Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

A long time ago, in a childhood far, far away...

I remember seeing 'Buck Rogers' in the theater in 1978, back when 'Star Wars' was king of the box office, 'Battlestar Galactica' was smashing all ratings records, and science-fiction was experiencing a renaissance of sorts - it was a great time to be a kid.

'Buck Rogers' struck me as an all-right kind of guy: dashing with the ladies, quick with a punch, did a nifty spinning side kick, had a way with a laser pistol, occasionally danced a little disco.

The movie itself was a harmless piece of fluff. Even as an 11-year-old, I found it to be simple, low-key, even charming. I bought the requisite number of toys, talked about it with my friends, and enjoyed the occasional episodes (once the film left the theaters and went to the small screen) with a bowl of Cheerios in my jammies. Life was good.

Looking back now, it's pretty obviously a product of the '70s. Sure, it had chicks in spandex. Sure, it had the gravity-defying hairdos (and bosoms) of some of Hollywood's most buxom beauties - who can forget the 'Volcanic Hot-Tub Room' scene in "Planet of the Slave Girls?", or Jamie Lee Curtis in "Unchained Woman"? Sure, it had the simple, brainless plots typical of '70s television. Sure, it had the unredeemable stupidity of the 'Searcher' episodes...

But, for a time, it was the best thing going for sci-fi on television.

Remember, this is a time before Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, or Star Trek: Fill-In-The-Blank. Science fiction on television wasn't a sure bet, nor was it always a ratings winner...even with it's target audience. Which, at the time, was me.

But 'Buck Rogers' had something going for it, something none of the other sci-fi shows ('Battlestar Galactica', et al) had going for them.

Erin Gray.

Oh, yeah. Erin Gray.

Let me tell you, one of the dates that stands out in my mind the strongest is January 3, 1980 - the date that the episode "Space Vampire" premiered. The day I became a man. :)

Okay, not really...but you have to understand - Erin Gray, spandex and vampires all combined to give my 11-year-old brain (among other things) something to think about with regard to women. Since then, no woman is truly attractive to me unless she can say in a sultry voice, "I like the taste of fear best." :)

Come on, it's only television! It doesn't have to be smart to be funny, it doesn't have to be expensive-looking to be cool. Just ask David Hasselhoff if he'd be in Baywatch Heaven without a certain Trans-Am, or if Dirk Benedict would have REALLY been as interesting to watch on the A-Team if we'd never seen him battling Cylons.

Erin Gray. Spandex. Vampires.

See, it all makes sense.

'Buck Rogers' appeals on the intellectual level of an 11-year-old, and for most of us, that's saying something.

'Buck Rogers' fueled a lot of my early television viewing entertainment, folks. Watch it, and you'll see why.

Of course, it helps if you watch it from an 11-year-old point of view, but that's more than most of us can muster anyway, yes?

It may be set in the 25th Century, but this 1979 version of the old Philip Francis Nowlan story is totally and unconditionally a product from the "Star Wars" era. Gil Gerard is a handsome block of wood playing Captain Buck Rogers, an American astronaut launched 500 years into the future and finding himself in the middle of a space war. Pamela Hensley is the sultry villainess Princess Ardala while Erin Gray is the no-nonsense Colonel trying to get Rogers out of her way (he seems more interested in loosening her up than flirting with the seductive princess). The action sequences were lifted from TV's "Battlestar Galactica", but the low-budget effects aren't really the problem, it's that the movie is so under-populated and blandly comical. This underachiever makes even "Logan's Run" seem like a sci-fi masterpiece. The robot Twiki is a cool creation, far outshining the humans, but even he couldn't save this from the ratings-basement once it became a weekly TV series. *1/2 from ****

Some friends and I rented this movie just for the kicks of making fun of it, but it turned out to be fairly good. Except for the cheesy 70's parts (check out Bucks dance act) which no live human could ever take seriously, this is an excellent movie, which I'll check out again in the near future.

8/10

BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY could easily have become dated camp, by now (Rogers' disastrous space tour was supposed to have occurred in 1987...did we miss it?), but there's such a sense of joy and humor to the production that it actually is more fun to watch today than when it was briefly released, theatrically, in 1979.

A large measure of this is due to Gil Gerard, as Capt. William 'Buck' Rogers, who gives an enthusiastic, likable performance. Some of his dialog is ripe with sexual innuendo, particularly in his scenes with Erin Gray, as the beautiful, if a bit wooden, professional soldier, Wilma Deering, but his rakish charm (and an occasional wink!) keeps the one-liners from sliding into bad taste. The other female lead, Pamela Hensley, as a bikini-clad evil Princess, would do Mae West proud with her lusty vampiness. Her scenes with Gerard, as she eyes him as an evening's 'entertainment', are a delight. (And in the "Is this a coincidence?" department...Her character is named Ardala, and wears a horned headpiece...Could George Lucas have been influenced by her when he created Natalie Portman's Princess Amidala in STAR WARS: EPISODE ONE - THE PHANTOM MENACE?) The other major male roles are filled by Henry Silva, as Ardala's superbly evil partner, Kane, and Tim O'Connor, wise and sympathetic, as Earth scientist Dr. Huer. Deserving recognition, as well, is Duke Butler, who, as Ardala's eunuch bodyguard, Tigerman, should find another line of work, considering how he fared against Rogers!

Ignore Twiki, the low-tech R2D2 rip-off (Mel Blanc voices him, with dialog lapsing into disco-era clichés and bad sexual puns), and Dr. Theopoulis (the talking Frisbee...well, that's what he looks like!), and concentrate on the decent FX and Gil Gerard's charismatic performance...and I think you'll find BUCK ROGERS a winner!

Okay, if I had not grown up with the show then I am sure I would not find it so endearing - and speaking of Deering - Colonel Wilma Deering that is, what adolescent young man would not like seeing her each week? What Erin Gray does to tight green, red, blue, and purple spandex pants should be criminal...but I digress. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is a lot of fun for me. It has lots of hokey, enjoyable dialog, a zippy story of a guy returning 500 years later and dealing with everything he has missed, lots of familiar faces from my childhood, and the aforementioned Erin Gray who actually is fairly tame in this pilot/movie released for public consumption in theaters(Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala gets to get the motors running in this one!). Yes, I saw this in the movie theater and didn't feel duped at all. I then watched it on a fairly regular basis and always enjoyed it. Returning to it has brought back fond memories, and unlike some shows that interested me as a child but made an unfavorable impression in middle age - Buck Rogers withstands the test of time and is still fun to watch. Sure, the effects are very dated and the actors are mugging for the camera and really saying dialog that will occasionally make you wince, but when I hear William Conrad's voice and know all systems go - I always seem to be entertained. Gil Gerard is a pretty good Buck. He has the looks and charisma to carry off the role. Sure, he is no Buster Crabbe - that might be a good thing? Other notable performances in this pilot are again Erin Gray(I don't know why but my mind keeps shamelessly drifting to her, Hensley, Tim O'Connor in the thankless role of Dr. Huer, Joseph Wiseman, and Henry Silva as Kane. Twiki the annoying robot is in here, and I am sure I liked him when I was younger but now more than anything I find his role to be unnecessary and a serious detractor from the plot as he seems to be able to understand Buck's language and speaks it with 20th century references to the point of Ad Nauseum. I think his character could have been excised or at least the stature of the role greatly changed. The round computer disc - Dr. Theopolis is a welcomed character and I wished they had used this voice in the latter episodes rather then the one they switched to in the series. One other note is check out that groovy soundtrack of the theme sung to some really far-out words by Kipp Lennon.