TV Movie · Science Fiction
Spaceship to the Unknown
A heavy condensation of the original serial compresses the original thirteen episodes into an efficient 97 minute feature. Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.
Trailer
Top Cast
Buster Crabbe
Flash Gordon (archive footage)
Jean Rogers
Dale Arden (archive footage)
Frank Shannon
Dr. Hans Zarkov (archive footage)
Charles Middleton
Ming the Merciless (archive footage)
Priscilla Lawson
Princess Aura (archive footage)
Richard Alexander
Prince Barin (archive footage)
Jack 'Tiny' Lipson
King Vultan (archive footage)
James Pierce
Prince Thun (archive footage)
Directed by
Frederick Stephani
Production
Universal Pictures
King Features SyndicateReviews
CinemaSerf
6/105/30/2022
If you've seen the superbly hammy "Flash Gordon" remake from 1980, then you will recognise this as the base for most of that film. This version is a rather clunkily bolted together edit of the cracking 1936 serial and features the hunky Buster Crabbe in the title role, trying to keep his gal "Dale" (Jean Rogers) safe from the merciless "Ming" (Charles Middleton) whilst trying to keep himself safe from the preying eyes of Princess "Aura" (Priscilla Lawson). Although I did enjoy this, I much preferred the original serialisation. Each episode had that slight moment of peril at the end which we miss out on here, and the reduction from over 4 hours to just over 90 minutes does mean we lose quite a bit of the fun and drama of the story. Ever since I first saw these 40 years ago, I have wanted on
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