the brainchild of comic strip pioneer alex raymond and flash gordon be the grand daddy of all sci fi epic . this serial be the first time flash be bring to celluloid life . despite it low budget and this be a great space opera . the story begin with earth doom to apparent destruction and when the planet mongo come hurtle through space on a collision course . maverick scientist dr. zarkov be head off for the approach planet in a self make rocket ship and convince he can do something to stop the runaway celestial body . he get some last minute recruit in the form of resourceful athlete flash gordon and beautiful dale arden . once they reach mongo and their problem really begin . they run afoul of dastardly emperor ming the merciless and conqueror of his world and who have some ambitious plan for earth . the rest of the serial revolves around flash desperate attempt to save the earth while the assorted alien culture he encounter while the ally he make while space ship he fly while the battle he fight and and the monster he slay . brilliantly conceive by raymond and flash gordon feature classic archetype from legendary myth and fable of antiquity . echo of famous tale and like the saga of troy and camelot and sherwood forrest be see here . you have the dashing and handsome hero and on a quest to save the kingdom ( flash ) while the evil king ( ming ) while the old wise man ( zarkov ) while the lovely damsel in distress ( dale ) while the seductive siren ( aura ) while loyal ally ( thun and barin and vultan ) while plus monster and dragon and assorted beasties . flash be a modern robin hood and jason or beowulf . ming be prince john or aggamemnon . dale be helen of troy or gwenevere or maid marion . zarkov be merlin or odysseus . ( or gandalf ) thun or barin or vultan be the merry men or the knight of the round table . you get the idea . you can not help but notice how many idea from flash gordon would later reappear in star war . the cloud city while the ice world while the forest moon while the scroll opening text ( from the second serial ) while there be others and but you get the gist . the whole sci fi genre owe a great debt to this timeless classic . buster crabb be the perfect action hero and and i personally think he good at this sort of role than any of the current crop of action star . he also play buck rogers and tarzan . charles middleton be the embodiment of diabolical nastiness a ming . sure and he seem a bit melodramatic today and but that be what audience expect from their bad guy in the 30 . jean rogers be our hero love interest dale arden and and i have such a crush on her when i first saw this a a boy . i can readily understand why flash always rush to her rescue . she the quintessential good girl and to counterpoint the seductive manipulation of aura and the quintessential bad girl . the support cast seem perfectly choose to emulate their comic strip counterpart and and despite the now silly look fxs and there be a lot of thrill action in this groundbreaking serial . an all around fun romp and the beginning of the sci fi genre in cinema .