Spaceship to the Unknown 1966
6.5 / 10
Spaceship to the Unknown
A heavy condensation of the original serial compresses the original thirteen episodes into an efficient 97 minute feature. Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.
A heavy condensation of the original serial compresses the original thirteen episodes into an efficient 97 minute feature. Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.
Videos & Photos
All 0 Videos & 4 Photos
cast
Full Cast & Crew
... Flash Gordon (archive footage)
... Dale Arden (archive footage)
... Dr. Hans Zarkov (archive footage)
... Ming the Merciless (archive footage)
... Princess Aura (archive footage)
... Prince Barin (archive footage)
User reviews
See All 1 Reviews30 May 2022 by CinemaSerf
If you've seen the superbly hammy "Flash Gordon" remake from 1980, then you will recognise this as the base for most of that film. This version is a rather clunkily bolted together edit of the cracking 1936 serial and features the hunky Buster Crabbe in the title role, trying to keep his gal "Dale" (Jean Rogers) safe from the merciless "Ming" (Charles Middleton) whilst trying to keep himself safe from the preying eyes of Princess "Aura" (Priscilla Lawson). Although I did enjoy this, I much preferred the original serialisation. Each episode had that slight moment of peril at the end which we miss out on here, and the reduction from over 4 hours to just over 90 minutes does mean we lose quite a bit of the fun and drama of the story. Ever since I first saw these 40 years ago, I have wanted one of the rocket ships. They looked like flying irons with sparklers attached; but that was part of the charm. The acting was as wooden as the sets and the story was all about an wholesome derring-do with an inevitability to the ending that probably instilled in me my prevailing wish that the baddies should always win. (What did "Darth Vader" or "Jaws" do do deserve their comeuppance?). It's a great adventure film this, there is plenty of action and bearing in mind it is all but 90 years old, I really did find it flew by.
Genres:
Release Date:
Jan 01, 1966 (United States)
Run Time:
1hr 37`
MMPA Rating:
NR
Original Language:
English
Production Countries:
United States
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:
Related Movies To
Spaceship to the Unknown
If you've seen the superbly hammy "Flash Gordon" remake from 1980, then you will recognise this as the base for most of that film. This version is a rather clunkily bolted together edit of the cracking 1936 serial and features the hunky Buster Crabbe in the title role, trying to keep his gal "Dale" (Jean Rogers) safe from the merciless "Ming" (Charles Middleton) whilst trying to keep himself safe from the preying eyes of Princess "Aura" (Priscilla Lawson). Although I did enjoy this, I much preferred the original serialisation. Each episode had that slight moment of peril at the end which we miss out on here, and the reduction from over 4 hours to just over 90 minutes does mean we lose quite a bit of the fun and drama of the story. Ever since I first saw these 40 years ago, I have wanted one of the rocket ships. They looked like flying irons with sparklers attached; but that was part of the charm. The acting was as wooden as the sets and the story was all about an wholesome derring-do with an inevitability to the ending that probably instilled in me my prevailing wish that the baddies should always win. (What did "Darth Vader" or "Jaws" do do deserve their comeuppance?). It's a great adventure film this, there is plenty of action and bearing in mind it is all but 90 years old, I really did find it flew by.
Cast & Crew of
Spaceship to the Unknown
Directors & Credit Writers
RT
Ray Taylor... Director
... Director
Cast
... Flash Gordon (archive footage)
... Dale Arden (archive footage)
... Dr. Hans Zarkov (archive footage)
... Ming the Merciless (archive footage)
... Princess Aura (archive footage)
... Prince Barin (archive footage)
... King Vultan (archive footage)
... Prince Thun (archive footage)
EA
Earl Askam... Officer Torch (archive footage)
... Prof. Gordon (archive footage)
... Prof. Henson (archive footage)
... The High Priest (archive footage)
... Atom Furnace supervisor (archive footage)
... Priest #2 (archive footage)
... (scenes deleted) (archive footage) (as Duke York Jr.)
... Transcontinental airplane pilot (archive footage) (uncredited)
... Telescreen monitor (archive footage) (uncredited)
... Robot / Ming soldier (archive footage) (uncredited)
... Monkey-Man (archive footage) (uncredited)
... Monkey-Man (archive footage) (uncredited)
Videos & Photos of
Spaceship to the Unknown
Photos ( 4 )
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Spaceship to the Unknown
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