Reviews (3)

Tex Rides With The Boy Scouts
The story line was pretty lame. The acting was fairly poor. But the Scout uniforms and activities were awesome to see if you are an avid Scouter.

Boy Scout Movie
I enjoyed this movie, because I am involved in scouts. Anyone into scouts and history will like this movie. The quality of the transfer is low, but I still enjoyed.

Scout Movie
I enjoyed this. I think anyone involved in scouts or into westerns would appreciate this movie. The quality of the video is low, because it seems to have been transferred from old film. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Early Republic Western Serial
There is no other product available for this early Republic serial. Thus, one has to live with this one. But this transfer to DVD is NOT that bad. The picture quality is not pristine. But the copy which Madacy worked on to put to DVD is not deteriorated, as is the case on other "economical" serials hastily put on the market for a fast profit. It is the sound which is bad. It cracks and and appears muffled. The actors spoke as if they were eating their words. Sometimes it's difficult trying to understand what is being said. But then, this is a 1937 serial and we should count ourselves lucky that Madacy put this on the market. The story is typical serial, simple and long drawn out with preposterous premises. But that is what make these features enjoyable, vain attempts to project reality resulting in absurdity. Note the sound of the gunfire. It does not have the characteristic "Republic serial gunfire sound" heard in later productions. Again, this is because it was a 1937 feature. Get one and enjoy.

A great introduction to the great serials of the past..
My father was a western film collector and I grew up watching this serial on film. The cliffhangers were always amazing to a 9 year old and I had a big crush on Ray "Crash " Corrigan. When I had the opportunity to get this on tape it reminded me of those nights watching the movie with my dad and wanting to be a cowboy when I grew up. There are great action sequences consisting of betrayals, Indian attacks and more as this wagon train makes its way west. The title refers to the mysterious rider of the Painted Stallion who comes to aid of the wagon train when it is in trouble. I highly recommend this serial as a starting point to anyone who wants to sample a taste of early western film. Anyone who enjoyed watching cliffhangers at the movies every week will surely enjoy this. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Gunsmoke Ranch
greety men to swindle a hole town out of there money,floods wipe them out , a man offers them land at acheap price knowing that a dam was going to be built on that spot.but the mesquiteers come and put a damper on there plan. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

good but grainy serial
This Green Hornet serial is good and definitely not boring. The chapters to a ceratin extent are complete stories in themselves. Unfortunately, the film was no longer in good condition when tranferred to tape. This is what detracts from the full enjoyment of the serial. Many parts appear blurred and grainy. If the details were preserved, this product would rate 5 stars. The next Green Hornet serial was more enjoyable to watch as the original film appears to have been better preserved. But this is collector's stuff and secure one if you can. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

One of the best Buck Jones oaters ever made
This is one of the best Buck Jones oaters that I've ever seen. I've seen many of his movies because he is one of my favorite B-Western stars (he and silver of course). What makes this one of his best is a unique story, fantastic action scenes, and some really great acting. In my opinion this was Bucks peak period (1935) at Universal studios. The quality of the Black and White film on this video is fantastic and what a treat to see the old newsreels of the day and a chapter from Bucks chapter serial 'Gordon of Ghost City" all before the movie starts. If you are a fan of B-Westerns like I am this should be a "must" in your collection. Buck also produced this one and did an exceptional job indeed.I'm surprised the Westerns Channel has never shown this one. Simply a B-Western classic. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

NOT REGIONALLY ENCODED
This latest Hal Roach Studios restoration of the classic Republic Serials is NOT regionally encoded as it states in the Amazon notes. This and ALL releases in this Hal Roach Studios series are "Region Zero" and are playable anywhere in the world. And the quality is stunning--almost as good as their releases of original Laurel and Hardy material or their other Serials (ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION, RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON, ZORRO RIDES AGAIN, ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP, etc.)

I love this serial...
I took a chance after reading reviews of others which were pretty much all negative and bought this serial anyway. It is goofy, corny, off the hook silly. Get it, it's ...totally worth it....

The "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" of the Chapterplay Genre
I love the old Republic serials, saw many of them on Saturday morning as a youth in the pre TV era. & have a decent VHS collection. So my cutiosity was aroused when I saw that Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island had never been reviewed and was usually available at a bargain price. I bought a copy and here'c my opinion.
In Summary, this is easily the worst chapterplay I have ever watched. A more detailed report follows:
RC of CI has a fairly standard plot. First of all, it has nothing to do with the classic novel "Robinson Crusoe". An espionage ring is causing trouble for a large Corporation who calls in an intrepid government agent ( Ray Mala) to investigate. The head of the ring is not unmasked until the last segment , but it's made clear early on that the head "bad guy" is one of the key executives of the Corporation. Mala is assisted by the princess of a native island culture. Her people are being framed for the troubles by the nefarious spies. The chapterplay is 14 chapters and takes place in San Francisco and the South Pacific.
The lead actor is Ray Mala, who gives new meaning to the word inept. I suspect that English was his second language and he does not have the physical skills to pull of the action scenes. The second lead, Rex (a horse) and the third lead, Buck (a dog) were clearly superior actors as compared to Mr. Mala - although the Dog probably didn't do it's best work being a St. Bernard stuck with a gig in the South Pacific. The remainder of the cast were the usual stable of Republic character actors who turned in an honest few weeks work.
The production values were about what you would expect for a low budget 1936 chapterplay. I gave read that this was the only the 4th chapterplay made by Republic. Obviously, they got a lot better. Unfortunately, the cliffhangers were quite bad. The cliffhanger at the end of chapter 7 is very possibly the worst cliffhanger I have ever seen. Also, Cliffhanger cheating was rampant.
Finally, there were two instances where about 2-3 minutes of fight action was cut into a new chapter. This was not a review chapter, just frugality.
In closing, It's always been accepted by chapterplay fans that one chapterplay had to be the best - so it makes sense that one has to be the worst as well. THIS IS IT. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

This is the best of the Flash Gordon serials
"Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe" was the third and best of the serials starring Buster Grabbe. This 12-part serial finds Alex Raymond's science-fiction hero battling Ming the Merciless (Charles Middleton). Flash has to save the earth from a mysterious plague known as the Purple Death. When Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon) finds one a spaceship from planet Mongo seeding the atmosphere it is clear that Ming the Merciless is back to his old tricks. Flash is aided by old friend Prince Barin of Arboria (Roland Drew) as they head to Frigia, where our heroes will find polarite, the antidote to the plague, and some really interesting locking rock people. Of course, Ming is going to go out of his way to stop Flash and his friends. My only real complaints are that the costumes look like leftovers from "Robin Hood" and that Carol Hughes replaced Jean Rogers as Dale Arden. Oh, well, life is full of disappointments. This DVD not only includes an interview with Crabbe, but footage of him winning the 1932 Olympic Gold Medal in the 400 meter swim event and three of his later TV commercials. Ideally you want to watch the three Flash Gordon serials in order, but if you start with this one you will certainly be able to follow the fun without any problems.

Go get 'em Flash
Flash Gordon is certainly the true precursor to "Star Wars." Image Entertainment is distributing four feature length titles edited down to about 90 minutes from the original four hour serial length. Zippy plots, lots of action, clever sets and surprisingly strong scripts do justice to "THE PERIL FROM OUTER SPACE," "THE PURPLE DEATH FROM OUTER SPACE," "SPACE SHIP TO THE UNKNOWN" and "THE DEADLY RAY FROM MARS."

Good stuff that looks even better when cut down to the central plot. The action does not let up. See the whole series in order.

Larry "Buster" Crabbe is charismatic and strangely beautiful as the lead in this beguiling comic book space opera from the late 30s.

For die hard fans of this series, the full length, uncut serial "FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE" is also available.

Nice for the Price
This DVD is nice for the price. The description says Region 1, but its region 0. The video and audio are about the same as others on the market, but the menus are well designed (very retro!) All 12 chapters are on one dual layered disc and the layer change doesn't interfere with the movie. There are no extras, but hey for the price, what do you expect?

Excellent for the price
This DVD is great for the price. The video and audio are comparable to other copies that I've seen (for over double the price). It's, also, nice to see all 12 episodes on one disc.

Save your money!!
I bought this on DVD and expected a professional package I expect of any DVD package. Here's the news...terrible packaging, no extra features, no cinemascope so you can't even read the credits, the poorest quality I have seen and overall unwatchable product. I feel as if I was robbed of my money. The people that made this product wanted to sell you something but you will never buy anything else. I say wait for someone who cares to release these great serials. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An adventure of the second world war
An adventurous and true life story of espionage of the second world war.
The finesse of the talent in this film is superb. The character of the nurse, played by Elyse Knox with a purity and style. She had attended the Traphagen School of Fashion in Manhatten and is a talented portraitist and realist and went on to work as a designer for Vogue were she would sit in on photo sessions when models failed to report for work. Subsequently, one of her fashions photographs was seen by someone in Hollywood and invited her there. She and her mother made the long train ride out west, and she made three dozen movies including this one, "Don Winslow of the Coast Guard." She had met her future husband, Tom Harmon, at the Bing Crosby radio show. He had just graduated from University of Michigan, and gone of to war earning both the Purple Heart and Silver Star. Returning home they married and Tom worked as a sports broadcaster. They're family reminds me of my own family, and she strongly resembles my paternal grandmother whom passed away before I was born.
This is a perfect movie for all ages, and especially for school children learning about the second world war in the Pacific. With it's many depths and complexities with that freedom is not free; those magic words of: duty, honor, and country will always prevail.

Stock-Footage Supreme
"Don Winslow of the Coast Guard" is one of the dullest, laziest serials I have ever seen. The filmmakers just sit back and let the World War II stock footage do all the work -- which must have saved the producers a fortune. The characters are uninteresting and the cliffhanging situations decidedly boring. Enough said. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

the most sensational airplane serial ever made!
Don't miss this!This the best oldie movie I have ever seen! The special effects, in crisp black and white, were flawless, not "hokey" like most action movies of the period. When I watch this movie I feel that I'm "there" - I love the big cars,the street scenes, machines, fire trucks, ambulances, ships, planes and the fashions!Donald Woods is as dashing a hero as Erroll Flynn and Kathyrn Adams is as sweet as your little sister. The bad guys are trying to kill them and steal the protype of the Air Forces military plane.There's a lot of fistfights, car chases, crashes, and we enjoy long displays of flying stunts (small propeller planes)in every segment of the serial. The characters are all very close, like a family and their is a constant light-heartedness and implied romances. Each part ends in a disaster (or "cliff-hanger" to keep your interest. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An adventure of the second world war
An adventurous and true life story of espionage of the second world war.
The finesse of the talent in this film is superb. The character of the nurse, played by Elyse Knox with a purity and style. She had attended the Traphagen School of Fashion in Manhatten and is a talented portraitist and realist and went on to work as a designer for Vogue were she would sit in on photo sessions when models failed to report for work. Subsequently, one of her fashions photographs was seen by someone in Hollywood and invited her there. She and her mother made the long train ride out west, and she made three dozen movies including this one, "Don Winslow of the Coast Guard." She had met her future husband, Tom Harmon, at the Bing Crosby radio show. He had just graduated from University of Michigan, and gone of to war earning both the Purple Heart and Silver Star. Returning home they married and Tom worked as a sports broadcaster. They're family reminds me of my own family, and she strongly resembles my paternal grandmother whom passed away before I was born.
This is a perfect movie for all ages, and especially for school children learning about the second world war in the Pacific. With it's many depths and complexities with that freedom is not free; those magic words of: duty, honor, and country will always prevail.

Stock-Footage Supreme
"Don Winslow of the Coast Guard" is one of the dullest, laziest serials I have ever seen. The filmmakers just sit back and let the World War II stock footage do all the work -- which must have saved the producers a fortune. The characters are uninteresting and the cliffhanging situations decidedly boring. Enough said. ... Read more