World Watch OnLine: The Buckaroo Banzai Mailing List
#  29  (10 August 1997)
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Number of subscribers:  410
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Contents:
Greetings
Re: World Watch OnLine 28 - 23 July 1997
Phil's movie (off topic)
A BIG contribution
this just in...
Subj:	Address Change
hey this is mr.suits
Hi there webring peoples!
Anniversary

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Greetings,
Hey all. Special welcome to the new folks.
Hope the Cinemax people got to see TABB when it was on. If not, it'll
be on Monday at 1pm (Pacific at least...check listings and all that).
They also showed Clancy's other greatest movie of all time, "Highlander,"
Saturday night, and maybe a time or two again later. You can also see the
darker side of our own Meester Rawhide in "Cast A Deadly Spell" on HBO
this coming week.
Figured I'd better go ahead and send this out since today (Sunday) is 
a holiday. What holiday? Check Clyde's post at the bottom, before the next 
bit of "The Whisper."

Later...
ArcLight
(Oh, make sure you swing by the WW1 page and be awed be Hollywood's
way cool cartoon I scanned from the original newsletter with her gracious
permission)

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Subj:	Re: World Watch OnLine 28 - 23 July 1997
Date:	97-07-23 20:37:48 EDT
From:	buckaroobanzai@geocities.com (Callista Fate)

Just got a rumor buzz... one my informants (and backed up by another) at
ILM said that they just had a special showing of BB... no one seems to
know why. Do we dare hope a sequal or even a remastered BB? *crosses
fingers*
-- 
"You emailed that? You're braver than I thought."- Princess Leia

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Subj:	Phil's movie (off topic)
Date:	97-07-24 00:15:42 EDT
From:	rstorm@iquest.net (Ryan Storm)

Where can I get more information on your film? Like what it's about? 

 >//////////////|==================================== Brandon Storm
----------------------------------
Ryan Storm
*Please ignore if this message is not going to the F-Body Mailing List!*
1991 Pontiac TA, A4, Black - SLP Cold Air intake, SLP airfoil,
K&N Air Filter, Flowmaster muffler, Hypertech Power chip, Hypertech 160
degree thermo., Accel Spiral Core wires, Crane Cams Torque Conveter
Lockup Harness, B&M Transpak, Accel AFPR.
http://www.iquest.net/~rstorm/
mailto:rstorm@iquest.net

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Subj:	A BIG contribution
Date:	97-07-25 21:49:36 EDT
From:	CVDrake

Salutations, all...

The most frequently asked questions I get about my old days in the Banzai
Institute (aside from being asked to tell that damn watermelon story) are
usually about the long version of the film.  What scenes were cut?  Was Jamie
Lee Curtis really in the movie?  Were there any more scenes with Mrs.
Johnson?

Okay... that last question was mine.  But a lot of people have asked about
the missing scenes.  Some of you have been lucky enough to have actually seen
the long version of the film... and I'm sure a small few actually have caught
a copy of the rough cut video tape that fell from the sky.  But for the
majority who hasn't seen it, here are a few of my notes on what was left on
the cutting room floor...

The most remarkable omission from the final version is an opening flashback:
a "home movie" of the original jet car (and Oscillation Overthruster) being
tested by Buckaroo's father, his mother (yes indeed, Jamie Lee Curtis played
Mom) and a young Professor Hikita.  Apparently shot in 16mm with no
production sound, and narrated by Rawhide in the movie's rough version
(although Don Pardo was recorded for a test screening version), the scene
showed the tragic death of Buckaroo's parents when their experimental jetcar
exploded - apparently the result of an incendiary device planted by Hanoi
Xan.  Young Buckaroo is saved by Hikita, who grabbed the youngster and pulled
him to safety at the last second.

A nice little moment between Buckaroo and Professor Hikita was cut, just
before the press conference where they announce the existence of the 8th
Dimension.  As they all sit at the table waiting for the conference to begin,
Buckaroo notices Hikita looking at a newspaper with the headline announcing
Dr. Lizardo's escape from the mental institution...

          Hikita: Lizardo.

          Buckaroo: Uh, yes. Uh... Reno's gonna hang around and play "Go"
with you for a couple days.  Okay...?

          Hikita: Are you kidding?  I can take care of myself.

In the release version, you can just barely hear Hikita say "myself" just
before the Secretary of Defense begins the press conference by saying "I'd
like to move this thing along..."  But still left in the film is Buckroo's
expression as he looks at Hikita, knowing he's done everything he can do, and
(because of the Professor's stubbornness) he can't do anything more.


A few cuts in the film were made in an attempt to reduce the silliness of the
evil red Lectroids.  The desired effect was to make them seem a bit more
threatening.  When the three bad Lectroids are driving the van back to
Yoyodyne, John Gomez can be seen sucking battery acid through a straw from a
car battery.  When they detect the Black Thermo-pod emergency beacon, he asks
"Here?  On Earth?  Why?  John Bigboote, why?"

          Bigboote:  John Whorfin.  They must have heard he escaped!  What's
the location?  Give me a fix!

Hearing "fix," John Gomez offers Bigboote the battery.  Bigboote turns it
down.

          Bigboote:  No thanks - I'm driving.


During a film's post-production phase, dialogue that needs to be replaced for
one reason or another is re-recorded.   And in some cases, lines to be heard
off-stage are recorded by the principal actors and other vocal performers.
If a scene is cut that contained some plot point, sometimes a line can be
inserted off-stage to correct this problem. (Ben Burtt, sound designer on the
"Star Wars" films, said that lines for Darth Vader and C-3PO were always
re-written at the last minute - since those two characters had no visible
mouths, and could say anything!)

One small example of added dialogue occurred in "Banzai" when a section of
John Emdall's holographic message was cut.  In the original version, after
Perfect Tommy interrupted the message by saying "That's an action that the
Kremlin will most certainly mis-interpret as an American first strike -
they're already a little trigger happy as it is!" John Emdall suddenly turned
to him and said:

          John Emdall:  Exactly, Perfect Tommy!  (TOMMY REACTS - VISIBLY
STARTLED.) The Soviets will retaliate!  And your President Widmark will
launch a massive counterforce strike! And within twenty minutes the danger to
Planet 10 will be removed.  But - because we're good guys - we're giving you
a chance to save your planet."

Since this section of monologue was removed, her final line, which was left
in the film, "End of discussion" no longer made sense - since the interactive
discussion part of the scene was cut.  So while Jeff Goldblum was on the
dialogue recording stage replacing his lines for the film, he was also
recorded saying "Discussion?  What discussion?!" to be used at the end of
this scene to correct this problem.

In addition to being mentioned in the film's opening narration over the "home
movies," Hanoi Xan was originally going to be mentioned a couple more times
in the film.  The scene where Penny is in Buckaroo's bathroom while she asks
about the picture of her sister was originally going to be longer.  In the
original version, right after Hikita's lab assistant is attacked, we return
to Buckaroo and Penny in the bedroom...

          Penny (looking at the picture): Where is she?

          Buckaroo: She's dead.  Murdered.  A present from Hanoi Xan.

          Penny: Hanoi Xan... The boss of the World Crime League?  The guy in
the comic books...?

          Buckaroo (as he loads his gun): No... not the guy in the comic
books... the guy out there.

It's a shame that the scene was trimmed, as Peter Weller's performance was
excellent... you really felt Buckaroo's deep sadness - and knew that it was
too painful for him to elaborate any more than what he had said.

Another more amusing reference to Hanoi Xan that was removed occurred in a
scene at Yoyodyne, just after Lizardo/Whorfin hangs up the phone with
Buckaroo, and orders Penny be taken to the Pitt...

          Lizardo: Use more honey!  Find out what she knows!

          Penny: Not on your life!  Do you think you can destroy me like you
did my sister?  Think I don't know who you are, Hanoi Xan?!

And with that, Penny is dragged off.  Lizardo sits there for a moment, very
confused.

          Lizardo: Hanoi Xan...?  Who's that?


Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of bumping into Peter Weller at my
office.  He recalled for me a scene that  - although it may very well have
been in the spirit of his character - was probably not a part of the film:

Buckaroo and a few of the Cavaliers are at a coffee shop ordering breakfast.
A waitress is taking Buckaroo's order.

          Waitress:  How do you like your eggs?

          Buckaroo:  I like them fine.

          Waitress: No - how do like them cooked?

          Buckaroo:  I like them that way, too.

Well, that's about all I have time for. Having worked on the original
newsletter over a decade ago, I'm happy to share whatever trivia tid bits I
am able to share. If any of you have any questions or comments, please drop
me a note at cvdrake@aol.com.  I can't guarantee I'll respond right away, but
I'll sure give it a shot.

Clyde von Drake

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Subj:	this just in...
Date:	97-07-28 12:32:15 EDT
From:	buckaroo@jane.penn.com (Jaymz Grey)

On Saturday I was channel surfin when I came across an Ep of "The Outer
Limits" to my suprise I saw Clancy Brown in it and decied to watch. I
missed some of the ep but here is what happend Clancy was a Special OP
guy with the army who was framed for murdering about 12 ppl at this army
recuriters. The Gov was supposed to kill him for this but the made him a
specimen for a experament with alien DNA and mutated him. The Gov wanted
see how these aliens kill ppl and such. But They didn't know what was
happening. It was a test on them by the aliens. over all it was an ok ep
from what I saw and The makeup was very good considering Clancy's
allergy to certain makeup glues. FYI I know of the allergy from owning
the DC of THe First Highlander. Also The first part of "The Legacy
Concert" by me is up and online at
http://gen-x.simplenet.com/stories/L/Legacy/legacy1.htm and I am working
on the second part. Our Fav Lolly theif will be mentioned in Part two
and will appear in a later part. Also I'm toying with another cameo
appearence of another semifamous band from another cult film. In the
following stories I'm planning to write Gen-X from the Legacy Concert
will join forces with The Boys from Holland NJ and a few other well
known Locales to fight OZT, a pure BB fanfic, and a Viper Strike Force
story with BB and CO. And I'm glad to report on Today the Snake pit has
had 200 visitors since April First. 
Fanatic

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Subj:	Address Change
From:	reddi@sirius.com
Reply-to:	reddi@sirius.com

Please note that DIanePlan9@aol.com is now RedDi@sirius.com.  Thanks. -Diane

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Subj:	hey this is mr.suits
Date:	97-08-01 18:03:03 EDT
From:	neallm@laser.net (NEAL L. MONEY)

just wanted to tell u that i found two books and they didn't cost that 
much, i spent a long time looking and i walked into a used book store 
and the guy said, " i'll start looking to night." so i think it was two 
days later and hey, got two bb books in good shape.ok
			-be cool-
		       -mr. suits-

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Subj:	 Hi there webring peoples!
Date:	97-08-03 16:20:19 EDT
From:	buckaroobanzai@geocities.com (Callista Fate)

I can no longer maintain
my Buckaroo Banzai site due to several reasons, one of them being flames
instead of feedback (Hey, I'm a sensitive soul, can I help that?) and
soon to be in college working toward my major in film making. 
The webring is also no longer gaining new people.... it has been a VERY
long while since I got an addition. If any kind sould would like to take
up the ring, you a very welcome to do so. Maybe you'll have better luck
than me..... any graphics or whatnot are yours to use. 
This is a sad thing, I'm sorry to be saying this, but I can no longer
maintain this any more. You all have been wonderful to actually join
this ring and still keep the light for Buckaroo blazing!
I still love the film and still will be a major fan, but keep the pages
up and running with people constantly telling me what to do sucks. I
started the page out of love and working on it and reading the email
from the site makes me cringe... so I'm gonna back down so I don't
become totally in anger with the thought of BB.
If you need to contact me in conjuction to any of this, please feel free
to do so at the same email addy. I will be keeping that because that
what everyone knows as my email addy, and my webpage itself will be
erased and the account moved to another spot at Geocities.

Please feel free to take over the webring, create a new one, whatever.
I'll help you out anyway I can.

Toodles,
Rachel
buckaroobanzai@geocities.com
-- 
"You emailed that? You're braver than I thought."- Princess Leia

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Subj:	Anniversary
Date:	97-08-09 03:38:03 EDT
From:	CVDrake
"
Buckaroo Banzai" will be 13 years old on Sunday.  The film opened in
1984 on August 10th.

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"The Whisper"
Chapter One
Part 2
-RedDi@sirius.com

"Buckaroo Banzai" and related characters and concepts are copyright 
Credit Layonaise.  The story, on the other hand, is copyright 1997 
by me, that is BBI Red Di ("Chicago Red's second cousin") 
(RedDi@sirius.com), and cannot be re-distributed or archived 
anywhere without askin' her nice first.  This story may contain language 
and action which some may find PG-13; I'll try to keep it at that level.  
Not being entirely familiar with the complete BB Institute background, 
Red Di welcomes any helpful comments about what happened when and where.  
This story is set after the return of Peggy/Penny as documented in 
Ernest Cline's screenplay for "Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime 
League", in which Penny is revealed to be Peggy (sorry, hope that 
didn't spoil it for everyone).

	Buckaroo Banzai looked over the curious crowd gathered in the 
Bunkhouse conference room.  Rawhide stood back, leaning against 
the wall, appearing aloof as always but really keeping a close eye on 
things; Reno and Pecos whispered to each other in hushed but serious 
tones; New Jersey tapped a pencil absentmindedly as he attempted to 
make conversation with a reluctant Perfect Tommy, who cleaned his 
nails as he replied to New Jersey's questions; Billy Travers, Rafterman 
and Pinky Carruthers muttered to each other over a computer monitor 
at the far end of the table; and of course, his wife Peggy, who sat
beside an anxious Mrs. Johnson.  Mrs. Johnson handed Buckaroo his notes.

	Buckaroo wondered, in one of his moments of brief introspection, how 
he had become so lucky to acquire such a loyal and talented team.  His 
mind briefly touched upon events that had formed such strong bonds 
with all of them over the years: his early adventures with Rawhide in 
Wyoming, before the Institute was even founded; the battles with Hanoi 
Xan and his followers; the pain at losing Peggy to Xan, only to discover 
years later that she was never dead at all; his days in med school with 
New Jersey; and, most importantly, his early life with-

	Suddenly Buckaroo looked concerned.  "Where's Hikita-san?"

	"It's all right, Buckaroo," came the familiar voice as Professor Hikita 
appeared at the door of the conference room.  "I'm here."

	Buckaroo nodded as the Professor took his seat at the table. 
"Okay, then, let's get started.  Mrs. Johnson has informed me that her 
husband's records of this facility - I'm talking about architectural plans 
and security systems layouts - have been accessed by an unknown 
source via the Internet.  Billy Travers, I'd like you to try and figure out 
how this happened ASAP, and preferably by whom."

	"I'm on it," replied Billy, starting to type away at his keyboard.

	"What does this mean in terms of our security here?" asked Rafterman.

	"It means red alert until further notice," Buckaroo told them all.  
"Pinky, what's new at the gate?"

	Pinky Carruthers pushed back the brim of his fedora before making 
his reply.  "I got security doubled at all regular posts, with a few extra people stationed at our weak spots.  Some Blue Blaze Irregulars are on the job 
today at some extra posts, so don't get trigger-happy if you think you've 
spotted an intruder.  If they've got the Banzai Headband on, they're 
Blue Blazes."

	"Thanks, Pinky," Buckaroo said.  "To tell you the truth, I don't think 
we're in immediate great danger.  Whoever broke into the files didn't think 
Mrs. Johnson would find out so quickly, or else they would have covered 
their tracks then and there.  Plus, I got some information very early this 
morning from Team Sobriquet that I don't doubt has a lot to do with this."

	During Buckaroo's brief pause, the others looked at Perfect Tommy.  
"Hey, Tommy," Reno grinned, "maybe the Ice Queen just wants a date."

	"Yeah, yeah," moaned Tommy almost imperceptibly, hoping to shift 
the remark onto a new topic.  The Ice Queen was leader of the all-female 
Team Sobriquet, whose ship was presently stationed off the coast of 
Kowloon Bay.  Perfect Tommy, being perfect, rarely struck out with any 
woman, but the Ice Queen was more than impervious to his charms.  She 
was downright discouraging.  Perfect Tommy looked back at Buckaroo,
avoiding Reno's eyes.  "So, what did Queenie have to say?"

	"That one of her team members, Chicago Red, heard that The Whisper 
is staging an important meeting here in New Jersey at the end of this week, 
and it has something to do with us."

	"Chicago Red?" drawled Rawhide.  "Ain't that a baseball team?"

	"I wouldn't talk, Rawhide."  The sarcastic but amused voice that came 
from the conference room doorway belonged to a small woman in her 
early thirties with vermilion red bobbed hair and short bangs.  She wore a 
black tank top, red vinyl capri pants and white ankle boots.  She set a red 
leather jacket, gloves and a motorcycle helmet - spangled red - on a chair 
by the door.  "I think Peggy there's the only one who could rightfully make
fun of names."

	Peggy laughed, ran to the door and greeted her old friend with a 
warm hug. "Everyone, this is Chicago Red.  She's Illinois Kate's cousin 
and my best friend since high school."

	"Hey, I know you," Perfect Tommy said, leaning forward in his chair 
so quickly that it almost slipped.  "You were in that chick band.  You 
covered "Cherry Bomb" by the Runaways--it was pretty good."

	Chicago Red laughed.  "And you've got to be Perfect Tommy.  Ice 
Queen warned me about you.  Yeah, I play bass sometimes with a 
band called ZuZu's Petals and yes, we are all chicks."  

	"But I know you from someplace else, too," he muttered.

	She turned back to Buckaroo.  "It's great to see you two again.  It's 
been way too long between visits."  She gave him a quick hug.  "I flew 
in from Chicago and borrowed a friend's bike as soon as Ice Queen gave 
me the go-ahead this morning.  I'm sure I wasn't followed."

	"I realize you're new to Sobriquet, so you haven't met most of the 
others yet, except maybe the ones who were at the wedding, but that 
was a long time ago-"

	"That's where!"  Tommy exclaimed.  "Yeah, I remember you now."

	"Well, try to forget it," she grimaced, remembering that day.

	Rawhide squinted at her.  "I don't remember you, though."

	"I was the nightmare in pink standing next to Peggy."  The maid of 
honor's dress that Peggy had picked for her clashed horribly with her red 
hair, and its style was very unlike her; she secretly slipped into a pair of 
boots after the heels of the pumps she'd had to wear during the wedding 
began to throw her balance off.  If Peggy wasn't her best friend,
she wouldn't have been caught dead wearing that dress in public, let alone 
having her picture taken for posterity's sake in it.

	Rawhide nodded now, grinning a little.  "Oh, yeah.  Pink's not your 
color, is it?"

	"No," she grumbled.  "Let's just move on, okay?"  She looked to 
Buckaroo for rescue.

	"Right," Buckaroo said quickly.  "Everyone, this is Chicago Red.  
Red, you met Mrs. Johnson and Professor Hikita at the wedding.  Dr. 
Sidney Zweibel -"

	"Uh, the fellas call me New Jersey," New Jersey added quickly.

	Buckaroo continued, "Then we have Billy Travers at the computer, and 
Blue Blaze Irregular Pinky Carruthers, who's been in charge of gate operations 
during crisis situations. Rafterman's been working in the lab on defense 
devices with Hikita-san; he just finished at the Institute last year.  Perfect 
Tommy and Rawhide you already sort of know, and then we have Reno 
and Pecos, arms and science respectively."

	"Glad to meet all of you."

	Buckaroo added, "Chicago Red's an important addition to Team 
Sobriquet, but truthfully she only rides with them on occasion, because 
she doesn't like leaving the east coast too often.  We're lucky to have 
her with us; she's what Reno would call a triple threat: she's a doctor 
of forensics, she studied intensively in surveillance techniques and devices 
at Quantico, and is a black belt in Kung Fu."

	"And she plays bass," Perfect Tommy added.

	"Yeah, I can shoot okay as well," she replied, still trying to recover 
from pink memories.

	"FBI?" asked Rawhide cautiously, recognizing Quantico as the location 
of the government organization's academy.  He had a deep distrust of 
bureaucratic organizations, even though the FBI had access to terrific 
crime-solving resources.  

	Chicago Red looked unhappy at the thought and shifted her gaze up 
to Rawhide. "For a while, in my impetuous youth.  Hey, but enough about me.  
We can chat later.  This is important stuff, here.  You wanna hear this or not?"

	Buckaroo gestured towards the head of the table.  "The floor's all yours."

	"Well, last night, me and ZuZu's Petals were playing a show at 
Chumley's in Chicago.  Maybe you've been there?"  She realized then that 
she was addressing the whole room.  What was more surprising was the 
reply.

	"Actually, yes."  Perfect Tommy spoke up.  A "Knight of the Lesser 
Boulevards," as Buckaroo had quipped once, Perfect Tommy knew just 
about every nightclub on the east coast.  "Kind of a dump, but not entirely 
without its charms."

	"I like to keep my ear to the ground.  So I saw some guys at a table 
in the back that I recognized as being some of The Whisper's men. One 
of 'em sent a drink over to me. Like Buckaroo said, I'm new to Sobriquet 
so I've got the advantage of not being well known as working for the Institute."

	"We hope," Rawhide said in a foreboding manner.

	She glanced briefly at the cowboy, who said nothing more, and continued. 
"Anyway, it gave me an opportunity.  I never travel without my gear.  Some 
gals dig make-up, I'm big on bugs."

	"The crawling kind?" New Jersey asked, puzzled but intrigued.

	Chicago Red shook her head.  "The listening kind.  I can hide them 
almost anywhere.  I found a small transmitter in my kit, taped it to a 
magnet, and went over to thank the guys for the drink with my Dumb Chick 
voice on.  I stuck the transmitter under the table to the metal post.  I think 
it's safe to say that they definitely weren't watching my hands.  I recorded 
the conversation with a micro tape recorder I had stashed in my
drummer's empty drum kit."

	"Did it turn out okay?" Peggy asked, anxious to show off her friend's 
skills to everyone.

	"Sure.  I've got the tape right here.  Just snapped on the recorder and 
went about my drinking before the next set.  Unfortunately, when we 
started to play, it got a little too loud to hear much of anything they were 
saying," she added sheepishly.  She handed the tape to Buckaroo.  

"Play away, Banzai."

<<to be continued...>>