The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (1984)

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

In director W. D. Richter's PG-rated, pulp sci-fi adventure comedy, it told the story of learned scientist and multi-talented Dr. Buckaroo Banzai and his crime-fighting team (a rock band known as the Hong Kong Cavaliers) and their efforts to save the world from threatening and hostile aliens (Red Lectroids) from the inter-dimensional Planet 10, who arrived in 1938. [Note: Orson Welles' famous 1938 radio drama adaptation of an alien invasion "The War of the Worlds" was reinterpreted as real.] Their power-hungry plans to steal an inter-dimensional device on Earth (and use it to cause trouble back on Planet 10) could possibly destroy the world by triggering World War III by their opponents the Black Lectroids.

This was director Richter's debut film as a director, although he was better known for his screenplays, for Peeper (1975), Nickelodeon (1976), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Dracula (1979), Brubaker (1980), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), and Home for the Holidays (1995).

American novelist Earl Mac Rauch created the imaginative, wacky, overly-ambitious and complex screenplay for the sci-fi, B-movie parody about the title character. Buckaroo was multi-talented as a test pilot, rock musician, stunt man, adventurer, physicist, kung-fu master, and brain neuro-surgeon; the tale was a basic good vs. evil plot pitting Buckaroo Banzai (and his Team Banzai and rock band The Hong Kong Cavaliers in addition to aid from Japanese Professor Dr. Hikita who had invented an Oscillation Overthruster), against opposing "space monster" forces.

A Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde character -- the violent, tyrannical and villainous Red Lectroid alien Lord John Whorfin was reactivated, and possessed the mind of lunatic asylum patient and crazed scientist Dr. Emilio Lizardo in order to do his bidding. Whorfin/Lizardo escaped from the institution to steal the Professor's invention to use it to traverse through solid matter back into the 8th dimension. The banished Whorfin's ultimate objective, with help from an evil front group of Red Lectroid aliens on Earth working in a company known as Yoyodyne Systems, was threefold:

(1) to repossess the perfected Overthruster
(2) to return to his inter-dimensional home planet
(3) to free his imprisoned alien followers (exiled in the 8th dimension).

However, this would also foment plans of his opponents, the Black Lectroids, to create a proxy war (to fire on the Soviets) that might bring about a nuclear apocalypse on planet Earth. The film's tagline explained a stripped-down narrative - picturing it as a Buck-Rogers, Star Wars, or Indiana Jones comic-bookish sci-fi adventure story:

"Beings from Another Dimension have invaded your world. You can't see them...but they can see you. Your only hope is Buckaroo Banzai."

The difficult-to-market, stream-of-consciousness film, originally shot in CinemaScope, failed to meet expectations with mainstream, non-geeky audiences. From its budget of about 17ドル million, it grossed only 6ドル.25 million. It faced stiff competition from other mid-1984 franchise films, including three films that ended up in the top 10 for the year: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) , Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) , and the wildly-popular Ghostbusters (1984) . In comparison, Buckaroo Banzai ranked # 107th.

If the Sherwood Studios film (distributed by 20th Century Fox) had been successful, there were plans in the making for a sequel titled "Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime League," but when it was a box-office flop (and bankrupted the studio), further efforts were cancelled.

Although neglected in theaters, Buckaroo Banzai experienced a comeback as a major cult favorite (with many quotable lines of dialogue) after its release to cable-TV and home video (VHS, Beta, and DVD). There were also two failed attempts in 1998 and 2016 to adapt the film into a TV series, although in 1985, a video-game was released based upon the movie. There were two novelizations of the story (the original story and its sequel), published in 1984 and in 2021.

• after the title credits, a scrolling prologue introduced the title character, whose parents provided a mixed heritage - and his destiny to go "in several directions at once":
  • "Buckaroo Banzai, born to an American mother and a Japanese father, thus began life as he was destined to live it, going in several directions at once. A brilliant neurosurgeon, this restless young man grew quickly dissatisfied with a life devoted solely to medicine. He roamed the planet studying martial arts and particle physics, collecting around him a most eccentric group of friends, those hard-rocking scientists, The Hong Kong Cavaliers. And now, with his astounding jet car ready for a bold assault on the dimension barrier, Buckaroo Banzai faces the greatest challenge of his turbulent life... while high above Earth an alien spacecraft keeps a nervous watch on Team Banzai's every move..."
• in the desert near Bullhead City, AZ (Mohave County), preparations were being made by crew members of TEAM BANZAI for Dr. Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller) to attempt to break the sound barrier in his Jetcar (a black, modified Ford pick-up truck); the control center for the launch was in a flat-roofed, concrete blockhouse, filled with monitor screens and consoles, and technicians; a few members of Buckaroo's band (known as the Hong Kong Cavaliers) sat by to watch: Perfect Tommy (Lewis Smith) and Reno Nevada (Pepe Serna); one of the more prominent scientists was Buckaroo's mentor and his late father's colleague, Dr. Tohichi Hikita (Robert Ito), who had helped to perfect the Jetcar's "overthruster"

• however, it was announced by General Catburd (William Traylor) to the Secretary of Defense (Matt Clark) how Buckaroo would be arriving late, due to his performance of complex neurosurgery in a hospital; in a cutaway, Buckaroo was in the operating room with his medical school friend New Jersey (Jeff Goldblum) (aka Dr. Sidney Zweibel); in the nearby observer's gallery of the surgical room, "Rawhide" (Clancy Brown) was dictating into a tape recorder
• Buckaroo was finally reported to be arriving by helicopter at the launch pad where his Jetcar was parked and the countdown had already begun; he entered his vehicle, wearing a black hood and carrying a battered leather briefcase; in the control center, Senator Cunningham (Mariclare Costello) boasted that the Jetcar would reach 500 miles/hour; inside the cockpit of the Jetcar, Buckaroo removed a shiny device known as an "Oscillation Overthruster" and placed it in a gimbled mount to activate it; Buckaroo placed a Japanese headband (with incoherent script lettering that possibly meant: "The Joy of Living") over his black hood, and then donned his goggles, helmet and visor
• the Jetcar was launched with flames erupting from its rear jet engine as it accelerated down its straight-away track-course; suddenly, at the end of the desert run, the Jetcar swerved to the left (a "broken trajectory") and went off-course toward the direction of distant low-lying mountains; as alarms sounded, crew members panicked as it appeared Buckaroo was entering "Phase Two" - he broke the sound barrier at Mach speed 1.3; Perfect Tommy calmly urged: "Just be cool. She'll hold"; as Buckaroo approached the mountains, he was ordered to eject, but ignored the command; he passed through the mountain's solid matter ("wall of rock") and traveled inter-dimensionally (into the 8th Dimension) without harm, due to the "CROSSOVER" capability of the Overthruster; he emerged from the other side of the rocky terrain as a blue beam burst through to mark his exit, with smoke in the cockpit; however, he had safely "gone through the mountain" and slowed down his vehicle with a parachute
• after bailing out through the Jetcar's window, Buckaroo inspected his vehicle; he found a transparent slimy and gooey substance on the windshield, and then removed an alien, trans-dimensional lifeform from under the car on the driveshaft

• Buckaroo's "trusted inner circle" (his band members The Hong Kong Cavaliers) and Professor Hikita were being interviewed by a TV Anchorwoman (Francine Lembi) about the successful test run experiment (involving breaking into other dimensions) with an "Oscillation Overthruster"; the TV news report was being intently watched in the Trenton Home for the Criminally Insane by deranged scientist Dr. Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow), who in his junk-filled room swore at his TV: "Hikita! Dat little Asian traitor!"

• the crazed Dr. Lizardo rummaged through his stuff, located a device in a bag, and strapped it to his forearm, while attaching two wires from the device clamped to his right earlobe and tongue; after switching on the device, lightning bolts surrounded his head
• the TV announcer's voice-over was also visualized in a major flashback in the film's sub-plot - Dr. Lizardo had been a research partner in 1938 with Dr. Hikita while conducting earlier, similar prototype 'Oscillation Overthruster' tests in Princeton, NJ; they had constructed a sled-like vehicle (built with spare parts) on a track in a primitive, low-tech lab room; the test was a massive failure when Lizardo prematurely activated the device's lever before Dr. Hikita was ready; the sled and Lizardo penetrated halfway into the wall, and he became stuck between dimensions; on his scope's view, Dr. Hikita glimpsed alien humanoid creatures struggling with Lizardo; he was freed by two lab assistants, but then went insane (he had been possessed by one of the aliens), violently smashed the assistants' heads together, and fled from the lab
• in the insane asylum (where he had been encarcerated for almost 50 years), Dr. Lizardo was envious that Buckaroo and Hikita had successfully entered the 8th dimension with an advanced "Overthruster"; he was scribbling equations on a wall as the Hospital Guard (Jonathan Banks) entered to deliver a box of junk food to him; when asked whether he was Dr. Albert Einstein that day or not, Dr. Lizardo answered that he was an alien entity or creature named Lord John Whorfin; the Guard confiscated the "old homicidal loony's" TV for using too much electricity, as Lizardo mentioned how it didn't matter, because he was "going home" the next day with the "Overthruster"

• after his momentous experiment, Buckaroo and his team members (also comprising the Hong Kong Cavaliers, a rock band) were late for their gig in New Brunswick, NJ at Artie's Artery, a nightclub managed by the flashy-dressed Artie Duncan (Leonard Gaines); playing lead guitar and a cornet, Buckaroo suddently froze and abruptly stopped the music after noticing a sad female drinking a pint of Vat 69 scotch whiskey and crying alone at one of the tables; with smeared makeup, and wearing a short pink dress and blue gloves, she identified herself as Penny Priddy (Ellen Barkin); she sobbed as she explained her melancholy situation: "I'm down to my last nickel in this lousy town. And they wouldn't even take my luggage in hock. And I lost my room at the Y this morning"; Buckaroo spoke to the annoyed and agitated crowd:
  • "We don't have to be mean. 'Cause, remember, no matter where you go, there you are."
• Buckaroo took to a piano to sing her a solo: "Since I Don't Have You" (Lyrics: "I don't have plans or schemes And I don't have hopes and dreams, I don't have anything since I don't have you..."); as he sang the song, she took a small automatic pistol from her handbag and suicidally pointed it at her head; unfortunately, her behavior was mistaken for an assassination attempt on Banzai when a passing waiter bumped her arm, and the gun went off (pointed harmlessly at the ceiling); bouncers appeared and struggled to subdue Penny and drag her off, as Buckaroo was shielded and taken off-stage
• the next day at the Trenton (NJ) Insane Asylum, Dr. Lizardo (dressed in a military uniform with medals) with a large suitcase walked down the institution's hallway, telling the Guard at the desk that he was leaving for "Planet 10" and needed to place a phone call to Mr. John Bigbooté (Christopher Lloyd) at Yoyodyne Propulsions Systems in Grover's Mill; when the Guard refused to comply, Lizardo grabbed him and broke his neck; on the phone, Lizardo (possessed by the mind of Lord John Whorfin) told Bigbooté that he was plotting to steal the perfected "overthruster" from Buckaroo and Dr. Hikita, to access the 8th Dimension:
  • "The time has come, Bigbooté. Prepare for my return! Well, haven't you heard? Don't you watch TV? Banzai and Hikita have done it! They have opened the window!...So meet me at the factory. And get their overthruster! And Hikita, too!"

• on the rock band's double-decker, black and yellow tour bus, band members Perfect Tommy and Reno Nevada spoke about the striking resemblance between Penny Priddy and Buckaroo's late first wife Peggy Priddy; Penny was pictured in a newspaper article with the caption: "Mystery lady opens fire - Buckaroo unhurt"

• Kung fu master Buckaroo was kneeling on the floor in front of a small shrine with a samurai sword when "Rawhide" (Clancy Brown) entered to report how Dr. Hikita's old Italian research-partner Emilio Lizardo (a "raving lunatic" and a "vicious psychopath") had murdered a Guard during his escape from the Trenton asylum, before he stole a Maserati Bora and totaled it a block away, and then vanished into thin air
• on the bus' monitoring electronic equipment, two Radar Blazes (Robert Gray and Gary Bisig), head-set wearing members of Buckaroo's Team Banzai, reported seeing a strange, high-altitude, radioactive cloud-like mass moving down over Connecticut in southern New England; the sighting was confirmed by scientists at the Strategic Space Command
• the bus pulled into the New Brunswick, NJ police department-jail, where Penny Priddy had been taken for questioning; after briefly speaking to New Jersey (wearing a large white cowboy hat and John-Wayne cowboy duds) who had been invited to join the group, Buckaroo entered the police station to speak to Penny in her cell; after learning that she was born in Cody, WY and was then adopted, he realized she was his late wife Peggy's long-lost identical twin sister who had been separated at birth; he provided bail and ordered her released to join the group
• a hotel press conference, led by the Secretary of Defense (Matt Clark) and Senator Cunningham, was convened for Buckaroo Banzai (and his team) to discuss his Jetcar experience, the Overthruster, and the specimen of alien/trans-dimensional life that had adhered to the bottom of his Jetcar while traversing the 8th dimension
• the participants in the conference were unaware that they were being eavesdropped upon by a Black Lectroid Command Ship in orbit, led by a Wing-Commander (Jessie Lawrence Ferguson)
  • [Note: the Black Lectroids, visualized as black dread-locked Rastafarians, were a group of alien revolutionaries that existed within the 8th Dimension (on Planet 10); they had overthrown and imprisoned a rival, malevolent group of Red Lectroids led by the evil and totalitarian dictator Lord John Whorfin; Whorfin lost the civil war against the Black Lectroids of Planet 10 and was banished to the 8th dimension as punishment; now, Whorfin was attempting to stage a comeback, with the help of Earth's Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems and the "possessed" Dr. Lizardo; his objective was to return to his home planet and retake it, free his Red Lectroid followers, and pursue galactic domination. Red Lectroids were visualized as white humans with red heads.]
• Buckaroo's speech began with a tribute to his parents (Drs. Sandra and Masado Banzai) who 30 years earlier had believed in the "possibility of contacting alien life"; Banzai proposed that it was also possible that alien life co-existed "on a simultaneous plane of existence with our own...perhaps within a mountain"; he explained how solid rock wasn't really solid but was mostly "empty space"; Banzai recalled how Dr. Hikita and Dr. Emilio Lizardo had experimented in the late 1930s with a way to "travel inside things" with a device known as an "oscillation overthruster" - that "reorders matter by annihilating electrons, positrons..."; then, he revealed his unusual discovery of the large living alien organism he had pulled from the Jetcar's driveshaft
• Buckaroo was interrupted and called to a pay-phone booth in the hallway where a call from the President of the US had been patched in; during the call, it was first thought it was a prankster, and then he received a painful electric shock in his ear after the Wing-Commander of the alien ship pressed a button; the "phony" phone call was actually providing Buckaroo with a helpful "electro-chemical message" (later explained to be a transferable "formula" or antidote) that allowed him to clearly identify enemy aliens; a thermopod was launched from the Black Lectroid spacecraft toward Earth

• Buckaroo directed his team back into the Conference Room; due to the electric shock, he was now able to see through human disguises; he pointed out two alien members seated in the audience: John Gomez (Dan Hedaya) and John O'Connor (Vincent Schiavelli), recognizing them as Red Lectroid aliens: "Evil, pure and simple, from the 8th Dimension! Get 'em!"; as the two ran off and were pursued, John Bigbooté ran on stage from behind a curtain with an Uzi, and menacingly grabbed Buckaroo's mentor and design partner Dr. Hikita by the neck; Penny wisely grabbed the Overthruster and hid it behind her back; Bigbooté shot and wounded Reno as he was dragging the kidnapped scientist off the stage; Hikita was taken away in a white Yoyodyne van, with John Bigbooté driving; Dr. Lizardo's three alien Red Lectroid lieutenants, all named John, fled from the scene; Buckaroo pursued after them on a stolen Harley-Davidson motorcycle
• meanwhile out in some NJ swamp, two inept duck hunters Bubba (James Keane) and Burt (Kenneth Magee) with shotguns and an Irish setter dog, who were about to quit for the day, saw the Black Lectroid's huge UFO thermopod in the sky and shot it down
• in the van, driver Bigbooté stated their intentions after 'shanghai-ing' Hikita: "We'll get Professor Hikita to cough up the crucial missing circuit, and then we'll finally get our butts off this rock!"; monitoring a radio, Gomez picked up the emergency beacon signal from the downed Black Lectroid's thermopod; the three aliens worried and wondered to themselves what it was doing there
• as the aliens turned the van around, they came face to face with Buckaroo on the cycle, and happened to clip the back end of his bike, sending the bike and Buckaroo careening off into the woods; at the site of the beacon signal, Burt poked at the object up in a tree with a stick, causing a flash of light and sparks; the huge pod was dislodged and the giant spherical object began rolling toward them; when it stopped moving, a small hatch opened on its top and a dread-locked Black Lectroid (later identified as John Balook) wearing a plaid suit and tie poked his head out; however, he lost his balance, toppled onto the ground, and was knocked dead when his head struck a rock; as they inspected the body and noticed the latest comic book issue of Buckaroo Banzai next to him, they didn't realize that behind them, another Black Lectroid named John Parker (Carl Lumbly) had emerged from the top of the pod, and and then ran off with a pink cake box
• Buckaroo revived from the crash, and radioed "Rawhide" on a walkie-talkie; "Rawhide" replied to him from the communications center of their tour bus where he was monitoring the situation with other team members; Buckaroo instructed him to investigate the suspicious Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems company; "Rawhide" put out an alert to any available Buckaroo Team Banzai members (Blue Blaze Irregulars) in the immediate area who could assist
• back in the swamp in N. New Jersey, the three disguised aliens in the van pulled up to the two hunters and an alerted Highway Patrolman (John David Ashton) where the Black Lectroid corpse had been covered with a plastic tarp; John Bigbooté identified himself as Head of Operations of Yoyodyne, and claimed he was there to recover their "birds," but the hunters had doubts about the spherical object with 30-foot leather wings that was possibly a radioactive creature; Buckaroo pulled up on the cycle and stealthily looked in the back of the Yoyodyne van where he found and released the kidnapped Dr. Hikita inside a large wooden crate; Buckaroo transferred the "formula" (or "electro-chemical message" given to him by the Black Lectroids) to Dr. Hikita, by touching the palm of his hand to Hikita's forehead
• outside the van, the Highway Patrolman was becoming suspicious about the three Yoyodyne males; he angrily ordered them to not touch or try to crack open the large thermopod ("I got my own help on the way"); inside, an injured Black Lectroid John Gant (Kevin Sullivan) while in communications with his Wing-Commander reacted to John Gomez' efforts to break into the pod

• young Scooter Lindley (Damon Hines) and his father Casper Lindley (Bill Henderson), manager of a gas station in the northern part of the Garden State, received the radio alert about Buckaroo facing 'trouble" from Team Banzai, and volunteered to help; then, the entire Banzai team (including Penny) of Cavaliers arrived at Buckaroo Banzai's house (also the Banzai Institute), where they were greeted at the door by Mrs. Eunice Johnson (Laura Harrington) wearing a black and white "GEAR-UP" sweatshirt; at first, she thought Penny was "Peggy," and cautioned that the upstairs bunkhouse (where the males retreated) was off-limits to her
• in the swamp, two of the aliens in the van knocked out the two hunters and the Highway Patrolman, as Buckaroo in the dark snuck up on the third alien John O'Connor and kicked him in the groin; as Buckaroo fled from the Red Lectroids, the thermopod blew up behind him (killing John Gant); he continued running when a truck driven by a 4th Red Lectroid targeted him on the road; just in time, Buckaroo reached above him for a rope ladder dangling off a helicopter; he was rescued by the two Blue Blaze Irregulars (Scooter and Casper Lindley) and carried away to safety
• Dr. Hikita arrived riding on Buckaroo's stolen motorcycle at Buckaroo's gated Banzai Institute, and reported on the presence of "space monsters"; in the bunkhouse, the Cavaliers (specifically Billy Travers (Michael Santoro), Perfect Tommy, and "Rawhide") successfully hacked into the Yoyodyne Datanet computer system; the 2nd Black Lectroid (John Parker, carrying the pink cake box and wearing a silvery jacket) arrived outside the gate where he handed civilian Blue Blaze Irregular and gate-keeper Pinky Carruthers (Billy Vera) the pink box

• Travers discovered the Yoyodyne personnel database for the company's Grover's Mill, NJ facility, with the names of 46 employees; all of them - named John - had applied for Social Security cards from the same place and on the same date (11-01-38); New Jersey recalled that coincidentally, Orson Welles' "fake radio-news broadcast" of "The War of the Worlds" (about an invasion of Martians) at the same time in 1938 purportedly described the Lectroids' arrival in Grover's Mill, New Jersey - he hypothesized: "Maybe it wasn't a hoax"
• outside, the three Yoyodyne/Red Lectroid aliens were followed by John Parker, who had watched them jump over the Banzai Institute's high wall; however, as Parker pursued them inside the grounds, he was knocked unconscious from behind by two Blue Blaze Irregulars; the three aliens entered Banzai's garage, incapacitated the Jetcar mechanic named Sam (Tommy J. Huff), and broke into the vehicle; Buckaroo arrived via helicopter (with his rescuers the Lindleys); he was informed by his team members that the aliens they were combating were Lectroids from Planet 10, who "blasted through the 8th dimension in 1938, over in Grover's Mill"; allegedly, the aliens had hypnotized Orson Welles to cover up their alien invasion by claiming it was just a hoax; the leader of the Lectroids was Dr. Lizardo: ("There's someone living inside him!")
• in the bunkhouse, Buckaroo's entire team donned special Lectroid bubble-wrap goggles, and activated a Black Lectroid message device (delivered earlier to Pinky at the outer gate by John Parker - the device was in the pink box); Parker's device enabled a hologram message to be delivered in a blue column of light from John Emdall (Rosalind Cash), the stern female leader of the peaceful Black Lectroids on Planet 10
• Emdall explained how the evil and "bloodthirsty" Lord Whorfin (after a "bloody reign of terror") was overthrown by "freedom-loving" adversaries, was then tried, condemned, and with several hundred of his followers was ordered "to spend eternity in the formless void of the 8th dimension"; she warned that Whorfin (who had taken over Dr. Lizardo's mind) was planning to steal Buckaroo's improved "oscillation overthruster" in order to free his followers; Emdall warned that if Whorfin carried through with his plan, and Buckaroo didn't stop him before sunset, the Black Lectroids would have no other choice but to attack Russia from their orbiting ship: (to "fire a particle beam weapon from your airspace to Smolensk, in the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics"); a "first-strike" of that kind would be interpreted as hostile by the Kremlin, and could trigger WWIII (the "vaporization") of the entire planet via nuclear warfare
• Buckaroo ordered his team's next move - to proceed to Yoyodyne Systems, while Dr. Hikita continued to work on synthesizing the "formula" they had received; he also suggested prepping the Jetcar for city driving and calling on the Kolodny Brothers (Sam Minsky and Robert Hummer) plus one of the Rug Suckers (Gerald Peterson) to assist; the Cavaliers planned to track the Red Lectroids back to Yoyodyne
• before leaving, however, as Buckaroo searched for his guns in his bathroom, the confused Penny wondered why she had been released from jail into his care: "What do you want from me, Buckaroo? Who am I?"; he answered matter-of-factly: "Near as I can figure, you had an identical twin sister, and I married her, but that's over now, and she's gone, and that's about all there is for me to say about that"; as they were about to kiss during a romantic moment, they were interrupted by news from "Perfect Tommy" that Sam had been found dead in the garage and that the aliens had broken into the Jetcar
• in Dr. Hikita's laboratory, his Assistant was attacked by John Bigbooté searching for the Overthruster; he was thrown to the floor, spit at, and lethally killed by a gooey starfish-like mechanical device attached to his neck; Dr. Hikita was able to grab the Overthruster device and escape down a purification vent; "Rawhide" joined in the pursuit after Bigbooté and was also spit at; soon after, Buckaroo came to "Rawhide's" aid
• in another area of the lab where they were searching, New Jersey and Reno Nevada spotted a watermelon clamped down in a mechanical vice; New Jersey asked: "Why is there a watermelon there?", to which Reno replied: "I'll tell ya later" [Note: It was in reference to an inside joke perpetrated by the Production Staff to see if the studio was still meddling with their finished product. When there was no reaction to the 'watermelon' scene by the executives, they realized that they could proceed without any further interference.]
• once Penny went searching for Buckaroo in the lab area, she encountered the frantic Dr. Hikita, who hurriedly passed her the Overthruster under a chain-link fence for safe-keeping in her purse; shortly later, Dr. Hikita was saved by Buckaroo, but Penny was captured by Red Lectroid alien John O'Connor - although he was unaware that she possessed the Overthruster; "Rawhide" was found to be crippled by another starfish-like clamp in his back, and even though it was removed and stomped on by friendly alien John Parker, "Rawhide" passed away in Buckaroo's arms as Parker explained that there was "no antidote" to save him; at the same time, the kidnapped Penny was being whisked away in the Lindleys' stolen helicopter
• in the next sequence, in a hospital room in Washington, DC, President Widmark (Ronald Lacey) was suspended in a Stryker bed frame (a rotating medical apparatus after back surgery), while listening to his worried Secretary of Defense about the troublesome Team Banzai; the President's National Security Advisor Smirnoff (Yakov Smirnoff) wheeled in a video-phone with an incoming transmission via World Watch One

• via the phone, Buckaroo (and John Parker) reported to the President on a dangerous and "explosive" situation in outer space, that was putting Earth into a "crossfire": "There are vicious red aliens walking freely among us, posing as the owners and operators of Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems"; it was revealed that Yoyodyne had a lucrative government contract to construct a Truncheon bomber for the US Air Force; Buckaroo described how the rival alien groups from Planet 10, the Black and Red Lectroids, were poised to combat each other; John Parker added that his planetary spacecraft was positioned to strike above Yoyodyne in New Jersey, to prevent Lord John Whorfin's/Lizardo's escape; it was all very confusing to the President: ("What are you saying, man? Some kind of race war in New Jersey?...I don't know what to say. Lectroids? Planet Ten? Nuclear? Extortion? A girl named John?")
• shortly later, Buckaroo was called on the video-phone by Dr. Whorfin/Dr. Lizardo at Yoyodyne with some of his Red Lectroid followers; Penny was tied up, gagged and being tortured (and threatened with honey and ants), but defiantly hadn't told them the whereabouts of the Overthruster; Dr. Lizardo was demanding the device and its "crucial missing circuit"; he ordered Penny to be taken to the cellar's dark and watery Pit
• on his tour bus in the communications center, Buckaroo instructed his team to wear yellow plastic vests with hoses and mouthpieces, in order to see the aliens as they really were; with two strike groups (Apache and Chapparal), they had only four hours to save Penny in Yoyodyne, retrieve the Overthruster (to prevent Whorfin from returning to Planet 10), and to eliminate or "eighty-six Whorfin"
• before their plan went into effect, however, worldwide satellite communications were jammed, and the Soviets were reported going into "Defense Condition Two"; Mrs. Johnson played John Emdall's frightening recorded message for the President; General Catburd handed the President an "Emergency Action Document" and a 'short-form' Declaration of War
• Buckaroo departed first in the Jetcar, and pulled up at the Yoyodyne entry gate where he was admitted for entry; inside the plant where lazy Red Lectroid workers were eating junk food and watching TV, Mussolini-like, frizzy-haired Dr. Lizardo (with medals on his coat, and speaking with a heavy Italian accent) preached the destruction of the Black Lectroids; he exorted everyone to work on their "Great Vehicle" that would enter a rift in the 8th Dimension, free their still-trapped comrades back on Planet 10, and then seize power
• after Buckaroo pulled into building, his Jetcar was searched for the Overthruster before Buckaroo was punched in the stomach by John Bigbooté; the uncooperative Buckaroo was subjected to the Shock Tower to both electrocute him, to interrogate him about the "missing circuit," and to show him Penny via a TV monitor being tortured in the Pit
• meanwhile, reinforcements in the tour-bus (in the form of Buckaroo's Cavaliers, John Parker, the Secretary of State, the Blue Blaze Irregulars, the Rug Suckers, and the Kolodny Brothers) entered the outer Yoyodyne gates, passing a number of signs: "THE FUTURE BEGINS TOMORROW," "...A GROWING EXCITED COMPANY," "TOP SECRET FACILITY," and "HOME OF THE TRY-WING FIGHTER"; the entry point was guarded by two clueless aliens: John Yaya (James Rosin) and John Smallberries (Bob Papenbrook); after driving in, the team jumped out of the bus with assault weapons to infiltrate the building and defeat the Red Lectroids
• when Dr. Lizardo realized Yoyodyne was being invaded ("What's happening?") and Red Lectroids were being shot dead by "monkeyboys" (alien slang for humans), he ordered: "Bigbooty! Go down to the Pit. Kill the Girl!"; as Lizardo fled with his own imperfect Overthruster, Buckaroo freed himself from the Shock Tower and met up with New Jersey; the two shot and killed numerous Red aliens on their way to reach Penny - who was about to be infected by a slimy, alien slug-like creature placed by John O'Connor on a sloped track directed toward her head; although unconscious and wounded, Penny was saved by Buckaroo and New Jersey; just before her rescue, the Secretary of State had spotted Penny's purse and removed Dr. Hikita's perfected Overthruster
• meanwhile, Dr. Lizardo/Lord Whorfin had fled to an area of the plant where a giant spaceship or "GREAT VEHICLE" (in the form of a "Try-Wing Fighter") had been constructed; his plan was to escape, board the spacecraft (installed with his own flawed Overthruster "without the crucial missing circuit"), and transport himself and other Red Lectroids into the 8th Dimension, to return to their home planet and stage an overthrow against John Emdall and the Black Lectroids; before the launch of the bomber, Buckaroo and John Parker snuck on board and inserted themselves into one of the craft's inferior thermopods; pre-flight instructions (typical of airplane flights) were announced by Lizardo from the cockpit (e.g., "Fasten your-a seat belts, and esstinguish all smoking material"); just before their departure, the exasperated Lizardo/Whorfin shot and killed the aggravating John Bigbooté

• the massive USAF aircraft (the Red Lectroid spaceship) took off after being dragged down a long track - it flew up into the atmosphere after penetrating and smashing through the target grid-markings at the exit point printed on the Yoyodyne factory wall
• although Dr. Lizardo/Lord Whorfin ejected the thermopod with his two enemies on-board (calling it "excess baggage" and bidding them goodbye: "Arrividerci, Banzai!!"), Buckaroo (seated in a backwards-facing chair) took to the controls, and then used its weapon system (with a handgrip and trigger, producing a pulsing beam of red light) to destroy the departing spacecraft; as he eliminated Whorfin, Buckaroo shouted: "Whorfin... Sayonara," with the Lord's reply: "BANZAIII!! I'LL SEE YOU IN-A HELL!!"
• the spacecraft and Lord Whorfin's dastardly plan were destroyed, along with his alien followers; Buckaroo parachuted out of the pod to return to Earth, waving to John Parker as he continued his journey into orbit to Planet 10
• a worldwide catastrophe and global warfare was averted, but Buckaroo was heartbroken when told that Penny had died from her injuries; on the tour-bus, as he attempted to give her a goodbye kiss, an electrical flash and spark between their lips revived her; the eavesdropping John Emdall, the leader of the Black Lectroids, facilitated the kiss to have a defibrillator effect - and non-chalantly commented: "So what. Big deal" - the film's final line of dialogue

• the ending promoted a sequel film that was never made: "Buckaroo Banzai Against The World Crime League"
• during the closing credits, Team Banzai walked along in the dry LA Aqueduct, in step to the film's theme music