FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE, with Larry Crabbe, Carol Hughes (--the Dale Arden--) and Anne Gwynne (--as Sonja--), directed by Beebe and Taylor, shows the search for Polarite, the attack of the robots (mechanical men, says Zarkov), a blizzard on Frigia, Will Flash Gordon ever defeat the purple plague? This disease is caused by the death—dust, another diabolical invention used by the deluded Ming.
Daddy Ming goes on with his nonsense about conquering the Universe, being perhaps the most funny involuntarily absurd movie villain.
Ming's sinister soldiers are faceless masks, mindless automates, reduced to a brainless obeying. Apart from the not so strikingly original structure of the group of protagonists and the use of a few planets, this look of the imperial soldiers is the most obvious resemblance to Lucas' universe.
The setting is on the famous planet Mongo, then on a deadly cold planet—in another Ruritanian state, Frigia; in Frigia's north, Gordon and his pals, wearing clothes treated with Calorite, search for the Polarite, the only known antidote to the very useful death—dust, the ultimate invention from Ming's top laboratories; Gordon makes the avoidable mistake of taking some geezers (yes, I even count Barin as one of those ) with him, which kind of slow him down, but this only enhances the quality of the suspense.
My favorite scenes are those in Ming's temple—the vast hall serving as Ming's throne room, adorned with oriental decorations, with the hideous idol, the belly dancers and the Asian music.
This serial has the singularity of featuring the most absurd disguise ever—see Zarkov's disguise, offered him by another geek.
After 70 yrs, the Gordon serials remain interesting, a nice testimony to the imperishable interest an exciting movie can raise.
Daddy Ming goes on with his nonsense about conquering the Universe, being perhaps the most funny involuntarily absurd movie villain.
Ming's sinister soldiers are faceless masks, mindless automates, reduced to a brainless obeying. Apart from the not so strikingly original structure of the group of protagonists and the use of a few planets, this look of the imperial soldiers is the most obvious resemblance to Lucas' universe.
The setting is on the famous planet Mongo, then on a deadly cold planet—in another Ruritanian state, Frigia; in Frigia's north, Gordon and his pals, wearing clothes treated with Calorite, search for the Polarite, the only known antidote to the very useful death—dust, the ultimate invention from Ming's top laboratories; Gordon makes the avoidable mistake of taking some geezers (yes, I even count Barin as one of those ) with him, which kind of slow him down, but this only enhances the quality of the suspense.
My favorite scenes are those in Ming's temple—the vast hall serving as Ming's throne room, adorned with oriental decorations, with the hideous idol, the belly dancers and the Asian music.
This serial has the singularity of featuring the most absurd disguise ever—see Zarkov's disguise, offered him by another geek.
After 70 yrs, the Gordon serials remain interesting, a nice testimony to the imperishable interest an exciting movie can raise.