As Good As It Gets

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

RELEASED TO theaters in 1979, six months before the series debuted on TV, "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" is the pilot to the show, renamed "Awakening" for the series. THE STORY: In 1987 Captain William "Buck" Rogers (Gil Gerard) solo-pilots a space shuttle when a meteor storm freezes him into an orbit that returns him to Earth 500 years later. The shuttle is discovered in 2491 by the Draconian flagship under the command of Princess Ardala (Pamela Hensley) and her first officer, Kane (Henry Silva). They return Rogers to Earth where he meets Col. Wilma Deering (Erin Gray), Dr. Elias Huer (Tim O'Connor) and a curiously phallus-looking robot drone, Twiki (voiced by Mel Blanc), accompanied by the A.I. computer Dr. Theopolis (voiced by Howard F. Flynn). Buck learns that Earth suffered a planet-wide nuclear holocaust shortly after he launched into space, which has made Earth a wasteland, except for the impressively rebuilt New Chicago and some other cities. As Buck adjusts to the 25th century, he must convince the Terrans that the Draconians are scheming to conquer the planet.COMMENTARY: Buck Rogers (the character) was originally conceived by Philip Francis Nowlan in 1928. This pilot movie (and the series) is quite cartoony and the effects are downright lame compared to the awe-inspiring "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," which came out (at the end of) the same year. Not to mention the original Star Wars Trilogy that was popular at the time. Heck, for the most part, the F/X don't even hold up to The Original Series of Star Trek that ran from 1966-1969. No kidding.This doesn't mean, however, that this pilot isn't entertaining. It is to a degree; just don't expect the maturity or quality of Star Trek (TOS). Star Trek is dramatic science-fiction whereas Star Wars is fantasy packaged as science-fiction, which is 'space fantasy.' "Awakening" (and the series in general) tries to walk the line between these two and ends up being inferior to both. But, again, this doesn't mean it's not entertaining in its comic booky way.While the script for "Awakening" is okay at best (and most of the ensuing episodes as well), the main protagonists and most of the guest stars are outstanding. Gil Gerard in the titular role, for instance, is just as effective as William Shatner as Captain Kirk, maybe even more so, if that were possible. And then there's Erin Gray as Col. Deering, one of the hottest space babes in the history of film or television. Not to mention, Pamela Hensley has the requisite "looks that kill" as the oversexed antagonist, Ardala (although she doesn't personally trip my trigger; she's just not curvy enough). The rest of the series features a gazillion female guests who are often more beautiful than these two, especially the 1st season. So "Buck Rogers" scores well on the female front.The film is hard to rate because, on the one hand, the cheese-factor is so high with the comic book tone, flimsy sets, dubious special effects and banal storytelling, but the main protagonists and guest stars are outstanding and somehow pull off the material. It's amazing, but true. There's also something to be said for the nostalgic and innocent style of the pilot and series. Nevertheless, I can't in good conscience give "Buck Rogers in the 20th Century" (aka "Awakening") a higher rating.THE MOVIE RUNS 89 minutes.GRADE: C+

This is where it all began. Capitalizing on the popularity of Star Wars, with a lower budget than producer Glen Karson's Battlestar Galactica, "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" is catered to a television audience who loves the combination of sci-fi, action, and babes. Gil Gerard's signature role is Air Force Captain and astronaut of Ranger 3, William "Buck" Rogers, whose space ship is adrift after a cryogenic mishap freezes him, awakening 504 years later, in the 25th century, the Planet Earth is not the way he left it, a Holocaust having wiped out most of mankind, cybernetic beings restoring the world slowly, humans actually answering to them. Because the earth is badly in need of supplies in order to survive during its restoration, they want to negotiate with the Draconian empire in a trading treaty, but Princess Ardala, her second in command, Kane(Henry Silva, reeking of villainy, his character barely able to contain his disdain for Ardala), at the orders of the King of their planet, plan to attack planetary forces, using the guise of peace as a means to gain access under the shield. Buck, at first believed to be a spy for pirates (pirates have been circulating throughout the area), especially after a microtransmitter is found on board the Ranger 3, by Earth, soon wants to help them when he believes that Ardala and her Draconian people are up to no good. Buck, after he is drugged once upon the Draco ship upon being released from cryo-stasis, is sent to Earth so that the microtransmitter can give them coordinates to the planetary shield, with plans to attack the "inner city", the epicenter of the world where the planet's rebuild/restoration starts. Buck is introduced to Dr. Elias Huer (Tim O'Conner, quite pleasant, polite, and informative), who tells him a little about what has happened over 500 years, as well as, how Earth is rebuilding after the Holocaust. Col Deering (the foxy Erin Gray), a female commanding officer, at first, doesn't at all trust Buck, believing he is nothing but an untrustworthy spy, soon becoming attracted to him, more than a little upset when her interest is spurned (not necessarily because Buck isn't attracted to her, but for "outing" Ardala and her true intentions for Earth). A lot going on plot-wise in our introduction to the series, including Buck becoming friends with Twiki, a "midget" robot ("Bidi-bidi-bidi"), and sphere cybernetic robot named Dr. Theopolis (softly voiced by Howard F Flynn); carried around on a necklace by Twiki) , who accompany him on various adventures such as his journey outside the inner city, seeing the remnants of what was Chicago (visiting his parents' gravesite) with radioactively scarred mutant humans who try to hunt them down in a trap and on board the Draconian's finest ship when he attempts to interrupt their plan to attack Earth. Star Wars is an obvious inspiration for the series as Earth's squadron and the masked Draconian attack ships appearing as supposed pirate marauders engage in space battles. This is where Buck thrives, showing his skills as a combat fighter. The show plays off his "relic status", his slang and verbiage. Gerard's charisma and handsome looks are played to the hilt; he is certainly marketed on the show as a James Bond in Space. Anyway, his adaptation to a whole different century really was the hook for the first season—not to mention, his association with the cast, their chemistry together, and the various adventures he (and they) would be a part of as the series continued. The great voice of William Conrad (Jake and The Fatman television series) narratively introduced to us Buck's fate at the beginning of this official entry to the series and the one and only Mel Blanc lent his recognizable voice to Twiki. A revisit to this series over the summer will be quite a hoot; I'm really excited about it. In terms of Buck's initial mission, he certainly explores...just not deep space, but a completely different time. Pamela Hensley is delicious as the corrupt Ardala, scantily clad and eyeing her father's throne (her "galactic bikini" and horned helmet attire is an eyeful).

I loved watching Buck Rogers when I was younger. It was a fun TV series with pretty reasonable acting. Looking at it today, it does seem a little creaky but it still holds up pretty well. The sets and special effects are dodgy by todays standards, but the overall show is still a lot of fun to watch. The first season introduced us to characters such as Dr Huer, Wilma Deering, Dr Theopolis and Twiki. There was also the unforgettable Princess Ardala and Kane and lets not forget the Tigerman. The stories were fun with a lot of tongue in cheek humour. As I recall, the first series actually did quite well. The second series was introduced later having been delayed by a writers strike. The second series a much different to the first. This time is was set an a starship called Searcher. Dr Huer and Dr Theopolis were no longer in the show and Twiki was voiced by a different actor. Also Ardala, Kane and the Draconians were not seen again. The second season did introduce some new characters though, Admiral Asimov, Dr Goodfellow and a robot called Crichton. But the best character to be introduced was Hawk, a bird-man whose entire village has been wiped out by humans. Wilma Deering and Twiki remained though I felt their roles had been reduced somewhat. Hawk became Buck's friend and quite often his back up. In fact some of the best scenes were between Buck and Hawk. In the first story, Time Of The Hawk, there was a brilliant aerial dogfight between Hawk and Buck where Buck was soundly whipped. There was also a very good hand to hand fight scene where it looked as though Hawk was winning. The stories were more serious as well, tackling issues such as alcoholism and domestic abuse, racism even the death penalty. It is a pity that the show was canceled, it was not as bad as everyone says and did have some very good scenes. All up it is dated, but still very entertaining.

The 70s certainly produced a lot of cruddy Sci-Fi which was nowhere near as good as what came before...this is yet another case. The only two reasons to watch this are Erin Gray and Pamela Hensley..and only Hensley shows any amount of skin in this one outside the opening credits.If you want real Buck Rogers adventure, I suggest you look to the excellent serials instead...but if you are a fan of the two ladies mentioned above, you might enjoy this rather innocent adolescent fantasy which fulfils the dreams of many a teenage boy-what with two gorgeous women chasing after you-the dashing swashbuckling adventurer.