This 1984 Cult Sci-fi Movie Should Have Started a Franchise (Or At Least Given Us a Jeff Goldblum Spinoff)
While one 1984 cult sci-fi movie should have started an entire franchise and given supporting star Jeff Goldblum his first major star vehicle with its spinoff, the movie instead faded from relevance after its disastrous box office failure. If Disney’s dark fantasy flop The Black Cauldron proves anything, it is that a lot of great movies fail to find their audiences upon their initial release. For every flop that is as critically reviled as it is financially calamitous, there are plenty of misunderstood movies that should have been big financial hits.
A look back on the cult sci-fi flops that should have started franchises reveals that everything from director Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko follow-up Southland Tales to the dystopian action thriller Dredd deserved better than their ignominious fates at the box office. However, 1984’s The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is a uniquely good example of this. Directed by Big Trouble in Little China co-writer W.D. Richter and scripted by writer Earl Mac Rauch, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai focused on the eponymous surgeon/ nuclear physicist/ superstar rock musician, played by Peter Weller.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension Deserved A Franchise
For a world-famous rockstar and sex symbol, as well as an unstoppable genius and bona fide action hero, Weller’s Dr. Buckaroo Banzai was an almost comically understated, deadpan screen presence. The central gag of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai sees Weller’s placid main character under react to the rest of the movie’s bizarre characters, from John Lithgow’s nefarious, deranged villain Dr. Emilio Lizardo, to Ellen Barkin’s campy love interest Penny Priddy, to Jeff Goldblum’s bandmate/sidekick New Jersey, to Christopher Lloyd’s evil alien John Bigbooté.
The plot follows Buckaroo and his bandmates attempting to stop aliens known as Red Lectroids from Planet 10 from crossing into their dimension and taking over the world with Lizardo’s help, but these specifics were hardly important. To the uninitiated, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai is a more confusing sci-fi adventure than Inception and, unlike Christopher Nolan’s iconic 2010 blockbuster, the movie doesn’t make any more sense to viewers who carefully rewatch it.
Intended to be a playful, self-aware riff on the classic sci-fi serials of the ‘50s, but with colourful, maximalist flair that couldn’t be more ‘80s, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai confounded a lot of critics and reviewers upon release. It was tough to tell how much the movie was a parody and how much it was intended to be played straight, with some critics appreciating its ironic detachment while others accused The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai of being too hip for its own good.
Why The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Never Received A Sequel
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai never received a sequel since the movie earned a mere $6 million at the box office, less than half of its $17 million production budget. However, a lot of notable critics called the movie a misunderstood must-watch, and its home video success saw The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai gradually gain a reputation as a cult classic. Like many great underrated sci-fi movies, the series lived on in print with the release of creator Mac Rauch’s 2021 sequel novel, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League, et al: A Compendium of Evils.
