Uh-oh, Paul WS Anderson is making a movie again: BUCK ROGERS

Uh-oh, Paul WS Anderson is making a movie again: BUCK ROGERS

Mar 25

If you don’t know who Paul WS Anderson is, allow me to refresh your memory: he made Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, Resident Evil, Alien Vs Predator, and Death Race. If you liked one of those movies I can forgive you; if you like more than one then we can’t be friends. That is an impressive streak of awful movies right there, a balance of crappy video-game knock-offs and brainless sci-fi retreads, which seems set to continue. After work on a fourth Resident Evil movies wraps up, Anderson has his next project lined up: Buck Rogers.

For those unaware of Buck Rogers, it began life as a sci-fi comic strip in the late 1920s, and evolved into various short stories, film serials and TV shows in the following decades. It concerns a modern bloke named Buck Rogers as he awakens from a gas-induced coma in the 25th century; hilarious culture clash and frantic space opera shenanigans ensue. Buck Rogers is credited as being one of the first works of fiction to focus on the human colonisation of other planets, and as such is one of the more influential sci-fi tales of the era.

Oh, and a little more news you should in no way be surprised to learn: Buck Rogers will of course be shot in 3D. Stereoscopy is all the rage now, especially in sci-fi action films involving manly American men getting transplanted to distant planets: see Avatar, John Carter Of Mars and to a lesser extent the Dune reboot.

What can we expect from an Anderson-helmed Buck Rogers flick? Well, judging by his previous efforts, muted, desaturated colours; gruff, shallow characters portrayed by B-grade actors; a plot with as little coherence and intelligence as physically possible; and silly use of slow-motion to lend gravitas to otherwise paper-thin action scenes. Of course Buck Rogers has always been interpreted as colourful and optimistic, so maybe Anderson’s visual style will see a slight tweak — but I can’t imagine he’d suddenly become competent or entertaining overnight.