Login
In 1953, Universal decided it would be a good idea to cut their 12 part, 4 hour long Buck Rogers serial from 1939 and rerelease it as a 68 minute feature film with added forward and afterward to justify the production of "space age" nuclear weapons and compare the villainous Killer Kane character to the likes of Stalin (who died the same year) and Malenkov of the Soviet Union. ("Let us hope that the scientists of the free world will devise the weapons and the craft that will make democracy invincible against any enemy. God bless America! ") Kane doesn't use propaganda or fear to brainwash his people, but a bucket-shaped helmet that numbs all thoughts and feelings. Buster Crabbe's Buck Rogers and Jackie Moran's 'Buddy' are our all-American heroes who aim to crush his dastardly Empire, and we follow their adventures in buzzing spaceships to Saturn and beyond. I haven't seen the original serial, but I would imagine Constance Moore's part has been made significantly smaller here (was she a love interest in 1939?). Anthony Warde makes a good villain and Philip Ahn plays Tallen Of Saturn. The so called "wise elders" of Saturn don't make decisions for themselves but just go along with whatever Buck Rogers or Killer Kane say (Rogers says something, they agree, Kane, says something, they change their mind, Rogers says something and they "change their vote" !) There's some really awful acting from the extras, particularly early on from the men who discover Buck and Buddy in suspended animation, but the quick paced adventure (which surprisingly still makes sense considering 3 quarters of it is missing) provides a really fun hour or so.
4/5
