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From: boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian)
Newsgroups: net.movies,net.sf-lovers
Subject: BUCKAROO BANZAI
Message-ID: <3171@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 9-Aug-84 05:36:52 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.3171
Posted: Thu Aug  9 05:36:52 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 10-Aug-84 07:56:07 EDT
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There's a new sf/fantasy film being released this weekend called BUCKAROO BANZAI
Just the other day I finished reading the novelization (by Earl Mac Rauch, who
is the creator of Buckaroo and company and wrote the screenplay). Actually, I'm
not sure that it classifies as a novelization any more than the book 2001: A
SPACE ODYSSEY by Clarke classifies as a novelization of the movie. Anyways, the
book is terrific, and I recommend it regardless of how the movie turns out.
	It's a *very* strange book. The story is not an easy one to describe,
nor is the general feel of the book. The best I can do is that it reads like a
combination of Doc Savage, the Illuminati, and the Monkees. And then, it starts
to get weird...
	What else can one say about a book that contains characters with names
like Buckaroo Banzai, Reno Nevada, Rawhide, Big Norse, and Dr. Emilio Lizardo?
Not to mention the hordes of Lectroids from Planet 10 (all of whom are named
John), the Nova Police, the Oscillation Overthruster, the Hong Kong Cavaliers,
the Blue Blaze Irregulars, or even the death dwarves.
	The only books that I've read that match BUCKAROO BANZAI in weirdness
are the Illuminati books by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, and a novel by
Jody Scott called PASSING FOR HUMAN. If you liked any of those, you're likely to
like this.
	How good the movie will be depends on how well the director (W.D. Rich-
ter, in his directorial debut --- he's previously been a screenwriter) can pull
off the weirdness. If he can, it'll be a hit; if he can't, it'll be a bomb. Any-
ways, as I said, the book is definitely worth reading.


--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA)

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