Customer Reviews

Flash Gordon - Space Soldiers

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This first of the Flash Gordon serials introduces the characters and quickly immerses them in the adventures and conflicts that audiences expected to see. The acting is impressive, especially Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless. The special effects and sets are really quite good. Sure, they don't compare to what is done routinely in movies today, but this was 1936 and a children's afternoon serial.

The DVD transfer is surprisingly good, given the age of the source material. There are scenes that show scratches and dirt, but there are even more scenes that are clear and sharp without noticable blemishes. I compared the DVD image with a video tape, scene by scene, and there really was no comparison. The DVD picture was far superior. The DVD's sound is also an improvement, though again, the source material is a 64 year old mono track and there has not been extensive work to convert it to a multichannel format. But it is clear and understandable. I don't imagine most viewers will have ever seen this material look or sound as good as it does on DVD. The only negative I can offer is that it is packaged in a snapper case. I sure wish it were in an Amaray keep case.

If you enjoy a rousing science fantasy adventure and appreciate seeing the roots of modern sci-fi, then I highly recommend this movie.

The Hays Code hadn't really cracked down yet on filmmaker's when this amazingly cheesy but nonetheless terrific serial was made.

Sharkmen, Lion Men, Hawk Men, Octo-sac, Orangupoid, Tigron, giant Gocko Lizard, iguanas with horns that drool slime, some of the worst acting of all time, men running around in short shorts (or full suits of armor, sometimes medieval, sometimes faux roman), goofy rocket ships on wires, underwater cities, sky palaces, atom furnaces, torture rooms---- you name it, you get it here! You will NOT BELIEVE what Flash has to endure within the first day of his adventure---when did he ever eat or sleep to keep up his superhuman strength??

An amazingly wild ride, an adventure that piles one audacious, salacious, lurid, sensational scene on top of another---only near the end of the film, with the incessant trips back and forth between the lab and Ming's throne room does the hectic pace start to slacken.

The cast is a hoot! And those of you who know the Three Stooges shorts of the 30's and 40's will howl with delight as you observe:

Duke York (the Stooge's "Zulu Spear Thrower", "Wolfman", the Hunchback "Angel", "Nikko", etc) as King Cala of the Shark Men,
(who utters the immortal line "But how does one stop an Octo-sac?")

Jack "Tiny" Lipson ("The Bay of Rum", etc) as the nutty King Vultan

Ted Lorch ("Major Filbert can smell a spy a mile away!", etc) as the over-the-top High Priest (Second half of the serial only---the old dude who plays the role in the first half (I think his name was Lon Poff) mysteriously disappears midway through. No loss--he was dreadful). Ted is just plain nuts, especially in his final MAD SCENE ("I placed a BOMB in their ship!!")

Also, Richard Alexander (Prince Barin) and the amazing Charles Middleton (MING!) who each appeared in a single Stooges short (in "Spook Louder" Middleton and Ted Lorch appeared together, in a reversal of their Flash Gordon servant/master roles)

You also spot a young Glenn Strange (Sam the Bartender from "Gunsmoke", Frankenstein monster w/ Abbott and Costello)
as a soldier/guard during Flash's "Invisible" scenes.

And--King Thun is played by James Pierce who was (I believe) the son-in-law of Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs. (He was also one of the 2 thugs in Marx Bros. "Horse Feathers"--unfortunately, he was barely an actor).

What a digression!!----and what FUN!

This first Flash Gordon serial is definitely the goofiest of them all---and it's thankfully been preserved on DVD---looking and sounding about as good as you could hope for (lots of scratches, etc--but still very watchable)--and what's more--IT's COMPLETE! Original Soundtrack, too,--unlike another VHS release
about 10 years ago that actually superimposed a tinny-sounding,
trumpet and snare drum musical track ON TOP of the original!!

Lastly, the babes---there's no end to the shots of Dale and Princess Aura in their skimpy halter tops, each ot them lusting after the big guy in their own unique way. Alas, when the second serial appeared two years later, the Hays Code was in full force; you can hardly believe that Dale is the same gal.

But for old-time, outrageously off-beat fun, you can't beat "Space Soldiers."

Everyone will find something to enjoy in this, the original FLASH GORDON serial. The adults will love all the very attractive performers (Buster Crabbe and Jean Rogers as Flash and Dale really glow), the kids will love the excitement as Flash fights all sorts of man-beasts, sea creatures, and minions of Ming the merciless. It's a thrilling comic book come to life, literally!

This DVD is an especially good value. Although there aren't any extras except for a foldout snapper case cover with detailed liner notes, the viewer is treated to FOUR HOURS of fun sci-fi/fantasy entertainment. Can't watch four hours? Being a serial means that it's in 13 chapters. Stop anytime! The menu makes it easy to select any chapter you want. But I bet you wouldn't mind plunking your kids down in front of a four hour video once in a while, and you can rest easy knowing that it's safe for kids to watch.

Picture quality is quite excellent; although there are flaws in the source material, they usually amount to no more than scratchy sections, usually at reel changes. Sound quality is surprisingly good, especially compared to videotapes of the FLASH GORDON serials. Contrast is good, sharpness seems just right. And, darn it, it's FUN! Very much recommended.

Okay, so I hear a bunch of people talk about sci-fi movies, I hear Blade Runner, I hear the Matrix, but many people forget the glory that is cliffhanger movie serials. Flash Gordon was one of th first sci-fi serials, trailing only Singin' cowboy Gene Autry's Phantom Empire. People have treated serials bad on video, by editing them, puting out "selected chapters", and releasing bad prints. Flash Gordon stars Buster Crabbe as Flash, Jean Rogers as Dale Arden and the immortal Charles Middleton as Ming the Mericless, Just in case you'd like to know more about cliffhanger serials... The Serial Squadron Voted Flash Gordon the BEST serial of 1936 in a unanimous vote. Need a good movie for a rainy day? A party? Or just early morning watching? You can't go wrong with Flash on you side

If you are looking for a thought provoking masterpiece to inspire you this certainly is not the movie for you. This is the perfect getaway for those rainy Saturday afternoons when you are looking for mindless entertainment, and thats what this movie delivers. This Saturday serial is full of all the bad acting, worn out cliches and lousy special effects which makes it so fun to watch. People will find this movie quite dated, even "Ming the Merciless" is a nice guy by todays standards, but that only adds to the charm and innocence of the experience. This will never make any top ten list, but certainly it is entertaining and campy enough to make it cult classic.

This is the ORIGINAL, 13 chapter serial of Flash Gordon. Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers, was followed by 2 sequels: Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. In my opinion, this is easily the best of the three. It contains episodes featuring the shark men, the lion men, and King Vultan's hawk men and kindom in the sky. It is really the only one of the three that contains considerable romance as Pricess Aura and the BLOND Dale Arden both vie for Flash's attention.
It's packed with action, has a great ending, and Ming the Merciless is as evil as ever!

Well, this was my first exposure to the original Flash Gordon serial, after seeing clips of it for years and watching the laughably-bad 1980 feature film. I have to say that although I'm not ready to proclaim it a "classic," I was certainly entertained for four hours. And wasn't that really the point of this short films back in the early days of sound cinema? They packed plenty of action, colorful characters and outrageous situations into each 20-minute chapter.

As a lifelong science-fiction fan, I got a campy kick out of the "science" in this one. My favorite line from the opening chapter: As Dale Arden begins to have trouble breathing as the rocketship carrying Flash, Zarkov and her blasts from Earth's atmosphere, Zarkov apologizes thusly, "Sorry...in all the excitement, I forgot to turn on the oxygen."

If you don't mind leaving your brain at the door, or get a nostalgic thrill from such lurid theatrics, you could do a lot worse than this first Flash series.

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.

World renowned polo player "Flash" Gordon must save the Earth from being destroyed by the insideous (and leacherous) Ming the Merciless-- played with sadistic relish by Charles Middleton. Both Buster Crabbe as Flash and Jean Rogers as Dale play their roles with an enthusiasm and sincerity that just no longer exist on the screen. But my heart was won by the luscious Pricilla Lawson as the scheming Princess Aura-- who's as hot for Flash as her dad is for Dale.

The production design is amazingly good, and mostly based on the Alex Raymond comic strip-- which is also where the plot originates. There are plenty of silly rubber monster suits, iguanas with glued on horns and dubbed-in bronchitis, space ships that backfire before they take off, and lotsa precode jiggle.

To me, it all spells one thing: PURE CINEMA!!!

Universal's 1936 production of "Flash Gordon" remains among the all-time classic serials. The chapterplay's influence on "Star Wars" is readily evident during the 13 episodes of sci-fi action and spectacle. Buster Crabbe made his mark in cinema history as the heroic Flash - and the same goes for Charles Middleton's Ming the Merciless. "Flash Gordon" cannot match the best Republic cliffhangers, yet it's terrific fun.