# buckaroo bonzai **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295 "2003-05-06T00:00:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![captainQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@captainQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/captainQwark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/1 "2003-05-06T00:00:30Z")
could someone explain the appeal of Buckaroo Bonzai? I’ve seen it twice and I wasn’t impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/2 "2003-05-06T00:26:05Z")
It helps if you have a dry, warped sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/3 "2003-05-06T00:32:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by captainQwark \* > \*\*could someone explain the appeal of Buckaroo Bonzai? I’ve seen it twice and I wasn’t impressed. \*\* No-no-no. Banzai. [This link](http://www.banzai-institute.com/) will add to your knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/4 "2003-05-06T02:56:41Z")
Character is what you are in the dark. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/5 "2003-05-06T02:57:52Z")
Or possibly _who._ I’m more of a **Barbarella** afficionado myself. ---
**Author:** ![li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/6 "2003-05-06T03:10:40Z")
Great movie. Terribly edited. I’m still waiting for _Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League_. Although I have seen _Big Trouble in Little China_, so maybe that’s close enough. ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@Keith\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith_Berry)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/7 "2003-05-06T05:39:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by li’l Dickie Dirtz \* > \*\*Great movie. Terribly edited. > > I’m still waiting for _Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League_. Although I have seen _Big Trouble in Little China_, so maybe that’s close enough. \*\* There was a pretty good fan-written script for _World Crime League_ available on the net awhile back…whoever wrote it did their research; they used material from the novelization of the first movie, and even included a cameo by Jack Burton and his Porkchop Express…it was removed from online due to legal threats from the copyright holders, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/8 "2003-05-06T06:27:56Z")
“Not my damn planet, Monkey Boy!” pretty much explains its appeal to me. The ST:TNG people behind the scenes were big fans, too. All sorts of little in jokes cue you in to this. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/9 "2003-05-06T07:18:00Z")
I once saw a guy in a Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems t-shirt. Oooo, I was jealous. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/10 "2003-05-06T07:31:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*The ST:TNG people behind the scenes were big fans, too. All sorts of little in jokes cue you in to this. \*\* Didn’t the plaque on the bridge say “Wherever you go, there you are”? ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/11 "2003-05-06T10:50:22Z")
My mom hated it, because she said it didn’t make any sense. I loved it because it makes PERFECT sense, but the plot is so complicated and moves so fast that you have to understand every single line, and it took me several viewings before I figured out what was going on. And also because of all those great lines, thrown off as if they were nothing. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/12 "2003-05-06T12:42:17Z")
It was a pretty good movie but not deserving the “classic” label IMO. I saw it once right after it came out and that’s enough. Haj ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/13 "2003-05-06T12:52:14Z")
It’s an attempt consciously make a cult film, which means it’s too cute for its own good. It’s just mediocre with a little bit of watered weirdness (and I get weirder things for free in my breakfast cereal). ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/14 "2003-05-06T13:27:49Z")
I know this sounds like a cop-out, but if someone has to explain BB to you you’re probably not going to get it. It’s been my experience that BB is not and can’t be an acquired taste. One either hates, loves or is indifferent to it upon first viewing and one’s opinion of it doesn’t change upon repeated exposure. Me, I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/15 "2003-05-06T14:35:02Z")
I’ve seen it several times because it’s a favorite of my bother’s. It works too hard at being a quirky cult movie. It falls flat much of the time as a result. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/16 "2003-05-06T15:12:42Z")
I heard that the reason it seems so badly edited is that initially it was scripted and filmed as a comedy, then they tried to change it over to a straight sci-fi action adventure by cutting out all the punch lines. No cite or anything, but I read it on the internet, so it must be true! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/17 "2003-05-06T16:03:52Z")
Ditto what **Otto** said. Either you like it or you don’t. If you do like it, repeated viewings just make it better (you catch more of the throw away lines and strange details), if you don’t like it repeated viewings will make it seem more and more strained and stupid (and dated). I think the reason that it was so badly edited is that it was fairly low budget and seemed to have lost its support from the studio. I remember a year or so before it was released (yes, I’m dating myself) there was a large ad campaign complete with trailers in theaters and Peter Weller on the talk show circuit. Then nothing. I thought I had imagined the whole thing. Then when it was released over a year later it wasn’t plugged at all. Perhaps it didn’t go over well with pre-view audiences, who knows. (three guesses as to whether or not I’m a fan) ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/18 "2003-05-06T16:49:27Z")
I remember a convention panel just after the movie was released which featured some of the people involved with the movie. They had some comments on the lack of support the movie had. (It was at an Atlanta Fantasy Fair if anyone cares.) Apparently the studio in question had several movies they were releasing that summer. The studio (at the time) thought that BB would be their big release but they had a strange way of marketing it. They planned to hold it back and release their weaker movies first. According to them, theatres would sign agreements to show movies for a certain number of weeks and, if a movie turned out to not be successful, the theatre would negotiate with the studio for a “replacement” movie to fill out the length of the agreement. For whatever reason, they were planning on using _Buckaroo Banzai_ as the replacement movie. Apparently they thought that the movie was weird enough that theatres wouldn’t sign up to show it and by doing it this way they would get wider distribution than they would have otherwise. Well, what happened is that one of their “weaker” movies became a surprise hit. (I _think_ it was _Weird Science_ but don’t quote me on it.) At any rate, two things happened. The theatres didn’t request a replacement movie (so they never got BB offered to them) and the marketing/advertising money they had planned for BB got reallocated to their surprise hit. _Buckaroo Banzai_ itself wound up getting pushed to later in the summer as theatres extended their runs of the other movies. That was the story as they told it. At the time they still had some hope that the sequel would get made but obviously that never happened. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/19 "2003-05-06T17:06:00Z")
Thanks for the insight **tan** , that actually clears up why the marketing and release of the movie seemed so odd to me. And it reassures me that my memory of the events isn’t completely warped (which is always a possibility). ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295/20 "2003-05-06T17:28:01Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Johnny Angel_ > > I once saw a guy in a Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems t-shirt. Oooo, I was jealous. A friend of mine has a roll of those _Hello, My Name Is_ stickers, only these have the Yoyodyne logo on them, and printed on the large blank white area is the name JOHN. So the whole roll goes: _Hello, My Name Is_ **JOHN** _Hello, My Name Is_ **JOHN** _Hello, My Name Is_ **JOHN** It just gets funnier the further you go down. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckaroo-bonzai/173295.md?page=2)