1984 SF comedy, dir. W. D. Richter, Peter Weller, John Lithgow:
IMDb. The Oscillation
Overthruster allows passage through solid objects… but it may lead to
the end of the world.
This is a strange film. Earl Mac Rauch had the idea for the lead
character, and came up with many half-scripts, but couldn't bring any
of them to a conclusion until this one. Buckaroo is a neurosurgeon,
test pilot, rock guitarist, and his team… well, it's all a bit Doc
Savage really. Also, alas, in that his supporters get one character
trait each, at most…
But I'll admit it, the film wins me over with its opening sequence in
the manner of The Right Stuff, and the performance by Peter Weller,
whom I've been happy to watch basically everywhere I've seen him
(starting with Robocop made a few years after this). Not many actors
could deliver lines like this convincingly:
"Buckaroo, the White House wants to know is everything ok with the
alien space craft from Planet 10 or should we just go ahead and
destroy Russia?"
"Tell him yes on one and no on two."
(Yeah, some people think this isn't a comedy.)
There's a solid cast: Christoper Lloyd the year before Back to the
Future,, Clancy Brown two years before Highlander, Ron Lacey as the
President… and of course John Lithgow, whom, clearly, nobody told to
tone it down even slightly.
The plot? Eh, the plot doesn't do much for me. It's busy, it's
over-complex (I suspect a major reason the film failed), and it
doesn't end up justifying that complexity. But the feeling, if one
can get in tune with it, is great fun.
I talk about this film further on
Ribbon of Memes.