Flash Gordon - Spaceship to the Unknown (1936)

The planet Mongo is on a collision course with Earth! Flash Gordon and Dale Arden join Dr. Zarkov and blast off in his rocket ship to Mongo, trying to avert worldwide destruction. As soon as they land, Flash, Dale and Zarkov are taken prisoner by Ming the Merciless, the evil Emperor of Mongo. In a last ditch effort to save Earth from interplanetary peril, Flash Gordon matches wits with Ming. The outcome is in doubt as it appears Flash and his friends will never see Earth again. Don't cover your eyes or look away. You won't want to miss one thrilling moment in the death-defying adventures of everyone's favorite space hero, Flash Gordon! This is a feature-length edited version of the 1936 serial "Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers."

Resisting a Dictatorship

This is the sexiest movie serial ever made. How Universal ever slipped Dale and Princess Aura's outfits passed the Hays Office sensors, I've never know. And for some reason, every lecherous tyrant on the planet is literally drooling over Dale Arden. No less than Emperor Ming's own daughter, Aura, commits treason just to seduce Flash. In 1936, America was still in the midst of the Great Depression and any temporary escape from reality was too precious to waste just on the children.

The two subsequent Flash Gordon serials, in 1938 and 1940, radically toned down the sexual tension to as close to zero as possible. But the legacy of the 1st serial lives on, in the imaginations of the generations of males who ogled Dale and Aura's midriffs, and in the miniskirts and aluminum foil bikinis of the original Star Trek. Captain Kirk, a character who is believable only so long as one accepts the premise that a red-blooded Earth man is naturally irresistible to all women from any alien planet, owes his very existence to Flash Gordon.

The sexual overtones, like everything else great about this series, belonged to a unique period in time. This is not only one of the all-time greatest serials; it is also one of the all time greatest comic strip adaptations, ever. It is far more faithful to the source material and far more exciting than most of this odd little genre. In 1936, because entertainment was so precious, adults as well as kids read the newspaper funnies, and I suspect Universal figured the audience wouldn't have tolerated any major departures from the source material.

The special effects are, of course completely unconvincing and even laughable to modern audiences. For the audience of 1936, these images were perfectly adequate; their imaginations had not atrophied and could supplement the deficiencies. In our increasingly jaded modern world, where we need stronger and stronger doses of unreality, I find a certain charm in the handcrafted look of this serial.

Buster Crabbe is the absolute epitome of what this type of hero should be: handsome, virtuous, uncomplicated and athletic. Crabbe had been a genuine Olympic champion, and didn't need steroids or hormones. Flash Gordon is decisive; he is the kind of guy who figures out what to do and takes action. He doesn't waste his time with ambivalence angst, or ennui; his audience had no time for such things... people in the depression were too busy just trying to survive!

The rest of the cast is also great, especially Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless. If he isn't the absolute greatest villain of all serials, then he is certainly the standard by which all such villains are to be judged. The other players, however, each fully invest their characters with total feeling. Modern viewers not used to the acting style of this period are liable to think these performances over the top, but actually, they are simply exuberant.

This serial moves quickly and is always either interesting or exciting. It is full of great fight scenes, wild costumes and sets, buzzing and sparking electrical devices, and rocket ship dog fights. The basic plot involves Flash fighting Ming the Merciless, who declares himself absolute Ruler of Mongo by the authority of his Personal Deity. Flash fights what amounts to be asymmetrical warfare against Ming, who has vastly superior forces and weapons. Ming retaliates against Flash by torturing him and several of his compatriots.

Flash uses unconventional tactics; in one sequence he brings a whole city to its knees by sabotaging its energy production. Flash also works with various ethnic groups, such as the Lion Men and the Hawk Men, finding areas of mutual benefit and forging alliances. Although these people appear to be physically different than Earth Men, Flash seems to presume they are equals and treats them as such. In the Depression, audiences believed that a red-blooded American would never tolerate a theocratic despot, that he wouldn't hesitate to fight for justice and to free oppressed people. This is probably the biggest difference of all between the original audience, and modern viewers. Truly, `Flash Gordon' belongs to a world that is lost to us.
April 4, 2008

FLASH GORDON- Spaceship to the Unknown

Buster Crabbe as the original Flash Gordon with Charles Middleton,as Emperor Ming the Merciless, Jean Rogers as Dale Arden and the sultry Priscilla Lawson as Princess Aura. This is one of the few Flash Gordon adventure films available nowadays where you can watch the entire and very best Flash Gordon episodes crew together. The entire Flash Gordon 1930's-1940 original series should be released. Flash Gordon battles with Ming to avoid the Earth's destruction as his arch-rival is always hell bent on destroying or conquering Earth. Princess Aura as always, is not loyal to her cruel father, Emperor Ming and helps Flash because she has fallen in love with him. This film brings good memories. More should be released. March 26, 2008

Serial With Comparative Depth

Though not D. H. Lawrence, "Flash Gordon" shows a suprising amount of emotion other than the usual hate between protagonist and antagonist. It's most noticeable in the "battle" between Dale and Princess Aura
over Flash. Dale's love for him and sincere worry and fretting goes a step deeper than the usual cardboard boy-and-girl aspect in other serials. Princess Aura's lust seeps out of her like sweat on a hot August day. Both women are incredibly sexy in different ways and bring a lusty component, by their competing for Flash, that you just don't see in your typical serial including the other 2 Buster Crabbe-Flash Gordons and his Buck Rogers, otherwise high caliber chapter plays. Coupling that factor with other aspects, described by reviewers, I would have to rate this the greatest serial ever made. October 21, 2007

Hilarious and exciting at the same time

I got this DVD as part of a 3 DVD box set (with Flash Gordon's trip to Mars, and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe) and this is definitely the best of the bunch. The acting is terrible, the dialog is so bad as to be funny (I think Mystery Science Theater would have a field day), and the special effects have to be seen to be believed (the rockets are propelled by firecrackers, etc). Watching this today is like watching a spoof of the whole "Space Opera" genre, and as such it works wonderfully (much better than, say, Space Balls). It's also an exciting story with various plot twists and cliffhangers (sometimes literally) at the end of each episode. Sure, the acting, dialog, recycled film (haven't we seen that before?) and general silliness gets in the way, but it's still an engaging story.

This is the full 4 hours, but some of this is taken up by opening and closing credits, summaries of the proceeding episodes, and repeats of the last few scenes of the proceeding episode. My one complaint is that these aren't indexed so there's no easy way to skip these (so as to watch a continuous movie) except by fast forwarding. September 27, 2007

All is Great

Everything about it was just great, really enjoy doing business with you April 11, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...