This is not the Buck Rogers I watched in grade school. On every level it's cinematic excellence.
Superb cinematography: I could watch this series without any sound and still be captivated just by the lighting.
Outstanding special effects: Like nothing you've seen in a series before, everything detailed and dynamic and wowzer.
Great cast: The acting is solid and my only critique is that it seems Hugo and Rowan won't be in the second season.
Dramatic storylines: They're inventive, meaningful, keep everything moving, and pack plenty of surprises.
Stylish costume design: Somehow they came up with costumes both original and fitting for each culture (and the same with the languages).
After all that praise, though, I got to say that the entire Empire storyline turned me off from the opening scene and I fast-forwarded through every one of their scenes because I have no interest in royalty, political manipulations, or any of those characters. I got an idea of what was happening while fast-forwarding, and then read Wikipedia's summary of each episode after the finale and found I didn't miss anything but how much of a creep Brother Day is. After the first episode, you don't have to know any of what goes on there, so feel free to skip it as well.
