Revisiting the Eighth Dimension: The World of Buckaroo Banzai by Theresa Gauthier

    Most Januarys find me looking back, getting nostalgic, and this year is no exception. This year, my thoughts have turned towards a film/book release from the summer of 1984. If you’ve never heard of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, I’m thrilled to bring it to your attention.

In the summer of 1984, I discovered the book soon after seeing the trailer for the movie. I admit I read the book first. I often did that then. I couldn’t buy a book and not read it as soon as I got it home. If you’re interested, and you should be, the film is streaming. The book is still available after a long time of being out of print.

The premise of the book is that the infamous Orson Welles War of the Worlds 1938 radio broadcast wasn’t a hoax or a misunderstanding, but was instead an actual alien invasion. The invaders, however, weren’t from Mars, but from Planet 10, a planet accessible through the eighth dimension.

When the film opens, Buckaroo Banzai—scientist, neurosurgeon, rock star—is performing brain surgery, after which he has to test drive a prototype jet car, and then he and his band are performing live at a place called Artie’s Artery. As things unfold, he meets the doppelgänger of his dead wife, consults with the United States government, and persuades a medical colleague to join the band.

The film is a cult classic, and I’ve never understood why it didn’t enjoy a wider popularity. With Peter Weller, John Ligthgow, Christopher Lloyd, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, and Clancy Brown—the cast is an ‘80s fan’s delight.

The film is fun and full of lines that make you laugh out loud even as they hint at the intricate, detailed world of Buckaroo Banzai. As richly imagined as Harry Potter’s Wizarding World, it’s clear that this world we’re seeing is only the smallest portion of the whole. Banzai and his Cavaliers are geniuses, scientists who work and live together at the Banzai Institute where they delve deep into whatever scientific endeavor intrigues them. They have a fanbase called the Blue Blaze Irregulars, who along with being in a fan club, are also called upon to help Buckaroo and his team if he needs them.

 Remember, this film was released before anyone had ever thought of the internet, so it took decades for me to learn that the reason one of the characters says “why is there a watermelon there” and another character says “I’ll tell you later” was put into the film as a test to see if the studio was still watching the dailies. (They weren’t.)

The book’s tone is unique. It’s written from the point of view of Reno Nevada, one of the Cavaliers and a historian, or at least a chronicler for the group. Reno keeps record of what happens when soon after their appearance at Artie’s Artery, Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers discover the truth about the Orson Welles radio broadcast and have to unveil the deception—these aliens have been living in New Jersey since 1938. Reno Nevada’s writing style is something like a present-day (okay a 1980s) John Watson for anyone who has read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Reno is sharing this story and he adds to it as he does. Bits of history—of the Cavaliers, on Buckaroo Banzai, of Banzai’s family—he takes the narrative on brief, informative tangents filled with such imagination and such comic book-like events that you can’t help but think of it a little bit like the 1960s television version of Batman starring Adam West with tongue firmly in cheek. 

The reader learns a lot about this world in the course of reading the book, but there’s always the feeling that there’s so much more. Reno, the narrator and teller of the tale, mentions other adventures by name as though they’re comic book titles or movie prequels. References to members of their entourage, other Hong Kong Cavaliers or scientists who study at the institute who are not “in” the Across the Eighth Dimension but are, during the course of the book, somewhere else neck deep in some other life-and-death situation.

I adored this book. I adored the film too, but the book captivated me. I’ve reread it again and again to the point where I worry my original copy might fall apart. 

The film ends with the words Watch for the Next Adventure of Buckaroo Banzai. Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League. Alas, sequel was never to be. I waited, I hoped, I gave up. I lamented over and over with each new rumor (There’s going to be a sequel. There’s going to be a TV series. The SciFi Channel is interested. Etc.) and I wished that any of these had come to pass.

I was overjoyed when I discovered the long wait was over. A new novel—Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League et al A Compendium of Evils by Earl Mac Raouch was released in November of 2021. I will be reading and reviewing it, but it may take some time. It’s my intention to savor it. 

If you haven’t read the original book or seen the original movie, now’s the time. Who knows? Maybe that TV series or movie sequel is going to happen soon. You’ll want to know all about it when it starts.