• The film represents D.W. Griffith’s directorial debut.

The setup is one that Griffith would use many times with variousmodifications, contrasting a conventional American family with a personor persons of whom Griffith disapproved, and bringing them intoconflict. In this case, it is a pair of gypsy vagabonds who areresponsible for pulling a young girl out of her seemingly idyllicfamily situation and placing her in a series of perils. Much of thetime, the story looks forced or contrived. Yet only a few years later,Griffith would tell very similar stories in such a way that you couldhardly help being moved to whatever emotions he wanted you to feel.

Although Griffith is often given too much credit for inventing newtechniques, he certainly deserves credit for taking many of therudimentary techniques of the era and systematically figuring out howto use them to maximum effect. A few years later, he would have added acouple of very brief moments at the beginning to maximize audiencesympathy for Dollie, he would have provided a more believablemotivation for the vagabonds’ actions, and he would have found a way tomake the audience feel a stronger sense of danger during Dollie’s tripdown the river.

Even here, though, his story-telling skills are evident. The print inone of Kino’s excellent historical collections is missing all of theinter-titles, and yet there is never a moment when the action is notperfectly clear.

Dollie’s ‘adventures’ are actually rather frightening, when you thinkabout them for a while. But Griffith soon learned how to save hisaudiences this effort, by devising a wealth of resourceful ways to makesure that viewers did not miss the points he wanted to make.

2) Though listed as "lost" in Iris Barry’s 1940 biography of D.W. Griffith,"The Adventures of Dollie" was discovered in the Library of Congress’paperprint division in the 50s and transferred back to flexible film. Havingseen it on 8mm, I can attest that it is a rather ordinary one-reelerconsisting of thirteen scenes shot from twelve set-ups with nothing todistinguish it from other Biograph product of the era than that it isknownto have been the first film directed by D.W. Griffith. I’m rathersurprisedby the high rating the imdb voters have given it, as Griffith wouldachievemuch higher standards even within 1908, and would go on in short measuretoblow films like "Dollie" totally out of the water, both technically and interms of story development. For him it was merely a start, for us it’samazing this historic treasure survives to be seen at all.

3) The year of 1908 was certainly an important one for a 34 year oldplaywright named D.W. Griffith, because that was the year he decided totry his luck in films with an adaptation of "Tosca" that he wrotespecially for the new movie industry. However, success didn't camequick for the young writer, as literally nobody saw any potential inhis work; the only one who saw any kind of potential in him was filmpioneer Edwin S. Porter, but his eyes weren't in Griffith's writingskills, but on his acting, and send the young man with director J.Searle Dawly to make some shorts. While disappointed, Griffith keptacting to pay the bills, until later that year, he was finally hiredfor something other than as an actor: American Mutoscope & Biograph waslooking for young directors and D.W. Griffith took the job. 1908'sshort film, "The Adventures of Dollie", was the humble debut of adirector that would be known as a legend.

In "The Adventures of Dollie", a family of three goes out for a nicetrip along the riverside during a sunny summer's day. A gypsy (CharlesInslee) walks by them, and attempts to sell his baskets to the family.The Mother (Linda Arvidson) doesn't want to buy anything from him, andattempts to move on, but this angers the gypsy, who begins to attackthe mother and her daughter Dollie (Gladys Egan) until the Father(Arthur V. Johnson) appears and drives the gypsy off. Even moreangered, the gypsy decides to kidnap Dollie and hide her inside of abarrel to be able to escape unnoticed. When her parents notice she'sbeen kidnapped, they organize a rescue party, but it's too late: thegypsies have escaped and the barrel where Dollie is hidden is on theirwagon. However, this is only the beginning, as the barrel falls fromthe wagon and falls into the river. Dollie's real adventure is justabout to begin.

Written by Stanner E.V. Taylor (his first real work as a scriptwriter),"The Adventures of Dollie" is a very simple tale of action andadventure on a style that was made very popular in that year after therelease of J. Searle Dawly's "Rescued from an Eagle's Nest" (the moviewhere Griffith debuted as an actor), in fact, the plot of both filmsare so similar that it's clear that this movie was made to cash onDawly's success (both films are about kidnapped childs). Still, whatmade this movie a bit different was that this time the focus was on thekidnapped kid instead of the rescuers, as we follow Dollie (or bettersaid, the barrel that contains her) through the film. Some have labeledthe movie as racist towards the Romani people (gypsies), but I findsuch comments out of place as the story simply reflects the ideas ofits time, as gypsies weren't seen on a good light because of theirnomadic lifestyle.

In this his modest debut as a director, there are already some earlytouches of Griffith's genius through the movie. While an amateurfollowing the conventions he has learned from his work as an actor (aswell as from codirector and future collaborator G.W. Bitzer), Griffithalready begins to show his ideas about storytelling in film and hiscreative use of editing to create emotions on the audience. Theeffective use he gives to Arthur Marvin's cinematography helps to keepthe film dynamic, away from the theatrical style that was common inthose years. True, the film is pretty typical and follows an alreadystablished ideas about film narrative, but credit must to Griffith formaking such an accomplished film with almost zero experience behind thecamera.

One of Griffith's most famous traits can also be seeing in this movie,and that is his great skill to get natural performances from hisactors. As written above, the movie moves away from the stagy style offilm-making of the time, and Griffith takes this ideal to his cast too,as he decides to get a more realistic approach in their performances.Arthur V. Johnson and Linda Arvidson (Griffith's wife) are good intheir performances, although Johnson tends to overact a bit(understandable as he had little experience on film). Gladys Egan, whoplays little Dollie is also very good, although her role isconsiderably simpler. As the gypsies, Charles Inslee and Madeline Westare OK, although like Johnson, they tend to overact a little bit,although that would be natural, since they are playing the commonstereotypes of gypsy people.

"The Adventures of Dollie" is not exactly a movie that one would expectfrom legendary director D.W. Griffith, but then again, most debuts tendto be mere shadows of the future ahead. Later that very same yearGriffith would start making some serious experimentation on this verysame plot line, and would create some really innovative films in a veryshort time. Movies like "The Red Man and the Child", "For a Wife'sHonor" and "The Lonely Villa" would introduce new and highly inventiveways of storytelling that would further develop film-making as an art.While many of the techniques he used weren't exactly new, he combinedthem and put them together in a way that later would be considered asthe definitive narrative language of cinema. While there are manybetter Griffith shorts (even from the same year), this movie is a mustsee if only because it represents the humble start of a master'scareer. 6/10

4) Adventures of Dollie, The (1908)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

The first (of 400+) film directed D.W. Griffith is about a pair ofgypsies who kidnap a three-year-old girl. When the girl's parents comelooking for her the gypsies hide her in a barrel, which theyaccidentally drop in the river. Griffith's skill is certainly in fulldisplay here as his use of editing is right on the mark as he buildssuspense of the girl going down the river. A wicked sense of humor isalso on display here.

Those Awful Hats (1909)

*** (out of 4)

D.W. Griffith comedy about a movie crowd getting angry because thewomen's large hats are blocking the screen. This is shorter than mostof the shorts from this period but it's a very funny little gem.

5) The revered D. W. Griffith's first directorial effort is something of adull affair, giving little indication of the man's talent behind thecamera. The story is of a small girl, snatched from her loving parentsby gypsies then stuffed into a barrel to evade discovery before fallingoverboard into a river as the dastardly gypsied make their getaway. Theacting is of the 'exaggerated gesture' school,with hands flung into theair and bosoms clutched, and most scenes last too long which means theexcitement that might have been generated in audience of a century agofails to materialise today. Griffith's (and perhaps the era's) racistleanings – which would reach their height eight years later in Birth ofa Nation – are clear in his depiction of the gypsies.

This one is of historical interest only.

6) The first known film directed by D.W. Griffith; it's just so-so. ArthurV. Johnson and Linda Arvidson like to take their little girl Dollie(Gladys Egan) out for afternoon walks and such. One day, vagrantCharles Inslee tries to sell Ms. Arvidson a basket. When she shines thetramp on, he gets belligerent; then, Mr. Johnson beats him up. Seekingrevenge, Mr. Inslee kidnaps the little girl.

The "exciting climax" is when the barrel tumbles down a waterfall andalong a river. It's not all that exciting; the falls should have beennearer to the end of the rolling on the river… By "Way Down East"(1920), Mr. Griffith had the waterfalling excitement correctlypresented. "The Adventures of Dollie" is more silly than adventurous.

** The Adventures of Dollie (1908) D.W. Griffith ~ Arthur V. Johnson,Linda Arvidson, Charles Inslee

7) This is NOT the first anti-Gypsy film I saw by D. W. Griffith. It seemsthat in addition to hating Blacks, Griffith wasn't very partial toGypsies and portrayed them as lying thieves in his films. In one case,it involved a lying fortune-teller that was trying to climb inside MaryPickford's dress in WHAT THE DAISY SAID, and in this case, it involvesevil Gypsies trying to kidnap our kids!!! Wow.

The story begins with a Gypsy attacking some people. Why? I dunno. Butafter getting a thrashing, he steals a family's kid and stuffs her intoa barrel. So far, the movie is bad. But, once she's in the barrel, themovie gets pretty funny–but I doubt if that was necessarily theintention. Either way, it's a short and interesting historical curio.

As with anyone starting off in the film business, their first work isusually their worst. Griffith is no exception. He would have to wait until1915 when his most significant work was produced at the age of 40.Although’The Adventures of Dollie’ is not enjoyable, it is significant because itisthe first film he directed.

• In his appearance as the priest, Stan Lee ends Cinderella’s wedding with his famous catchphrase “Excelsior”.

• Revealing mistakes: You can see the same extras in the flashback scenes of Cinderella’s wedding which were supposed to be 20 years ago. Then you see them in the current scenes.

This movie pilot debuted before "Galaxy Quest" but is the same premise.A distant planet is in trouble. A young scientist picks up TV videosignals from Earth and sees stage-managed heroic exploits of CaptainZoom on a children’s TV show. He believes the heroics to be real. Theyoung scientist snags the egotistical actor with some kind of spacetransport tractor beam, and beams the actor who was playing CaptainZoom to the besieged planet to aid its inhabitants.

This movie is light-hearted and features some good performances by thesexy and funny Gia Carides as Vesper, Dan Riordan in the title role,Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura of Star Trek fame)as Sagan and Ron Perlmanas Lord Vox aka "The Bad Guy."

I’m sorry MCA didn’t put more money into promoting this film. It had anunpolished gem on its hands. But perhaps, with thinking like that, it’sthe reason MCA is now owned by Universal, and not the other way around.

2) One of my favorite movies! Such great typecasting using Ron Perlman toplay an egotistical, sexist male whose cowardly essence get’s testedwhen thrown amidst warring factions. His avoidance to battle, hisdenial of being the "Chosen One" is all but erased when prophecy liftsit’s ugly head in the form of his likeness scrawled upon a cave wall.Using wit and as much courage as could be mustered he stands up againstthe "Evil forces" and defeats them. I am looking forward to getting acopy on either VHS or DVD. When will it be released? Anyone rating thismovie poorly has little or no sense of humor and should stay withwatching war documentaries!!!! An over all fun experience!!!!!! thatkept me laughing throughout!!

3) A fifties sci-fi TV series star suddenly finds himself in space, with peoplewho believe he’s a real hero. That’s about as much plot as you need toapply to "Captain Zoom." It pays homage to the old serials and movies, withthe characters buzzing around in spaceships with tail fins and red taillights, and Ron Perlman doing a take off on "Ming the Merciless." Gearedfor the kids, but adults can enjoy it too, just check your brain in at thedoor.

4) The second I heard the plot to the movie GALAXY QUEST, this TV moviejumpedinto my mind. It uses the same premise: A hero from a cheesy sciencefiction TV show is recruited by the inhabitants of a distant planet whenthey see the episodes and think that the good Captain is an actual spacehero. The "Captain", however, proves to be all TOO human as he uses hiscelebrity to have sex with some of the beautiful babes on the planet.However, taking into consideration how long it supposedly takes for a TVsignal to go from Earth to the far reaches of the universe, these alienspicked up the signal rather quickly. Maybe they’re even more advancedthanimagined.For the most part, CAPTAIN ZOOM is moderately funny. I could see howit would work as a movie but not as the subsequent (and short-lived) TVseries that it spawned.

5) this appeared as a very amusing movie to me. there were a lot of jokes init, but they didn’t really came thru.. it was just funny to see how mostjokes failed, how ugly the costumes were and how bad the acting was. areally campy, failed sci-fi movie.. but maybe that was all on purpose?.. ienjoyed it, and if you’re into b-movies and parody’s i bet you willtoo.

6) Captain Zoom is a delightful farce. The writing and acting are exactlywhat the story line needs and sets up the comedy nicely. The cast isstereotypical but strong, especially the boy genius. The specialeffects are enough to further the story. After reading other comments,I think the whole point is the absurdity of the situation – that ajourneyman actor would be thrown into such a save-the-world scenario.The dialog and presentation are perfect for this type of farce. It’svery enjoyable, if you don’t take it seriously. Compare this to GalaxyQuest; they are of similar style and quality. I intend to have thisfilm in my library permanently. Also, it’s nice to see Nichelle Nicholsin something other than Star Trek.

7) Well, I should have suspected it, but this turns out to be a smug and totally inept spoof of "Captain Video and His Video Rangers", television’s first space drama which ran on the Du Mont Television Network from 1949 to 1955. In fact, "Captain Zoom" is set on the Du Mont network in 1955. The premise is that aliens are receiving "Captain Zoom" program transmissions and believe that the Captain really does exist as some sort of super Earth hero, so they abduct the actor who portrays him, for their own purposes. The way this film handles that concept is adolescent and almost totally unfunny. A shame, because it could have been pulled off, had they tried less hard to keep reminding us that they were joking about a long-gone TV series. Precious few remember much about the original "Captain Video" series anyway, as only a few episodes survive. You’ll do better to spend the time viewing the remaining CV originals, especially the later ones which were done on a fraction of the budget of this bomb but always played fair with its audience. Anyway, "The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space", which was planned to be a series, faded after this one-shot pilot film. And that’s merciful.

• Superman was originally considered for this project, however, when National Periodical Publications (now known as DC Comics) turned Republic down, the producers made the offer to Fawcett Comics for their top character and was accepted.
• This was the first depiction of a comic book super hero on film.
• The effect of Captain Marvel flying was achieved by filming an over-sized dummy that was slid along a fine wire
• Captain Marvel’s costume, which is red in comic books, was actually blue/gray in order to photograph better in black and white
• Chapter Titles: – 1. Curse of the Scorpion – 2. The Guillotine – 3. Time Bomb – 4. Death Takes the Wheel – 5. The Scorpion Strikes – 6. Lens of Death – 7. Human Targets – 8. Boomerang – 9. Dead Man’s Trap – 10.Doom Ship – 11.Valley of Death – 12.Captain Marvel’s Secret
• The Golden Scorpion weapon featured in this serial would be reintroduced in Captain Marvel’s 1990 series, “The Power of Shazam!”

• Factual errors: In chapter 6, Betty is knocked unconscious when she drives a car through a wall in a parking garage. Despite the fact that no one is driving the car, it makes several sharp 180-degree turns while descending through the garage.
• Continuity: In chapter 10, Billy Batson, wearing a raincoat and life jacket over his suit, changes to Captain Marvel. When he changes back to Billy, the raincoat and life jacket are gone.
• Continuity: In chapter 11, “Valley of Death” one of the tribesmen uses a signal mirror to communicate with another. He flicks it up and down, but the reflection hits the other in a side-to-side motion.

• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Although the archaeological expedition bears Malcolm’s name, everyone defers to Howell as if he’s in charge – until his murder late in the first chapter.
• Plot holes: While a prisoner of the Scorpion, Betty manages to grab a gun and fire a shot that creases the villain’s hand. Informed of this, Billy manipulates the expedition’s members into showing their hands, and only one man’s hand shows an injury. However, subsequent events prove he is not the Scorpion. How the real villain had no injury is never hinted at, and there’s precious little said about the wound that was found: After Billy escapes a death trap at the latter man’s home, the two have a conversation that is joined in progress, with Batson admitting that he could believe the scientist’s story (told completely off-screen) about the cause of his injury if he could explain other things that had happened. Perhaps that trap was originally intended to be a chapter-ending cliffhanger and the explanations were lost in re-editing to eliminate a chapter here.

2) I was seven years old when I saw this serial in a theater in 1941.

I now own 49 titles of Republic serials,mostly tapes and a few onDVD.This serial is my favorite.For those who have not saw this serial,Iwon't give away any secrets.The plot concerns a group of scientists andan ancient artifact with lenses that can turn any matter to gold,thusthe owner could rule the world.A mortal ,Billy Batson ,is given thepower to become Captain Marvel.The Captain fights the arch villain,theScorpion,for 12 exciting chapters,to keep him from getting thelens.Marvel is played by former cowboy star,Tom Tyler in finefashion.David Sharpe does the leaps and landings in realisticstyle.Flying scenes still look great today,with excellent specialeffects by the Lydecker brothers.The Scorpion is voiced by anotheractor,and should keep the viewer guessing until the final reel.Music byCy Feurer,William Lava and others add more excitement to a fineserial.Whitney and English directed.

3) This serial has a reputation, that of being the greatest serial evermade, that is a greatly deserved one. The plot is complex, but notmuddled,the actors are extremely competent, and the characters(this is very rareinserials)take on a life of their own.Most serial fans are familar with the plot, and besides, it is postedright here on the internet, so I will go on to the cast. Tom Tyler,probablymore familar to film buffs as Luke Plummer in John Ford’s classicSTAGECOACH, looks the part of Captain Marvel to perfection. He hasrelatively few dialog scenes in the serial, however, and to some peoplethisis an added bonus, as his extremely gravelly voice is not to everyone’stasteYoung Frank Coghlan Jr. is remarkably good as Billy Batson, anddeserves additional acclaim as Republic’s only juvenile serial hero. Theincomparable William Benedict provides unobtrusive comedy relief, as hewasto do the following year in NYOKA AND THE TIGERMEN. Benedict is myall-timefavorite serial sidekick, even though he only did thesetwo.Louise Currie, who was also to make a return date three years laterinTHE MASKED MARVEL, is a very likable heroine, and as for the Scorpion, hehas got to be the best villain in serials, thanks largely to Gerald Mohr’svoice. His closet competitors are probably Dr. Satan(Eduardo Cianelli),Captain Mephisto(Roy Barcroft) from MANHUNT OF MYSTERY ISLAND) and JimBelmont(George J. Lewis) from FEDERAL OPERATOR 99.Kenne Duncan gives a good performance as Barnett, the Scorpion’schiefhenchman, and Reed Hadley also stand out as Rahman Bar, the Scorpion’sSiamese cohort. The supporting cast includes silent serial great JackMulhall, and, as suspects for being the Scorpion, Harry Worth, RobertStrange, George Pembroke, Bryant Washburn, Peter George Lynn, and thewonderful scene-stealer John Davidson as the superstious Siamese, TahChotali.The special effects are positively astonishing, and hold up a lotbetter than modern high-tech effects do. After watching the serial, yousimply have to conclude that Captain Marvel CAN fly.This certainly deserves its reputation as the greatest serial evermade. SHAZAM!

4) Captain Marvel is one of the best serials available and a true creditto the genre. It offers plenty of the old-school, two-fisted actionthat you’d expect from an action serial, in addition tostate-of-the-art (for the time) flying effects. The production value ofthe series is fantastic, including great stuntwork, fight sequences,and innovative cliffhangers. It also offers a great running mystery asto the identity of The Scorpion…which is ruined if you happen to readthe cast list closely above

If you’re a fan of serials or old action movies in general, you’d dowell to pick this up as it truly is a classic.

5) In my opinion, it is the finest serial ever mode. Highlighting the serialwere the fabulous flying sequences. Combining a wired dummy photographedagainst real backgrounds in natural sunlight, with spectacular take-offleaps and landings, the final effects are still fascinating today as theywere in 1941.

6) When TVland began running the 1970s Saturday morning Shazam a year orso ago, I learned of this old serial.

I decided to compare the two and had not an ever-lovin’ clue what toexpect.

There are the usual cliffhanger bits, I thought.

Then the tied up Billy and Betty are in the shed about to be bombed.

"I’ll call Captain Marvel on the radio," Betty says. "Captain Marvel!Captain Marvel!" We hear the planes overhead.

Bill struggles with the ropes. Unlike Betty, his mouth is gagged.

"Captain Marvel! Captain Marvel!" The planes fly nearer. Billystruggles more.

"CAPTAIN MARVEL! CAPTAIN MARVEL! CAPTAIN MARVEL!" Then it went to thecliffhanger. I had already stopped doing what I was doing on thecomputer and just stared.

It had to be murder for kids to watch these things, I concluded.

We are given a masked villain, and five likely suspects.

In truth, which one of them was the villain was irrelevant.

There was just so much more fascinating stuff to this series.

Betty is unconscious on a boat. Billy must save her. He stands holdingher as the ship sinks. Cliffhanger.

Don’t expect the obvious. Nothing worked out or played out anywherenear the way we might think it did.

The only thing that disappointed me after all this brilliance was thecheap folding down film bit when Shazam was changed back to Billy atthe end.

But this must stand as one of the all-time top five most underratedprograms ever.

Fascinating note.

Frank Coglan Jr, who played Billy Batson, would be working at a zoo inthe seventies, and when it was learned Coglan was nearby, he got acameo in an episode of the seventies series.

Too much fun.

7) "The Adventures of Captain Marvel" (1941) is quite simply the best ofits genre. Period.

Directed by John English and William Witney this 12-part serial reallymoves and maintains a generally high standard of quality. And thespecial effects were truly top-notch. Sure, there were times when themodels looked like … well … models, but there were also sequencesthat would make folks believe a man could fly some 37 years before"Superman: The Movie." Frank Coughlan, Jr. made an outstanding "BillyBatson." Young, adventurous, and conscientious. He was no ClarkKent/Peter Parker wallflower. He also has a wonderful chemistry withhis sidekicks Louise Currie ("Betty") and William Benedict ("Whitey").This trio could have easily carried the movie without the super-herogimmick.

Of course Tom Tyler made a terrific "Captain Marvel." Stoic, gallant,and (surprisingly) edgy. Some folks may be startled to see a super-herodispensing 1940s justice with a definite 1940s sensibility. Its great.

Anyway, I saved the best for last … it is now officially for sale onDVD for less than 10 bucks making it, IMO, the most under-rated andunder-valued movie out. It’s a classic for all the right reasons.

For what "The Adventures of Capt. Marvel" was and designed to be it isa perfect creation.

One of my favorite Republic serials, along with Zorro’s Fighting Legionand Spy Smasher. Adventures of Captain Marvel is slick, fast-paced andaction packed. Of course, it has the usual failings of most serials –low budget, short shooting schedule, a few bumps and wrinkles along theway — but if that bothers you, you are probably one of those viewerswho complain about the plots of Jackie Chan films. Frank Coughlan, Jr.,does creditable work as Billy Batson, while Tom Tyler (Stagecoach, RedRiver) makes a robust Captain Marvel. Fans of Indiana Jones will lovethis, especially the sets in Chapter One. The best part about Capt.Marvel is his occasional shortage of a sense of fair play. (When wasthe last time you saw Superman machine gun three guys in the back asthey ran away?) This is one super hero who doesn’t play around. I alsolove Tyler’s evil grin as bullets bounce off his chest and hispropensity for pimp-slapping the bad guys when they don’t answer hisquestions quickly enough. Also, look for Reed Hadley (Zorro) as one ofthe bad guys; unmistakable due to his superb voice. Hadley narratedA-bomb training films for the US government and had high level securityclearance for the job. The other big plus of Capt. Marvel is theground-breaking flying effects by the Lydeckers, using wires, dummies,reversed film and the leaping skills of stuntman Dave Sharpe. If youlove adventure serials, you’ll love The Adventures of Captain Marvel.Highly recommended is the DVD release from Artisan.

9) This is my first full-length serial, and, I must confess surprisingly,that I truly enjoyed each and every minute of it. The story tells of ayoung man named Billy Batson and how he, having refused to enter thetomb of an ancient people with a curse while being part of anarchaeological/treasure hunting team, is bestowed great powers byShazaam. Batson turns into Captain Marvel when he utters the wordShazaam. This serial is a lot better crafted than I initially thoughtit would be. The sets used in this Rebublic Pictures production arevery good and believable. The acting is very adequate with FrankCoghlan Jr. giving a very honest and sincere performance as Billyalbeit somewhat corny perhaps. Tom Tyler plays his alter ego CaptainMarvel – and while looking somewhat haggard is acceptable. All theother performers are good with John Davidson standing out as TalChotali – a native guide for the group. The 12 chapters of this serialtell of how each investor in the team was given a special lens of agold scorpion found in the ancient tomb. When all the lenses are placedproperly on the scorpion, it can make gold out of anything. Well, avillain named the Scorpion comes into the mix. He is covered from headto foot in a mask and costume so as not to reveal his identity becausehe is one of the men in the team. Each episode tells of various plotsthe scorpion invents to secure the lenses and thwart Captain Marvel. Intrue serial fashion, each chapter ends with a thrilling and excitingcliffhanger of sorts. Originally these were shown weekly with picturesand made to be exciting and suspenseful so as to entice movie-goers toreturn each week. Directors William Witney and John English succeed inmaking the viewer want to see what happens. Each chapter was packedwith action and mystery. Plenty of red herrings are thrown at you so asto confuse you to who could or would be the real identity of theScorpion. It was so refreshing to see Captain Marvel be a real superhero. He doles out real justice to real crooks. No feminization ofCaptain Marvel here. Sure, some of the story is pretty hokey, and, yes,some plot twists totally unrealistic(how about the scene where BettyWallace,Batson's pseudo-love interest, is careening around one bendafter another in a garage while knocked out), but the product as awhole was very compelling. I had to watch all 12 chapters in onesitting just to find out who the script chose to be the Scorpion. Thisserial made me a believer and makes me want to check out some of theserather forgotten films of the past.

10) Many movie serials were pretty silly, with characters going to crisisto crisis almost pro forma. This one’s much better, with someintelligent plotting, so the actual storyline flow seems far morenatural.

Possible spoiler: One very nice touch appears in the early chapters.Captain Marvel learned some of his powers by experiencing them. Thefirst time he gets shot at, he’s genuinely and pleasantly surprised todiscover he’s bulletproof.

However, like most serials, the scripters had to mess with the originalmaterial. The wizard Shazam was originally from Egypt, not Siam. Thataside, the reason for Billy Batson gaining the powers was differentfrom the comic.

Nitpicks aside, though, this is a very superior serial. Many of theserials show little thought and a lot of action; this one, by contrast,is literate. It is tighter than the first Flash Gordon, and not oneword is wasted.

Lots of fun

• Robert Florey directed part of this film, uncredited.

For a man who led an adventurous and made so many action films, it'samazing that Errol Flynn when writing a screenplay could make it sodeadly dull. Flynn, if in fact he wrote it, borrowed a bit fromSaratoga Trunk and a bit from Mourning Becomes Electra and a touch ofTennessee Williams. All of which are beyond his reach as thespian. It'sonly in the last ten minutes of the film when Flynn who is framed forthe murder of Victor Francen is being freed from jail. How it's done bythe way is a bit bizarre.

In fact Flynn is barely in the film at all except for the last 40minutes. He and Michelline Presle have both been done dirty by thefamily of which Vincent Price is the wastrel heir.

In Michelline's case, Price has had his fling with her, but now he'sdumping her to make a proper marriage, New Orleans style. She ain'ttaking it lying down and her machinations get her, Price and Flynn in awhole lot of trouble.

The film was shot over in France, the interiors done in Paris and NewOrleans of 1853 is represented by the French city of Villefrance. Flynnand Marshall were supposed to do a French language versionsimultaneously as per French law, but skipped the country before theauthorities caught on. They also stiffed Vincent Price on his salaryand Price had to sue both of them and he collected a few years later.

In fact Price is the one good thing about Adventures of Captain Fabian.He essentially takes his Shelby Carpenter character from Laura back tothe previous century. Agnes Moorehead plays Michelline Presle's aunt,but she's got a terrible makeup job, she looks and acts like FloraRobson from Saratoga Trunk.

Knowing what Errol Flynn fans like, they are going to be terriblydisappointed with Adventures of Captain Fabian.

2) This is not an adventure film as the title might suggest, but a slow movingmelodrama, with some good scenes. The film was made independentley inFrance, and from the beginning there was to have been two versions, oneenglish and one frenchspeaking. Director Robert Florey, was hired to helmthe frenchspeaking version, but it was never made. Instead Florey stayed onas uncredited assistant director to William Marshall, some scenes show hisinfluence, and he directed most of the final dockside fight. It was alsoFlorey who brought in actors Victor Francen and Jim Gerald, as well as artdirector Eugene Lourie to the project. The film is good to look at,photography(by Marcel Grignon) and settings are intriguing, but thedirection is to slow to really keep intrest, but a few scenes near the endare well made. The acting is ok, Agnes Moorehead gives a fine performence,and Errol Flynn is interesting as a rough seacaptain, a toned down role incomparision with Micheline Presles flambouyant creole girl. Vincent Priceis properly slimy as a spineless dandy and Victor Francen is seen tobriefley as his grim uncle. The story is very old fashioned, a little"MonteCristoish" in style, and have some curiosity value. This film mustunfortenatly go down as a missed opportunity, although an interesting one,like Vincent Price later said: this should have been a very good film".Altough the film has flaws, its visually interesting also the music by ReneCloerc has its moments. if you like oldfashioned, romantic melodramas, thiscould be worth watching and the final scene is inspired.

3) As stated in another review, bit of a slow mover this one. Not one ofFlynn’s best. Although Flynn is credited with writing this, it isbelieved the he didn’t actually write any of this. In his biography "MyWicked, Wicked Ways", he stated that he did. But others from the timedispute that claim. Who knows, Flynn did author 2 books on his own, andwould have preferred to be remembered as a good writer. But, all inall, this movie is good, not the best, but good and entertaining.Vincent Price does an excellent job, Anges Morehead, is as usual verydependable and shows why she is one of the better character actors inHollywood. Errol Flynn, to me, appears half asleep though this movie.Strange, considering he boasted he wrote it. Not much of an adventurefilm.. But for Flynn fans, a good film, and should be seen..

• Originally meant to be a sequel to The Phantom (1943) serial, but the rights were unattainable, so the story was switched to a similar “original” character instead.
• Chapter Titles: – 1. Mystery Man of the Jungle! – 2. Captain Africa to the Rescue! – 3. Midnight Attack! – 4. Into the Crocodile Pit! – 5. Jungle War Drums! – 6. Slave Traders! – 7. Saved by Captain Africa! – 8. The Bridge in the Sky! – 9. Blasted by Captain Africa! – 10. The Vanishing Princess! – 11. The Tunnel of Terror! – 12. Fangs of the Beast! – 13. Renegades at Bay! – 14. Captain Africa and the Wolf Dog! – 15. Captain Africa’s Final Move!

I absolutely loved it!!

The cliffhanging endings fired my imagination. One that particularlyimpressed me was the one in which Captain Africa was lying senselessunder adescending portcullis which was threatening to impale him. I couldhardlybear to wait the seven days until the next episode to see whether (orrather, how) he would escape from that one!!

I also developed a great longing to own a pith helmet – an ambition sadlyunfulfilled to this day!

At the time I was not aware that this serial took footage from other,moreillustrious, features (as a reviewer here suggests). But from mychildishperspective it was a terrific series and thoroughly entertaining. I wouldlove to see it again.

Best wishes to John Hart (still with us in 2003) and any other survivorsofthe series.

bob

2) An obvious knock-off of THE PHANTOM, using stock footage and possessing thebare minimum of plot (and THAT incoherent), THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN AFRICAis Columbia Serials at its worst. Terrible acting, bad stunt work, andheavy padding all add up fifteen chapters of pure junk that is just notworth wading through. For absolute die hard fanatic completistsonly.

2) A favorite. The women look great and the sex is very exciting. This wasoneof the first to give the viewer the behind the camera angle, a stylecopieda LOT from then on.

I don’t know what else to add here. I highly recommend it. Its a classicofmodern porn.

• Richard Haydn replaced Tony Hancock due to Hancock’s erratic on-set behavior

2) This movie is sweet, fun, entertaining for the whole family. For those whoappreciate the more innocent days that are no longer. (The boxing matchscene is a bit overdone though.) Roddy and Suzanne are cute together.Can’tunderstand why this is not available on VHS!

3) If you like old movies on the order of Support your Local Sheriff you willlike this one. It’s fun in a kooky sort of way. It was refreshing to seeRoddy McDowell in such a nice role. I have watched it twice in the last 3months on the Disney channel. I really recommend it.

4) With nothing else on cable , I happened upon this one night and Ithought would be a good ride from Disney like 'Swiss Family Robinson'or 'Light of the Forest'. Here was a movie that took place in what wasone of the most dynamic times and settings in US History (sofar)-California,1848 and what a premise: a kid wants to make thingsright for his debt-ridden family by striking it rich in Californiehaving just heard about Sutter's Mill but his family retainer doesn'twant him to come to harm so he follows along. Of course, in the openingscenes when discussing the late grandpa's will, the film has thegeezer's painted pic make faces and the soundtrack making clangingnoises. Thinking this was just a one-time anomaly, I'm willing to shrugthat off so I could get to the eventual payoff. Will the boy (andretainer) make it to Californie in on that ship having to sail all theway around South America? And what's to become of the kid's much oldersis Arabella played by the always fetching Suzanne Pleshette?

Unfortunately, the Disney kiddie syndrome that starts with Grandpa'spic making faces intensifies as the picture gets more and morecartoonish. And the concept of the butler Griffin having an unspokencrush on Arabella that he's considering acting upon now that they'restarting new lives in this very dynamic frontier city/world class portof San Francisco? Great idea but, unfortunately, Roddy McDowell'scharacter just isn't able to muster believability in terms of beingattracted to Arabella(paging Bob Newhart!). And what about the goldpanning idea? It soon gets scuttled for some lame fighting deal themouthy kid gets them into!

Unfortunately, the whole thing ends in a complete mess with nothingresolved as an incoherent montage of buildings representing SanFrancisco in the future literally annihilates the on-screen actionwhile the corny song screams over the remaining dialogue! Does thismean that Griffin became a major player in the building of Frisco andhe got Suzanne? If so, how? Who can tell?

So much potential could have been had with this movie but betweenmiscasting McDowell and Disney kiddie stuff, it got totally ruined!

5) This is another fondly remembered Walt Disney live-action effort whichI'd never watched: it's an episodic Western spoof set at the time ofthe California gold rush. The protagonists are an impoverishedBostonian family and their resourceful butler (an ideally-cast RoddyMcDowall); the young son, obsessed with a legendary rugged cowboyfigure called "Bullwhip", is prone to tall tales – so that he makes upthe mild-mannered Griffin to be as brave and experienced as his hero!

This eventually lands them in trouble with both con-man Karl Malden(who has a lot of fun with his role, which also allows him to donplenty of disguises) and saloon owner Harry Guardino or, moreprecisely, his imposing but dumb henchman (a typecast Mike Mazurki) –whom McDowall fells with a lucky punch but which Guardino wants to turnto his advantage by organizing a boxing match between the two! The boutis delayed until the climax: in between, our heroes have severaladventures as they make and lose a fortune in gold (following a mappossessed by Richard Haydn who's constantly flaunting his theatricalbackground), with the wily Malden never too far off their trail.Suzanne Pleshette provides feminine interest and eye candy, though shedoesn't quite cut it as a saloon chanteuse.

The film is a generous 110 minutes long (compounded by those relentlessSherman Brothers songs) but it's never less than enjoyable, withpleasant color photography and a barrage of technical gags (not justthe animated titles but such oft-used devices as the subject of aportrait changing his expression, angels sounding their trumpets whensomeone is knocked-out, etc).

6) At the end of the fight scene with Roddy McDowall & Mike Mazurki, RichardHadyn goes to the fight timekeeper (Dub Taylor) to distract him fromringingthe triangle thereby ending the fight’s round. He takes the trianglecausing Taylor to whack, and utterly destroy, the pocketwatch that hangsona post and that he is using to keep the time. Cut to cast congratulatingMcDowall on winning the fight. Cut back to Hadyn who hands Taylor backthetriangle–only now the pocketwatch is back in place and totallyintact!

2):
Buckaroo Banzai is a rock-star/brain-surgeon / comic-book-hero/samurai/ etc who along with his group, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, must stop evil creatures from the 8th dimension (all named John) who are trying to conquer our dimension. He is helped by Penny Pretty, who is a dead ringer for his late wife, and some good extra-dimensional beings who look and talk like they are from Jamaica.

• When it came time to film the end titles sequence, where Buckaroo and pals are walking around a dry L.A. aqueduct in step to the music, the music wasn’t ready. Composer ‘Michael Boddicker’ told the film crew to use “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel as a placeholder because it was the exact same tempo. Those scenes were filmed with “Uptown Girl” blaring from a boom box tied to the back of the camera truck.
• Overall concept and several names appear to be taken from the Doc Savage pulp magazines of the 30’s and 40’s: both main characters are multi-talented surgeons, adventurers, and musicians; and both have an inner circle of sidekicks with nicknames (Renny, Ham, Monk, Long Tom, and Johnny, compared to Reno, New Jersey, Perfect Tommy, and Rawhide).
• Jamie Lee Curtis played Buckaroo’s mother in a flashback, but this scene was cut. The scene is available on the recent DVD release as an optional prequel to the theatrical version, and as a special feature. Jamie Lee Curtis is visible in a photo on the dashboard of the jet car in the wide-screen version.
• The latitude and longitude recited by the technicians during the “alignment” of the Oscillation Overthruster are the coordinates of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• The “oscillation overthruster” device reappeared as a “spectral analyzer” in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987) episode “Pen Pals.”
• The US DVD release includes a caption portion entitled “Pinky Caruthers’ Unknown Facts”, which actually adds to the storyline and character development of the film.
• The “jet car” shown in the film (reportedly a 1982 Ford F-350 pick-up truck) included an actual Cold War-era General Electric turbo jet engine that was borrowed from Northrop University in Inglewood, California.
• The end of the movie invites the viewer to watch for the upcoming film “Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime League”. This was the real title for a sequel that Sherwood Studios planned to make if this film had been successful. Unfortunately, it was a box-office bomb, and Sherwood Studios went bankrupt. After its release on video and cable, however, BB became a cult favorite, much in the same way as Mad Max (1979) (which crawled from obscurity to spawn two sequels). Legal wranglings due to the bankruptcy prevented any other studios from picking up the sequel rights, and even years later MGM had to fight through a pile of red tape simply to get the OK to release it on DVD.
• Some of the dialogue used in the Jet Car sequence is taken directly from Mission Control chatter heard during a shuttle launch countdown.
• In the original script, Buckaroo was supposed to have an arch enemy named Hanoi Xan, who was never seen but referenced to by Buckaroo and the other characters. All scenes containing dialogue regarding Xan were deleted from the film’s theatrical release but are now available on DVD. Xan was supposed to be the mysterious head of a crime syndicate called the World Crime League and also the man who murdered Buckaroo’s parents and wife Peggy.
• During the jetcar test, the computer screen that has the graphics shows three different words: SINED, SEELED, and DELIVERED.
• Lord John Whorfin’s line, “Character is what you are in the dark,” is a quote from the 19th Century evangelist Dwight L. Moody.
• Many names and terms were taken from Thomas Pynchon’s book “The Crying of Lot 49″, most notably the company name Yoyodyne. To this day, there is a yoyodyne.com, which serves as a fan site for the film. “Yoyodyne” itself was Pynchon’s thinly veiled reference to Rocketdyne, a major defense industry contractor and manufacturer of rocket engines, founded just after WW II to reverse-engineer German V-2 rockets — thereby also making this a further veiled reference to Pynchon’s novel Gravity’s Rainbow.
• When John Whorfin calls collect for John Bigboote, he tells the operator he is calling “Grovers Mill.” Grovers Mill was a real-life community in New Jersey which was used in Orson Welles’ famous radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” and is now a part of West Windsor Township in Mercer county.
• The kanji lettering on Buckaroo Banzai’s headband as he drives the jet car reads “seikatsu-bi”, which appears to be Japanese, but does not make sense. The first two kanji mean living or lifestyle, but the second character, “bi” (not “bei” as has been reported elsewhere) or beautiful, does not add up to coherent Japanese. It seems to suggest the “beautiful life” but these 3 kanji together do not have a particular meaning in Japanese.
• Banzai’s mentioned but unseen foe Hanoi Xan seems to homage Hanoi Shan. In the genealogical section of Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (1973), Philip Jose Farmer added Hanoi Shan to the Wold Newton Universe. Hanoi Shan is an allegedly real-life criminal mastermind documented in the works of criminologist H. Ashton Wolfe. Farmer’s thesis was to make Hanoi Shan the same individual as Sax Rohmer’s totally fictional Dr. Fu Manchu.

• Continuity: John Bigboote’s glasses disappear and reappear between shots when he holds Professor Ikeda in a head-lock.
• Revealing mistakes: When the two hunters are poking at the thermopod up in the tree, a shower of sparks falls when they hit the pod. You can see the power-cable they used to produce these sparks fall away as the pod slides out of the tree.
• Continuity: During the closing credit sequence with Buackaroo Banzai and the gang walking in the aqueduct, Perfect Tommy is first seen wearing a white jacket and black pants. As they take their final turn in front of the “Buckaroo Banzai” graffiti on the wall, Perfect Tommy is wearing a completely different outfit – gray jacket and red pants.

• Revealing mistakes: When Dr Lizardo is pulled out of the wall after his failed attempt to access the 8th Dimension, the hole in the wall in which he is placed is visible.
• Continuity: Dr Hikita marks the wall through which Dr Lizardo tries to access the 8th Dimension with a chalk “X”. After Dr Lizardo bashes his assistants’ heads together, the “X” is missing from the wall.
• Continuity: When Secretary of Defense McKinley tries to bribe Blue Blazer Irregular Scooter Lindley with a 20 dollar bill, he is distracted by Perfect Tommy and Scooter snatches it out of his hand. In the wide shot following that close up you can still see the 20 dollar bill in McKinley’s right hand.
• Continuity: Throughout several points in the movie, after Buckaroo has been “zapped” by the space aliens and supposedly cannot be touched without shocking the toucher, he touches or is touched by several people without them being shocked.
• Continuity: During the battle at the Yoyodyne plant the shot of one of the aliens being shot and falling from a catwalk (elevated walkway) is repeated.
• Factual errors: On one of the hunters finding an issue of the Buckaroo Banzai comic book, he notes that “it’s the latest issue.” However, the comic is clearly marked with the issue number – 1. The first issue of a series cannot logically be the latest issue.
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: After John Whorfin tells Buckaroo “A penny for your thruster.” Penny spits in his face. This makes him close his mouth, but he can still be heard laughing.
• Continuity: After Buckaroo briefs the president on the situation, the president replies “I don’t know what to say. Lectroids, Planet 10, nuclear extortion, a girl named John?” However, Buckaroo didn’t mention John Emdall during his briefing and the president doesn’t watch the video until later.

There is a reason we love this film. The script is clever, a veritablemosaic of silly twists and throwaway jokes so layered that it takesmultipleviewings to keep up with it all (favorite line: "It’s not my *******planet,Monkey Boy!"). And the direction and approach is equally exciting: ratherthan annoy us with underfinanced special effects that pretend to beLucasfilm quality, the director revels in his low budget, using conkshellsas models for space ships and populating alien ship interiors with tubes,pipes, rods and duct tape. The aliens come off asresourceful-albeit-goofypackrats, bumbling about and managing to stay just a few steps ahead ofBuckaroo until the very end.

For many of us over 30, this film was something special. We caught it atmidnight movie houses and relished in the warm presence of a movie made bypeople who shared our dark, twisted senses of humor. In college, it was aregular rental; we held Bonzai parties, dressed as characters, turned itinto our private video Rocky Horror. No, it’s not Citizen Kane … butwhatdo you want from a movie called Buckaroo Bonzai?

2) TAOBBATED, as I will acronymize this film, is neither the stupidlow-budgetpiece of excrement nor the sublimely original cult masterpiece you’ve beentold it is, but it’s a lot closer to the latter than to the former. PeterWeller plays Buckaroo, the titular neurosurgeon/inventor/modern-daysamurai/Billy Joelesque rocker, and he plays him frightfully well, low-keyand distant but with occasional glimmers of genius and intensity. Thestellar supporting cast includes Jeff Goldblum, Clancy Brown, JohnLithgow,Christopher Lloyd, and Ellen Barkin, and they’re all pretty darngood.

I’m not even going to pretend to be rational or unbiased about this movie.It’s too utterly offbeat and original and just damned _odd_ to not love.Some favorite scenes: the opening sequence of the Jet Car test run;Buckaroo’s phone call with the Black Lectroids, and his subsequentdetectionof the sinister Red Lectroid agents in his midst; the eerie recordedmessagefrom the Black Lectroid leader, the "good guys" who threaten to blow upEarth unless Buckaroo stops their enemy, Dr. Lizardo (Lithgow, in a trulytwisted scene-chewing performance). Yes, it looks cheesy and dated, butdamn it, you have to take a stand somewhere in life, you have to roll upyour sleeves and step up to the plate and put yourself on the line, andhavethe courage to say, "I don’t care what anyone thinks of me, I love thismovie." That’s the way I feel about old Buckaroo and his Hong KongCavaliers, and I still consider myself a loyal Blue Blaze Irregularfifteenyears after seeing this film.

As a post-script, I’d like to mention that the novelization of this movie,written by Earl Mac Rauch, is great, and actually contains about 3 timestheinformation and plot that is in the movie. If you can find it on Amazonorat a garage sale somewhere, snap it up, it’s worth the search. Also,there’s a script for BUCKAROO BANZAI VERSUS THE WORLD CRIME LEAGUEfloatingaround too, which should be made no matter the cost if only to film onepriceless scene – the cameo appearance of Jack Burton, Kurt Russell’sswaggering truck driver hero from John Carpenter’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLECHINA, who appears as a Blue Blaze Irregular and gives Team Banzai alift!

3) What a great way to start the New Year! I just watched this flick for thefirst time in ages and remember now why I agree that it is a "cultclassic"!

Made in 1984 way before most of the actors achieved real star status,thismovie has so many "inside" references and jokes, it’s a wonder that moreisn’t made of it! And if you are a real Star Trek fan, you will know thatYoyodyne Propulsion is on the commissioning plaque for the Enterprise aswell as other Star Fleet vessels. The references to Grover’s Mill andOrsonWells along with the whole deadpan tone of the film makes this anunbelievably funny experience. I only wish that "Buckaroo Banzai versusTheWorld Crime League" had been produced.

Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Dan Hedaya, theentire cast must have had a great time making this movie. It is full oftechnojargon, double speak and just plain funny stuff that pokes fun atevery bad B-movie scifi thriller/comic book/Saturday serial ever made.Thereis no bad language and no skin and lots to hear and see in this greatmovie!

It has one redeeming quality above all else for me… it makes theeffectson Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and all of those other poor excuses forSaturday kid’s entertainment look ridiculous. If the producers of thiscrapon TV that passes for action need some pointers on how to take uselessstuffand make a cool, funny scifi flick, they need look no further that "TheAdventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension"!

4) W.D Richter’s Buckaroo Banzai succeeds on many levels, thanks to awonderfully droll sensibility and inspired casting. Peter Weller lendsa perfect, dead-pan seriousness to the very ‘out there’ proceedings,while John Lithgow chews up the scenery as the fiendish Dr. Lizardo.Ellen Barkin is particularly fetching as Penny Priddy, while JeffGoldblum stakes out his turf with an engaging feverishness that is allhis own. Christopher Lloyd takes a relatively low-key approach to hisrole and does well for it, allowing for Lithgow’s extravagance. Weldingthe pieces together is a delirious, kinetic script by Earl M. Rauch.Thefilm, although essentially a spoof of science fiction films and comicbook superheroes, remains a delightful, inventive enigma of eightiescinema. The look of the picture is quite good, and (considering it’smeager budget) highly-digestible. Given that the film never found amass audience, it is surprising that so many individuals seem toremember it as vividly, and as fondly as they do. I can only hope thatafter everyone has gotten their fill of a certain "galaxy far, faraway", that a return to the more substantial basics of storytelling andcharacterization is deemed imperative. Meanwhile sit back, relax, andlaugh yourself silly with a charming, ‘little’ film that tends to be somuch more.

5) "So what? Big deal."- A Lectroid commander in THE ADVENTURES OFBUCKAROO BANZAI.

Greetings honorary members of the Hong Kong Cavaliers and to all youneutral observers and detractors as well. Hoping to clarify the mysteryand purpose of this 1984 docudrama, I have scoured all available data(including movie reviews), scrutinized the musings of the film’sdirector via the DVD’s special features, and held extensive conferenceswith official representatives of the Banzai Institute for BiomedicalEngineering and Strategic Information. I hasten to point out that myfindings are inconclusive and that many questions remain.

The film is (negatively) a rambling, disjointed pastiche of pseudo-hip,sci-fi/comic book inspired shenanigans that (positively) manages togenerate inordinate amounts of charm and wonder through its fortuitouscollusion of eccentric story line (battling aliens; a deeply depresseddamsel-in-distress, Penny Priddy; the actual Hong Kong Cavaliers honingtheir rock and roll chops; Buckaroo himself, pushing his new jet car-with the incredible Oscillation Overthruster -through the forbiddingregions of the 8th dimension) and the glowing charisma of the actors atplay: John Lithgow’s Dr. Lizardo is hilarious and ingenious. W.D.Richter’s nerdy persona obscures his inability to fashion Earl MacRauch’s free-wheeling screenplay into a coherent whole. Still, the manyfacets of the story remain intriguing and Michael Boddicker’ssynthesized music is majestic and buoyant.

However, the questions persist. What did happen at Grover’s Mill inOctober of 1938? Was Orson Welles part of an invasion plot thatinvolved mass hypnosis? Are there extraterrestrial biological entitiesliving among us? Documentation outlining an thorough governmentalinquiry into these matters has reached this commentator. A report bythe investigators, special agents Mulder and Scully, shall be madeavailable to the public in due course. A final note: a page, supposedlytorn from Welles’ personal diary and written in a shaky, nearlyillegible hand, carried the following, ominous message: keep watchingthe skies!

6) This is the most bizarre movie I’ve ever seen – and it is one of myabsolute favorites. The jokes are deeply embedded, and you have to payclose attention. The super-car that breaks sound (and dimensional)barriers idles when the ignition is turned off… the test code for theoscillation overthruster jet car is a spelling variation of "signed,sealed, delivered"… The high-tech, alien-technology visi-glasses aremade of pink bubble wrap…amidst the deafening screams of fans and thejazz playing horn section of the Hong Kong Cavaliers, Buckaroo hearsone single person crying…. It’s these bizarre little jokes are thatmake the movie great, but they are not every one’s cup of tea. It’sgood to have a very strange sense of humor – otherwise, you just won’tunderstand why it’s funny when… well, you just won’t get why themovie is funny at all!

7) If you like The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy or Red Dwarf, chancesare you’ll enjoy Buckaroo Bonzai. It is full of subtle/dry humor andhas an overall upbeat mood. The subtly dry humor is found in thebackground audio as well as the odds and ends that find their way intothe set decor and dialog. These offer a nice array of silliness topunctuate the story with their own unique twists of humor.

The cast is definitely All Star! Peter Weller (Robocop), John Lithgow(Third Rock from the Sun), Robert Ito (Quincy MD), Clancy Brown(Highlander), Ellen Barkin (Wild Bill), and Christopher Lloyd (Back tothe Future) all have fun and amusing roles. Even the minor roles arecovered well by perhaps lesser known yet veteran cast members such asRosalind Cash and Matt Clark.

If you’re a fan of British humor, you should definitely enjoy this one,even though it may take more than one viewing to catch all thesubtleties. If you haven’t been exposed to this style of humor, thiscertainly isn’t a bad place to start! If, on the other hand, this styleof humor is not what you enjoy, it may not be the one for you. Foreveryone else, kick back and enjoy! If it weren’t a bit of a cultclassic, I doubt it would be available on DVD. I give it a 7 out of 10since it may not be for everyone. Personally, I rate it a notch higher.

This is a fun film. It doesn’t take itself seriously and neither shouldtheviewer.

The plot centres around a pre-Robocop Peter Weller’s character (theimplausibly named Buckaroo Banzai) who is a scientist/rockmusician/surgeon…seems to be talented at just about everything. In hislabhe perfects a device for travelling through solid matter on the pretextthat’solid matter’ is in fact 80% empty space. True enough and so far sogood.

In the movie, the 80% of matter that is space turns out to be the 8thdimention, and Banzai unwittingly causes some nasty alien "lectoids" toenter our dimension. With the help of good lectoids he and his rock bandhave to save the day.

John Lithgow really steals the show with some excellent madcap lines. Thebig name actors clearly knew this was not to be taken seriously and thoughthe plot is OK it is the one-liners in the script that make the movie soenjoyable. Special FX are early 80’s par for the course, this is not thehighest budget film ever! The only question is why didn’t the advertisedsequal ever make it to the screen?

9) You will either love or hate this movie. If you get it it is a barrelof laughs. If you don’t get it, you say . . . What the hell is thisnonsense? It has been said that it’s a comedy with all the punchlinesremoved. But they are there, you just have to read between the lines.It’s kind of like one of those Magic Eye Puzzles. You have to look atit with the right kind of eyes. Otherwise you’ll just see it as acrappy 80s sci-fi spoof. But trust me, there’s more there than meetsthe eye. Some of the jokes aren’t obvious on first viewing, or the100th for that matter. You may want to consult the DVD extras or PinkyCaruther’s 10,000 little known facts. With a bit of research, you canfind out the reasons why that watermelon is there!

10) **WARNING. There shalt be spoilers.**

I was very fortunate and saw this movie when it was in the theaters in1984for all of about nine seconds. I’ve seen it probably fifty or sixtytimessince then, and every time I do, it still cracks me up. (To be truthful,some of the lines — "It’s your hand, Buckaroo!" — can crack me up iftheysimply drift through my head.)

Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is, quite simply,brilliant. This is the perfect example of a movie made for theintelligentmoviegoer, and not dumbed down for the mass viewing audience.

Peter Weller plays Buckaroo Banzai, a genius half-American, half-Japaneseneurosurgeon, bad musician, and adventurer. He is the leader of the HongKong Cavaliers, his backup band/fellow adventurers. Buckaroo and hiscolleague, Professor Hikita, have created a device called the"OscillationOverthruster", which allows Buckaroo to drive a highly modified FordF-350pickup through a mountainside and into the space between the molecules,theEighth Dimension.

When Dr. Emilio Lizardo, a former colleague of Professor Hikita, findsoutabout the overthruster, he breaks free from an asylum where he wasresiding(likely since 1938) to steal the overthruster. You see, in 1938, Dr.Lizardo fell into the Eighth Dimension and was taken over by a RedLectroidfrom Planet 10 named John Whorfin. John has been imprisoned in Dr.Lizardosince then and wants to return home.

When Dr. Lizardo breached the dimensional barrier, he freed many RedLectroids who were being imprisoned there. All are named John andarrivedon Earth, in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey on Halloween night, 1938. Theyallwant to return home. But to do so, they will have to steal theoverthrusterfrom Buckaroo and his Cavaliers, who don’t want to let itgo.

Peter Weller is wonderful as Buckaroo, playing him with a Zen-likecoolnessthat many have mistaken for woodenness. He is quick with his ownkoan-typesayings: "No matter where you go, there you are," and "This will changeyour life. Or not." Weller finds the character quickly and plays himforall he is worth.

Also amusing is the way Weller is verbally described as half-Japanese,butappears to have no Oriental features. It strikes me to be in the mannerofa pulp magazine, where the only Orientals drawn were always villains.However, many of the heroes of the pulps had mystical Oriental training,were raised by wild pandas, etc.

The Cavaliers are well-casted and acted, particularly Reno Nevada (PepeSerna), Rawhide (Clancy Brown), and Perfect Tommy (Lewis Smith). Thereareeven hints about other Cavaliers, who aren’t in the movie, such as Pecos,who is in Tibet.

Ellen Barkin does a fairly good job with her role as theclearly-psychoticPenny Priddy (though far from her best role) and Jeff Goldblum perfectlynails his role as the brain surgeon Sidney, who becomes the cowboyCavalier,New Jersey. I personally think it’s his best role ever.

The villains are fantastic. John Lithgow’s Lizardo is the all-timeover-the-top hoot. Christopher Lloyd, Dan Hedaya, and Vincent Schiavelliall show up as various Black Lectroids, all named John.

Carl Lumbly makes an early acting appearance as a good Red Lectroid, thedreadlocked John Parker. His grin and sunny demeanor lighten up thecomingapocalypse and makes his character one of the most likable ones ever onthesilver screen.

The movie is low-budget and looks it. Don’t be fooled into thinking thismatters. The low-budget look perfectly fits the pulp fiction qualitythatthe story demanded. The special effects border on cheesy, but fit thestoryto a T.

This movie is one of the great science fiction movies, simply because itknew exactly what it was, and it gave the viewer exactly that. It was atonce a spoof of 50’s era science fiction and a celebration of all thingsscifi. It steeped the work in the pulp styles of Doc Savage and pokedgentlefun at the pseudo-science used in those same books. It also firmlyestablishes itself in the ’80’s, and savagely sends up the politics andfashions of the same decade.

I can’t give this movie a grade. I love it too much. It’s not perfect,butit’s damn close. If you have a solid three-digit IQ and you haven’t seenthis movie, do so. I envy you for still having the experience in frontofyou.

If you think that the late ’90s Godzilla was pretty good, that Men InBlackrocked, and that Independence Day was the greatest movie ever…don’tbother. This movie isn’t for you.

For those of us who know and love this movie: isn’t it great to berewardedfor being smart?