Synopsis:

Buck Rogers is an air-force pilot and astronaut on a deep-space mission. An accident freezes him in an orbit that returns Buck to Earth 500 years later. In the year 2491 he is found and revived by the Draconians, under the command of Princess Ardala. Back on Earth, Buck learns that society has been rebuilt over centuries following a holocaust. He must adjust to the 25th century, and convince its people that the Draconians are planning to conquer Earth.

Intentions:

The extended edition merges the 1979 cinema release and the TV-series pilot "Awakening", making this edit longer than either. Like the novelization, it also adds a glimpse into Buck’s past using two flashbacks from season 2. It includes extensive background information in the form of a feature-length 2nd audio track of conversations with Gerard, Gray, and Silla; and written interviews with creators Larson, Stevens, and director Haller. To keep the vibe of disco-Buck going after you watch this edit, songs from the late 1970s are added separately as an homage to the movie and TV series.

Change List:

EXTENDED SCENES: The theatrical version contains 5 minutes of material not used in the TV version: + Different Conrad opening narration. + The “sexy” dream-sequence opening credits. + Buck has a longer talk with Wilma before going to the irradiated old city. + Buck calls Wilma “ballsy”. + When Wilma comes after Buck in old Chicago, she has her soldier stun Buck. She says “Captain, you got away once, but not this time. Lieutenant?” and he shoots Buck. The words “time. Lieutenant?” and the moment the soldier points the gun and pulls the trigger, are included in this theatrical version but (erroneously) cut in the TV version. + Kane talks with Huer at the dance party. + Wilma kisses Buck [different version]. + Twiki says that he’s "freezing his ball-bearings off". + Buck comments that the Draconian uniforms aren't Gucci. + Buck kicks Tiger-Man in the balls near the end of the film. The TV version cut the actual kick: it shows Tiger-Man facing off with Buck then suddenly howling in pain. + Kane’s communication with Emperor Draco. The scene was cut from the TV version, Draco was not seen at all in the series. + Wilma gushes to Buck after the final battle. The TV version contains 15 minutes not used in the theatrical version: + The interior of Buck's apartment. + Buck has two talks with Theo about what happened in the past 500 years. After the second one, he goes to sleep. + The first part of Buck's walk into the irradiated area of old Chicago. + Dr Huer pleads with the computer council to stay Buck's verdict. + Princess Ardala and Kane are seen scheming a bit more. + Wilma kisses Buck [different version]. The two versions have been merged, losing minimal text. + After the final battle, Princess Ardala and Kane are seen bickering a bit more. + Buck makes his apartment "homey". + The films ends with Dr Huer offering Buck a job. OTHER CHANGES: - First a text page, with images, about Buck Rogers from 1928 to 1979. - We open on Buck's freezing accident in his shuttle in 1987 (heavily trimmed flashback from s2 episode "The Guardians"), as a pre-opening-credits scene. - The opening and closing song are now in true stereo (instead of the blu-ray's dual-mono), using the Intrada CD. - Twiki has two more lines of text. Two bidi-bidi's had silence after them while Felix Silla continued to move his head and arms as if Twiki was still speaking. Now he is. For part of season 2, Mel Blanc's voice was replaced by the very different sounding Bob Elyea. It sounds wrong! To fix Twiki's voice in those five adventures, I extracted all of Mel Blanc's Twiki from the episodes (435 lines of text). After that effort, it was easy to find two relevant lines to insert here. - I've inserted a part of Buck's dream from s2e3 The Guardians. I always felt that Buck's grief over his parents missed an emotional set-up for the viewer. Now he dreams of his mom right before going into Anarchia where he searches for her grave. The point-counterpoint works very nicely. The trimmed dream isn't about "Buck being too proud" (the main point of the flashback in The Guardians), but focuses on "You might die on your flight" (a prescient referral to the 1986 Challenger explosion). - I merged the scene of Wilma kissing Buck, trimming a few lines to make her stronger and less of a fawning school-girl. She's no longer "so mixed up" instead focusing on having "been trained for leadership". - The bluray lacks subtitles, those were edited from the old DVDs.

Additional Notes:

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Other Sources:

Special Thanks:

Bionicbob for suggesting to improve Buck Rogers in the musical style of Guardians of the Galaxy. My resulting playlist of 1970s music is included as a bonus feature. Dkerin for his inspiring work on Battlestar Galactica.