Notebook Reviews: FLASH GORDON

Frederick Stephani – 1936

The 1936 Flash Gordon serial is a rollicking-good science fiction yarn. There’s great fun to be had as Buster Crabbe’s Flash battles Charles Middleton’s Ming The Merciless. Crabbe is great – but Middleton steals the show as the most feared man in the galaxy. 

You can clearly see where George Lucas got the idea for Star Wars  – and how much Mike Hodges recreated for his 1980 Flash Gordon film. 

The effects are fun and the performances are great. If you get the opportunity to see this incarnation of Flash Gordon, make sure you do!