The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) Depends On its Opening Crawl

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Star Wars didn’t exactly invent the opening crawl. George Lucas will tell you that this technique was inspired by old film serials like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, where each subsequent installment would begin with a scrolling recap of previous events. It was a necessary tool for audiences who weren’t able to watch their favorite programs anytime they wanted to (or as often as they wanted to).

But Star Wars did revolutionize the technique in a way. Because its opening crawl is useful for a different reason. Rather than recapping a previous work, the text provides narrative context for a brand new film, one that wasn’t (directly) based on any existing property. Lucas simply didn’t want to waste any time with backstory before getting to the good stuff.

Many films, especially sci-fi/fantasy adventures trying to capitalize on Star Wars’ success, would go on to borrow this technique. But no opening crawl goes as hard as the one before The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. It goes hard for a good reason too.

The foremost purpose of this opening crawl is to let us know that Buckaroo Banzai is cool as hell. And it starts getting that job done right out of the gate: “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.” We already knew from the title that he had the most unique name on the planet, but now we know he’s a product of nominative determinism! Also, 1984 was an interesting time to present a hero claiming both the U.S. and Japan.¹

But there’s more. Lots more: “A brilliant neurosurgeon, this restless young man grew quickly dissatisfied with a life devoted solely to medicine.” So he’s brilliant, but he’s also adventurous. Buckaroo Banzai is more Indiana Jones than Luke Skywalker. Already he’s been given not just the character traits of genetics and intelligence but motivation, aspiration, a thirst for a quest. And we want to go on the quest with him.

He won’t be alone on this quest though: “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.” This sentence does the most heavy lifting of the entire crawl. We understand that Buckaroo’s quest has already begun. He’s been traveling and acquiring a very particular set of skills. He’s a neurosurgeon and a physicist. And a master (or at least a journeyman) of martial arts. And he has a crew of “hard-rocking scientists” with him? In what ways do they rock? And how hard do they rock? We must know.²

But before we can learn more about the rocking, we get dropped in medias res into the plot: “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…” Not only have we established that his name is so cool it demands to be said fully, he’s been given a dang jet car. One that’s capable of a “bold assault on the dimension barrier,” whatever that means.³ And he’s been given “the greatest challenge of his turbulent life.” Because we already know how rad his life has been up until now, we have to know what challenge awaits him in the film.

As if that weren’t enough, the crawl ends on an ominous note (and even more ellipses): “...while high above Earth, an alien spacecraft keeps a nervous watch on Team Banzai’s every move…” Aliens have been added to the mix, and the deal has been sealed. Who could say no to this adventure across the 8th dimension?

More than 40 years later, this opening crawl isn’t just still effective. It’s a reminder that we simply don’t make movies the way we used to.

If it were made today, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension wouldn’t be a 103-minute film. There’s simply too much plot going on. The studio would either add another hour of world building and character beats or they’d pull it out of theaters altogether and make it a TV series. It would go from “the adventures of” to “the origins of” because they wouldn’t trust us to use our imagination (or be satisfied by 40 seconds of scrolling text).

The film may suffer a bit from a rushed story and underdeveloped characters, but that’s also the charm of it. It’s an adventure, not a character study. And the thing is…we don’t even need the opening crawl. Not really. Within the first 30 minutes or so, we see Buckaroo being a surgeon, a physician, a thrill seeker, a political asset, a rock ‘n roll frontman. We’d learn everything but the origin of his name pretty much. And even a little mystery around that wouldn’t have hurt.

It may be unnecessary, but it sets the tone. We’ve signed up for an adventure, and right away the film lets us know that we’re cutting to the chase. Team Banzai is ready if we are. What more could you ask for as a child in the 80s?⁴

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is now streaming on Amazon Prime and Pluto TV, and it is available to rent elsewhere.

1. Is this film a commentary on the geopolitical ramifications of Japan’s emergence as an economic powerhouse? Maybe? Probably not? At the very least, that’s an essay for another newsletter.

2. Turns out they rock extremely hard. Not only are The Hong Kong Cavaliers a rock ‘n roll band (that carries guns onstage, apparently), they have their own comic book, they have their own video game, they even get calls from the President. All on top of being scientists. Being smart can be cool, kids!

3. If you’ve ever assaulted the dimension barrier, please sound off in the comments.

4. You could ask for a sequel, which never happened even though the title—Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League—was revealed in the end credits. Too bad this film bombed at the box office. I really want to know what the World Crime League is (and who came up with that name).