Trouvere

Read the other comments first.

Okay, so my vote is biased. I'm another "child of the '60s" that loved this show in my young age. As a young child, this was pure comic-book, sci-fi stuff, and larger-than-life. A different reality than 'Star Trek' but just as cool in my book at the time. Looking back on the first episode as an adult - I can say that they did the best they could with the special effects and the budget they had.

To say that it was usually a formula plot line would be redundant (but I'll say it anyway). IE most of the time, it's something like this:

***** BEGIN Plot line ***** Big monster arrives on earth from outer space or as a result of a mad scientist tinkering with earthly species.

The Science Team & (member) Hayata (other spellings have been posted - and I'm no expert) try to get rid of monster.

The team's efforts prove mostly fruitless (except in a few episodes) Ultraman (being summoned by Hayata) saves the day with alien gung-fu, special effects, and pyrotechnics in the last few minutes.

***** END Plot line *****

* Intersperse with Japanese humor (and sometimes their interpretation of American 'slapstick' and 'stooge' humor) and a *really* cute radio-girl.

For example: In reference to the "beta capsule" device that Hayata uses to summon Ultraman, one funny scene I remember was that the science team was eating a meal: Monster appears (from outer space or somewhere), Hiyata runs outside (so as not to alert the rest of the team to his bi-identity), grabs what he thinks is the beta capsule, holds it over his head, says the 'magic words' - and nothing happens. He looks up to find he's holding up his dinner fork. (Funny on a couple of levels - looking back on it, shouldn't he have held a pair of chopsticks?)

And yes, they had "to be continued..." episodes - throwbacks to stuff like the classic "Tiger Woman" serials that ran before the "B" movies of the '40's. "cliffhangers" - look it up, google it, wiki it, or whatever.

This series also featured "drama" episodes that essentially went beyond its own genre - in at least one episode I can remember, the "monster" didn't really want to wind up on earth, it was despondent and lonely and lost and angry about being here - and Ultraman didn't really want to hurt it. It brought tears to my eyes back then - and I think it still might now.

If you can find this original series somewhere (or even original episodes of it), it's worth seeing, even if only for world cinema history purposes. But I would suggest rather that you just grab whatever video or rental of this you can find, kick your shoes off, let your imagination run, watch it, and be a kid again.

I give the entire series a 6 out of 10 (remember, I'm biased), although there are some episodes that I would still give a "10". The lowering-of-rating factor comes from the fact that (much of the time) the plot lines were very "formula". The raising-of-rating factor is due to several things - one of which was that for that time, the series portrayed some character interactions more realistically so than many other series of that (at the time) sci-fi genre. The monsters weren't always blindly rampaging, sometimes the humans defeated the monster rather than having Ultraman deal with it all (or at least aided him critically), and that characters in the show cared about each other - which you drama students should know 'brings the audience in'.

"Monster defeat methodology" got creative on some occasions, and there are beautiful cinematographic shots in the series of some really cool historic places in Japan.

If you've enjoyed old sci-fi novels, the Power Rangers, Transformers, Doc Savage, the old Tarzan serials, black-and-white episodes of Flash Gordon, or the old Batman TV series, the Green Hornet, or any "hero-based kids TV show of the '50s through the '70s", then I think you'll like this series very much.

Enjoy.

Not a "bad" movie in my opinion - however it's not as edgy as the original. A point criticized by many is that the movie is "just another shape-shifting alien threatening the entire earth scenario" - but that's what MIB stories are SUPPOSED to be about.

Would it be a James Bond movie if 007 wasn't out trying to "save the world from another evil power-hungry megalomaniac"?

Poor Agent J - at least 007 gets the girl.

It's an entertaining movie, worth watching, but they weren't bucking for an Oscar here. Personally, I wouldn't mind if they DID make the "MIB" movies into a long-running series like they did with the James Bond flicks. Sure, you know that the good guys are just going to save the world from some nasty evil alien - but I'd be willing to pay six bucks to see how they do it.

This movie succeeds perfectly in what it set out to do - take the classic Flash Gordon and bring it back in full blazing color.

Quick plotline: The moon is suddenly falling towards the earth, causing all sorts of nasty havoc. Mentally off-kilter scientist Hans Zarkov kidnaps hapless plane-crash survivors Flash Gordon (handsome football star) and Dale Arden (a classic 1930s sci-fi damsel hottie) - and blasts off with them on a rocketship to try and discover why the moon is being pushed towards the earth and prevent it from destroying the whole planet. They land on an alien world, are promptly picked up by goons and brought before the evil bad guy, Ming the Merciless, who in classic bad-guy fashion divulges his evil plans to his captors. Naturally, Flash, Dale, and Dr. Zarkov must escape, unite the adversary leaders of the Hawkmen and the Arboreans, get an army and rocketships together, come back and destroy Ming and turn off his moon-moving ray before earth is destroyed - in just a few days.

Based on the 1930s Flash Gordon TV serials and movies, this movie is a CLASSIC in every sense of the word. It excellently captures the whole mood and feel of classic Flash Gordon. Everything you may find "cheezy" about this movie was done ON PURPOSE. Flash Gordon not only brings the original classic back to life, but goofs on all of the campy elements of the 30s TV serial - right down to the old-fashioned pyrotechnic effects and rocketships that look suspiciously like they might be flying on strings.

Max Von Sydow does a spectacular job of performing the role of the evil Ming the Merciless, coloring the character perfectly and bringing an excellent flair to what would otherwise be a flat stereotypical (but classic) sci-fi bad guy role.

Of course you have to have a blonde-haired all-american hero-type for the character of Flash Gordon, and Sam Jones fits the bill perfectly, and Melody Anderson plays Dale Arden wonderfully.

Mind you, don't expect any Oscar-level acting here - all of the characters are supposed to be very "1930's pulp sci-fi" in style and are presented accordingly. The acting is SUPPOSED to be a little "bad". The classic line "Oh, Flash!" sighed by Dale Arden in the movie is a straight throwback to the classic television serial - and even further back to original Flash Gordon of pulp sci-fi magazines and comic strips.

I found the film to be VERY entertaining, with everything you'd expect from a classic sci-fi serial - earth-shattering impending disaster, cold-hearted evil villains, a handsome hero, a wacky scientist, the gorgeous evil emperor's daughter, a damsel in distress, a brain-washing machine, and cool 1950's-style rocketships. Comes complete with the entire gamut of hero sci-fi situations, including an execution scene, a chase scene, fight scenes, life-saving scenes, steamy scenes, romantic scenes, torture scenes, and aerial rocket battles. To top it all off, it even has a power hero theme song. (performed by Queen)

If you're old enough to remember the original television series, you'll love this movie. It takes you back to the golden age of sci-fi in grand style.

For younger generations, this is a "let-your-imagination-go" classic piece of science fiction - in colloquial terminology, "props and respect to the old school". Sure it's campy, sure some of the effects are cheezy, but it's FUN. Good old-fashioned larger-than-life action-adventure hero stuff at its best - old-school style.

Warning: If your movies have to be technically correct and true-to-life, then Flash Gordon isn't for you. Otherwise, pass the popcorn and enjoy!