Starring:
Donald Sutherland
Brooke Adams
Veronica Cartwright
Jeff Goldblum
Leonard Nimoy
Art Hindle
Lelia Goldoni
Don Siegel
Director: Philip Kaufman
Producer: Robert H. Solo
Screenwriter: W.D. Richter
Cinematographer: Michael Chapman
Composer: Denny Zeitlin
Editor: Douglas Stewart
Production Designer: Charles Rosen

Philip Kaufman

An independent filmmaker in the mid-1960s, Phillip Kaufman collaborated with Benjamin Manaster to write, produce, and direct his first film, the Martin Buber adaptation Goldstein (1964). In the '70s Kaufman was working within the industry, making such notable films as the revisionist Jesse James western The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid (1972); the Arctic adventure tale The White Dawn (1975); Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978), a remake of the classic Don Siegel science-fictioner; and The Wanderers (1979), a stylish reminiscence of high-school life in early-1960s New York. In the '80s Kaufman established himself as a major writer/director with The Right Stuff (1983), a chronicle of the American space program adapted from Tom Wolfe's book; The Unbearable Lightness Of Being (1988), based on Milan Kundera's novel; and the bisexual romance Henry and June (1990), taken from Anais Nin's memoirs of her relationship with Henry Miller and his wife June Best known as the director of the 1984 cult film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, W.D. Richter had already established a reputation as a successful Hollywood screenwriter. The Connecticut-born Richter came to California in the 1970s with his wife, Susan, and began writing for the movies.

W.D. Richter

Richter's first screenplay was for Slither (1973), starring James Caan. The marketability of that offbeat story set the stage for a number of other scripts with a similar tone, including Peeper (1975), Nickelodeon (1976), a remake of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1978, Dracula in 1979, and Brubaker (1980), for which Richter garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The 1981 film All Night Long, starring Barbra Streisand and Gene Hackman, marked the end of a busy chapter of his life as screenwriter, as Richter embarked on a new phase as a director. Working with directors such as Peter Bogdanovich and Philip Kaufman gave Richter the confidence to form his own production company and secure funding to create the now legendary Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension. For this achievement, Richter owed much to the brilliant ideas and writing of Banzai's creator, Earl MacRauch. Both alumni of Dartmouth College, it was through that connection that Richter first came into contact with MacRauch's work. MacRauch credited Richter and their collaboration on Buckaroo Banzai with launching his screenwriting career. The film centers around the title character, whose multifarious job descriptions include brain surgeon, race car driver, rock star, rocket scientist, and an integral part of America's defense program. Banzai, who is played to perfection by Peter Weller, is surrounded by equally versatile characters including Perfect Tommy (Lewis Smith), Jeff Goldblum as a doctor with an alter ego named Cowboy, Ellen Barkin as Penny Priddy, and Clancy Brown as Rawhide. Just as memorable are the movie's cast of villains, including the crazed professor Dr. Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow), and an outrageous Matt Clark as Secretary of Defense. The story line is even more complex than the cast of characters. The script moves almost at the light speed capabilities of the Oscillation Overthruster they all seek. Many moviegoers were left behind, but for those who followed the visual and verbal puns, the movie was the ultimate brainteaser and a favorite with cerebral audiences. Nothing less could be expected from a film that is predicated on the idea that Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" broadcast was not a hoax. Not until 1991 did Richter direct again, with the sci-fi spoof Late for Dinner, starring Marcia Gay Harden and Brian Wimmer. While having some of the same iconoclastic humor as Buckaroo Banzai, the film was only mildly successful. Returning to screenwriting, Richter adapted Stephen King's novel #Needful Things for a 1993 release. He then penned the script for Jodie Foster's 1995 film Home for the Holidays, an all too painfully true comic look at dysfunctional families and holiday cheer. Subsequently, W.D. Richter dropped out of the spotlight, but speculation continues that the promised sequel to Buckaroo Banzai is in the works. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

Donald Sutherland

Certainly one of the most distinctive looking men ever to be granted the title of movie star, Donald Sutherland is an actor defined as much by his almost caricature-like features as his considerable talent. Tall, lanky and bearing perhaps the most enjoyably sinister face this side of Vincent Price, Sutherland made a name for himself in some of the most influential films of the 1970s and early '80s. ADVERTISEMENT A native of Canada, Sutherland was born in New Brunswick on July 27, 1934. Raised in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, he took an early interest in the entertainment industry, becoming a radio DJ by the time he was fourteen. While an engineering student at the University of Toronto, he discovered his love for acting and duly decided to pursue theatrical training. An attempt to enroll at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art was thwarted, however, because of his size (6'4") and idiosyncratic looks. Not one to give up, Sutherland began doing British repertory theatre and getting acting stints on television series like The Saint. In 1964 the actor got his first big break, making his screen debut in the Italian horror film Il Castello dei Morti Vivi (The Castle of the Living Dead). His dual role as a young soldier and an old hag was enough to convince various casting directors of a certain kind of versatility, and Sutherland was soon appearing in a number of remarkably schlocky films, including Dr. Terror's House of Horrors and Die! Die! Darling! (both 1965). A move into more respectable fare came in 1967, when Robert Aldrich cast him as a retarded killer in the highly successful The Dirty Dozen. By the early '70s, Sutherland had become something of a bonafide star, thanks to lead roles in films like Start the Revolution without Me and Robert Altman's MASH (both 1970). It was his role as Army surgeon Hawkeye Pierce in the latter film that gave the actor particular respect and credibility, and the following year he enhanced his reputation with a portrayal of the titular private detective in Alan J. Pakula's Klute. It was during this period that Sutherland became something of an idol for a younger, counter culture audience, due to both the kind of roles he took and his own anti-war stance. Offscreen, he spent a great deal of time protesting the Vietnam War, and, with the participation of fellow protestor and Klute co-star Jane Fonda, made the anti-war documentary F.T.A. in 1972. He also continued his mainstream Hollywood work, enjoying success with films like Don't Look Now (1973), The Day of the Locust (1975), and Fellini's Casanova (1976). In 1978, he won a permanent place in the hearts and minds of slackers everywhere with his portrayal of a pot-smoking, metaphysics-spouting college professor in National Lampoon's Animal House. After a starring role in the critically acclaimed Ordinary People (1980), Sutherland entered a relatively unremarkable phase of his career, appearing in one forgettable film after another. This phase continued for much of the decade, and didn't begin to change until 1989, when the actor won raves for his starring role in A Dry White Season and his title role in Bethune: The Making of a Hero. He spent the 1990s doing steady work in films of widely varying quality, appearing as the informant who cried conspiracy in JFK (1991), a Van Helsing-type figure in Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992), a wealthy New Yorker who gets taken in by con artist Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation (1993), and a general in the virus thriller Outbreak (1995). In 1998, the actor did some of his best work in years (in addition to the made-for-TV Citizen X (1995), for which he won an Emmy and a Golden Globe) when he starred as a track coach in Without Limits, Robert Towne's biopic of runner Steve Prefontaine. In 2000, Sutherland enjoyed further critical and commerical success with Space Cowboys, an adventure drama that teamed the actor alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Clint Eastwood, and James Garner as geriatric astronauts who get another chance to blast into orbit. Sutherland has also earned a different sort of recognition for his real-life role as the father of actor and sometimes tabloid fodder Kiefer Sutherland. The elder Sutherland named his son after producer Warren Kiefer, who gave him his first big break by casting him in Il Castello dei Morti Vivi. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide

Brooke Adams

The daughter of actors, Brooke Adams attended New York's High School of Performing Arts and the Institute of American Ballet, and took private acting lessons from Lee Strasberg. At age 6, Brooke made her Broadway debut in the 1954 revival of Finian's Rainbow. Eleven years later, she was cast as Burl Ives' teen-aged daughter in the extremely short-lived TV sitcom O.K. Crackerby. She then kept a low professional profile until making her adult off-Broadway bow in 1974, appearing in yet another revival, The Petrified Forest. A great future was predicted for Brooke when she starred as Abby, the romantic bone of contention between Richard Gere and Sam Shepard in the critically acclaimed 1978 film Days of Heaven. That same year, she played the Dana Wynter role in the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and in 1979 she was Sean Connery's ethereal leading lady in Cuba. Any one of those three roles could have spelled superstardom for Brooke--had she really wanted to be a superstar. Instead, she has deliberately avoided the trappings of celebritydom, preferring to measure her achievements by her own standards rather than Hollywood's. And, if that meant accepting "small" but artistically rewarding theatrical projects or teaching acting classics to emotionally disturbed children, rather than accepting a role in the latest Spielberg or Scorcese blockbuster, so be it. Brooke Adams' more notable credits of the last 15 years have included guest appearances on TV's Moonlighting, the Broadway production The Heidi Chronicles, the narration chores for the speculatively 1994 miniseries The Fire Next Time, and the role of Ione Skye's hardscrabble mother in Gas, Food, Lodging (1992). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Veronica Cartwright

The older sister of popular TV child actress Angela Cartwright (Make Room for Daddy, Lost in Space), Veronica Cartwright was herself a film and TV performer from childhood. Never a "kiddie star" like Angela, Veronica was more of a juvenile character actress, a la Jodie Foster. She was seen in intense, emotional roles in films like The Children's Hour (1961) and The Birds (1963), and was a supporting player on the TV series Daniel Boone (1964-69). Trivia buffs will remember Veronica for her sporadic appearances as Violet Rutherford, younger sister of the immortal "Lumpy", on Leave It to Beaver. As an adult, Veronica Cartwright has specialized in tightly wound neurotic roles in such films as Alien (1979) and The Right Stuff (1981). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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