An astronaut who's been frozen for 500 years is thawed out by aliens and caught up in their conflict with Earth. Captain William "Buck" Rogers has been in cryostasis for 500 years, due to a malfunction of his spaceship, Ranger 3. Aliens from the Draconian Empire run into his ship and thaw him out. They believe he was planted there by the Earth Defense Directorate to spy on the Draconians. They upgrade Ranger 3 and send Rogers to Earth in hopes of spying on the Defense Directorate.
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Colonel Wilma Deering escorts Ranger 3 through Earth's defense shield, and has him detained in New Chicago, the capital city of the Earth. Dr. Elias Huer, one of the rulers of New Chicago, visits him and breaks the news to Buck that it's the 25th Century. Buck is then supplied with a robot helper named Twiki. Dr. Theopolis, a computerized administrator, doesn't answer all Buck's questions, so Buck sneaks out of the city into the nuclear wasteland. Just as mutants attack Buck, Twiki, and Dr. Theopolis, Wilma subdues the mutants with a laser cannon and brings Buck back.
After being found guilty of treason by a jury of computers, Buck insists that he saw warships aboard the Draconian flagship. Wilma and Buck visit the ship, and it comes under attack from space pirates. After a few casualties, Buck takes control, piloting his automated star fighter manually. But Buck's story doesn't hold up.
After Earth welcomes the Draconians, who plan to force Earth into a false treaty, Buck accompanies Draconian Princess Ardala back to the flagship. Wilma and Dr. Huer think Buck is a Draconian spy, but he's actually planning on sabotaging the Draconians. After knocking Ardala out, he places torpedoes in the tailpipes of the Draconian fighters, which were the same ships that attacked the flagship under pretenses of being space pirates. Twiki and Dr. Theopolis have stowed away aboard the princess's shuttle, so Buck has to explain everything to him to gain their trust. They radio New Chicago, and Wilma and her underlings wipe out those Draconian ships that made it into space. She rescues Twiki, Buck and Dr. Theo just as the Draconian flagship explodes. Ardala and her right-hand man, Kane, have escaped in their shuttle as she blames Kane for their failure to invade the Earth.
Best part of story, including ending:
It had a bit of humor, such as Buck teaching Twiki and the Princess how to disco, in between a few dark bits revolving around the wasteland and graveyards around New Chicago.
Best scene in story:
When the supposed space pirates attack, the music is pretty cool, and Buck does a good job taking control of the situation when Wilma claims that manually piloting their ships is against all laws of modern aerial combat.
Opinion about the main character:
I liked that Buck was very confident and hip. He was a smart tactician throughout the movie, and he could dance.
