Buck Rogers Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Okay, that's not entirely fair -- in reality, the video below has nothing to do with Frank Miller. It's not test footage, it's not an early short film of his and the man has probably never even seen this ... although he might take a quick look now that we've posted it. What we have for you today is a short film inspired by the Buck Rogers character created by a student (Patrick De Leon) for his editing class at the Art Institute of Colorado where he's majoring in Visual Effects. The short, which took four weeks to complete, is based on the way Buck appeared wayyy back in the day when he first arrived on the scene in the late 20's -- and it blends live action with campy sci-fi and a futuristic cityscape.

We mention Frank Miller, though, because news recently hit that Odd Lot was trying to purchase the rights to Buck Rogers off Nu Image/Millennium so that they could give Miller the chance to direct a new live-action version of the classic space hero. Seeing as how The Spirit crashed its way into the Crap Hall of Fame last month, some folks aren't crazy about Miller taking on such a beloved character for fear he'd ruin the Buck Rogers image. Me? I just don't think "camp" works with today's multiplex audience, no matter what the original source material is. But if Miller does get his hands on Rogers, should we expect something similar to this (which, I'd like to point out, is certainly impressive ... for an art student) ...



[via TheAwesomer]

Last Monday, yours truly was invited to help a friend of a friend out by offering to review Frost/Nixon on their podcast. As it turns out, it was the /Filmcast we were talking about, and it happened to be the same night that head honcho here Erik Davis was due to join in. Small world, eh?

So we tag-teamed our film chatter with the cool guys over at /Film -- David Chen, Adam Quigley, and Devindra Hardawar, to be specific -- and you can listen to that episode right about here. When Erik isn't twirling his hair around his finger and gushing about MTV's episodes of True Life, he and the gang manage to get around to discussing all the latest film news from Terminator: Salvation to the potential Suck Rogers with Frank Miller at the wheel.

I also took part in the /Film After Dark podcast and a recent year-end horror wrap-up extravaganza with just about everyone over at Bloody Disgusting, so with any luck and nearly no shame, we hope to share those as well. For those of you wishing to listen to David, Devindra and Adam record their next /Filmcast live, they'll be looking back on 2008 in film this coming Monday at 9 PM EST/6 PM PST.

The Greatest American Hero ... Now Buck Rogers. If someone cooks up a re-do of Danger Mouse, all of my childhood superheroes will be accounted for.

Yes folks -- Buck Rogers is getting another reboot, and this time, Frank Miller is the man in charge. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Odd Lot is trying to buy Buck's rights off of Nu Image/Millennium, so that Miller can write and direct his own take on the burly space explorer. But it won't be the Buck we all know and love -- "while the creator has only begun to sketch ideas, it's expected to be a darker take, with many of Miller's signature visual elements and themes, such as corruption and redemption."

Rogers could fall into a wicked coma that has him wake up in the 25th century, get frozen in space, or something completely different, but he will have one heck of a dark future to look forward to, being in the hands of Miller. While it makes sense, I'm not so sure about Miller taking on Buck, and the ill feelings surrounding The Spirit make me all the more apprehensive.

Buck's my guy -- in all his '80s beefcake glory with ridiculously tight and spandexy outfits and billowing chest hair. I just can't imagine Rogers without Gil and Erin, let alone the late and splendid Wildfrid Hyde-White, or wonderfully birdy Thom Christopher. Thrust into a dark and creepy world -- that I can imagine even less. Now Jon Favreau taking it on, and bringing Dennis Haysbert back and promoting him from Communication-Probe Officer to co-star, that I could handle.

He's one of pop culture's most beloved outer space adventurers, but we sure haven't seen a lot of good ol' Buck Rogers lately. (Then again, Flash Gordon's most recent incarnation was pretty awful, so maybe that's a good thing.) Born in 1928 from the pen of Mr. Philip Nowlan, Buck Rogers was a pilot / astronaut who fell into a five-century coma, only to awaken to find the world all futurized and stuff: robots, laser guns, spaceships, interstellar wars, all that jazz.

On screens of various size, the character has appeared in a 12-part 1939 serial from Universal Pictures, a short-lived 1950 television series, and (of course) a 1979 movie / TV program that starred Gil Gerard and (sigh) Erin Gray. So the big guy is heading back to the cinemas? Yep. According to IGN Movies, it's Avi Lerner's Millennium Films that will resurrect the Buck Rogers character for a whole new generation of sci-fi nerdlings. (I guess Millennium is using their Rambo money on this project.)

But it gets even geekier! Apparently author / artist / filmmaker Frank Miller will be the one in the director's chair! IGN says that the $40 million Buck Rogers project will be Miller's next gig once he's all finished with The Spirit. The screenplay comes from genre veteran Flint Dille, but there's one thing that gives me a little pause, and it's this quote specifically: "The cheapness of the low-budget effects will be a running joke in the movie, which will retain the campiness of the 1980s TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century starring Gil Gerard." Whoa, really? That's the direction you want to go in, fellas? Maybe I'm just an old-school Kaelist, but I think BAD things happen when you try to force "campiness." A sense of humor is fine, but let's not make a cheap joke out of good ol' Buck Rogers.