Buckaroo Banzai!

[Chris in OC]

I picked up the Buckaroo Banzai DVD today (a local store puts out titles early) and it's very, very cool. I haven't watched the whole thing yet, but it's very clean, and a real treat to see in WS. One nice feature is that you can see the extended version as a whole. The only problem I found so far was a brief freeze during the credits in the extended version that's probably a not-quite-seamless branch to the theatrical version. It doesn't occur in the theatrical version.

The nicest thing about this DVD -- and many others, actually -- is that we used to have to pay a lot for laserdiscs to get transfers and features like these, and this one comes with a list price of only $19.95.

Nice job, MGM!

[SeanL]

You bum! I've been hoping it would show up early here, but no such luck. Guess I'll have to wait....

[Chris in OC]

Some updates:

The extended version is the theatrical version with the prologue added. The other extra scenes are all lifted from a work print and are only presented separately. In the featurette, W.D. Richter explains why he left them out.

BTW, if you want to hear the commentary from the start, you have to watch the theatrical version.

[Wirehed]

I'm excited about this title! I can finally get rid of my old VHS copy!

[Lo Pan]

I too had been waiting a long, long time for this one.

I nearly cried when I found it the day before Christmas.

Would I seem a lost cause to society if I admitted to having run this disc twelve times since then?


------------------------
"Hey, hey, hey...don't be mean. We don't need to be mean."

[Wirehed]

Originally posted by Lo Pan

Would I seem a lost cause to society if I admitted to having run this disc twelve times since then?

yes. But we can appreciate that here.

OK. It's official- The Best DVD Release for 2002 is The Adventures of Buckaroo Banai!

I don't care of Spielberg and Lucas personally come to my apartment to hand me a copy of Radiers of the Lost Ark (Complete with Tom Selleck screen test as an extra), its not going to compare to this disc!

This sumnabitch is loaded!!!!! (You all know the details by now, as did I when I bought it.)

Across the 8th Dimension was my favorite movie in high school. It was the movie I went to on my very first date. It was the first video I rented when my family got our first VCR. I watched it perhaps 8 times that weekend. It was the movie I immersed myself in unreservedly. At a time in my life when high school guidance councillors are telling you that you have to everything in your life planned out for the next 40 years and I was having trouble deciding what to have for lunch, I was thrilled to find a movie where the hero basically embodied the idea that you could do many different things with your life- be a rock star and a scientist. I contributed to the fan club's newsletters and a shortstory in the fanzine "The Penny Paradox #2" was my first published fiction.

The disc looks fantastic and many of the suppliments expound on the notion of Buckaroo as a celebrity in the Banzai-verse. There's more information about the treacherous Hanoi Xan and his Cat's Paw Lo Pep. There's the cut footage from the workprint that has been floating around.

(There's two eggs that I've found- One which explains the watermellon (If you have to ask, see the movie) and another which shows a couple of alternate DVD cover designs, which were infinitely better than the one they used.)

Hopefully strong sales from the DVD (and rerelease of the novelization) will convince those who hold the ftes of such thing in their hands to give us more glimpses into the excitment and strangeness that is the life of Buckaroo Banzai,

Blue Blaze Irregular- Rich "Special Delivery" Drees

[SeanL]

Originally posted by frulad
I don't care of Spielberg and Lucas personally come to my apartment to hand me a copy of Radiers of the Lost Ark (Complete with Tom Selleck screen test as an extra), its not going to compare to this disc!

While I'm certain that this disc is filled to the brim with extras, I would have to disagree with you on getting my hands on a copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark. God I want that movie!

[Chris in OC]

Originally posted by frulad
...and many of the suppliments expound on the notion of Buckaroo as a celebrity in the Banzai-verse.

The deuce, you say.

I actually didn't care for this concept. It was kind of cute when Richter called the film a "docudrama" in the featurette, but in the commentary, it got old very quickly. I would also rather that Rauch spoke as himself rather than the "real Reno." I'd really like to hear the genesis and evolution of the story from the writer's perspective.

Just another point of view. Beyond this, I agree that BB is a great DVD release.

[tomdkat]

I went to my local Fry's Electronics (Fremont, CA) to pick it up today and it was NOT on the shelf!!! I saw 2 tons of Fast & The Furious, but NO Banzai....

So, I just made the purchase online....

Peace.....

[Chris in OC]

Tomdkat, the official release date is 1/4/02. I'm guessing that the studios pushed some releases back to Friday (both 1/4/02 and 12/28/01) because of the holidays. My luck is living near a local shop that often puts new titles out early.

Also, BB is not a hot, splashy title that just came off the big screen, so it's unlikely you'll see a big push in the mainstream stores. I'm sure that Fry's, Best Buy, etc., will have it, but I'll bet that they don't buy too many copies at first.

[Wirehed]

Originally posted by Chris in OC
Tomdkat, the official release date is 1/4/02. I'm guessing that the studios pushed some releases back to Friday (both 1/4/02 and 12/28/01) because of the holidays. My luck is living near a local shop that often puts new titles out early.

Also, BB is not a hot, splashy title that just came off the big screen, so it's unlikely you'll see a big push in the mainstream stores. I'm sure that Fry's, Best Buy, etc., will have it, but I'll bet that they don't buy too many copies at first.

I bought my copy at Best Buy yesterday. (Sacramento, CA)

[tomdkat]

Originally posted by Chris in OC
Tomdkat, the official release date is 1/4/02. I'm guessing that the studios pushed some releases back to Friday (both 1/4/02 and 12/28/01) because of the holidays. My luck is living near a local shop that often puts new titles out early.

Also, BB is not a hot, splashy title that just came off the big screen, so it's unlikely you'll see a big push in the mainstream stores. I'm sure that Fry's, Best Buy, etc., will have it, but I'll bet that they don't buy too many copies at first.

Thanks.... What threw me off was DVD Empire shipped a copy last Friday and they don't usually ship really early for pre-ordered titles.

I bought it for $13.67 so I'm happy....

Peace.....

[drlizardo73]

Rumor has it that you can pick up the DVD @ sam's club for $12...A bargain at twice the price.

"Wherever you go, there you are."