the audience applauded

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Load of rubbish!!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

With another planet hurtling towards Earth, "Flash Gordon" (Buster Crabbe) decides to board an airplane in order to be with his father when the end finally comes. Sitting in the next aisle is an attractive young woman named "Dale Arden" (Jean Rogers) who becomes visibly shaken when the airplane runs into turbulence and the pilot advises everyone to bail out. Flash escorts her out of the airplane and they descend together safely in the pitch black night. Upon a landing they are greeted by a scientist named "Dr. Hans Zarkoff" (Frank Shannon) who tells them he has built a rocket ship which he intends to fly to the oncoming planet and try to divert it from its collision course. Figuring that they have nothing to lose, Flash and Dale volunteer to go with him. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this film was initially broken down into three or more pieces with each played separately for a short period of time in conjunction with the featured presentation. It was only later that these pieces were put back together to form a complete movie. At least, that is what I understand. In any case, as one might expect from a movie produced in 1936 it was filmed in black and white and the special effects were extremely basic. Both of those are to be expected and I can't really fault the movie for either of these. However, what I didn't particularly care for was the dialogue which was about as elementary as anything I have ever seen. Likewise, the acting was rather poor and a number of the scenes could have used a bit more depth. But other than that this was an adequate movie for the most part and I rate it as about average.

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.

The brainchild of comic strip pioneer Alex Raymond, "Flash Gordon" was the grand daddy of all sci-fi epics. This serial is the first time Flash was brought to celluloid life. Despite it's low budget, this is a great space opera.The story begins with Earth doomed to apparent destruction, when the Planet Mongo comes hurtling through space on a collision course. Maverick scientist Dr. Zarkov is headed off for the approaching planet in a self-made rocket ship, convinced he can do something to stop the runaway celestial body. He gets some last minute recruits in the form of resourceful athlete Flash Gordon and beautiful Dale Arden. Once they reach Mongo, their problems really begin. They run afoul of dastardly Emperor Ming the Merciless, conqueror of his world, who has some ambitious plans for Earth.The rest of the serial revolves around Flash's desperate attempts to save the earth; the assorted alien cultures he encounters; the allies he makes; space ships he flies; the battles he fights, and the monsters he slays.Brilliantly conceived by Raymond, "Flash Gordon" features classic archetypes from legendary myths and fables of antiquity. Echos of famous tales, like the sagas of Troy and Camelot and Sherwood Forrest are seen here. You have the dashing, handsome hero, on a quest to save the kingdom (Flash); The evil king (Ming); The old wise man (Zarkov); The lovely damsel in distress (Dale); the seductive siren (Aura); loyal allies (Thun, Barin, Vultan); Plus monsters, dragons and assorted beasties.Flash is a modern Robin Hood, Jason or Beowulf. Ming is Prince John or Aggamemnon. Dale is Helen of Troy or Gwenevere or Maid Marion. Zarkov is Merlin or Odysseus. (Or Gandalf) Thun/Barin/Vultan are the Merry Men or the Knights of the Round Table.You get the idea.You can't help but notice how many ideas from "Flash Gordon" would later reappear in STAR WARS. The cloud City; The ice World; The forest moon; The scrolling opening text (From the second serial); There are others, but you get the gist. The whole sci-fi genre owes a great debt to this timeless classic.Buster Crabb is the perfect action hero, and I personally think he's better at this sort of role than any of the current crop of action stars. He also played Buck Rogers and Tarzan.Charles Middleton is the embodiment of diabolical nastiness as Ming. Sure, he seems a bit melodramatic today, but that was what audiences expected from their bad guys in the 30's. Jean Rogers is our hero's love interest Dale Arden, and I had such a crush on her when I first saw this as a boy. I can readily understand why Flash always rushed to her rescue. She's the quintessential good girl, to counterpoint the seductive manipulations of Aura, the quintessential bad girl.The supporting cast seemed perfectly chosen to emulated their comic strip counterparts, and despite the now-silly looking FXs, there was a lot of thrilling action in this groundbreaking serial.An all around fun romp and the beginning of the sci-fi genre in cinema.

i originally seen the flash Gordon serial on PBS,and thought it was fun and awesome,i overlooked the special effects of the rocket ships with sparklers,and the big dragon monster with lobster claws,who cares this is 1936 and it was a serial,so each week they would show a new chapter, buster Crabbe played flash Gordon 3 times,in all 3 serials.then in 1939 he played buck rogers,in 1933 he played Tarzan the fearless.he was a very busy actor.beautiful jean rogers played sexy dale Arden.frank Shannon as professor zarkov,and Charles Middleton played the evil ming the merciless.he makes Darth Vader look like a boyscout.the serials were very close to the Alex Raymond comic strip.space travel was just a pipe dream at the time.not to mention ray guns and television.this one stands out as the best serial ever.the sequel flash Gordon's trip to mars is 2 chapters longer,the next flash Gordon conquers the universe is only 12 chapters.and then there's the natives of mongo..,hawk-men, lion-men,shark-men.the feature version leaves out the shark-men scenes. for the full effect you must see the complete serial.i heard George Lucas was inspired by flash Gordon when he did star wars.flash Gordon was from universal studios.and the music on the soundtrack is from many universal movies like bride of Frankenstein,werewolf of London,Dracula's daughter,etc;even today flash Gordon continues to delight people young and old.10 out of 10.