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.
