Long before Yoyodyne became synonymous with high-end motorcycle parts, there was a little cult film from '84 call
The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across The 8th Dimension. Red Lectroids from Planet 10 lead by John Whorfin (John Lithgow) live inside a fictional defense contracting company in Grover's Mill, New Jersey called Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems. Grover's Mill was made famous by the 1938 Orson Welles narrated
War of the Worlds radio broadcast in which aliens had invaded Earth ....the Red Lectroids used the broadcast as a cover, having hypnotized Welles and causing him to pass the broadcast off as a drama.
I did this several years ago as a "What If..." the Lectroid / Yoyodyne ruse had not been discovered by Buckroo Banzai (Peter Weller, of RoboCop fame) and his crime fighting team, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, and gone on to produce real items for the defense industry.... In real life it's a Glock 22 OD .40 S&W.
Very 80's label & general appearance to this weapon, which only makes sense-just the sort of thing you'd need to arm ruthless alien conspirators or futuristic cyborg assassins alike. Happened across a comic-collection SEQUEL to "Banzai" several weeks back...a testament to the sticking power of some cult-media if ever there was one.
ReplyDeleteAnon: As I understand it, 25+ years later and the filmmaker is still trying to get the "World Crime League" sequel to BB made. The Star Trek franchise latched onto BB too...there's direct and indirect references in just about every series. From YPS being the 'shipyard' that built a good chunk of the fleet (it's on a couple of the ships dedication plaques) to more obvious ones like Picard is doing a computer search and there's a listing for a ship...the SS Buckaroo Bonzai commanded by John Whorfin on a mission to "Planet 10, Dimension 8".
ReplyDeleteMedia industry-wide, here's at least a dozen references to the old watermelon in the vice gag.
Interesting...and given the ongoing barrage of film-franchise reboots, BB seems likely to get that sequel SOMEday.
ReplyDeleteAnon: Hopefully so....at least before it passes into complete obscurity (if it hasn't already).
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