Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)

A 20th century astronaut emerges out of 500 years of suspended animation into a future time where Earth is threatened by alien invaders.

Director:

Daniel Haller

Writers:

Glen A. Larson, Leslie Stevens

Stars:

Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Pamela Hensley

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gil Gerard	...	Capt. William 'Buck' Rogers
Pamela Hensley	...	Princess Ardala
Erin Gray	...	Colonel Wilma Deering
Henry Silva	...	Kane
Tim O'Connor	...	Dr. Elias Huer
Joseph Wiseman	...	King Draco
Duke Butler	...	Tigerman
H.B. Haggerty	...	Tigerman #1
Felix Silla	...	Twiki (body)
Caroline Smith	...	Delta Section
John Dewey Carter	...	Supervisor (as John Dewey-Carter)
Kevin Coates	...	Pilot
David Cadiente	...	Comtel Officer
Gil Serna	...	Technician
Larry Duran	...	Draconian Guard

Storyline

In 1987, Captain William "Buck" Rogers pilots his space shuttle Ranger 3 on a mission but a meteor storm freezes him into an orbit that returns him to Earth - 500 years later. In 2491, his shuttle is found and captured by the Draconian flagship, under the command of Princess Ardala and her second-in-command Kane. Reviving him, they return him to Earth after secretly planting a homing beacon aboard his shuttle to track a path through Earth's defense barrier. Buck is under arrest and learns that Earth has been rebuilt over the centuries in his absence following a nuclear holocaust. Buck Rogers must adjust to the 25th century, and convince the Terrans that the Draconians are secretly planning to conquer Earth.

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Plot Keywords:

space opera | buck rogers character | psychotronic film | 25th century | princess from outer space | 

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Taglines:

The original space man! The ultimate trip! Buck Rogers swings back to earth and lays it on the 25th Century!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The UK VHS and Betamax home video releases of this film were rated '15' by the BBFC due to some of the suggestive visuals and some of the double entendres. For whatever reason the video distributor, CIC home video, never bothered to release a more family friendly PG version, presumably because the TV series was so popular in the UK they felt it would have made little difference to sales.

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Goofs

When Buck is in the ruins of Chicago and the graveyard, the likelihood of the signs in the streets and the gravestones still being legible after 450 years is nil. Weathering would have totally erased the words from the signs by then.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: [voiceover during narration] In the year 1987, at the John F. Kennedy Space Center, NASA launched the last of America's deep space probes. The payload, perched on the nose cone of the massive rocket, was a one-man exploration vessel - Ranger 3. Aboard this compact starship, a lone astronaut - Captain William "Buck" Rogers - was to experience cosmic forces beyond all comprehension. An awesome brush with death: in the blink of an eye, his life support systems were frozen by ...

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Crazy Credits

Erin Gray and Pamela Hensley appear as "dream girls" along side their names in the original (theatrical) credits.

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Alternate Versions

The original 1979 UK theatrical release of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was cut to remove a groin kick to obtain an "A" classification.

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Connections

Referenced in Poker Night 2 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Pirate Attack
(uncredited)
Composed by Stu Phillips

User Reviews

Gerard Makes BUCK a Delight!

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!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 March 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Awakening

Filming Locations:

Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites - 404 S. Figueroa Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$21,671,241

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,671,241

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bruce Lansbury Productions, Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1