The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) is W.D. Richter's cult sci-fi comedy, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller) is a neurosurgeon, a particle physicist, a race-car driver and the frontman of a rock band called The Hong Kong Cavaliers — all at once. He punches a jet car straight through the wall of the eighth dimension, and lets something loose.

Through that breach come the Red Lectroids from Planet 10, aliens stranded on Earth since Orson Welles' 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast. Their leader is the deranged physicist Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow), possessed and ranting in a wild fake-Italian accent. Buckaroo and his ragtag crew of scientist-musicians have to stop the invasion before the Lectroids drag the planet into war. Jeff Goldblum shows up in cowboy gear, with Christopher Lloyd and Ellen Barkin along for the ride.

It flopped in theaters and became a midnight favorite on video almost immediately, prized for deadpan jokes that never stop to explain themselves and a world that feels ripped from the middle of a serial that never existed. Perfect for anyone who loves gleefully absurd 1980s genre weirdness. Stream The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (1984) online on iFILM.