Flash Gordon - Space Soldiers

Starring:Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles Middleton, Priscilla Lawson, Frank Shannon, Richard Alexander, Jack 'Tiny' Lipson, Theodore Lorch, Richard Tucker, George Cleveland, James Pierce, Duke York, Muriel Goodspeed, Earl Askam, Glenn Strange, Slim Whitaker, Lane Chandler, George Magrill, Constantine Romanoff, John Bagni
Director: Frederick Stephani, Ray Taylor
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

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

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.

Average customer rating:

All is Great
Mongo madness
Campy 1930's sci-fi fun
Get The Right Ones!
Don't be an Arangapoid!

Flash Gordon - Space Soldiers
Starring: Buster Crabbe , Jean Rogers , Charles Middleton , Priscilla Lawson , and Frank Shannon
Director: Frederick Stephani , and Ray Taylor
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Sci-Fi Action | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Sci-Fi | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Space Adventure | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Aliens | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe - The Complete Saturday Morning Serial
Flash Gordon: Box Set (Space Soldiers/Flash Gordon's Trip To Mars/Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe) (3DVD)
Buck Rogers
Radar Men From Moon 2

ASIN: 6305701172
Release Date: 2000-01-11

Description

Buster Crabbe stars as Flash Gordon in this classic 1930s serial presented for the first time on DVD. Humanity is doomed to destruction! A distant planet has broken its orbit and is headed straight toward the Earth. While Dr. Hans Zarkov works feverishly to finish a rocket ship of his own design, internationally renowned polo player and Yale graduate Flash Gordon is a passenger on a small plane where he meets fellow passenger Dale Arden. When a meteor storm destroys their aircraft, Flash and Dale bail out and land near Zarkov's ship. The great scientist enlists them to join him on his quest to save Earth, and the heroic trio blasts off into space to rendezvous with the runaway planet Mongo.

Customer Reviews:

All is Great.......2007-04-11

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

Mongo madness.......2007-02-24

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.

Campy 1930's sci-fi fun.......2007-01-25

You'll laugh out loud at the "special effects" and some of the acting, but these Flash Gordon episodes -- originally shown in movie houses, and later on some television stations in the 1950s and 1960s -- are cool entertainment as well as history for sci-fi fans.

-donn-
Donn Pearlman

Get The Right Ones!.......2006-02-18

You're here because you love the Flash Gordon serials and want the best. Buster Crabbe was in the original three which Image Entertainment sells as Space Soldiers, Flash Gordon's Trip To Mars, and Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe. They were released in 2000, with package artwork from Hearst Entertainment done in 1996. The serials are un-cut, meaning each chapter includes its original beginning and ending titles/credits.

They are more pricey than the 2002 versions from Image Entertainment. But they are not chopped down with missing chapters to make 90 minute movies out of. And they are better in picture quality than other DVD brands.

Amazon may still have the box set available to save you some money.

Have fun watching them!

Don't be an Arangapoid!.......2006-01-08

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!!!

Average customer rating:

All is Great
Mongo madness
Campy 1930's sci-fi fun
Get The Right Ones!
Don't be an Arangapoid!

Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers
Starring: Buster Crabbe , Jean Rogers , Charles Middleton , Priscilla Lawson , and Frank Shannon
Director: Frederick Stephani , and Ray Taylor
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe - The Complete Saturday Morning Serial
Flash Gordon: Box Set (Space Soldiers/Flash Gordon's Trip To Mars/Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe) (3DVD)
Buck Rogers
Radar Men From Moon 2

ASIN: B00008RWVS

Customer Reviews:

All is Great.......2007-04-11

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

Mongo madness.......2007-02-24

Campy 1930's sci-fi fun.......2007-01-25

Get The Right Ones!.......2006-02-18

Don't be an Arangapoid!.......2006-01-08

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