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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786305990277
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC, Original recording reissued, Subtitled
ISBN: 6305990271
Label: Vci Video
Manufacturer: Vci Video
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Vci Video
Release Date: September 19, 2000
Running Time: 241 minutes
Sales Rank: 54463
Studio: Vci Video
Theatrical Release Date: February 06, 1939
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
While it lacks the baroque, fantastical quality of the previous Flash Gordon serials (which also starred Buster Crabbe), the Buck Rogers serial still exemplifies the freewheeling spirit of pulp-magazine space opera of the 1930s. Crash-landing in the Arctic in the 20th century, Buck Rogers and his sidekick Buddy Wade (Jackie Moran) use a special gas to induce suspended animation, only to be awakened 500 years later when the world is ruled by the evil Killer Kane. We are told that Kane's ascendancy is a direct result of the 20th century's failure to solve the problem of crime. But luckily, Buck Rogers is here to fight Kane's evil domination of mankind, which involves making obedient robots out of folks by strapping an 'amnesia helmet' on their heads. (The helmet looks like the sawed-off end of a cheesy rocket ship, complete with fins.) Most of the episodes deal with invasion forces from the planet Saturn and whose side they're going to take, Killer Kane's or Buck's, affording plenty of opportunity for spaceships to zip back and forth, propelled by sparks and rising smoke. All the trappings and tropes of space opera abound: ray guns, space travel, villainous political figures, alien civilizations. In a way, the flaws seem quaint--the wooden acting, the cheesy costumes and sets, the flimsy space crafts, the similarity between the surface of Saturn and certain California deserts, and the way Buck needs no learning curve after traveling 500 years into the future. It's great adolescent fun. --Jim Gay
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - buck rogers serial
I have wanted this serial for years. My wife and I really enjoyed it. Very campy. We both enjoy old serials and movies and this fit right in. I remember seeing it on TV when I was a kid.
Rating:  - This goes great with the Flash Gordon serial box set
Back in the late seventies I was first exposed to Buck Rogers via the television show with Gil Gerard. I later discovered the old serials with Buster Crabbe. Without the benefit of having read the old comic strip I have no idea which one is more consistent with the original comic strip but I like them both for different reasons. Although I liked Buster Crabbe better in Flash Gordon he does a great job here as well. He looks the part and can sell the character regardless of how outlandish the ... Read More
Rating: - Unlearning can be fun too
Perhaps the most difficult part of securing an education is unlearning a ton of misinformation. If that is the case, youngsters who saw this serial when it was first screened had a formidable task ahead of them, because the misinformation about space travel filled every episode. Consider the following few examples:
(1) Weightlessness in inter-stellar space did not exist. Buck and friends walk around inside their spacecraft with no problem.
(2) It took no time at all to ... Read More
Rating: - Buck Rogers, an enjoyable serial
Although an enjoyable serial, its special effects didn't quite equal those
of the Lydecker brothers of Republic Pictures.
Rating: - Awful fun
Chances are, if you're here, you've already made up your mind. People don't just stumble across a 1930s serial. So you're probably a fan of this kind of stuff.
Which means we aren't going to judge this like we would a new, slick, Hollywood release with top-notch actors. This is budget sci-fi made for kids of the 1930s. It's not sophisticated, the acting is a little stilted, and the science laughable. But if you wanted that stuff, you'd buy something else, right?
Comparing ... Read More
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