The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension Page #10

The other hunter tossing a plastic tarp over the body as they all turn

to regard the headlights of the Yoyodyne van...the cop heading that

way...

196

BUCKAROO ARRIVING now too, scraping to a stop on his motorcycle in

heavy brush, creeping closer to the crash site for a better look...

197

BUCKAROO'S POV:
The ungainly SPHERICAL SPACECRAFT and that amazing DEAD

CREATURE on the ground, covered now with a sheet of semi-transparent

plastic...observing John Bigbooté and John Gomez producing official

I.D.s and appearing to BUCKAROO AS CRIMSON ALIENS...TO THE COPS AS...

ORDINARY CITIZENS:198

JOHN BIGBOOTÉ

John Bigbooté, Officer. Executive Vice President, Yoyodyne Propulsion

Systems.

JOHN GOMEZ:

(of the spacecraft)

One of our birds.

The highway patrolman returning Bigbooté's I.D., still a little

skeptical about the whole thing, pointing to THE DEAD CREATURE UNDER

PLASTIC.

HIGHWAY PATROLMAN

That fella over there-that one of yours, too, is it?

John Bigbooté having a ready answer...

JOHN BIGBOOTÉ

The droid, you mean?

199

Buckaroo moving quickly to the back of the van, starting to open the

rear door with a locksmith's pick attached to his special SWISS ARMY

LIGHTER.

ELECTRICITY JUMPING FROM HIS FINGERS.200

Buckaroo dropping the two-way radio homing device on the bumper...

201

INT. VAN - CRASH SITE - NIGHT202

The sound of the Swiss Army lighter jolting red alien John

O'Connor...O'Connor thinking the noise has come from the crate

itself...

JOHN O'CONNOR

Button up in there, Professor, if you know what's good for you.

John O'Connor stepping out for a smoke.

EXT. VAN - NIGHT203

Buckaroo watching the alien John O'Connor move off in the direction of

the hunters, retrieving his dropped Swiss Army lighter, not noticing

that the once blinking L.E.D. on the homing device has gone out!

Buckaroo again picking the lock...

EXT. CRASH SITE - NIGHT204

...ordinary citizen John O'Connor meanwhile observing the hunters still

hanging around, one of them engrossed in the Buckaroo comic, his pal

trying to figure out how to operate the dead alien's unusual

flashlight...

JOHN O'CONNOR

Nice night, huh?

INT. VAN - NIGHT205

...as Buckaroo stealthily enters, working the lock on the crate now

with his all-purpose lighter.

CLOSE ON HIS FINGERS EMITTING THE OCCASIONAL SPARK...206

EXT. SWAMP - NIGHT207

John Bigbooté, John Gomez, and the cop looming above the dead

creature...

HIGHWAY PATROLMAN

Looks like nothing I ever seen. I seen droids in space movies, but

they're nothing like this-

JOHN GOMEZ:

It's a three-man thermopod...

John Bigbooté shooting John Gomez a hard stare...

HIGHWAY PATROLMAN

Thermopod? What's a...

JOHN BIGBOOTÉ

Very T.S. Top Secret, right John Gomez?

HIGHWAY PATROLMAN

Yeah, well, I was gonna call Buckaroo Banzai out here to have a look.

Right up his alley, I think.

John Bigbooté's mood suddenly changing...tensing...

JOHN BIGBOOTÉ

You called Buckaroo Banzai?

HIGHWAY PATROLMAN

Not yet. I said I was gonna.

The three of them looking up at another pair of headlights arriving, A

SEDAN, the cop yelling at them:

HIGHWAY PATROLMAN

Go on! Keep it moving!

JOHN GOMEZ:

We got a truck on the way to mop things up for you. Else this place

could become a zoo, not to mention a haven for gawkers.

The highway patrolman moving off to deal with the sedan...

JOHN BIGBOOTÉ

We'll just go ahead and start breaking it down.

HIGHWAY PATROLMAN

Don't touch it! I got my own help on the way! That's an order!

John Bigbooté frowning, telling John Gomez:

JOHN BIGBOOTÉ

There's a crowbar in the truck.

John Gomez nodding, heading back to the van...

INT. VAN - NIGHT208

...as Buckaroo pries his way into the crate, extracting the shaken

Professor Hikita.

A SPARK dancing between them as they touch!209

210

PROF. HIKITA

Buckaroo! What the Sam Hill!

BUCKAROO BANZAI:

Careful...don't make noise and don't touch me. I'm hotter than

flapjacks.

PROF. HIKITA

What?

BUCKAROO BANZAI:

I'm a giant semi-conductor, and there's alien creatures all around us.

Form the Eighth Dimension, I think. Look...

Buckaroo trying to show Professor Hikita the MATHEMATICAL FORMULA

written on his hand.

PROF. HIKITA

You can see them?

Buckaroo holding a finger to his lips...whispering...

BUCKAROO BANZAI:

Ever since that phony phone call from the President. Look at this.

What is it?

PROF. HIKITA

It's your hand, Buckaroo.

BUCKAROO BANZAI:

It's an antidote. A formula. Whoever it was on the phone made me

scribble this and gave me the ability to penetrate their disguises.

Buckaroo opening the door to the van.

BUCKAROO SEES the red alien John Gomez coming closer...211

212

PROF. HIKITA

Antidote to what? Whose disguises?

BUCKAROO BANZAI:

Arachtoids. From Planet Ten.

PROF. HIKITA

Planet 10?

BUCKAROO BANZAI:

(pointing quickly)

There's a Harley behind those bushes. Get back to the laboratory and

start working on the formula. We don't have time to ask questions.

Just synthesize it-

The professor still without the crucial information, however...John

Gomez approaching...

PROF. HIKITA

Buckaroo, the formula--

Thinking fast, Buckaroo presses the palm of his hand to Professor

Hikita's forehead, the ball-point ink transferring...THE IMPORTANT

FORMULA IMPRINTED IN REVERSE ON THE PROFESSOR'S SHINY PATE...

BUCKAROO BANZAI:

Hurry! Please.

EXT. ROAD - NIGHT213

The highway patrolman talking to the sedan...TWO SHADOWY FIGURES

INSIDE...

HIGHWAY PATROLMAN

If you're gonna stay, you're gonna be under arrest. It's your choice.

INT. WOLD WATCH ONE/BUS - NIGHT214

Meanwhile back on Buckaroo's bus, in the nerve center, Rawhide and

Perfect Tommy look at a BLANK OSCILLOSCOPE operated by a Blue Shield

Technician...

PERFECT TOMMY:

Twelve minutes since the last signal. Long time.

RAWHIDE:

Too long. We better get somebody over there. Put up the grid, last

known location--

215

CLOSE ON OSCILLOSCOPE...AN ELECTRONIC GRID FIELD coming up, noting

Buckaroo's last location.

216

RAWHIDE:

Hop on the Marconi, see if we got any Blue Shields within a ten-minute

radius.

PERFECT TOMMY:

Done.

EXT. CRASH SITE - NIGHT217

Buckaroo moving dangerously closer to the thermopod as the alien John

Gomez returns with the crowbar...his other-worldly comrade demanding:

JOHN BIGBOOTÉ

Open it!

218

...the highway patrolman meanwhile at his squad car, on his radio...THE

SEDAN SITTING TIGHT.

INT. GAS STATION - NIGHT219

Inside an all-night gas station somewhere in New Jersey, a young black

kid named SCOOTER LINDLEY at his SPECIAL HAM RADIO SET, hearing:

PERFECT TOMMY'S VOICE

Repeat:
Intrastate Outward Band 5...Coded...calling all Blue Shield

Irregulars in the Clam State. Bucakroo in trouble...will repeat

coordinates...

SCOOTER LINDLEY:

This is Scooter Lindley, Future Knight of the Blue Shield 411/2. Hang

on!

EXT. GAS STATION - NIGHT220

Scooter racing outside toward his father, CASPER LINDLEY, the station

owner, an everyday no-nonsense guy in grungy overalls, presently trying

to sell a crushed velvet sofa from the top of a three-tier display rack

to a PAIR OF DISCRIMINATING CUSTOMERS...

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