all it needs to be.
Great cast having fun, mad script, 80s fashion, cool guys vs mad baddies - it's a hoot.
I LOVE it.
I've even shown it at the bar where I work, and people get hooked, because it's so bizarre, so much fun, and so bafflingly intriguing.
And John Lithgow is playing his best ever role.
If I won the lottery, I would invest millions into making the "sequel" (only 30 years late) starring Keanu Reeves!
I really like your analogy about the Never Ending Story. It is sad, but not in an unhappy way?
That makes no fucking sense. I'm going to open a pack of Pokemon cards.
At the end of the 1968 movie _Candy,_ the title character walks through a park-like setting while every character you've seen in the entire film, including dead people, turn up in the background.
At the end of the 1971 movie (and you've done this one) _Valerie and Her Week of Wonders,_ the title character walks through a park-like setting while every character you've seen in the entire film, including dead people, turn up in the background.
At the end of _Buckaroo Banzai..._ ah, but you know where this is going.
The observation that others have made, that you should watch this as if it were the twelfth movie in a series you haven't seen any of, seems like the right idea.
Currently bed ridden with kidney stones. Scrolling through my subs and I see you guys do a video on my favorite 80's/Peter Weller/Goldblum cameo movie of all time.
Fingers crossed that they will finally make a World Crime League movie.
I have no less than 5 copies of the movie on DVD, two tshirts, a movie poster, a fridge magnet, several cosplay identification badges, quite a few pins, a copy of the Marvel comic book adaptation and the topper is a YoYodyne Propulsion Systems coffee mug. To this day the movie remains my favorite of all time. I might attend a Comic-con soon and get a pic with Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller). Buckaroo Banzai was my first real action hero even before they were called that. Peter Weller in an interview once said Buckaroo isn't a superhero and is made better by the people he surrounds himself with. Those hard rockin' Hong Kong Cavaliers, Buckaroos most trusted inner circle. Turning 60 this year reminds me that next year the movie celebrates its fortieth anniversary. I even have my eye on an Oscillation Overthruster.
Update: I actually now have a screen accurate Oscillation Overthruster
Some surprises coming from Craig. Hopefully he remedies those at some point and gets back with us.
The ZX Spectrum was the UK computer company, Sinclair's answer to the commodore 64. It was a favorite of Lectroids, everywhere.
There's was a wise cracking robot in the star wars cannon, before Rogue One - HK-47. Granted, he's only appeared in video games, but it's a great character.
With Brazil out of the World Cup the only thing that can console me is you guys watching Buckaroo Banzai... Thanks!
I second that, but with Sweden!
Buckaroo Banzai is a pulp narrative -- it's a section of a story -- He's supposed to be a modern analog of Doc Savage, which WD Richter loved -- and no one else in the 80s, sadly.
The story synopsis is: Buckaroo Banzai and the Banzai Institute is a scientific organization, and Banzai is the son of a famous inventor, murdered by the World Crime League when he was a kid -- has father was trying to break the Dimensional Barrier as well. (This is in the extended opening of the movie) -- Banzai dedicates himself to being the optimal human (a la Doc Savage) -- and then gets one-note characters to surround himself with (a la Doc Savage, only less racist).
The atomic overthruster is the MacGuffin. The aliens in the movie realize that the Lectroids are here on Earth, and if they get the Overthruster, they can continue their evil here in our dimension. (The 'sparks' in the movie are the way the aliens download info to people.) -- they tell the Blue Blaze Irregulars, a fan club/pseudo army of Banzai -- that if the Lectroids get the Overthruster, they will destroy the Earth.
That's the story.
Bigbouti is trying to get the Overthruster -
Team Banzai needs to stop him to save the Earth.
The rest is a lot of salad dressing on very little salad. :D
FINALLY!!!!! I'm claiming credit for this one...
The best explanation I ever got for this movie was “a modern comic book movie sequel with the actual comics long lost from history and memory”
I'm totally on Matt's side in terms of Solo. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I place a lot of the success on the shoulders of Donald Glover. He had to basically play two characters: He had to play Lando Calrissian, and he had to play Billy Dee Williams. He nailed them both, to a greater extent than Alden Ehrenreich.
Wise-cracking robot: A negative. The strange cameo at the end of the movie: Possible negative. But they picked the best possible premise for an origin story of Han Solo, and justified it.
Yes! Craig is wearing The Loft T shirt. Tucson AZ. I'm going there tomorrow night to watch The Warriors.
Kyle Kalgrenn of "brows held high" has a great video about this movie, and pretty much answers the question: "Why is there a watermelon there?" Highly recommended video, and really his whole series is a great watch.
I was so glad you made the "They Live" reference exactly as I was thinking it.
Thank you for the excellent show.
Now, please watch "Another Earth" for Sci-fi July.
You know how some movies are clearly two unfinished half projects cut together into one movie?
This is like five full movies stuffed into one 80's leather duffle bag.
Yes, finally. One of my favorite movies.
His name is Perfect Tommy, FYI - Love you guys.
I've been donating since I heard we could do that. I'm the 'Dan' who has been donating the longest (or second longest, I think.) :)
Here in 2022. Ever since I watched this movie on cable in the 80s it's been one of my weird favorites. Plus I've always used that line "Remember..no matter where you go...there you are" and I always get weird looks. Still not enough people have seen this movie and should. It's too weird & entertaining not to watch at least once. I even remember recording the ending song on cassette as part of a mix tape I wore out playing all the time as a kid. 👍❤️
I was just at The Loft here in Tucson last night. I saw RBG. It was great!
Just like Matt noticed the jumpcut in the movie, I noticed that you can still see the year 2012 in the Copyright 2018 Blame Society screen at 24:20!
I have one of those headbands andddddd annnnddddd an overthruster from the original mold from the film. I Love 88 ( that,s the Buckaroo symbol)
I have one of the headbands also plus an original Yoyodyne patch, metal Buckaroo Banzai pin and the very rare Videodisc not the Laserdisc.
Finally watched buckaroo bonzai and came back to say wow.
If this is the most incomprehensible film you've had on the show... you're a f#**king lightweight.
The Watermelon scene is a big deal. Look it up. Matt nailed it.
One of my favorite movies! Plus Seen It had so many references to stuff I love!
That woman singing on the street at the end of Something Wild was Queen Latifah
You're right, Matt. That is The Cop from Clue.
I absolutely loved Buckaroo Banzai. How can you not understand the movie? ask me, I'll explain it all to you.
The book is fun too. I was a Blue Blaze Irregular (fan club) for years. Still have my Buckaroo t-shirt, head bands, patches, etc
Remo Williams was a silly, fun movie too. It got me to read The Destroyer series of books that it was based on. Lot's of potential there for a tv series.
miami connection meets back to the future meets literally everything. thank you for the magic.
YES to Craig's Loft Cinema t-shirt!
They're playing "The Warriors" as their weekend cult classic this week and I am stoked!
Nick Roeding I'll be there sat night
I loved it when it came out, I tried to watch a few years ago and couldn’t do it!
I don't think the movie is unfathomable; it's meant to be part of a larger franchise that doesn't exist so thats why many characters don't have introductions (others are mentioned but not seen), barely mentioned backstories etc because we would of been familiar with them from the nonexistent past films. The viewing experience is meant to be like if you started watching Marvel Infinity War without ever having heard of any marvel characters for example.
Would you mind retroactively deleting all mention of Clue in previous videos, lie to us about having seen it, and watch it on the show, please?
Thaaaaanks..
Hells yeah to the Loft shirt!
My youngest (9yrs) just watched this for the first time last weekend. He is still cracking up about it. He said, " I think they made that movie ridiculous intentionally, they knew it was bad when they were making it. And that's just the way they wanted it. Why else would they have that watermelon in the vice clamp in that lab."
Late comment, but watching Matt excitedly describe Beastmaster was a highlight of this! Great video.
thanks for letting me cameo in this episode
I saw this movie at about 2:00 in the afternoon at an empty punk bar in Seattle, but the bartender was blaring early 90s ska over the speakers and the movie itself had no subtitles. This viewing was only slightly less confusing. Great work guys, hope you had a good 4th!
_Bootay!_
Matt says the word "bloggers" like it's a racial slur.
.... I'm ok with this.
OMG this is my favorite movie, I can't believe doing this one. Also am I the only one that saw this 70s rip off of James Bond, movies called matchless this spy has a ring that makes him invisible. Craig have you seen it?
I think W.D. Richter was going for a Thomas Pynchon vibe here. There's a clear reference in the movie when the Lectroids use a defense contractor called "Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems". In the Pynchon novels V. and The Crying of Lot 49 there's also a defense contractor called "Yoyodyne". It also explains a lot about the movie's pop art style, the convoluted plot, and the bizarre character names. In any case, once I started to think of it as a Thomas Pynchon sci-fi movie, the movie's made a lot more sense to me. Well, sort of.
Nice job noticing that. It's been a few years since I've read Lot 49. I would have caught it if they used the Tristero Postal Service.
Crain MUST watch The Neverending Story and tell us what he thinks of it.
It's a great a movie, and it makes total sense.
Hey guys just wanted to say love the channel keep up all the good content
This cast is multitudinous.
I'M SONFUCKIN EXCITED THIS IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE
This is a movie that's only ever been a title to me. Looking forward to it!
TAoBBAtED is so hip, it has difficulty seeing over its pelvis. It's also so goofy, it could get a job at Disneyland.
This is one of those movies that needs to be viewed multiple times and absolutely deserves a quality remake or pretreatment. Sadly because of the gordian knot of who owns partial rights to TAOBBITED it will never happen.
I recommend Kyle Kallgrens video on Buckaroo Banzai, it's a great watch.
Officially speaking, Rawhide does not die, hence his appearance at the end, not saying it makes sense, just saying it is apparently so.
I have to agree with Matt's, assessment. This movie is totally incompressible and yet pretty entertaining. Silly as Hell.
Great episode, you fine folks!!! Also I don't think Matt was ever so enthusiast about a movie as he is with BEASTMASTER, MAAAANNN!
Have you seen "Freeway"? Great Role by Reese Witherspoon, Great Brave job by Keifer Sutherland and another Great death by Woodbine. Plus Danny Elfman Score. I think it's Truly Great and twisted.
Jim Ignatowski jokes? Respect! ✊😎
Thank you for talking about Something Wild. That movie is brilliant.
We used to have a copy of the script for this movie at the bookstore I work at. I kind of wish I had read it before I tried to watch this movie myself.
Dennis Miller once said that HBO stands for "Hey, Beastmaster's On."
Why in the fuck have I never seen this, it's perfect.
So is this episode by the by.
It's kind of awesome that Mike is always the same character his whole career, check out his cameo in Airplane for a good example.
edit: holy shit there are so many cameos in this
Hoping you guys can settle a small argument... In this episode's Seen It, there is a picture just over Matt's left shoulder that I say is Mr. Larson (the guy with the nail in his head) from Happy Gilmore. My fiance says no, that's not him in the picture. Who is right??? Always enjoy your shows and your commentary. Witty and insightful, we have discovered a lot of "new" movies through WTTB. Thank you so much!
I don't know who Mr. Larson is, but I believe the guy you're referring to is makeup artist Tom Savini.
Perfect Timing? It's Perfect Tommy!
You are correct, but the name is lost in the cast's uncontrollable urge to mumble.
I agree, Solo was the best of the Disney SW movies.
Loved it then love it now. Still eagerly waiting for the sequal....
The ZX Spectrum (pronounced Zed X cause it's British) is a microcomputer that was around at the same time as the C64 and was just as popular, but just in Europe.
Solo was just so paint by numbers. It needed something to set it apart...Maybe some bold direction would have helped, but they went with solid journeyman Ron Howard who is a fine director who makes fine movies... Solo was fine
The Loft Cinema!!! Yeah!!! 🤟🤟🤟
I liked Solo. Not as much as episode 7, 8 and Rogue One, but it was better than I was anticipating. I didn't mind the wise-cracking robot so much, either. Slightly annoying perhaps, but I appreciated the aspect it introduced of inciting a droid uprising against their masters; the ethical treatment of artificial intelligence is a far too little discussed element of the Star Wars universe that I've always found fascinating.
Now you have to do a Welcome to the basement with Beastmaster so Craig can finally see it!