The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension Page #12

INT. HELICOPTER - NIGHT241

Piloting the small chopper, Casper Lindley, gas station proprietor,

along with his eager son, Scooter...both father and son dressed in Blue

Shield outfits now...Casper giving Buckaroo a helping hand into the

swift-flying craft and getting a MILD ELECTRICAL SHOCK, COMING THIS

CLOSE TO DROPPING BUCKAROO!

CASPER LINDLEY:

Forgive the butterfingers, Buckaroo. Casper Lindley, Knight of the

Blue Shield, at your disposal. And my son, Scooter.

BUCKAROO BANZAI:

Nothing to apologize for, Casper. You've gone beyond the call of duty

tonight. Mind if I get on the horn and radio the Cavaliers--? They'll

be worried.

Buckaroo reaching for the mike, relieved to feel only a SLIGHT

ELECTRICAL CHARGE on touching it...

BUCKAROO BANZAI:

Not the famous Scooter....?

SCOOTER LINDLEY:

Wow. You know it.

EXT. FRONT GATES/BUCKAROO'S HOUSE - NIGHT242

Professor Hikita on motorcycle, being waved through the front gate by a

BLUE SHIELD GUARD while a second Shield, PINKY CARRUTHERS (on

HORSEBACK), telephones ahead...

PINKY CARRUTHERS

The prof just rolled in. Says he's on his way to the lab and "Do not

disturb."

INT. STUDIO COMPUTER ROOM - NIGHT243

Reno on the phone, getting the word on Hikita while the other Cavaliers

watch Billy call up a strange senseless MAZE OF LETTERS AND NUMBERS on

his monitor...

RAWHIDE:

Try a new cipher. Try G.

BILLY:

G cipher. There! More like it!

NEW JERSEY:

Nice work, kid.

244

CLOSE UP SCREEN:
the letters having at least turned into something

coherent...a batch of names and dates, vital statistics...headed

"YOYODYNE."

245

BILLY:

Looks like we've accessed their Read Only Memory...a personnel file.

Could be highly revealing.

RENO:

(rejoining the group)

The professor just pulled in, jabbering something about space monsters,

locked himself in his lab.

PERFECT TOMMY:

"Space monsters"...my ass.

INT. HALLWAY/BUCKAROO'S HOUSE - NIGHT246

Mrs. Johnson leading Penny down a richly paneled corridor past pictures

and momentoes of Buckaroo and the Cavaliers, past and present...

MRS. JOHNSON

I'm sure the boys like you. They just don't wanna get attached...and

then see what happened to Buckaroo's last sweetheart happen to you.

PENNY PRIDDY:

What happened to her?

Mrs. Johnson biting her tongue...

MRS. JOHNSON

You know any judo?

PENNY PRIDDY:

Any what?

MRS. JOHNSON

Don't worry, I won't hurt you.

Penny staring at this strange young girl, not knowing what to say...

PENNY PRIDDY:

What's up those stairs?

MRS. JOHNSON

Bunkhouse. Off limits. You'll be bedding down in here.

...Mrs. Johnson opening a guest room door...Penny eyeing those

forbidden stairs...

INT. STUDIO COMPUTER ROOM - NIGHT247

BILLY:

This is queer...look...

Billy staring intently at the monitor...the others leaning in...

248

CLOSE ON MONITOR: a list of IDENTICAL DATES AND PLACES NEXT TO A RAFT

OF NAMES.

249

BILLY:

All these people applied for drivers' licenses in the same town in New

Jersey on the exact same date.

NEW JERSEY:

New Jersey?

BILLY:

Forty-six Yoyodyne employees. Grover's Mill, New Jersey, 11/1/38.

RAWHIDE:

Grover's Mills, Grovers' Mills...1938. Why's that so darn familiar?

RENO:

Looks like none of these guys ever lived anywhere else. No places of

birth. And all of them with the same first name: John.

New Jersey studying the screen...

NEW JERSEY:

November 1, thirty days have September, April, June, and

November...when short February's done, all the rest have thirty-one.

October 31st! Halloween! Don't you get it?

(obviously not)

Orson Welles!

BILLY:

You mean the guy from the old wine commercials?

NEW JERSEY:

Halloween. 1938..."War of the Worlds"...that fake radio news broadcast

that got everybody scared, thinking that real live Martians were

landing in Grover's Mill, New Jersey! But then it all just turned out

to be a hoax.

BILLY:

Then that's it!

RENO:

What's it?

NEW JERSEY:

Right! Hoax my eye!

RENO:

You mean--? No!

BILLY:

Yes! Martians! Right across the river in Grover's Mills!

EXT. FRONT GATES/BUCKAROO'S HOUSE - NIGHT250

Pinky Carruthers aboard his palomino as JOHN PARKER (the only alien to

escape the black thermopod) rides up outside the gate on a

bicycle...holding a STRANGE YELLOW RECORD in his grasp...

PINKY CARRUTHERS

Hi, buddy, what can I do for ya?

JOHN PARKER:

Buckaroo Banzai?

PINKY CARRUTHERS

You a messenger? What've you got here?

Pinky Carruthers snatching the ODD YELLOW RECORD through the gate...

JOHN PARKER:

I need see Buckaroo Banzai in person. My name is John Parker. Identify

yourself.

PINKY CARRUTHERS

Knight Commander, Pinky Carruthers. Sorry, John, all these people "need

see" Buckaroo in person.

And with that Pinky Carruthers is gone, trotting up toward the mansion

on his palomino...

...as a frustrated John Parker suddenly sticks his nose in the air,

getting a whiff of something, causing him to get on his bike and

pedal...

EXT. OUTSIDE SECURITY WALL - NIGHT251

...around the corner of Buckaroo's estate where he notices a PARKED VAN

and THREE SHADOWY FIGURES lowering themselves into the ground near the

high security wall...disappearing...

...John Parker approaching, beholding...that familiar "Yoyodyne"

van...and a FRESHLY DUG HOLE, crawling into the hold himself.

EXT. BANZAI INSTITUTE GROUNDS - NIGHT252

...surfacing WITHIN THE WALLS OF THE ESTATE and again catching sight of

THE SHADOWY FIGURES moving toward the buildings, John Parker

following...quickly ducking behind a tree, trying to get himself a good

view of the three intruders...

SUDDEN VOICE:

That's as far as you go, pal.

John Parker jerking his head around, finding himself confronting the

FRIGHTENING SILHOUETTE of a Blue Shield in camouflage commando gear...

253

...John Parker instinctively raising a hand to protect himself when

without warning, a second BLUE SHIELD drops on his head from the tree

above, knocking him down...

INT. GARAGE - NIGHT254

Closed...SAM, the mechanic, next to Buckaroo's precious JET CAR,

tinkering with that damaged Harley Davidson...the garage door suddenly

sliding open, startling Sam...no one there.

SAM:

Okay, who's the funny guy?

EXT. GARAGE - NIGHT255

In the buses, CLOSE ON SOMETHING WEIRD EMERGING SLOWLY FROM TEH ALIEN

JOHN BIGBOOTÉ'S MOUTH...SHARP...

Sam stepping forward...A FIVE-PRONGED ORGANIC STINGER THE SIZE OF A

WALNUT FLYING OUT OF THE NIGHT! A scream dying in Sam's throat as he

clutches his heart, John Bigbooté dragging him back into the garage.

INT. GARAGE - NIGHT256

...while the red alien John Gomez remains outside as a lookout, the

alien John O'Connor quickly peering into the locked Jet Car and

smashing the window, searching in vain for the OSCILLATION

OVERTHRUSTER...

JOHN O'CONNOR

Not here! No Overthruster!

JOHN BIGBOOTÉ

John Whorfin will kill us!

JOHN O'CONNOR

You look! It's not here!

JOHN GOMEZ:

Professor Hikita!

EXT. GARAGE - NIGHT257

Outside, John Gomez making a startling discovery: the figure of

Professor Hikita near an upstairs window of the research building only

yards away...when suddenly overhead...

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