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List Price: $26.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 129
Released: November 16, 2004 |
| Our Price: $9.99 |
| Used Price: $8.12 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Movie DVD
Description of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - The Complete Epic Series:
With its campy combination of lightweight adventure and Spandex disco chic, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is a nostalgic throwback to post-Star Wars opportunism. Series co-creator Glen A. Larson was incapable of originality, and former soap star Gil Gerard (in the title role) was a bland incarnation of the comic-strip hero, so the much-anticipated series premiered on September 20, 1979, with serious disadvantages. Although the two-hour pilot "Awakening" had tested successfully as a theatrical release, Gerard and the show's producers could never agree on a stable tone for the series, which presents Capt. William "Buck" Rogers as a jovial space cowboy who is accidentally time-warped from 1987 to 2491. Earth is engaged in interplanetary war following a global holocaust, and Buck's piloting skills make him an ideal starfighter recruit for the Earth Defense Directorate, where his closest colleagues are Dr. Huer (Tim O'Connor), squadron leader Col. Wilma Deering (former model Erin Gray, looking oh-so-foxy), the wisecracking robot Twiki (voiced by cartoon legend Mel Blanc), and a portable computer-brain named Dr. Theopolis, who's carried by Twiki like oversized bling-bling.
The series struggled through an awkward first season, with routine plots elevated by decent special effects and noteworthy guest stars including Jamie Lee Curtis, ill-fated Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten (appearing, with her voice dubbed over, less than a year before her tragic murder), Batman alumnus Julie Newmar, Buster Crabbe (veteran of vintage Buck Rogers movie serials), and several others in a show that favored vamps and vixens over credible science fiction. A full-scale overhaul resulted in a disastrous second season, but devoted fans still gravitate to Hawk (Thom Christopher), the charismatic alien "birdman" who was introduced with new characters and a new, space-faring search for lost tribes from Earth (with echoes of Larson's own Battlestar Galactica). Behind-the-scenes squabbles continued, and by mid-season of 1981, NBC pulled the plug on a breezy, still-engaging series that suffered from uneasy chemistry and never realized its full potential. Existing somewhere between Galactica and Lost in Space in the TV sci-fi food chain, this Buck--with a dearth of DVD extras--now functions as a cheesy stroll down memory lane. --Jeff Shannon
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - The Complete Epic Series Reviews:
Not as I remembered it. 
2009-11-30 - Memory! It can play tricks on you. I remembered this series as being better than I thought. Of course, our ability to discriminate between good and bad increases as we get older. I suppose seeing much better shows since helps here. Anyway, Buck is not as good as I remembered it. But it is somewhat fun and the ladies were as attractive as I remembered! :-) But season 2 is just plain unwatchable.
Back in the Day.
2009-11-22 - What can I say about this. Its Buck Rogers in the 25th century, the show that ran on NBC on Thursday at 8pm in the late 70's. If you were a kid at the time and a fan. This show rocked but doesn't really hold up to time. Erin Grey is super Hot and kicked butt, took names. Gil Gerard was a ladies lady and man of action. Don't get me wrong I'm glad I bought it because something this cheesey could not be made today. Buck would have to have abandonment issues, and maybe a drinking problem. There was have to be some political element to the show but back in the 70's Buck was just a man's man's who liked to boogie, liked the ladies and the ladies liked him. Its the whole 2 season on dual layer discs, no extra features but yes the theatrical release of the pilot is there and so is Hawk the alien who descended from birds ( it was the lack of hair which were replaced by feathers that told you that )and had a cool hawk ship with cool hawk claws and hawk vision.
So if you remember it and liked it. Get it, its a trip. If not I'll not tell you don't do it but just beware this was the 70's Computer FX was something for expensive movies and TV budgets were small.
Nostalgic 
2009-11-22 - HAHA...I am very glad I bought this DVD set. I love Science Fiction and loved this show when it aired. I had just forgotten how it ended...which it didn't. Now, I am wishing they would've or still would make an ending for the series.
Finally on DVD! However...
2009-11-07 - All I can say that it is about time!!! Ever since the TV studios decided to put the actual seasonal TV shows on DVD (Something that was impossible with the VHS era. I kept asking and begging the ultimate question. When is BUCK ROGERS coming to DVD? Well the wait was finally over and I did not care about the price I was willing to pay it. That is how much of a fan I was. The cool thing is that all of the shows uncut and unedited just like the way NBC aired it the first time. The episode FLIGHT OF THE WAR WITCH took me by surprise though. The opening intro was very different and I gave it two thumbs up with a woohoo yell.
Now there is a down side. I was disappointed with two things. One, they should have included the TV Pilot version that had almost 10 minutes of extra footage and two they should have put a ton of special features with behind the scenes footage with interviews of the cast and crew Then & Now
Buck Rogers in the 1980s
2009-10-10 - My wife and I have been watching these episodes, sometimes as many as three in one day. We both watched this show when it was first run, but neither of us have seen it since then.
It is a great view of the future that never was. It is good to see a 1980's view of the future. The hair, clothing, buildings are lots of fun.
Many of the actors are familiar from other science fiction shows, Sam Jaffe appears as a wise leader of a planet. This series is not serious science fiction but it is an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.
Mike "Bunkermeister" Creek
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