Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV Series) The Guardians (1981) User Reviews

Buck Rogers: "The Guardians"

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 24 August 2017]

PLOT: While exploring an uncharted planet, Buck & Hawk come across an aged man who claims their meeting was destined and gives them a mysterious luminous green box with an ambiguous commission before dying. The duo brings the box aboard the Searcher whereupon crew members who come in contact with it experience haunting hallucinations of the past or future. The extraordinary box seems to be leading them somewhere and they'd be wise to comply.

COMMENTARY: The first two (double) episodes of the 2nd season were different from the 1st season yet still decidedly Buck Rogers. Those episodes were more dramatic and less cartoony with new characters, but they were quality segments, which showed promise for the 2nd season DESPITE the minor annoyance of the pompous Crichton. "The Guardians" has a good plot but its potential wasn't fully realized. As such, most of the time jumps are curiously boring, like Buck's dull conversation with his mother.

It's great to see curvy Koori (BarBara Luna) again in a brief part, but Hawk's dealing with his hallucination are reminiscent of Spock's struggles in Star Trek's vastly superior "The Naked Time." Star Trek proved that serious adult drama could work excellently on a TV space-oriented series and so it could work for Buck Rogers as well. The two previous installments successfully illustrated this, for the most part anyway. Unfortunately, "The Guardians" is more dull than interesting. The script needed work to flesh out its potential. Still, it's okay; it has a couple bright spots.

Buck find s a Magic Green Box!

[cosmowarriorzero · 6/10 · 25 September 2006]

Buck and crew find a magic green box which has mysterious powers, particularly changing the course of time. The box belongs to the time guardians who regulate time, and if not kept in the right hands, lead to disasters. The box seeks it natural owners and as such, takes control of this Searcher and takes its in out in deepest space. Admiral Asimov realizes that if they maintain present course, all the crew will starve to death as they do not have adequate food supplies. Meanwhile, the cursed box shows visions of the past and future to any one who touches it: Wilma goes blind, Asimov destroys the Searcher by leading the crew to starvation, Hawk sees Koori, Buck goes back home to Earth 1987. All these will only be restored to normality if the box finds its rightful owner. Will Buck and co survive and find the rightful owner or will they starve to death lost in Space? What do you think?

The Green Jade Box

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 19 December 2023]

Buck Rogers and Hawk are exploring an unknown planet, and they need to stay for the night due to a magnetic storm. They seek out shelter in a cave and find a dying old man, who tells Buck that he needs to deliver a green jade box to the next guardian and then he dies. On the next morning, Buck and Hawk bury him and return to the Searcher. Soon Buck, Hawk, Wilma, Lt. Devlin and Admiral Asimov hallucinate with past and future events after touching the box, and Asimov discards it to the space. But the box returns to the bridge and takes the command of the Searcher seeking out the next guardian despite the danger to their lives.

"The Guardian" is a reasonable episode of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century". The plot does not explain why the jade box need to be transported by Buck, since it is so powerful. Further, why the dying Guardian does not provide directions to Buck since all the Guardians are gathered together in the end of the episode. The writing could have been better. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "The Guardians"

Don't open the box, Buck!

[BA_Harrison · 27 April 2008]

Feeling more like an episode of Star Trek:TOS than a Buck Rogers adventure (there is not a disco rope or gold lamé suit to be seen), this interesting tale sees Rogers and Hawk trapped for the night (by adverse weather conditions) on a seemingly deserted planet. After discovering an empty grave and a cave lit with candles, they meet a dying old man who, before croaking, entrusts Buck with the job of delivering a strange, glowing, green box to a person only referred to as 'the guardian'.

That night, whilst touching the box in his sleep, Buck has a strange dream in which he is back on Earth, prior to the mission which saw him frozen for 500 years.

Buck and Hawk return to The Searcher with the box and a collection of old scrolls, which Dr. Goodfellow wastes no time in translating. The doddery old scientist reveals that the box controls the order of time, and chaos will ensue unless a new guardian is found PDQ!.

Soon, other members of the crew begin to experience strange, and often frightening hallucinations—glimpses of the past and possible future; then The Searcher veers drastically from its course, heading for an uncharted part of space, where Buck can only presume they will finally find 'the guardian of time'.

A less action packed story than usual, but just as enjoyable, The Guardian is helped considerably by some wonderful writing, the impressive 'dream' sequences', and solid direction from Jack Arnold, the man who gave us such classic 50s monster/sci-fi movies as Tarantula, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and It Came From Outer Space. Buck's return to 1987 is particularly interesting, since I have always wanted to see what happened in the lead-up to Buck's accident—an event that was overlooked in the show's pilot episode.

Intriguing episode

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 26 June 2011]

Buck (a solid performance by Gil Gerard) and Hawk (the excellent Thom Christopher) come into possession of a mysterious green jade box which causes jarring hallucinations and severely unstable time shifts. Said box must be given to a new guardian owner pronto before it causes grievous damage to everyone in its immediate proximity. Director Jack Arnold, working from an inventive and arresting script by Paul and Margaret Schneider, relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, maintains an appropriately serious tone throughout, and delivers several impressively freaky and even creepy dream sequences (Wilma's vision of herself as a blind woman is especially eerie). Moreover, this particular episode takes a provocative moral stance (the box punishes people for their basic foibles and weaknesses) and offers a rare interesting and illuminating opportunity to see Buck back in 1987 right before he went on his fateful space mission. The fine acting from the sound cast rates as another substantial plus: Harry Townes has a memorable bit as the box's most recent dying owner, Rosemary De Camp contributes a nice turn as Buck's caring and concerned mother, and the lovely Barbara Luna makes a haunting and touching appearance as Hawk's deceased wife Koori. A nifty show.