Why so much hype?

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

These serials must have been fun at the time. The thing is, they were designed with cliffhanger endings to get the Saturday morning crowd to come back the next week. As I watched this, the junctures between scenes was really obvious. Maybe my print isn't very good, but there were skips that were brutal. I always preferred Flash Gordon to Buck Rogers (it's much more primitive and had Ming, the Merciless), but Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe) was still a noble mover into the future. I can't respond to all the events because they come fast and furious, but I would recommend the whole set of episodes rather than one of these slipshod compilations.