FenrisUlf Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 Just found a book at a local library, The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury by Jim Harmon and Don Glut, which is a rather entertaining review of most of the major serials of the 30's to the 50's (Flash Gordon, Captain Marvel/Shazam, Frank Merriwell, Gene Autry versus the Hollow Earth...). I remember these shows from Sunday and Saturday morning TV in the 70's, mostly having seen the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers ones. Have any of you ever seen any of them, and if so, which ones did you enjoy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burrito Boy Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? I haven't watched a full serial yet but I found several on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/user/classicmagicbox The titles are: The Adventures of Smilin' Jack Burn 'Em Up Barnes Dick Tracy Diver Dan Flying Discman From Mars The Great Alaskan Mystery The Phantom Empire [Gene Autry] Radar Men From The Moon The Return of Chandu Sky King Undersea Kingdom The Whispering Shadow Zorro's Fighting Legion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? the adventure of captain marvel and nyoka the jungle girl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? I'm particularly fond of Daredevils of the Red Circle, an early Republic Movie serial and one of the better ones in terms of plot and characters. Several of the shots and effects employed in Daredevils were reused in later Republic serials. I liked that the heroes formed a team with specialties (leader, strong man, escape artist), and that as professional acrobats they used acrobatic moves when fighting. As a kid I was also fond of the various "rocket man" serials including King of the Rocket Men and Radar Men from the Moon, mostly for the cool flying suit used by the lead characters (prototype for the one worn by Dave Stevens's The Rocketeer). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? i orgot one earlier on SPY SMASHER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted January 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? i orgot one earlier on SPY SMASHER According to the book I read that's supposed to be one of the best, along with the Shazam/Captain Marvel serial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? G-men vs the black dragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yansuf Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? SOS Coast Guard is excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? as is dick tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narratio Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? My memory is faded and I've got no google but I think it's Phantom Empire hands down. Every episode, no matter what happens, Gene has to get back to the real world to sing a song on the local radio station or he loses his ranch. What a plot line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burrito Boy Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? My memory is faded and I've got no google but I think it's Phantom Empire hands down. Every episode' date=' no matter what happens, Gene has to get back to the real world to sing a song on the local radio station or he loses his ranch. What a plot line.[/quote'] I've only watched the first two episodes. Now I definitely have to see the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DusterBoy Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? I caught one the '30's Flash Gordon serials. It was on very early in the morning about 10 years ago, which means I got to work, got set up and snuck into an empty room to watch it. I really enjoyed it, despite how dated and cliched it looks now. I also managed to catch some episodes of "King of the Rocketmen" and the original Buster Crabbe "Buck Rogers". All good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakboy6117 Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? a lot of them are now out of copyright and can be downloaded fromarchive.org/ here is some Flash Gordon for example Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narratio Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? Oh yeah... Adventures by Morse. Captain Bart Friday and his assistant Skip Turner... Now I've got something to while away teh long winter nights! NICE find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thag13 Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? The Purple Monster Strikes is a great one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? The Purple Monster Strikes is a great one. That's a good one. Undersea Kingdom is wonderfully nonsensical. I have a soft spot for the Captain America serial too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narratio Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? I have fond memories of the 50's Batman with what appeared to be foot tall 'Bat Ears' on his head, fighting South American communists... doesn't get much better than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? I bought several of these on DVD. I like Radar Men From the Moon and Flash Gorden. Rocket packs and rocketships, how can you go wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? That's a good one. Undersea Kingdom is wonderfully nonsensical. I have a soft spot for the Captain America serial too. Many years ago we had a programme on Australian television called "Awful Movies With Deadly Earnest". They showed "Undersea Kingdom"and added their own "hurmerous" subtitles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted January 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? The Purple Monster Strikes is a great one. Never even heard of that one. Can you give some info on the plot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? Never even heard of that one. Can you give some info on the plot? Gangsters, guns, car chases, a two-fisted hero, a dame too nosy for her own good, a master villain in funny clothes with super-science death traps. The heroes get defeated all the time but ultimately finish off the bad guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redmenace Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? Captain Marvel Spysmasher King of the Rocket Men Flash Gordon et al ... and as a semi guilty pleasure, "The Return of Chandu." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? i saw an edited movie version of the original chandu,not bad doesthe sequel compare? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? the adventures of batman and robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redmenace Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Re: The Great Movie Serials: any favorites? i saw an edited movie version of the original chandu' date='not bad doesthe sequel compare?[/quote'] I've never seen the original but "Return" has a ton of classic tropes such as arcane cultists, reincarnated high priestesses, magical assassination attempts during a blacktie formal, lost islands, human sacrafice of the heroes dnpc, evil wizards falling into pits of fire, etc. It's on very solid pulp ground and you can pick it up for about $10.00 or less. The only guilty part for me is that the evil cultists worship some form of the god Bast and have these kind of cute kitties sewn on their robes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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