BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY (1979) *1/2 From the opening sequence, accompanied by an extraordinarily nauseating pop number, it's clear that the aesthetic goals are slight. A comic book variation on "James Bond meets Star Wars" is apparently what they were shooting for, and perhaps achieved to a slight extent with the proviso "as perceived by an imagination that pays homage to Danielle Steele as a great artist." The acting is abysmal across the board, the plot unimaginative to the extreme and the action sequences dull. They were willing to concede each of these points, I think, but endeavored to compensate with "hot chicks" who in reality appear to be sub-disco sludge. Some of the sets are cool though, the ones that they spent the least attention and effort on are occasionally genre appropriate, and the electric colors are enough to remind you, as if you weren't already painfully aware...this is modern, not one of those old hokey efforts from the '50s. The line about the southside of Chicago is good, and the choreographed dance sequence very funny. Sadness and derision return to rule the roost, though, when the "dancers" are liberated from the chains of the boozy feudal choreographers and "get down" to real "rock" music. The depths are such that perhaps even the Ramones couldn't have saved it.
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