Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe) (3DVD)

Starring:Buster Crabbe, Carol Hughes, Charles Middleton, Anne Gwynne, Frank Shannon, John Hamilton, Herbert Rawlinson, Tom Chatterton, Shirley Deane, Lee Powell, Roland Drew, Don Rowan, Victor Zimmerman, Edgar Edwards, Ben Taggart, Michael Mark, Earl Dwire, Harry C. Bradley, Sigurd Nilssen, Mimi Taylor
Director: Ford Beebe, Ray Taylor, Frederick Stephani
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
All three Flash Gordon serials in one box! "Space Soldiers" (1936, 245 min., 13 episodes) - Internationally renowned polo player and Yale graduate Flash Gordon and the lovely Dale Arden are enlisted by Dr. Hans Zarkov on his quest to save Earth from being destroyed by the runaway planet Mongo. "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938, 299 min., 15 episodes) - A mysterious beam of light emanating from Mars is sucking the nitrogen from the Earth's atmosphere, and only Flash Gordon can stop it, battling Queen Azura, the Clay People of Mars, and his mortal enemy Ming the Merciless! "Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe" (1940, 234 min., 12 episodes) - A rocket is dropping purple dust into the Earth's atmosphere, causing instant death! Can Flash Gordon stop the madman from Mongo while retrieving the antidote to the death dust from the frozen planet of Frigia?

Space Soldiers - Flash is enlisted to save Earth from a runaway planet. "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" - A light beam from Mars is sucking away Earth's atmosphere! "Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe" - A rocket is dropping deadly purple dust onto the Earth! 3-disc box set.

Robert F. Hill, Ford Beebe, Ray Taylor, Frederick Stephani

Description

All three Flash Gordon serials in one box! "Space Soldiers" (1936, 245 min., 13 episodes) - Internationally renowned polo player and Yale graduate Flash Gordon and the lovely Dale Arden are enlisted by Dr. Hans Zarkov on his quest to save Earth from being destroyed by the runaway planet Mongo. "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938, 299 min., 15 episodes) - A mysterious beam of light emanating from Mars is sucking the nitrogen from the Earth's atmosphere, and only Flash Gordon can stop it, battling Queen Azura, the Clay People of Mars, and his mortal enemy Ming the Merciless! "Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe" (1940, 234 min., 12 episodes) - A rocket is dropping purple dust into the Earth's atmosphere, causing instant death! Can Flash Gordon stop the madman from Mongo while retrieving the antidote to the death dust from the frozen planet of Frigia?

Robert F. Hill, Ford Beebe, Ray Taylor, Frederick Stephani

Buster Crabbe, Charles Middleton, Jean Rogers, Frank Shannon, Richard Alexander, Carol Hughes

Customer Reviews:

A Blast from my past........2007-06-05

I first saw these serials in the movie theatres in the 1940's. They were part of the magical joy of a child's early life, which brought us back to that same theatre every Saturday matinee until we had seen all the episodes. In those days one could see a triple feature, the Flash Gordon serial, and cartoons for 9 cents at the Old Loma Theatre in Burbank, California.
Later, in the early 1950's they appeared on television for the first time. Even the adults were part of the audience. Crude as those early special effects were, they just delighted my whole generation.
Now, all three of the serials are available for a huge savings on DVD, about the same price for one individual movie. Step back into time and relive another era, sadly gone forever.

Flashing on Memory.......2007-05-19

Those of us who grew up in the 1950s, first saw most of these episodes on TV. Originally designed as weekly serials in the 1930s to be shown in theatres before the main feature, they were among our earliest entrees into the genre of science fiction and fantasy films. Still showing on TV into the 1970s, they suddenly vanished from view thereafter and are only now available in their entirety on DVD. Seeing them again is a revelation on more than one level. It never occurred to us as kids just how overacted was Buster Crabbe's portrayal of Flash Gordon, and it's a hoot to witness now. There's more unintentional humor than anything else in these volumes, but you'll also see images your brain has forgotten and you'll howl at the "flash" backs. The impossibly goofy spaceships, the gila monster lizard dragons, The Emperor Ming, Professor Zarkov, Prince Baron, the great sexless Dale, and all the gang are here. If you've got kids, they'll laugh along with you and wonder how a generation could be so entranced by such phony yet entertaining technology, back before there was any real technology to speak of. By the time you get to the 3rd DVD, the similar plotlines (what plotlines there are) begin to grow tired. But you can always pull this stuff out again for a good laugh and a warm stroll down memory lane. Note: Obviously, Steven Spielberg was well acquainted with these serials and you'll enjoy seeing his inspiration for the initial Star Wars movie on DVD 2 here.

Youth Revisited.......2007-05-12

As a youth I used to go to movies on Saturday to see the Flash Gordon episodes. Those were the days (1930s) when they gave away free dishes to attract the more mature crowd. The quality of these DVDs is very good and I have enjoyed seeing Flash and Ming and the rest of the crowd again.
John in Palm Springs

love the sparklers on the rockets.......2007-03-19

exactly as I remembered from my youth - a local channel used to play these serialised shows on friday nights

decent transfer and sound quality.

I am happy with it.

Classic Sci-Fi Serials!.......2007-02-16

Flash Gordon is a superhero in his own right. Created for Alex Raymond's 1934-1945 Sunday comic strip, Gordon is an all-American hero, who travels to the alien planet Mongo with the lovely Dale Arden and brilliant scientist, Dr. Hans Zarkov. On the strange planet, the three Earthlings encounter savage monsters, and Ming the Merciless--the most cruel dictator in the Universe.

The first of the serials--"Flash Gordon" (1936)--is the best. This continuity does Raymond's original vision a great justice. The first two years of the strip are roughly chronicled here, with innovations (what they are I won't tell you, because they occur at the end). If read Checker Books' first Flash Gordon volume, then you basically have a novelization of this serial. Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Frank Shannon, Charles Middleton, Priscilla Lawson and John Lipson star.

"Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" (1938) pick up right where the first serial left off. In order to save Earth from the diabolical plans of Ming and witch-queen, Azura, Flash and company must ally themselves with the Clay People of Mars. Crabbe, Rogers, Shannon and Middleton.

Buster Crabbe, Frank Shannon and Charles Middleton were reunited in the final chapter of the Flash trilogy, "Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe" (1940). Though this is the weakest of the series (barely any monsters, weak acting, and overused plot), there is a note of finality as the ruthless Ming defiantly declares, "I am the Universe!"

Of all the serials I have seen, Universal's Flash Gordons are the best. One of the things I admire the most about all of the Gordon serials are that you never see any strings or anything in all the rocket ship scenes. Even in "Batman," (1943) strings were evident in the plane used in one of the chapters. B-movie serials, yet great period quality invested in them.

DVD:

DVD

Cutting It - Complete Series 2