See what the utter failure of Flash Gordon on TV has wrought? They aren't even trying anymore.

Disco-noir, murder on the dance floor in space?
Uhg. So many questions..Who will voice Twiki. Billy West or Bruce Willis?
Ouch. This really hurts my head.

I think I'm officially nostalgia'd out at this point.

@Miranda Kali: For a $40 million budget, probably not Willis.

So we are going to end up with Dax Shepard as Buck and friggin Jessica Simpson as Wilma? Eff that.

'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 interpretation."

Sounds like a formula for suckage.

I think they should get Vern Troyer in a Darth Vader outfit to play Twiki; Black outfit, red buttons.

If they can keep the campiness of 80's version then I'm all for it. Garth Marenghi's Darkplace was an absolutely brilliant British comedy made in 2004 that was able to capture the cheapness and campiness of 80's TV. If Buck Rogers can recreate that then I'll be the first in line. Bidi Bidi.

Please no campy!!! Don't ruin another legacy... oh the humanity.

Cruse you Flash Gordon!!!
@Macloserboy: Amen!

Will Gary Coleman have a cameo appearance?

@Hes-Dead-Jim: "What you talkin'bout, Wilma!?"

"I'm the Goddamn Buck Rogers!"

(really only funny if you've read Miller's All-star Bats)

Frank Miller's Buck Rodgers:

WHORES WHORES WHORES SPACE BATTLE WHORES

(..just to get it out of the way)

THIS IS NEW CHICAGO!!

"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 interpretation."

If I wanted that I'd go put on the DVDs and lust after Erin Grey some more. Yeesh. Enough with the camp! Make it serious or don't bother!

I can't wait till Frank takes on Rockers in Space.

I'm guessing the new Twikkie will be some deformed robot with a secret dildo attachment and that Dr Theopolis will be screaming, "Earthers, prepare for glory!"

Hopefully it'll be as good as All-Star Batman.

...

J/K! J/K!

That was sarcasm!

Well, I'll be the voice of reason as usual and say this won't happen.
At least with Frank Miller at the helm.
I'm sure The Spirit will fail and anyone willing to throw money at him as a director (until RR makes SC2) will be given the stinkeye.
Plus, Frank's been all ranting that he wants to make Hard Boiled after The Spirit. What happened to that?

Some fracking 50 something man-child thinks what a great idea it would be if we remade King Kong, or Flash Gordon, or now Buck Rogers. You know, because they thought it was so great when I was they were kids. No one wants to belly-up to the fact the target market these days couldn't care less about these dead franchises. At best you get something like King Kong, that at least had enough CGI to keep you from falling asleep, but you usually get a PC remake of what were horribly racist characters who wind up changed so much you have to ask yourself what was the point of using the source material in the first place.

Does no one remember all three of these were remade in the 70's 80's and they sucked (commercially at least)then too?

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 interpretation.

Wow. So, I suppose it's now 'funnny' when you see an older car that only has lap belts too?

The lack of technolgy in special effects isn't 'funny'. Hell some of it was rather creative. Who knew plinking on a guy wire for a light pole and then playing it backwards made a wicked sounding laser gun (Star Wars).

As long as Wilma stays a strong character I'm all for it.

@dangrgirl:
Have you seen Sin City?
The question isn't whether she'll be a strong character or not...It's whether she'll be a strong character with clothes or not.

Beedy-beedy-beedy, what the buck?

@Epaminondas: I was under the impression that the "Flash Gordon" remake did reasonably good box office, but maybe I'm just blinded by the memory of Sam Jones in his leather short-shorts.

When I was in college in the early 90s, I really wanted to do a TV movie: "Buck Rogers in the 20th Century" using the original cast from the early 80s TV show. It would be (as obvious from the title), a time travel story where Buck comes back to the present. The idea was to simply make it fun. The first season of the 80s show was actually enjoyable to watch because the actors looked like they had fun doing it. The second season was absolutely terrible because they tried to make it serious instead of fun. Even Gil Gerard was quoted as saying the second season sucked. I had a friend studying film who, when I told him my concept said that he had also had an idea about Buck Rogers - he wanted to do a redo (what today we would call a "re-imagining", a la BSG). It would use an all-new cast and be very different in tone - dark, with dark humor. He wanted Bruce Campbell to be Buck. He had one scene where Twiki get blasted apart and his head lands at Buck's feet. I loved it.

Bruce Campbell as Buck Rogers WORKS.

Anyway, one day, 5 or 6 years later, I'm working at UGO, and we start working with Gary Coleman. And I'm thinking: here's my chance! I know HE'S available, and I don't think Erin Gray or Gil Gerard are doing anything... But I never brought it up. I realized how stupid the idea was.

We were watching one of the two Coleman episodes one day at the office, and in walks Gary, and he starts laughing about what a dick Gil Gerard was on set.

Anyway, a campy re-do of Buck Rogers is doomed to failure. I doubt a completely different version would draw much attention, either. Even a continuation with the same cast would be little more than a curiosity. Why do we need to remake these old shows anyway?

BDBDBDBDBDBD
"Stay back or I'll cut your litter pecker off!"
BDBDBDBDBDBD
"Buck, you'remy kind of guy."

why don't they just go back to the original source and start from there?

as much as i loved the series when i was a kid, re-envisioning that crappy series is a bad idea. it was a product of it's time so let it stay there.

1980's flash gordon is also a period classic. it's doesn't need re-envisioning either.

It would be amazingly fantastic if the Art direction followed the original 1930s comic-strip...

[en.wikipedia.org]

what I want to know is...
with material like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers etc there is the default assumption that it's campy, cheap, buffoonish etc etc...
but hasn't that been caused by our reaction to the terrible adaptations these stories have recieved in the last 75+ years?
I haven't read the original Buck Rogers strips in years so I could be wrong...but, though they were intended for a younger audience, they were never 'camp'.
what they've done to BSG proves that you can do some amazing things with source material that needs a bit of help...

That sounds so wrong, on so many levels.
If it was Warren Ellis who showed with Planetary that it´s possible to do nostalgic, even cheesy without succombing to camp, but Miller Miller-fies everything (as to be witnessed in The Spirit).

@goldfarb: Were they really written for a younger audience? Or just a simpler audience?

I'll go see it if Robert Rodriguez directs. Imagine what he would do with a character like Hawk Man.

@BZArcher: Yeah, that sounds bout right... and I'm not poo-pooing it at all, I'll pay to see that on IMAX.

What I want to know is why people still give Frank Miller money...

Network Exec: Crap, we're out of movies to remake!
Other Network Exec: Quick, what 80s telelvision shows haven't been done?
Producer's Asst: let's see . . . .

@BZArcher: HILARIOUS.

Samuel L Jackson as Buck Rodgers ftw... ;)

And if he plays "Buck", "Snakes On A Plane" style... even better!

beedi beedi beedi!

Does Frank Miller have to ruin EVERYTHING?

No. Definitely No.