Thirty-seven years after the premiere of the cult film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, the screenplay writer has penned a sequel. For fans of the quirky sci-fi movie, this sequel was of the eagerly-awaited variety. You’re about to get your money’s worth as Earl Mac Rauch, who wrote the script and a novelization of the movie, is delivering the hefty, 568-page volume this summer, available now for pre-order here at Amazon. With another long title, Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League et al, –A Compendium of Evils, continues the adventures of the scientist-surgeon-entertainer-daredevil played by Peter Weller.
Here is the publicity blurb from publisher Dark Horse Comics (note this is not a comic, but a novel):
Still mourning the losses of his beloved Penny Priddy and his surrogate father Professor Hikita, Buckaroo Banzai must also contend with the constant threat of attack from his immortal nemesis Hanoi Xan, ruthless leader of the World Crime League. To make matters worse, Planet 10 warrior queen John Emdall has sent her Lectroid legions against Earth with a brutal ultimatum. Or is her true target Buckaroo Banzai? As the apocalyptic threats continue to mount, only Buckaroo and his Hong Kong Cavaliers stand in the way of global destruction—or in the words of one of the movie’s iconic lines: “Laugh-a while you can, monkey boy!”
The original film had many behind the scenes commonalities for fans of the Star Trek franchise. First promoted via headbands given out at a Star Trek convention (now a sought-after collectible for Banzai fans), the film was released opposite Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. A box office bomb, it would see its own renaissance in the video era. Model maker Greg Jein, who worked on some of Hollywood’s biggest movies, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Hunt for Red October, created the famed oscillation overthruster for Banzai, a device Jein then brought over to the Star Trek movie and TV sets, which found its way onto the Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine sets as a mechanical device, as well as part of the Phoenix set in Star Trek: First Contact, among other uses. One of these sold at the Star Trek auction via Christies in 2006. It’s a good bet this device will make an appearance in Rauch’s new novel.
Pre-order Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League et al.–A Compendium of Evils now here at Amazon, slated for release in August 2021.
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg