Buckaroo Banzai Trilogy

In the world of the Legion of Lawndale Heroes, The Buckaroo Banzai Trilogy is a series of seven films begun with The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across The Eighth Dimension, and starring Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin, John Lithgow and Clancy Brown (who has a tendancy to die in every film but be resurrected in the next). Unlike in our universe, where no further movies were made and Buckaroo Banzai became a 1980's cult classic film, in this world, Buckaroo Banzai was the #2 film of 1984 and won several awards, including five Academy Awards (Editing, Sound, Set Design, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor - John Lithgow). The success of the film spawned a massive franchise, which is popular even to the present day.

(Peter Weller, the actor who played the title character, went on to have a career as an A-list actor, spurred on by his two wildly successful characters of Banzai and Robocop; in this reality, the writers/producers retained the tone of the first film in the second and third, as well as keeping the cast as intact as possible and focusing on the plot point of 'Murphy' attempting to come to grips with his 'lost humanity'. Robocop 2, by working this theme in a surprisingly sensitive manner that resonated with critics and moviegoers alike, was lauded as a superior film and was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award, as well.)

The success of Buckaroo Banzai (or Eighth Dimension, as the fans refer to it) spawned an equally succesful 1988 sequel - Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League - and led to the 1992 third film in the series, Buckaroo Banzai and The Reel World Marauders. The fourth film in the series, released in 1996, was Buckaroo Banzai And The Forever Voyage (By this time, the producers had capitalized on the fact that their films were coming out during Presidential electtion years; starting in 1992, they released the new BB films on the Friday before the election.) Three more BB films were released, with the latest being released in 2004, the year the Legion was founded.

The title, Buckaroo Banzai Trilogy, is a play on the similiar collective title attached to the Hitchhiker's Guide books by Douglas Adams, who is still alive in this universe and has written eight books in the series.

Kyle Armalin is a very big fan of the Buckaroo Banzai films.