He flew through comics, radio plays and short cinema adventures, without which one of the greatest pop culture franchises might not exist: space hero Buck Rogers is one of several inspirations for “Star Wars”. George Lucas’ mega-blockbuster, on the other hand, sparked a comeback for Buck Rogers, which while not much of a massive phenomenon, is certainly considered a must-read for sci-fi fans.
Unfortunately, the movie “Buck Rogers” has been barely available on Blu-ray for years. But that’s over now! This week Buck Rogers is back on Blu-ray in a fitting special edition:
In this Collector’s Edition you will not only discover the popular sci-fi cult classic in HD, but also some extras such as interviews with the cast and a Super 8 version of the film. If you just go to one anyway DVD* If you want to grab him, you can still do so.
“Buck Rogers”: Luke Skywalker’s predecessor and successor!
William “Buck” Rogers (Gil Gerard) embarks on a space mission that goes awry. Instead of arriving with the Space Shuttle Ranger 3 as planned, he lands in an icy corner of the cosmos and is quickly frozen. 500 years later, he is discovered, thawed and reanimated by the flagship of the Draconians. The world he once knew was devastated by nuclear war, but in its place has come a new society that could use a good-hearted go-getter…
First, Buck Rogers tapped into the imagination of a young George Lucas alongside another comic book hero, the reckless Flash Gordon. Then the success of the first “Star Wars” inspired the return of Buck Rogers: Universal and screenwriter Glen A. Larson once again dug Buck Rogers into the arms race for more space adventures.
Actually, there should only be a television series devoted to the comic book hero. Ultimately, however, Universal was so confident in the project that the “Buck Rogers” pilot was promoted to theaters.
The theatrical and pilot film was directed by Daniel Haller. As a production designer for ambitious horror cult films such as “The Fall of the House of Usher”, he had already proven his ability to create memorable, stylish worlds with relatively small financial resources.
In addition to the inevitable source of ideas “Star Wars”, the 1970s version of “Battlestar Galactica‘ as ‘Buck Rogers’ godfather. And not just content-wise, as both projects showcase screenwriter Glen A. Larson’s handwriting, but also visually: for cost reasons, isolated props, design drafts, and even archival footage that had already been used in “Battlestar Galactica” were reused in “Buck Rogers.” their usefulness.
However, since this “leftover use” was accompanied by many of their own ideas and visual creativity, hardly anyone took offense – and the $3.5 million film generated more than six times its budget at the box office.