Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) (TV)

Director:

Daniel Haller

Writers:

Glen A. Larson (writer)
Leslie Stevens (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

30 March 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Adventure

Tagline:

The original space man! The ultimate trip! Buck Rogers swings back to earth and lays it on the 25th Century!

Plot:

A 20th century astronaut emerges out of 500 years of suspended animation into a future time where Earth is threatened by alien invaders.

Plot Keywords:

Buck Rogers | Based On Comic | Time In Title | Space War | Digit In Title

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Gil Gerard	...	Capt. William 'Buck' Rogers
Pamela Hensley	...	Princess Ardala
Erin Gray	...	Col. Wilma Deering
Henry Silva	...	Kane
Tim O'Connor	...	Dr. Elias Huer
Joseph Wiseman	...	Draco
Duke Butler	...	Tigerman
Felix Silla	...	Twiki (body)
Caroline Smith	...	Delta Section
John Dewey Carter	...	Supervisor (as John Dewey-Carter)
Kevin Coates	...	Pilot
David Cadiente	...	Comtel Officer
Gil Serna	...	Technician
Larry Duran	...	Draconian Guard
Kenny Endoso	...	Draconian Guard
Eric Lawrence	...	Officer
H.B. Haggerty	...	Tigerman #2
Colleen Kelly	...	Wrather
Steve Jones	...	Pilot
David Buchanan	...	Pilot
Burt Marshall	...	Wingman
Howard F. Flynn	...	Dr. Theopolis (voice)
John Rayner	...	Computer Council (voice)
Guerin Barry	...	Computer Council (voice)
Mel Blanc	...	Twiki (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Epper	...	Drunk
William Conrad	...	Opening Narrator / Draconian officer (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Daniel Haller

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Glen A. Larson		writer
Philip Francis Nowlan		characters (uncredited)
Leslie Stevens		writer

Produced by
Richard Caffey	....	producer
Glen A. Larson	....	executive producer
Andrew Mirisch	....	associate producer
David G. Phinney	....	associate producer (as David Phinney)
Leslie Stevens	....	supervising producer

Original Music by
Stu Phillips

Cinematography by
Frank Beascoechea

Film Editing by
John J. Dumas
David Howe
William Martin		(as Bill Martin)

Art Direction by
Paul Peters

Set Decoration by
Richard Reams

Costume Design by
Jean-Pierre Dorléac

Production Management
Jack Cunningham	....	unit production manager
Edward D. Markley	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Phil Bowles	....	first assistant director
Charles Norton	....	first assistant director: second unit
Jerry Sobul	....	first assistant director
Robert Villar	....	second assistant director
Judith Vogelsang	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Yarek Alfer	....	property maker
Roy Barnes	....	set designer
William Stout	....	concept art

Sound Department
Peter Berkos	....	sound effects editor
John R. Carter	....	sound (as John Carter)
Andrew Gilmore	....	sound (as Andy Gilmore)
Robert L. Hoyt	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert Jackson	....	boom operator
Billy Mauch	....	sound editor (as William J. Mauch)
Clyde Sorenson	....	sound

Special Effects by
Bud Ewing	....	special effects
Jack Faggard	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Jerry L. Allen	....	model builder (as Jerry Allen)
Peter Anderson	....	visual effects production coordinator
Percy Angress	....	production assistant
Deborah Armstrong	....	production assistant
Leonia Aruta	....	model builder (as Leonie Aruta)
Robert D. Bailey	....	production assistant (as Bob Baily)
Richard Bennett	....	special camera equipment
Phil Bills	....	opticals (as Phillip Bills)
Robert Bloomfield	....	model builder
Cosmas Paul Bolger Jr.	....	opticals (as Paul Bolger)
George Brennan	....	special electronics
William Brier	....	opticals
James Burton	....	opticals
Colin Cantwell	....	computer graphics
Sean M. Casey	....	model builder (as Sean Casey)
James N. Catania	....	opticals (as Jim Catania)
Charles Cowles	....	opticals
Angela Diamos	....	animator
Syd Dutton	....	matte artist
Ray Morgan Elam	....	special electronics
Sherry Epperson	....	animator
Alex Funke	....	special effects photography
David M. Garber	....	visual concepts and effects
David M. Garber	....	visual effects unit supervisor
Pete Gerard	....	chief model maker (as Bryson Peter Gerard)
Peter Gibbons-Fly	....	special effects photography
Dan Goozee	....	effects illustration and design
Robert Hall	....	optical supervisor
David Hill	....	editorial assistant
Jena Holman	....	effects illustration and design (as Jeana Holman)
Fred Hope	....	effects illustration and design
David Jones	....	effects illustration and design supervisor
Michael Joyce	....	model builder
Denny Kelly	....	editorial assistant (as Dennis Kelly)
James Kibbee	....	visual effects key gaffer
Frederick Langenbach	....	opticals (as Frederick Lagenbach)
Philippe Lantz	....	model builder
Dick Lasley	....	effects illustration and design (as Richard Lasley)
Ronald Longo	....	opticals
C. Cory M. McCrum-Abdo	....	editorial assistant (as Cory McCrum)
Tim McHugh	....	production assistant
Ray Monahan	....	visual effects camera
Harry Moreau	....	animation and rotoscope designer
Max Morgan	....	animator (as Maxwell Morgan)
John C. Moulds	....	visual effects camera (as John Moulds)
John C. Moulds	....	visual effects camera
Patrick Murphy	....	visual effects key grip
Masaaki Norihoro	....	opticals (as Masaaki Norihiro)
Maureen O'Connell	....	editorial assistant
Bill O'Sullivan	....	opticals (as William O'Sullivan)
George Pryor	....	production assistant
Eldon Rickman	....	opticals
Richard Ripple	....	opticals
David Robman	....	visual effects camera
Chuck Shuman	....	visual effects camera (as Charles Schuman)
Richard Smiley	....	model builder
Wayne Smith	....	visual concepts and effects
Wayne Smith	....	visual effects unit supervisor
David Stipes	....	visual effects camera (as David Stypes)
Wendy Vanguard	....	effects illustration and design
Keith White	....	special effects photography
Bob Wilson	....	opticals (as Robert Wilson)
Kris Brown	....	visual effects engineer (uncredited)
Rob Maine	....	visual effects camera (uncredited)
Scott Squires	....	visual effects camera (uncredited)

Stunts
Gregory J. Barnett	....	stunts
Fred M. Waugh	....	stunt coordinator (as Fred Waugh)
Norman Blankenship	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tony Brubaker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Michael Cassidy	....	stunts (uncredited)
Phil Chong	....	stunts (uncredited)
Erik Cord	....	stunts (uncredited)
Kenny Endoso	....	stunts (uncredited)
Mickey Gilbert	....	stunts (uncredited)
Don Fox Greene	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gene Hartline	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tommy J. Huff	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tom Lupo	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alan Oliney	....	stunts (uncredited)
Felix Silla	....	stunts (uncredited)
Michael M. Vendrell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Marvin Walters	....	stunts (uncredited)
Glenn R. Wilder	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Leonard J. South	....	additional photographer

Editorial Department
Maureen O'Connell	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Glen A. Larson	....	composer: theme music

Other crew
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Miriam Nelson	....	choreographer
David Oliver	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Bruce Lansbury Productions
• Glen A. Larson Productions
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1979) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Cinema Internazional Corporation (1979) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1979) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Special Effects

• Universal Hartland (miniatures and optical effects)

Other Companies

• Intrada  score album released by (limited edition)
• Universal Title  titles and optical effects

Also Known As:

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Awakening (USA) (new syndication title)

Runtime:

89 min | Germany:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 (cut) (1979) | Netherlands:AL | Australia:PG | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Bruce Lansbury Productions

Trivia:

Catherine Bach was considered for the role of Ardala.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: In the year 1987, at the John F. Kennedy Space Center, NASA launched the last of America's deep space probes. The payload, perched on the nose cone of the massive rocket, was a one-man exploration vessel - Ranger 3. Aboard this compact starship, a lone astronaut - Captain William "Buck" Rogers - was to experience cosmic forces beyond all comprehension...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Deconstructing Precrime and Precogs (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

SUSPENSION

corny but fun

buck rogers following in the aftermath of failed battlestar galactica was a corny but fun movie,and TV series following.it is a far cry from the classic original with buster Crabbe,who was gearing up for his last flash Gordon serial,you know flash Gordon conquers the universe in 1940.this movie serves as a pilot after a few edits at the end.Gil Gerard plays buck rogers.the special effects were pretty good,before the upcoming computer graphics so popular now.the cast is very good as well beautiful sexy and smart Erin Gray plays col Wilma deering,Tim O'Conner plays Dr.huer,Pamela Hensley as the sexy slinky and villainous princess ardala.with sinister Kane (Henry Silva)at her side.in the series Micheal Ansara assumes the role of Kane.i first saw buck rogers as a feature film at the movies.in like a few weeks later it seems it was on TV as series.about a year after battlestar galactica was canceled.incidentally buck rogers was also produced by Glen Larson.oh yeah there's also the little robot twiki played by Felix Silla.and voiced by the late great Mel Blanc(bugs bunny,Barney rubble,porky pig,etc;etc;)like i said its corny but fun,its not up to Star Wars but its fun to watch.the series lasted for two seasons.the second season was'nt as enjoyable as the first,since it was revamped and they tried to make it like star trek.as a blast from the past buck rogers delivers some good solid camp.I'm giving it 7 out of 10.