Rating: 
Summary: Great fun for all family members
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Getaway
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Pappa T's Review
Review: If your a Flash Gordon fan this is a must see dvd..Has all the title's and credits before each episodes..Gives the storyline with each segment..Who ever brought all these out in original form to dvd..God Bless you..Add this to your collection.. Pappa T
Rating:
Summary: A VERY INNOVATIVE SERIAL; 4.5 STARS
Review: IN THIS 1936 SERIAL, FLASH GORDON [BUSTER CRABBE], WITH DR. ZARKOFF AND DALE ARDEN FLY TO MONGO AND THEY TAKE ON EMPEROR MING [PLAYED WONDERFULLY BY CHARLES MIDDLETON]. THIS 13-CHAPTER SERIAL IS VERY INNOVATIVE AND IS INSPIRING FOR MANY OF TODAY'S SCI-FI FILMS. HAS GOOD ACTION AND GOOD SPECIAL EFFECTS FOR A MOVIE THAT'S 68 YEARS OLD! CHARLES MIDDLETON IS THE BEST MAN THAT EVER PLAYED MING ON SCREEN. A GOOD FUN TIME FOR ANYONE THAT LIKES SERIALS. THIS SERIAL IS BASED ON THE OLD COMIC STRIPS. FOLLOWED BY TWO MORE SERIALS, BEGINNING WITH FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS.
Rating: 
Summary: Flash Boredom-My "only watched once"DVD will be up for sale
Review: Ok I read the reviews and bought the DVD. After a couple of episodes, the kids said, "This [is bad] Dad" and they left the room. They were right. The acting, storylines and effects?? are boring. "Ming the Merciless" is nothing but an old dishrag. I guess if you are of the generation that still finds "Ma and Pa Kettle" movies entertaining then this DVD is for you. ...
Rating:
Summary: Flash Boredom-My "only watched once"DVD will be up for sale
Review: Ok I read the reviews and bought the DVD. After a couple of episodes, the kids said, "This [is bad] Dad" and they left the room. They were right. The acting, storylines and effects?? are boring. "Ming the Merciless" is nothing but an old dishrag. I guess if you are of the generation that still finds "Ma and Pa Kettle" movies entertaining then this DVD is for you. ...
Rating:
Summary: Flash is a Smash!
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: YOUTHFUL MEMORIES
Review: THE BRONX,NYC.AFTER SCHOOL ON CHANNEL 13 BEFORE IT BECAME THATPUBLIC TELEVISION ( ) THEY HAD REAL ENTERTAINMENT ON.OLD WESTERNS ANDSERIALS FROM THE 30'S INCLUDING CARTOONS.BUT THE BEST OF ALL WAS FLASH GORDON THE ORIGINAL FROM 1936.MAN DOES THAT BRING BACK A TIME OF INNOCENSE.AFTER THAT THE ONLY THINGS IN LIFE WERE SCHOOL;WORK;VIETNAM;WORK AND MARRIAGE.HOW CAN THAT COMPARE TO FLASH AND MING! END
Rating:
Summary: Oh, those Pre-Code Babes!!
Review: 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."
Rating:
Summary: A Bona Fide Sci-fi Classic
Review: The most striking feature of this DVD is the picture quality - it's superb! I doubt you will find a better print of this serial anywhere. All 13 episodes are shown in full (including the titles) so the DVD's producers have done a great job. I have bought all three of Buster Crabbe's Flash Gordon adventures on DVD and recommend them all, but 'Space Soldiers' has to be the best. Jean Rogers sizzles as 'Dale Arden' in a storyline containing just a hint of sexual undertones. DVD purists might complain about the lack of special features, but surely they're missing the point. In an age when many sci-fi films are full of pretentious nonsense, 4 hours of escapist fun on one silver disc is special in itself. Highly recommended!
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