Buck Rogers in the 25th Century-Season 1 (1979)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1979
Running Time	1121
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (6)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Jack Arnold Bob Bender Michael Caffey Barry Crane
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Gil Gerard Erin Gray Felix Silla Mel Blanc
Case	?
RPI	$79.95	Music	Les Baxter Bruce Broughton John Cacavas

"The year is 1987, and N.A.S.A. launches the last of America's deep space probes. In a freak mishap Ranger 3 and its pilot Captain William 'Buck' Rogers are blown out of their trajectory into an orbit which freezes his life support systems, and returns Buck Rogers to Earth five-hundred years later."

    During the 1970s and early 1980s, television mogul and producer extraordinaire Glen A. Larson was the man to turn to if a network was in need of a hit show. His credits are numerous: Quincy, The Six Million Dollar Man, Magnum PI, The Fall Guy & Knight Rider. During the science fiction craze of the late 1970s in the wake of Star Wars' success, he produced two shows that were hugely popular at the time, but only lasted two seasons due to their expensive budgets. The shows were Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. Over the last 25 years they have since become cult classics. Personally I preferred Buck Rogers when it first aired due in no small part to the fact that as a young male adolescent I was very impressed with the revealing costumes worn by the show's female cast. In particular, watching the gorgeous Erin Gray as lycra wearing Col. Wilma Deering was very much a highlight of my 1980 - 81 viewing experience. So when the opportunity came up to to review the series two and a half decades later I jumped at the chance.

    When you look up the word CAMP in the dictionary there should be a reference to this show. I mean, we have Earth's military defences adorned in spandex, jive talking robots, galactic princesses travelling through the vacuum of space in sequinned bikinis, a galaxy full of Amazons, vampires, tiger-men and bird-men who all speak English, a currency system that uses the `futuristic' terms Credits and Mega-Credits and rock bands that play the latest disco tunes. I ask you - what's not to love? If serious science fiction is your thing, then you will not enjoy this kitsch take on the genre. The writing is perfunctory at best, the sets are ludicrous, the performances very tongue-in-cheek and the special effects are questionable, However, as an entertainment it works. Like Dino D. Laurentis' 1980 camp classic Flash Gordon you either love or hate this kind of material. For my money, Buck Rogers has everything a growing boy needs - action, romance, adventure, drama and most importantly a bevy of gorgeous, scantily clad women.

    The six disc set contains the following episodes:

Season One:

Disc 1

Awakening (Theatrical version)

    Originally filmed as a two part pilot episode, this was later re-edited into a 90 minute theatrical film. Unfortunately for this release the two part episode is not available so the theatrical version has been provided.

Planet of the Slave Girls (Part 1 & 2)

    Buck and Wilma trace a contaminated food supply back to a slave planet whose leader is planning an invasion of Earth.

Disc 2

Vegas in Space

    Buck travels to the gambling city of Sinaloa in an effort to track down a kidnap victim.

The Plot to Kill a City (Part 1 & 2)

    Buck infiltrates a terrorist organisation that is planning on destroying the city of New Chicago.

Return of the Fighting 69th

    Two gun-runners intent on revenge against Wilma Deering plan to destroy the Earth's atmosphere with poisonous gas. Wilma and Buck must enlist the help of a retired fighter squadron to prevent Earth's doom.

Disc 3

Unchained Woman

    Buck poses as a prisoner to hunt down an inter-galactic terrorist.

Planet of the Amazon Women

    Buck is kidnapped and taken to the planet Zantia, where he is put up for auction as a male slave.

Cosmic Wiz Kid

    Buck learns that he is not the only human from the Twentieth Century now living in the Twenty Fifth. A kidnapped eleven-year-old genius named Hieronymus Fox is also from the displaced astronaut’s time period.

Escape From Wedded Bliss

    Believing Buck Rogers to be the most genetically perfect male in the galaxy, Princess Ardala attempts once more to make him her husband. She sets a powerful weapon in orbit around the Earth and then threatens to destroy New Chicago unless the astronaut is handed over to her.

Disc 4

Cruise Ship to the Stars

    Buck and Wilma take a cruise on a luxury inter-galactic passenger liner to prevent the kidnap of beauty pageant winner, Miss Cosmos.

Space Vampire

    Buck and Wilma investigate several mysterious deaths on a remote space station only to be stalked by a space vampire, or Vorvon as they are known off world!

Happy Birthday, Buck

    Buck, feeling extremely melancholic for the 20th century, has to prevent the assassination of Dr Huer.

A Blast for Buck

    A communication probe arrives in Doctor Huer's office and delivers a mysterious riddle. Searching for a solution, Buck uses a mind probe to relive his most recent adventures on Earth.

Disc 5

Ardala Returns

    Buck is kidnapped by Princess Ardala and subsequently cloned. His genetic counterpart is then sent to infiltrate Earth's Defense Directorate.

Twiki is Missing

    Twiki is stolen by an off-world mining corporation to be used as a template for worker androids.

Olympiad

    Buck is invited to be the special guest of the 2492 Olympics, which is to be held on the planet Mykos. However, not long after he and Wilma arrive, Buck is approached by an athlete from the planet Lozeria who wants to defect to Earth.

A Dream of Jennifer

    Buck’s world is thrown into confusion when he apparently sees Jennifer, his old girlfriend from the Twentieth century.

Disc 6

Space Rockers

    When riots break out at each of the concerts given by futuristic rock group Andromeda, Buck decides to investigate.

Buck's Duel to the Death

    Buck is mistaken for a mythical, five-hundred-year old saviour from the planet Katar. Buck decides to free the inhabitants of the planet from a tyrannical warlord known as the Traybor.

Flight of the War Witch (part 1 & 2)

    When Buck inadvertently journeys through a space-warp he finds himself in an alternate universe. Arriving at the planet Pendar, he learns that its peaceful inhabitants are being threatened by the War Witch. Buck must lead a fleet of starfighters and destroy the War Witch's giant battlecruiser.

Video

    Buck Rogers In The 25th Century is presented in an aspect ratio of 1:33:1 as it was originally broadcast and is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer presented here has a relatively sharp image with little in the way of edge enhancement. There are occasional aliasing glimmers, but they are few and far between. Shadow details are fine with strong black levels. There are occasional patches of grain during the transfer, but next to no low level noise problems.

    Colours are natural, and display the outrageous 25th century fashions to great effect.

    There are very few dirt or video artefacts to be found during the transfer.

    Considering the age of the show, this is a very pleasing transfer.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Series One has been given a solitary track in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround.

    The show's dialogue is clear with no audio sync problems apparent.

    The show's music adds the requisite atmosphere and nostalgia factor for each garish episode.

    Surround channel usage is fairly limited. With the exception of the occasional special sound effect like a laser blast or explosion the only audible sound found in the rear channels is the show's music.

    The subwoofer's contribution is very limited, but adds the requisite bass when needed.

    Overall the soundtrack is more than passable for a 25 year old science fiction show.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    All available versions of series one are identical. However in the United States the Buck Rogers box set also contains series two, and has the price tag to go along with it.

    Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is a joyous trip through 1980's nostalgia where the decade that taste forgot never looked better. The six disc set contains all season one's episodes in the order they originally aired, and all have been given a very reasonable audio/visual presentation. My only complaint is the lack of even a single extra - disgraceful when you consider the show's cult status.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall