Customer Reviews

The Flash Gordon Collection

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Flash Gordon is as hokey and entertaining as he was half a century ago but the folks who put this package together were lazy. There are a dozen or so individual Flash Gordon episodes on each disk but there are no "breaks" between them. If you watch three one night and want to pick up where you left off the next day, you have to start the disk all over again. There is no way to go straight to the next episode. You have to repeat the episodes that preceeded it. This is simply lazy or slopy on the part of the people who put the package together. They don't deserve your business.

Slightly disappointed in that the boxed set contained both the some of the original Buster Crab series plus more recent material, (1970's I think, since only going off what my Father in Law informed me). If had realised later material included in the boxed set, I would have gone for another boxed set. Discription on Amazon some what misleading.

On 09/24/2007 I purchased this item with the understanding that the original episodes were colorized! THEY WERE NOT. The copies that I have were digitally mastered [BLACK & WHITE] and are much sharper than those in this COLLECTION. I have returned this "FLASH GORDON COLLECTION"

I was pleasantly surprised at how many stories were included in this collection. They were interesting and full of action.

Passport Video and Koch Entertainment Distribution presents "THE FLASH GORDON COLLECTION" (2005) --- Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, which was first published on January 7, 1934 --- The strip, created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip, has since surpassed Buck Rogers for longevity --- The Flash Gordon comic strip has been translated into a wide variety of media, including motion pictures, television and animated series. The latest version, a Flash Gordon TV series, is currently airing on the US Sci Fi Channel.

Flash Gordon was featured in three serials starring Buster Crabbe: Flash Gordon (1936), Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938), and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) --- The 1936 Flash Gordon serial was also condensed into a feature-length film --- Flash Gordon reemerged on the small screen for an animated series, and around the same time, the Flash Gordon movie appeared for the big screen, the latest release up to today --- As for what the future may bring, we shall have to see

Because of the immense popularity of the comic strip, the movie rights were bought by Universal Pictures to create a 13 part cinema serial in 1936 starring Buster Crabbe as Flash (the intergalactic babe-magnet), Jean Rogers as Dale Arden (Flash's very fragile girlfriend, always prone to faint at the smallest shock), Frank Shannon as Dr. Zarkov and Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless as well as Phyllis Lawson as Princess Aura (strong, forceful, uninhibited, topheavy - the complete opposite of Dale) --- This again was so popular, that it sparked off two further sequels, namely Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars in 1938 and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe in 1940, along with revitalizing the entire movie serial genre --- It must be noted that the series is racist and sexist at times, with the evil asian (with the beard to remind one of the evil Fu-Manchu and the frail and helpless women who just melt in the arms of a strong protective alpha-male --- Still, if one is willing to overlook this flaw, the original series makes for excellent, if campy viewing pleasure --- The special effects, once state-of-the-art, are laughable from today's standards, but they are part of the serials charm.

Also included FLASH GORDON: TV SERIES featuring Steve Holland starred in a 1954-1955 live-action TV series which ran for 39 episodes. Flash Gordon was a rock singer that was backed by a band named Flipside Runner in the original pilot --- The series had the distinction of being filmed in West Berlin, less than a decade after the end of World War II. It was recut into a movie in 1957.

Finally as bonus episode of ROCKY JONES, SPACE RANGER was a syndicated science fiction television serial originally broadcast in 1954 --- The show lasted for only one season and quickly dropped into obscurity --- But because it was recorded on film rather than being broadcast live as were most other TV space operas of the day, it has survived in reasonably good condition --- The film format also allowed more elaborate special effects and sets, exterior scenes and much better continuity.

The program was aimed mainly at children, so the plots were simple and always involved good versus evil and Rocky Jones outsmarting or outfighting the bad guys --- By today's standards for television science fiction, a genre that flowered beginning with Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, the Rocky Jones serials seem crude and simplistic --- But for its time, years before men first journeyed into space, the sets, props, and optical effects were remarkably well done --- Indeed, many of the effects that became standard sci-fi fare, such as the forward view screen and automatically opening doors were seen first on Rocky Jones.
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Scene Index
Disc #1 -- The Flash Gordon Collection: Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe
1. Chapter 1. The Purple Death! [20:29]
2. Chapter 2. Freezing Torture! [20:54]
3. Chapter 3. Walking Bombs! [20:54]
4. Chapter 4. The Destroying Ray! [17:01]
5. Chapter 5. The Palace of Terror! [19:33]
6. Chapter 6. Flaming Death! [20:31]

Disc #2 -- The Flash Gordon Collection: Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe
1. Chapter 7. The Land of the Dead! [19:32]
2. Chapter 8. The Fiery Abyss! [17:32]
3. Chapter 9. The Pool of Peril! [17:29]
4. Chapter 10. The Death Mist! [19:05]
5. Chapter 11. Stark Treachery! [20:55]
6. Chapter 12. Doom of the Dictator! [20:14]

Disc #3 -- The Flash Gordon Collection: Flash Gordon: The TV Series
1. "Flash Gordon and the Planet of Death" [25:46]
2. "Akim the Terrible" [25:20]
3. "The Claim Jumpers" [25:58]
4. "The Breath of Death" [24:47]

Disc #4 -- The Flash Gordon Collection: Flash Gordon: The TV Series
1. "Flash Gordon and the Race Against Time" [26:16]
2. "Flash Gordon and the Brain Machine" [26:24]
3. "The Forbidden Experiment" [24:32]
4. "The Earth's Core" [25:50]

Disc #5 -- The Flash Gordon Collection: Flash Gordon: The TV Series
1. "Deadline at Noon" [26:00]
2. "The Subworld Revenge" [26:03]

BONUS:
"Manhunt in Space" - A feaure film edited from episodes of Rocky Jones:
Space Ranger, a Sci-Fi TV series that rivaled Flash Gordon during
Televison's Golden Era.

Great job by Passport Video --- looking forward to more Nostalgic Collections --- order your copy now from Amazon or Passport Video where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.

Total Time: 565 mins on 5 DVD's ~ Passport Video ~ (9/06/2005)