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No need to say any more.

But if IMDB requires a bit more explication:

Please then consider the droll absurdity of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, a film from 1984. We see the eponymous character, Buckaroo Banzai, involved in a host of amazing adventures. Buckaroo is a polymath (look it up folks), and--like Sister Simone--has a plethora (look it up folks) of talents that permit him to solve crimes, puzzles and undertake incredible adventures. He's a brain surgeon as well as the lead singer in the Hong Kong Cavaliers rock group.

OK, now on to the Forbin Project. A 1968/69 film wherein scientists create a super computer to control their strategic defenses (think nuclear missiles), and discover they created better than they knew. Subsequent high jinks and world domination ensue.

Sound familiar?

The only question remaining for me is the one my wife asked as we watched the first episode: "How on Earth did they pitch this to the money men?"

How indeed.

I've watched this film many times for over fifty years.

It's still just as fresh and funny as the first time.

Zero Mostel is a treat. His comedic timing sets a high bar for the rest of the cast, and they don't disappoint.

Today my wife's in the hospital 2,000 miles away while I wait for my flight to join her before her emergency surgery.

Tragedy tomorrow (perhaps), but Comedy tonight!

You need the pick me up of a silly farce with a happy ending, this one's for you.

Buckaroo Banzai is an acquired taste. Sort of like making a meal of fresh Sushi and Diet Dr. Pepper, it's not for everyone. But, if you have a sense of humor that includes finding displays of grocery store fresh fruit amusing, this film is for you.

Did I mention it's a bit quirky?

The humor is deadpan, and delivery timing is actually quite good. You'll spend at least some time wondering about Dimensions 5, 6 and 7, as well as what makes Perfect Tommy Perfect.

Like Penny Pretty being from Laramie although she's was born in Cody, nothing is as it seems.

All in all, just let it wash over you, and realize there are plenty of worse ways to spend 102 minutes.

I watched Threads when it first came out back in 1984.

Its haunting images are sometimes part of my nightmares all these years later.

Students all over the world should be shown Threads when they in secondary school (16 - 18). With proper warnings, proper post-film discussion and support its lessons are worthwhile.

Threads should be required viewing by all members of every country's government and armed forces--and repeated upon each official's promotion to a higher level of responsibility.

I lived through the last seven decades. Some of those decades the world edged perilously close to global thermonuclear war. Threads is the best possible vaccine for that plague I can think of.

Criminal procedurals run the gamut, from gritty realism to semi-comic absurdity. McDonald & Dodds is something entirely different.

The characters are initially sketched out, but don't be fooled! There are layers and layers to McDonald and Dodds. They each share more of their depth of character as the episodes carry on, and we discover what makes these two partners on a par with Holmes & Watson, Morse & Lewis.

Just when you think they've uncovered the scheme behind a murder, and it all seems to come together making perfect sense, the writers carry you off in an entirely different direction. It's all a great romp with an occasional touch of melancholy sweetness involving McDonald's aspirations and Dodds' pondering of his own mortality.

For the viewer it's a wonderful, unexpected treat.

Quelle délicieuse diversion

Inside joke, that.

The end of the last century was a great time because Michael Crichton was still with us. His touch is clearly in evidence in this film.

I just finished watching it again for about the twelfth time, and I still find nuances in dialogue, acting performances and story structure that are a delight. For example, the way we see our protagonist learns his fellow warriors language is wonderfully shown.

I see only three challenges that Crichton was unable to fix:

1. As noted, the origin of the enemy is never really explained. Why are they hostile, and how are they different from the men they fight? I know the book provides an explanation, but I think it could've been included somewhere in the storyline.

2. An ensemble cast of this many characters (13 warriors, after all) requires careful staging to ensure we can follow the fates of all of them, so we understand who falls when, and who is left to carry on. Some of the characters never develop well enough, or look so much alike that it becomes hard to know who is who in fight scenes and discussions afterwards. It can be done, and "The Dirty Dozen" is an excellent example of how to do it.

3. Finally, the main night attack on the town has some thrilling moments, but the lighting is such that it can be hard to follow which of the characters is facing off against the foe, and the final set of scenes is a confusing mishmash of horses, torches and repeated shouting of the same warning.

Nevertheless, these are minor shortcomings.

I will watch it again--for the 13th time--Odin willing.

This review contains a brief discussion of the film's conclusion.

I saw Rocketship X-M as a boy over half a century ago in the early 1960s. It's conclusion haunted me for years afterward. As a child who grew up during the Cold War, global thermonuclear conflict was always a distinct possibility. When I saw this movie my elementary school was still conducting Duck & Cover Drills teaching us to seek protection from a nuclear bomb by hiding under our desks

Yep. That really happened back then.

The script and special effects are laughable by today's standards. And yet, the story has a purpose as a cautionary tale about the, then new, atomic era thrust without warning upon an unsuspecting world. The less critical young boy who saw the consequences of atomic war on another planet--in this case Mars--always remembered the cast uncovering a piece of otherworldly, but beautiful, Martian artwork still contaminated with lethal radioactivity.

The Martian ruins, all that was left of the Martian civilization, still haunt me.

One small anecdote: I recall watching MST 3K one time when they critiqued this film. The usual bombast, puns and bad jokes ran throughout. Until they stopped when the explorers discovered the Martian artifact. All of sudden--though I'm sure my memory is faulty--it seems the MST 3K folks didn't have anything humorous to say.

And so it remains , at least to me, a film worth watching, if only because it shows even that long ago we realized something unthinkable might happen, and had to live with that awful possibility.

Every. Single. Day.

This is a short story. It is well crafted, and doesn't waste any of your time with unnecessary special effects, mindless action, explosions, etc.

The theme is one told before in innumerable other films, both long and short, as well as in other media, such as short stories, novellas and full length books.

So, if you're looking for something entirely new, you'll be disappointed.

That takes nothing at all away from this story, though. It is graceful, simple and compelling. The author, actors and film crew should take pride in what they've accomplished.

Because--until people get the message--it is a story worth telling over and over and over again.

I've read the book more than once, and completely understand Michael Crichton's objections to this film adaptation. I also understand why so many who enjoyed the book feel the same way. But, a film adaptation is a film first and an adaptation second. As an adventure epic with a science fiction foundation, it's not that bad. The pacing is adequate, the character development sufficient to engender interest in the various players' fates and the overall cinematography journeyman proficient. If you have a few hours on a rainy day, and haven't read the book, have at it, and enjoy!