Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Complete Epic Series

Review based on packaging and lack of extras--NOT the content. Content is 5 stars all the way. Packaging and lack of extras--1 star.If you are a certain age, these shows were the greatest things on TV. (Maybe Battlestar Galactica was better for some.)Tons of reviews, so I will be brief.PRO: The movie intro has Kipp Lennon singing the theme song. It's a great song and is somewhat hard to find. Also, the montage of women is a cultural artifact of what was deemed "hot" in the late 1970s. (The glasses are huge! The Erin Grey hair wave is classic!) Having Wilma and the Princess in the dream montage also raises the disconcerting idea that it was all a dream and Buck is a popsicle somewhere.The negative review is based on there being ZERO extra content other than previews. Interviews would have been wonderful. This is a cult item, so it's a shame there isn't more extra content. Supposedly there were interviews. What happened to them?Personal FANBOY reaction on viewing these 30+ years later:When these came out, I thought Colonel Deering was the personification of womanly perfection and whom Buck should have had a relationship with. Watching these as an adult, though, it is obvious that Princess Ardala is a better fit for Buck. Wilma and the other Earth citizens are virtually children. Wilma is clueless and naive. By contrast, Ardala is educated, clever, independent. Buck has much more in common with her than the Earthlings. I think the writers clearly intended that. Buck should've figured out a way to reform Ardala, return to Draconia, and leave the boring and stupid earthlings to be bossed around by inept and effeminate ("My, you are a handsome man Captain Rogers") computers.

Great stuff in the 80's! Cheesy as hell but oh Pamalla and Erin... whooohooo! Why yes I was going through puberty back then why do you ask? Seriously though this is really entertaining for the 80's. You can't go wrong.

But something's missing. I am absolutely certain that in the series, we saw Twiki and Dr Theopolis musing about the use of various 20th century "artifacts." That was quite humorous. But none of that appeared in a single episode. So, clearly, these are not all the episodes. Not the complete series? Or were those scenes cut? Or did my husband and I both have the same dream?Regardless. It was a fun series.

When one thinks of great television science fiction, shows like the original "Star Trek", "The Twilight Zone", the original "The Outer Limits", and the revamp of "Battlestar Galactica" come to mind. In a lesser degree, "Lost in Space" stands out as a cult classic, gaining a larger fan base with the passing years since its cancellation in '68."Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" may not rank as "great" but its still a fun show to watch, even with its diverse two seasons.The first season is arguably the better of the two, due to its mixture of adventure, camp, some humor, and reflecting the disco fashions of the late 70's. Star Gil Gerard was often called on to appear shirtless and wear pants that were significantly "tight" to show off his physique. Many of the story lines had him being the object of desire of many of the female guest stars, especially the deliciously amorous Pamela Hensley as the seductive Princess Ardala.The supporting cast did well, especially Erin Gray who, in the first season, was more an equal to Buck in the responsibility department and had her own appeal in her equally-snug spandex. Tim O'Conner is fine as the stiff-as-starch Dr. Huer while Mel Blanc provides the voice of Buck's robot companion "Twikki".Also year one sported guest turns from the likes of Roddy McDowall, Peter Graves, Frank Gorshin, McDonald Carey, Gary Coleman, Jack Palance, a young Jamie Lee Curtis, Vera Miles, Sam Jaffe, Woody Strode, Michael Ansara, Richard Lynch, "Land of the Giants'" Don Marshall, and an inspired appearance by film's original Buck Rogers, Buster Crabbe. Julie Newmar also appeared as a galaxy-conquering femme fatale in the two-part "Flight of the War Witch."The second year saw the departure of producer Leslie Stevens and a change in the show, under the direction of new producer John Mantley, toward more serious sci-fi. Very little sexual innuendo or humor were found in the "reinvention" and that probably led to the show's demise.The addition of cast member Thom Christopher as Hawk could have been significant if the show had given him more to do; after a thrilling debut in the second-season premiere, Christopher was limited to true "second banana" status, serving only as "Tonto" to Gerard's "Lone Ranger". Even Gray's role was reduced. Gone was her strong Wilma Deering, reduced to ogling Buck and needing his help much more than she did in year one.Wilfred Hyde-White's dotty Dr. Goodfellow was truly annoying and should've been limited to an occasional appearance, not every installment. And Jay Garner's Admiral Asimov has to be sci-fi's most irritatingly lame commander.One surprise is the occasional appearance of a very young Dennis Haysbert as a crewman, long before he made his name as The President on "24".With only 13 episodes in the second year, the show didn't get a chance to grow in the new format, making one wonder how it would've developed had it had a longer run.Still, the 37 total eps are still enjoyable and worth a return to the "future", in a three-decade old series.

The sticker on the package said "New" but the plastic inside was broken and the first disk was not secured and was scratched. There was a place on the inside for a paper insert, but it was also missing. This has been happening very frequently now from orders here at Amazon, you guys need some quality checks because I'm getting quite sad with all the broken packages.As for the series, I did not grow up watching Buck Rogers and this was my first time watching. I was quite surprised how well this 1979 series holds up for this long. The series works very well and feels very modern and let's face it; there isn't really a whole lot out there for Sci-Fi fans.Obviously it's presented in 1.33:1 (4:3) but that's not an issue for modern TVs that can stretch the image quite well. If you're watching through an HDMI DVD Upscaler, the quality is very good; sharp and clean; better than you remember it. So if you are not sure about buying this, you shouldn't be worried as I was, It's a great Sci-Fi series. I'm especially fond of Dr. Theopolis of the Computer Council =)I would have given it 5/5 if it wasn't for the broken case, scratched DVD and missing Insert.

This series provides of nostalgia for people who caught it the first time. The show is very camp and is definitely a product of it's time. It's fun to go back and see what sci-fi in the early eighties looked like. The music, clothes and overall design are so early eighties .Recommended for people who were there the first time around. Others will probable not find it as fun.

Back in the early 80s Saturday nights in the UK offered up either Tom Baker as Doctor Who or Gil Gerrard as Buck Rogers.I had not seen the series since it initially aired and having enjoyed another trawl through the original Battlestar Galactica I bought this set at a very reasonable cost.Overall the set is value for money although there are zero extras, which is a shame as all three of the first season leads are with us and two at least have stated they wanted to do commentaries or documentaries when the set was released in the early 2000s.The series kicks off with the feature length "movie" which was released Internationally to theaters - such as the UK which is how I first saw it. The premise is simple. Captain William "Buck" Rogers is frozen in his space capsule during a 1987 space mission and awakened by the alien Draconians some 504 years later. Returning to Earth he is initially suspected to be a Draconian spy although wins the support of the computer Dr Theopolis and his Ambuquad, Twiki.The series proper follows a very similar pattern for most of its first series; Buck is sent on a mission and falls in with a beautiful side kick of the week. Whilst repetitive, the stories are light and fun, and the shows are carried by the charisma of Gerrard. Sadly although fondly remembered by boys of a certain age, Wilma Deering played by Erin Gray has little to do throughout the run. About half way through season one the stories rise in quality and there is only really one poor episode which is a mid season filler featuring flash backs to recent stories.Guest stars in season one include a host of 60s faces including Robert Quarry (in some risible makeup) Frank"the Joker" Gorshin, Caesar "The Riddler" Romero and veteran of many sci fi shows, Michael Ansara.Season Two opens with a shock; much of the scenario and characters of season one are suddenly gone, with Buck Wilma and a (newly voiced) Twiki aboard a starship (the Searcher) looking for "the lost tribes of Earth - I think someone thought it was now Battlestar Galactica. This second truncated season is very unpopular with fans and yet I actually found it a step up in the story telling and acting. If one removes the "irritating" new robot and the token old professor, its actually a good concept which was never followed through. In fact aside from the odd throw away comment, the ship never does seek out lost tribes!Its a pity that the penultimate episode, set partly in 1986 and 1987 was not the series finale as the final episode is weak.Overall, I would say if you are coming to this fresh you may think its a bit rubbish. The sets are low rent and so is the level of most of the story telling. If you have a twinge of nostalgia or can see beyond the hokiness, its a fun, colourful series to enjoy once more.4 stars due to no extras. Picture quality - though unrestored - is for the most part very good to excellent. Sound is 2.0 channel mono and very good. No hiss. Some slight print damage is few and far between.

Husband really love sci fi so great gift for his collection

I will give this rather old series a 4 star rating. It is fun to watch and the quality is, regarding the age, quite good. Delivery was fast.

good buy, well worth it.

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