Purple death is decimating the world's population. Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe) and friends discover that it's Ming the Merciless. This is a 12-part serial. I do really love the costumes, the sets, and the campiness of it all especially the miniatures. The acting is terribly stiff and some of the staging is very static. It has minor stunts and minor explosive special effects. It's really the designs and the camp.
As for the stories, they are basic and bumpy. It is comic books for kids. There is a cliffhanger at the end of every episode. The next episode would start with an unlikely escape, an illogical turn, or a simply bad redo. Each episode starts with a Star Wars slanted recount. Quite frankly, that's one of the best part of the show. This is the third and last of the original serials. If I had to guess, the kids who saw the first serial would now be aging out of the audience and the next generation is looking for something else.
As for the stories, they are basic and bumpy. It is comic books for kids. There is a cliffhanger at the end of every episode. The next episode would start with an unlikely escape, an illogical turn, or a simply bad redo. Each episode starts with a Star Wars slanted recount. Quite frankly, that's one of the best part of the show. This is the third and last of the original serials. If I had to guess, the kids who saw the first serial would now be aging out of the audience and the next generation is looking for something else.