Who payed the critics

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This is the last and least of the three Universal Flash Gordon serials staring Buster Crabbe. Less in the way of interesting races & peoples (rock people, oooh), less excitement, even cheaper (if possible) and more-often-reused special effects, and a promise of slightly more interesting female characters (a new Dale who seems at first a little less girlish) that largely is unfulfilled make this interesting mostly for Flash/serial completists. The last 4 episodes or so in particular are pretty dull. And as to the serial as a whole -- Ming (Charles Middleton, whose hamminess is probably the most fun element in the series) is still into Flash's love, Dale Arden, and still (for no apparent reason) wants to destroy the earth. And rule the universe. Or something. Hey, I liked it, but I can't say I'd recommend it to most people under, say, 80 years of age. It can be a tough slog if your idea of space opera is post-Star Wars; but it's also the one film that SW is most based on -- watch the crawl at the beginning of each episode, and listen to the use of Wagner -- so you'd do well to watch it, kiddies. Watched on DVD, part of the excellently transferred Image collection of all 3 serials.

This needs reviving. In retrospect you see the point Republic were making. Its full of references which an audience contemporary with the 1940 production would have understood. The title music is Listz's Prelude 2. This was familiar from reports from Nazi Germany and Nuremberg rallies where it had been used repeatedly to glorify German power. Ming where's a white uniform identical to Mussolini of Fascist Italy. Largely gone is Ming's overt evil and sadistic attitudes in favour of a Messianic belief of unifying the universe under one rule will bring peace and prosperity. Despite the method required will be warfare to attain this. Buster Crabb repeatedly makes remarks about liberty and freedom. He also informs races from different planets that they must unite against the evils and dangers of a conqueror. The people of Saturn are represented by Chinese actors and Ming is fanatical in his wish to conquerer Saturn. This is a reference to the millions killed by the Japanese in Manchuria and China. Also a reference to the Axis pact between Germany and Japan demonstrating the necessity of nations to unite to defeat conquerors who are in alliance with each other.

This was a pretty good serial. Buster Crabbe was made to play the heroic Flash Gordon and Charles Middleton is the perfect Ming. However, it is the action sequences that carry this film. The special effects for this time period are also pretty good, even for the 1940's. The only flaw I find with this, though, is that Jean Rogers is not playing Dale or that Richard Alexander is not playing Barin. The two actors that replace them are okay, but the originals defined the roles. Also, there is no reference to the second serial. Maybe its because if they were to show any footage from the first two, the audience would definitely see that there are different actors playing Dale, Barin and Aura. However, despite these flaws, it is still a great Saturday afternoon serial

I'm sure that even when this came out a lot of the stuff in this serial seemed pretty silly. But if you watch it, especially if you watch it as it was meant to be watched, one chapter at a time with a break in between, you'll probably find yourself getting into the cliff hangers, and occasionally dazzled by the occasionally sumptuous production values (huge pile of writhing dancing girls, snow mountain photography) and the sometimes ingenious special effects (those mud men always make me jump).The rest of the time, sit back & laugh.They must have known that they were stretching the premise when they made this, the third and last Flash Gordon serial, but the plot pretty much hangs together if you choose to pay attention to it (which can be hard, a lot of explanations are pretty rushed), and the performances are mostly good.