Cool News
A look at the BUCK ROGERS script!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Well here is a look at the BUCK ROGERS script sent in by Z-FORCE and WOW this sounds like it could be cool. Too bad we ain't got Buster Crabbe eh? But do ya think Gil Gerard would do a cameo? Well enough of me, onto the news...
TITLE: Buck Rogers
AUTHOR: Tony Puryear
DRAFT: First Rewrite
LOGLINE: After saving the Earth from it's own destruction, Buck Rogers awakens in 2099 to
find a world enslaved by an alien race who have been preparing the Earth and its people for
habitation by a wave of their own.
SUMMARY: We move in on the blue planet at peace. Until we see the worlds latest threat. A
malfunctioning Ukrainian StarWars Space Weapon follows it's orbit around the globe blasting a
white hot beam down to Earth in its path. The 'footprint' of this sattelite steadily carves a path of
destruction and incineration as it orbits. The world panics as the death ray won't stop, carving
across Africa towards Bombay and then North America. Eventually it will hit everything.
Who does the world look to but Buck Rogers, ace pilot and astronaut who is spending Christmas
Eve with his wife AVA and son BUCK JR. A knock on the door from some official types and
Buck is off to save the world, chosen because he's the best.
Piloting a top secret Stealth Shuttle, Buck now faces the killer head on. Ten miles away Buck
launches a nuclear smart-bomb. The explosion sends the sattelite awry but only momentarily as it
corrects itself and continues.
Buck's had enough, there's only one thing left to do. He turns around and heads for the sattelite. It
senses his trajectory and fires at him. Space Ace that he is, he dodges the barrage, hits the
burners and blasts head on into the sattelite, giving his life for the sake of mankind.
Two things happen here. Buck is immortalized as the man who saved the world. Everywhere
statues are erected, schools are renamed etc. The other thing that happens is the nuclear
detonation in space is seen by others. A beacon to another species.
FORTY YEARS later. Ava Rogers and her grandson watch the violent arrival of THE DORO,
an alien race welcoming themselves to earth. President Clark Johnson, Buck's old friend
becomes the first official to make contact with this race in an attempt to strike peace.
SIXTY MORE YEARS later. The world is a different place. Air travel and space travel are one
and the same. Up in space, a junk pirate, PANDIT SINGH discovers a wedge shaped piece of
debris in space, with a human lifeform signal eminating from within. He picks it up, discovering
who he has found.
Buck is thawed from hypersleep and is delirious. He is taken to NEW HAWAII, a new island
created by the Doro when they blasted the moon out of space. Now it acts as the hive of
government for the Earth. Singh takes Buck straight to Johnson to collect his reward for finding
the saviour of the world. Upon meeting Johnson again, Buck is aghast at how Johnson hasn't
aged, though now over 160 years old. Something's wrong with Johnson though and Buck senses
it.
Buck is introduced to WILMA DEERING. Buck gets caught up on his role in why the Earth is the
way it is today. His detonation of the nuclear device brought the DORO here. It is very apparent
that the DORO are the master race and that humans now exist in a slave capacity. Johnson
promises Buck a life in the upper echelons but Buck is unimpressed. Johnson's sold out, and
seems to be glad about it. The DORO know they have the world at their feet.
Wilma is assigned to escort Buck around. Buck promptly kidnaps her, hijacks an aircraft and
takes off for San Diego, his home. It is now Rogers City, dedicated to the memory of Buck with a
huge statue of him, billboards, streets, libraries… In memorium, Buck has become the
propaganda spokesman for the surrender of the world to the DORO. He tries to cut loose and
escape from his escorts but using a homing device, Wilma catches up to him. We discover that
it's for Buck's own good. Wilma is one of the leaders of the rebel resistance. Buck is rescued
from Johnson's forces by Wilma and taken to the Rebel Headquarters
Buck meets face to face with his Grandson TREY, now the leader of the rebels. Buck is told
everything. About how his son was a Senator, and Johnson the president of the US. How the
DORO came and Buck Jr. was about to sign over the goverening of Earth to the DORO but
resisted, refusing to sign and being shot by none other than Johnson himself. Now Trey is the last
hope, using his name to lead the people to peace.
Buck is also told of the SECOND COMING, the inhabitation of Earth by a full new generation of
Doro. Humans will no longer be needed here and will be exterminated. The rebel uprising has
gained strength in fear of this event and plan to strike back. With the Second Coming just a week
away the rebels want to act now and want Buck to help. Buck refuses but is eventually
convinced after Johnson leads an attack on the rebel base using high tech REAPERS, walking,
armoured tanks, 12 feet tall.
The rebels fight back and after much loss manage to gain an upper hand. Johnson retreats. Buck
and the rebels form a plan to defeat Johnson and the Doro, stop the second coming and once
again save the planet.
Both sides move into action. Buck and the rebels begin by attacking and stealing a FUEL CEL
plant in Moscow. This is also the location of the DORO mothership so a huge dogfight battle
ensues. Outnumbered and outgunned the rebels suffer additional losses but manage to steal a fuel
cel. The cel will power a gigantic laser gun, mounted in New Hawaii. This was the gun used to
shoot down the moon and the plan is to use it to destroy the incoming GIANT DORO CARRIER,
an incubator and arrival ship for millions and millions of Doro, sent to populate the Earth.
This minor victory becomes a rallying call to the rest of the world. Back at the rebel base all are
jubilant. Buck however is dying, finally realizing that his body won't function in this different
Earth Atmosphere. Doctors do everything they can but Buck is weak. With the help of a few 'old'
1990's sattelite systems a rebel broadcast goes out to the world. Buck tells everyone,
everywhere that the time has come to rise up and defeat the DORO. The world responds
immediately, riots, raids, bombings of Doro strongholds. Everywhere, humans are taking the
world back.
Now, in New Hawaii, the rebels and a very weak Buck attempt to use the fuel cel to power the
giant gun. There is a snafu however and Johnson is waiting. Johnson, with unhuman strength
almost kills Buck with his bare hands, also announcing that he personally killed Buck's family
after Buck Jr. disobeyed him and the Doro.
Just as Johnson's about to deliver Buck his last blow, Pandit Singh and Trey come to the rescue
with an ambush. While Buck is delivered a cure, the same that helps Johnson live so long and is
revived, Johnson escapes.
All around the world humans are taking over, resisting. Johnson is mounting up another attack,
this time with flying versions of REAPERS. Johnson rallies his soldiers and they take off. Their
destination? The DISRUPTER, the giant gun Wilma is hovering over with the fuel cel. Another
dogfight breaks out with REAPERS flying against Rebel ships.
Rogers and Johnson face off, Johnson constantly gaining the edge and getting closer to locking in
on Rogers. Buck pulls off his famous 'Rogers Roll', turns the tables and finally destroys his
nemesis, Clark Johnson.
Now with minutes to spare before the DORO MEGA-CARRIER arrives, the rebels desparately
try and figure out the DISRUPTOR gun. They get it. It erupts, cutting the sky with its beam. It also
cuts straight through the DORO mega-carrier. It's destruction is the most beautiful thing the world
has ever seen in the sky. The defeat of the rest of the Doro now comes easy around the world and
once again humans have triumphed. Buck and his rebels have done it. Buck's first request is
some good ole barbecue.
COMMENTS: Hmm wow. There's a lot to cover in this script. As far as the plot goes here,
well it seems to go everywhere. So much is happening at once that the script seems to be trying
too hard. It felt like I had to fill in blanks on my own. I was completely into this script from the
start with Buck's introduction. The Ukrainian Death-Sattelite and it's destruction were great and
the resulting Immortalization of Buck made for an interesting seque into the future of Earth. I kind
of dropped off in enthusiasm after this point however, the Doro invasion and subsequent plan
made sense and all but just seemed to move along with the formula where you'd expect it to.
Right until the end the plot just seemed too easy. Like this could be a two hour reunion movie
instead of a feature length release. I couldn't get Gil Gerard and Erin Gray out of my head and
that's exactly what I didn't want to see. As much as I loved the 80's show, I wanted this script to
go to the next level and it just didn't have the juice. In place of the DORO I pictured the evil
space vampire from the best episode of the series ever but they didn't seem to be much of a threat
after seeing Independence Day.
The characters then were too much like the ones from the series of the 80's. Buck was
characterized as the typical good ole space cowboy and Johnson, while undergoing a cool
metamorphosis to become a great villian was simply just an average villain. The Doro should've
been the snarling menacing types but instead took all their orders from Johnson. Wilma didn't
seem too useful to the plot either.
What was cool about this script was the imagery it conjured up. The propaganda of 'BUCK' used
to facilitate the masses into the Doro plan was great. I pictured Communist Russia of the early
1900's except substitute Gil Gerard's face in for Stalin. The various cities, bases, vehicles and
the REAPERS sound great. What was missing was perhaps some 90's references, one of the
things that made the show so much fun was Buck barbecuing hamburgers or disco dancing. Buck
only wishes for barbecue in this script. All things on my wishlist considered though, this movie
would at least look great.
I can see why this movie hasn't been green-lit. I would even understand if it hadn't yet been even
bought. It needs to be something more. From the comics, to the serial-movies of the thirties to the
show in the 80's, each was a progression. This would be released in the new century and it has
to be a movie that reflects that. As good as it will look and as cool as Buck Rogers would be…
this story is right out of the Glen Larson files. Do what BATMAN did … it progressed beyond
anything we'd ever seen from the characters and setting before it. ( on screen). Back to the laptop
Tony, make the story slicker and the characters less 80's and I'll be glad to pay $8.
Any posting in TALK BACK labeled as Harry Knowles is not me. I will no longer be posting to Talk Back till the registration software is installed. So if you see someone acting like me, they are full of baloney. Have fun posting. Harry
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This plot sounds terrible. As far as I can make out, it is just a load of crappy set pieces strung together by a VERY thin story. Perhaps the reason why it hasn't been greenlighted is that some bastion of sanity is creeping into the Execs' minds to the conclusion that they now realise that effects aren't everything. 12 ft. robots !! Whooop-d-doo !! That'll make shell out my cash !! I'm all for a Buck Rogers remake, but not at the expense of ruining the characters. e.g. The Avengers, Godzilla.
Also, what happened to the 25th century setting ??? -
Man, that's a bummer. What's the use of remaking a classic character and idea if you just toss aside the most important factor, to wit: Buck is completely ALONE! Buck meeting (and working with) family? Sheesh... almost as bad as that bastardized "Saint" movie (which shouldn't have been called "The Saint" -- "Secret Agent," "THE Cat," anything, but not "The Saint")
Oh, and I'm not Harry. -
personnaly i would rather see an adaptation of the books, from TSR, the ones that heralded the Buck Rogers Gameverse. Much cooler tech, bad guys, and Heros. Black Barney(engineered Cyber Pirate and warrior, Wilma, Kane(mercenary for hire), Ardala(seductress/killer/geneicist, Buck. The Krait ships. Assualt on Gauntlet. The races mercurians, martians, venusians. Too cool. In fact i think Bunch and Cole wrote the short story, i would love to see their work make it to the big screen. Sten is Awesome. sorry about spelling
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Believe me, I'm all for remakes... especially when the predecessors are not all that great. The TV series Buck Rogers suffered from a real time-warp of it's own (much like the DeLaurentiis Flash Gordon movie) where even when they tried not to camp it up, they couldn't succeed.
At that time, the Glen Larson television empire was in full swing (if anyone dares ask, "BJ and the Bear remake", I'm personally coming to hurt you)and everything had a cookie cutter feel to it. That would go all the way on to Knight Rider, spawning that particular demon known as Haas-L'hoph. All kidding aside, this treatment or proposal isn't going to help bring back Buck. Instead, it seems its going to turn all the characters into some Speed Racer-styled pit crew. I'm ambivalent and wish these writers would go back to the source materials: The original Buck Rogers comic strips. While we're at it, suggest them to read the original Alex Raymond Flash Gordon strips too. Hey, I'm still hoping Warner gets the nerve to remake Swamp Thing using the original Len Wein/Berni Wrightson story... a fella can dream. -
What an incredibly stupid plot. Hmmm ... discards everything that made Buck Rogers unique, substitutes Glen Larson-level "improvements" to the original story ... where have we seen this before? There's not even any of the original characters save Wilma. Where's Killer Kane? Dr. Huer? Ardala? Black Barney? The Niagra Orgzone? The Airlords of Han? The Tigermen of Mars? The freakin' whole 25TH CENTURY for that matter? Best take this mess out back and burn it before it contaminates the whole neighborhood.
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Okay, I realize that in this day and age of Political Correctness you can't have the Han taking over the world and ruling it with an iron fist but this is not an improvement. Admittedly it could use a little updating but there's still a lot of good material in the original stories. I'd much rather see something based on Nowlan's novelization of the comic strips, "Armageddon 2419 A.D.", along with the "sequels" to it that were published in the early '80s; Holmes' "Mordred" and Silbersack's "Roger's Rangers". Might even be able to do an end run around the PC thought police by having the Han under the control of the Pr'lu. At its certainly not Buck Rogers without Killer Kane, Ardala, Black Barney, and Doc Huer. And I want to see some jumping belts damn it! :)
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I agree with Harry when
reading the script for
Buck Rogers that it ain't that great but why did Harry say
the script should do what
BATMAN did and take the story
to the next level, because didn't Harry once said he disliked
the first BATMAN movie ? (I am
right in thinking Harry in his post was referring to the 1989 Batman movie about how the
story should be taken to
the next level).
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I want to know the validity of this so-called "script" at all. I could have sent this in and said it was a "peek" at the new script, when I could have written it myself, on my own time, without any connection to a real movie studio and without any intention of it getting made whatsoever.
I wouldn't worry too much about how this spec changes Buck Rogers; I'd worry more that it may be a bogus attempt for someone to put their creative story on-line for everyone to see! -
You'd think they could at least wait a decade for yet ANOTHER alien invasion movie. I'd rather watch the guy single handedly save the Earth.
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You know, if this were an actual copying of a script treatment, you'd think the person reporting it would get the possessive apostrophes in the right spots and such.
Maybe next time you could ask MILO to swipe a copy. He's apparently really good at getting accurate scripts that have been fed through at least one spell-check.
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I would reiterate what others have said before, read the original comic-strips. Read the original, before the updates. Also, this is a spec script. I could write a spec script. Someone who's never read Buck Rogers could read a spec script. You could write a software program that allows a computer program to write a spec script. That's how Don Simpson movies are written. Piss on this phoney-balogna script.
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Buck rogers sucks!
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Pleas let my hero Gil Gerard at least be a guest star in this movie he is the coolest 30 year old on the planet.
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I always thought that buck rogers had a robot fetish he seemed to totally ignore the beautiful
wilma and the sexy villaness
yet Tweeki got to sit in his lap
hmm
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Its completely unrealistic, but it would be in keeping with the typical current Hollywood script that couldn't see an American device responsible.
Don't flame me, it just seems that the current Hollywood ethic is rather self-righteous, America saves the world type of stuff...
This is NOT a dig at americans, just that little area in it called Hollywood :) -
I am no screen-writer, but that sounds awful. Where are the draconians, and their belly baring queen. What was her name. If the movie wants to make any money at all that's the angle they should focus on. The draconian queens belly button.
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I gotta agree with most of the other stuff here. I've been a long-time Buck Rogers fan, and even really enjoyed some of the later stuff TSR did with the franchise. But the more I read, the less I wanted to see this flick. How generic can you get? Nothing even remotely interesting here. Move along, folks...
- Brian -
Ok how are you suspended when your at ground zero of a nuclear blast?
Bubble Gum? Faith? Really good sneakers? Or just suspension of disbeleif?
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What is "whiddon's" problem he thinks the only thing good about BR was a belly button. What a nimrod. This movie if viewed without worrying about whether it could really happen could be great.
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Look, that humdumbo is a real clod. The only possible interest anybody could muster for a B-Rogers cinematic experience is Ursula's belly button. Yes, her name was Ursula Andrews. I did the research and I know its a fact, Ursula Andrews played the Draconian Princess on Warner Bros. syndicated sci-fi serial "Buck Rogers Freedom Fighter." Yes that was the real title.
Again I repeat, let's cast Cathy Zeta Jones, from the Zorro pic, put her in a belly seat, and try to keep this pic from reaching 1 billion dollar domestic gross, on the first weekend no less. Who's even heard of star wars, when YOU GOT B-ROGERS FREEDOM AVENGER. -
What the hell... that script sounds just like everything else. Why do they feel the need to rip off a dogshjit movie like independence day...Why put an outer space movie on EARTH, of all places. I'll wait for the new Star Wars.
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About 10 years ago I ran across a paperback containing the original stories that would later spawn BUCK ROGERS as a comic strip. I believe the book was titled ARMAGGEDDON 2459 but I could be mistaken. Anyway, why is this original story never even CONSIDERED for a movie? It is genuinely far superior to any cinematic versions of the story yet done, particularly the one on this site. Anyone who comes across this book will see what I mean, because it is NOTHING like what has been presented before.
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Erin Gray in spandex.
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I THINK IT NEEDS WIDER SCOPE, I AGREE WITH HARRY AND THE BATMAN ANALOGY. BY ALL MEANS IMBRACE THE 80S KITSCH VALUE THAT IS BUCK ROGERS BECAUSE WITHOUT IT IT WOULD BE UNRECOGNISABLE, BUT BRING IT UP TO DATE AND SLIGHTLY SERIOUS, BUT USE SELF REFERENTIAL HUMOUR
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