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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 15, 2007 14:41:20 GMT -8
Buster Crabbe ... Buck Rogers (as Larry 'Buster' Crabbe)
Constance Moore ... Wilma Deering
Jackie Moran ... George 'Buddy' Wade
Jack Mulhall ... Captain Rankin
Anthony Warde ... Killer Kane
C. Montague Shaw ... Professor Huer
Guy Usher ... Aldar
William Gould ... Air Marshal Kragg
Philson Ahn ... Prince Tallen
Henry Brandon ... Captain Laska
Wheeler Oakman ... Lieutenant Patten
Kenne Duncan ... Lieutenant Lacy (as Kenneth Duncan)
Carleton Young ... Scott
Reed Howes ... Captain Roberts
EPISODES:
1. Tomorrow's World
2. Tragedy on Saturn
3. The Enemy's Stronghold
4. The Sky Patrol
5. The Phantom Plane
6. The Unknown Command
7. Primitive Urge
8. Revolt of the Zuggs
9. Bodies Without Minds
10. Broken Barriers
11. A Prince in Bondage
12. War of the Planets
loads of art deco in this, very nice. there are two feature movies made from this serial, PLANET OUTLAWS and DESTINATION SATURN, neither of which i have seen.
i enjoyed the Buck Rogers tv show, and have read the seminal novel, which i am sure this bears little resemblance to as well. a good read though.
here's a fun site- www.buck-rogers.com/
loads of info on the character.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 15, 2007 22:47:35 GMT -8
Buck and his teenage pal Buddy are frozen for 500 years due to an accident in a dirigible, a blizzard and a payload of "nirvano" gas aboard. they are thawed out when the ice melts far enough to have Lt. Patten and Lt. Lacy free them.
they get taken to Prof. Huer who tells them what happened. Buck also meets Wilma. they also see Killer Kane torturing a pilot for the entrance to the Hidden City. Buck and Buddy immediately volunteer to go to Saturn to get help.
their plan works until they hit the atmosphere of Saturn, which is far denser than the Earth's. an aerial dogfight ensues and Buck's ship is damaged and out of control!
next~ Tragedy on Saturn
nice miniature effects, and the ships are very unusually designed. Buck and Buddy seem to have no trouble adjusting to the new era.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 15, 2007 23:36:26 GMT -8
Buck, Buddy and Wilma use their flight belts to escape to the surface before their ship crashes. they also save their portable radio. Kane sends his men down to make sure there are no survivors.
Wilma sees Kane's men, and they plan a reverse trap. it works the first time, but then Kane's other men get the drop on them. but a Saturnian and two Zuggs capture all of them.
they get brought to Aldar, head of the Council of the Wise. Buck tells them about their message. Aldar rejects it, and our heroes make an escape. they make their way to the ship, but the villains use their radio to control Buck's ship. Buck blasts the radio, and they head back to Earth.
unfortunately, they now can't contact the Hidden City, thus causing their leaders close the gates on their ship!
next~ The Enemy's Stronghold
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Post by Shonokin on Dec 16, 2007 7:41:13 GMT -8
This is one of my favorite serials.The effects are great and the action flows incredibly well from one episode to the next. There is some repetition with flying back and forth like most serials have but the overall nice flow makes that forgivable. One of the more infamous cliffhanger cheats is in this one.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 16, 2007 17:56:17 GMT -8
glad to see you here Dan- i thought you might have some comments about this serial!
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 16, 2007 18:16:04 GMT -8
the gates only smash half the ship, and our heroes use their gravity belts to get down. they immediately get arrested, but Huer releases them.
the Saturnian Council sends Prince Tallen with Laska to observe how Kane rules the Earth. Saturn will help if they have not been lied to.
Buck volunteers to be a spy in Kane's army. Buddy gives him a guilt trip about it, then pulls a fast one to get to go along with him. they land on Kane's terrace and get discovered immediately. fortunately it's only one guard. they interrupt the meeting with Kane and Tallen before the treaty is signed, and make Kane show him why the name "Killer" Kane fits.
Tallen says he will go with Buck and Buddy. Buck covers their escape, but they all get blasted by a ray gun!
next~ The Sky Patrol
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 16, 2007 19:05:48 GMT -8
Buddy manages to shoot the paralyzer ray and the guard. they use their anti-gravity belts to get to the ground level. Buck outsmarts several patrols.
Wilma worries willfully about Buck and gets sent on a patrol to look for him. meanwhile Buck and friends grab one of Kane's personal ships. he's a bit annoyed by that. he orders his men out to blast the ship. meanwhile, Wilma sees Buck in Kane's ship and prepares to blast him! fortunately they land and Wilma doesn't kill them.
Wilma takes off but Buck's ship malfunctions. suddenly another of Kane's ship appears and they begin to bomb our heroes!
next~ The Phantom Plane
i didn't see them use the transporter in the first episode. the ships really do sound like electric shavers.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 17, 2007 23:43:29 GMT -8
Wilma figures out Buck's ship may be crippled, so they head back to check them out. they get there just in time to save our heroes. Wilma lets Huer know that Tallen is with them and they need a doctor for Buddy.
Tallen pledges Saturn's aid to Huer. Kane is very upset by the fact this could happen and wants to send one of his men to Saturn to treat with them before Tallen reports back.
Wilma tries to contact Saturn, but can't get through. Prof. Huer has a new invention - a CLOAKING device for the ships. they will use this to get back to Saturn. it works perfectly, to the chagrin of Kane's troops. however, there's a Kane ship already on Saturn. Kane's man wants them to disable the ship- it's a trap! Buck, Wilma and Tallen are trapped in the ship, and poison gas is pumped in!
next~ The Unknown Command
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 18, 2007 1:26:47 GMT -8
Kane's men turn the gas off before it kills our heroes. they can't kill Tallen for fear of the Saturnians. Captain Laska calls Kane for advice. they use the mind control filaments from the hypnotic helmets on Tallen and then plan to kill Buck and Wilma.
Buck and Wilma break free and escape. they head for the city to stop the false treaty that Tallen will sign. unfortunately Tallen is under Laska's control, so Buck and Wilma have to escape. they take Tallen with them.
Laska closes the gate, despite it meaning the death of Tallen- our heroes crash and explode!
next~ Primitive Urge
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Post by Shonokin on Dec 18, 2007 9:52:34 GMT -8
I actually like this serial more than the Flash Gordon ones. Probably because it's very lean. It's like reading a pulp novel, as compared to reading Hemingway. Everything is just down to the basics with no room to drift far off the plot. Also as I said before, the effects are fun. In the first episode I was always impressed with the gun melting the ice away from the door. That was rather sophisticated for any serial.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 18, 2007 10:23:26 GMT -8
it sure does move along. good stuff here, i think. i was impressed with both a transporter and a cloaking device showing up as well.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 27, 2007 15:59:40 GMT -8
Laska gets stunned, but our heroes easily survive the explosion of the little car.  Buck revives Tallen by taking his helmet off. Laska runs off to free the men Buck left prisoner and they take off.
Tallen signs the treaty, and Saturn and Buck calls the Council to tell them the good news. meanwhile, Laska uses the man under control as the Zugg's god, and plans a revolt.
the Zuggs get to the Council room, and Laska calls Kane. but before he can tell Kane what is going on, Buck goes into action, despite the danger from the Zuggs!next~ Revolt of the Zuggs
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 27, 2007 16:31:06 GMT -8
Buck gets away, but has ruined the radio. Tallen and Wilma are imprisoned. Tallen warns Laska about the Zuggs, but he doesn't listen. Buck frees them and they form a plan to release the man from the hypnotic helmet.
Buck gets the drop on Laska, and frees the man from the robot helmet. they return the control of the Zuggs to the Saturnians. they plan on leaving immediately.
Kane is preparing a new expedition to force the Saturnians to sign a treaty with him. they get a report of the rocket returning, and send up a squadron.
Buck calls for the "Disolvo Ray" (the cloaking device) which works until the control tube bursts. the squadron heads after Buck and Wilma's ship and one rams them!
next~ Bodies Without Minds
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 31, 2007 14:12:20 GMT -8
Kane's ship just bounces off Buck's ship, which then crashes into the Earth. Kane's men capture Buck and Wilma then. Kane wants Buck to lead him to the Hidden City. Buck won't, so Kane puts a slave helmet on him.
back in the Hidden City, Buddy views past exploits of Buck. Buddy then parachutes into Kane's city to rescue his friends. right as he is about to do that, he gets zapped in the back!
next~ Broken Barriers
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 31, 2007 15:05:51 GMT -8
the beam never hits Buddy, since he leaps out the window. Wilma uses her wiles to get away from her cell. she meets up with Buddy and they rescue Buck. Wilma really takes charge.
they take Kane's ship, not realizing one of his men has stowed away. Wilma lets the City know they are coming in, so they won't get crushed again. they land and Carson dons some garb of the Hidden City men. he radios Kane the position of the City- in Valley 100- and Kane sends his men to destroy it!
Buck finds out, and fistfight break outs. but can he stop close the gates in time?
next~ A Prince in Bondage
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 1, 2008 16:05:17 GMT -8
Buck knocks out Carson and the two crews that land get captured. the War Council decides to ask Saturn for their support in attacking Kane. Saturn doesn't respond, so Buck is going to use one of Kane's ships to get there.
naturally Buddy sneaks on the ship. Buck of course knows he's there. they are apprehended when they land on Saturn. they find Laska free there. they find out Tallen has been kidnapped by Laska. Buck and Buddy reach the council, but Laska begins bombing.
will our heroes be entombed?
final chapter~ War of the Planets
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 1, 2008 16:54:10 GMT -8
the column only falls on Buck's leg, and misses Buddy completely. Laska lands, but the Council's man says he will seek a truce to obtain Tallen's release. Buck goes ahead and rescues Tallen.
Saturn sends a squadron of ships to Earth to aid the Hidden City, and the battle to eradicate Kane is on! Buck and Buddy infiltrate Kane's city, and free Krinkle to help them out. he does so with pleasure!
Buck has Krinkle free all the "robots" Kane has amassed from their hypnotic helmets and then Kane gets a helmet himself. the war is over and Earth is free!
review: i quite enjoyed this one. it gets a lot of flack for the actor playing Killer Kane, but he is hardly even in the serial, so i am not sure what the problem is with him. the hypnotic helmets look a bit silly, but that's just fine.
a little more romance between Buck and Wilma would have been nice. Constance is a great Wilma, not shy or retiring at all. she doesn't get much to do overall though.
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Buck revives Tallen by taking his helmet off. Laska runs off to free the men Buck left prisoner and they take off.