December 19, 2012

The Weirdest of the 80s

How could you not want to watch a film as weird as this?



I own a copy on DVD, of course. The movie is an absolute piece of pure 80's trash.

There's the hero - a rock and roll, space cowboy, comic book hero, neurosurgeon  nuclear physicist, super spy who saves the world from Martians after coming back from the 8th dimension, playing a little guitar and tiny trumpet - played by Peter Weller (Robocop). There's the villain, Dr. Lizardo, played by John Lithgow in full scenery-chewing, crazy scientist mode. We also get Christopher Lloyd (Doc from Back to the Future), Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum walking around in a Riders in the Sky outfit, Dan Hedaya (Nick Tortelli from Cheers), and Clancy Brown (the Kurgen from Highlander).



For the end credits alone, this film should be remembered...



...and it was by Wes Anderson...(skip to 1:17)



The film pretty well has it all. There's Eastern Philosophy...



...serious early-80's rock in the style of Rick Springfield...but with way more tiny horn...



...an epicly crazy and horribly accented John Lithgow...



...a watermelon...



...creatively named aliens...



Plus there are tons of extras that are every bit as weird as what made the final film...





It's a cult classic worth a look...



I'm looking forward to watching this one-hour Q&A about the film from last year's New York Film Festival...as always, with Kevin Smith involved,



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