Simply Perfect

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Flash Gordon is a historically important science fiction serial, that helped to encourage others in bringing superhero and/or science fiction content to the big screen. It features a vibrant alien planet with great perils for its main protagonist and his friends. The technical aspects are dated, but still work within the context of the narrative. However, the characters are noticeably one-dimensional, which makes the viewing tedious - together with the many repetitions in editing, the score, and plot elements. Aspects like the imaginativeness and the thrilling pacing are very entertaining, but generally this serial does not hold up well, without taking on a nostalgic perspective.Overall 5/10 Full review on movie-discourse.blogspot.de

OK, lets not carried away and bring all our modern critical caveats to this innocent kiddie-pleaser from sixty or seventy years ago--it ain't Star Wars, folks, but it probably inspired a good deal of it, and in its time Flash Gordon thrilled thousands in actual theatres every Saturday morning.It is amazing that Buster Crabbe maintained a dedicated, non-ironic heroic stance in the face of cardboard fire-breathing dragons, and Dale was able to let out shrieks and screams at outcomes she well knew were preordained, and that Dr. Zarkov could take his left-over props from the Frankenstein films seriously--but they did, and if you let yourself, you will have an action experience unlike any other--funny, simply because time has created effects far superior, mind-boggling, because there was actually a time when we believed this stuff, endearing, because good-hearted men with rubber wings are simply a delight. And Charles Middleton's Ming is pointedly, grimly Merciless, and likely to remain so for several centuries more .Does this film accomplish what it set out to do and does it do it well? Indubitably.

Buster Crabbe as Alex Raymond's comic strip hero is custom-made for the role: with his hair bleached blonde, he looks EXACTLY like the FLASH GORDON of the strip. SPACE SOLDIERS boasts some of the most spectacular Art Deco sets in the history of cinema. It's a non-stop funhouse ride and, while I have to admit that King Vultan's phony belly-laughs wore thin pretty quick, the orangopoid more than made up for it. An orangopoid, for the uninitiated, is a gorilla with a horn on its head (its cousin, the "mugatu," appeared on an episode of the original STAR TREK teleseries, "A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR"). When Flash faces off against the orangopoid, one thing quickly becomes obvious: the orangopoid is a better jiu jitsu player than the Earthling. He tosses Gordon around, applies a series of joint locks, and is well on his way to winning the UFC title (that's the UNIVERSAL Fighting Championships heavyweight title) when Flash Gordon cheats and skewers him with a spear. Where's the ref when you need him...? All in all (the technical foul in the title fight notwithstanding), the first FLASH GORDON serial is more fun than a barrel of orangopoids.

Buster Crabbe was a big, good-looking guy who could act. The Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s used several big guys (most of whom really weren't actors) to bring to life the characters of a serialized cartoon. This is the first series, and, some of the experts believe it is the best. I am not an expert on Flash Gordon or serials, but I know what I like, and this serial was more entertaining and enjoyable than other classics like Radar Men on the Moon and The Phantom Creeps.Flash starts out as a young man on a plane who is preoccupied about the planet which is about to slam into the earth, destroying everything, and the very pretty girl sitting next to him (Jean Rogers). The passengers bail out and the plane crashes. Flash saves the girl and lands near a rocket ship designed to solve the interplanetary problem by a seemingly deranged but very brilliant scientist (Frank Shannon). And the adventures have just begun.As the serial progresses, we meet Ming the Merciless - self-proclaimed Emperor of the Universe; an enormous jovial winged king with the attention span of a chickadee; an honorable and huge prince clad in Roman armor with a sword and a fleet of rocket ships; a conniving princess who wants to possess Flash, a despicable high priest, and a tribe of enslaved space hippies who Flash will eventually inspire to great deeds.Some of the dialog is predictably corny, but overall, the stories are cleverly plotted, well edited and very well directed. The special effects are good for their time, and the costuming is terrific. There is a lot of action and a lot of dialog. Most of the acting is surprisingly good, but there are a few glaringly bad exceptions. These little problems don't really reduce the entertainment value of the films however.There are no great philosophical points you can take home from these films, but they do exactly what they were intended to do quite well - they entertain and stimulate the imagination. Good enough for me!