Flying Disc Man from Mars (1950)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This old serial seems to me interesting and quite lively. I enjoyed the fact that the evil Martian has a Russian accent, and so in his time, and maybe nowadays, FLYING DISCMAN was politically educative. When the production of such serials stopped, nothing replaced them. (I know the Spielberg replacement theory; I do not think that it is true. If these old serials may seem a little thin, Spielberg's crafts are too stuffed, too thick.) Each episode has a delightful name. The cliffhangers are effective.The serial was directed by Fred C. Brannon,the maker of Sombra, the Spider Woman and other such stuff.

Mota arrives on Earth from Mars, and takes into confidence manufacturer Bryant (a one time Nazi sympathizer) to launch a wave of destruction that will overwhelm Earth and put the planet under a Martian supreme dictator. Aerial patrolman Kent Fowler sees the theft going around Bryant's plant (by his two henchmen Drake and Ryan) and goes to stop the sabotage despite that his employer Bryant is the real criminal. Eventually Mota and Bryant develop their weapons to such a degree that they are able to start their campaign of destruction, unless Kent can stop them. Republic really threw in generous amounts of stock footage (I counted at least 4 different serials) to help overcome this corny script. The acting is pretty much wooden (even with veterans like Reed, Craven, and Lauter) and Gregory Gay makes for one of Republic's worst and most laughable villains. It's still entertaining enough, but pretty much an egg. Rating, based on serials, 3.5.

This one is absolutely "so bad, it's good". The characters are wooden, the dialog stiff, the plot contrived. All in all, it's one of the most entertaining films I have in my vast collection of classic sci-fi space movies. Sure, there isn't a whole lot of outer space in it, and few rockets...and way too many fist fights where nobody's hat falls off. But the leaps in logic, the never-ending stream of vehicles that the characters drive, the bad line deliveries...all worth the price you pay. On the truly plus side: it is beautifully photographed, and the editing is pretty tight. Personally, I can't wait till this one comes out in DVD. I consider this one better than the Commando Cody serials (1951, 1953), and I'm a big Cody fan. The only thing missing is Judd Holdren (Captain Video, Zombies from the Stratosphere, etc.). Delightful.

If you enjoy old republic serials with their cookie cutter villains and Wholesome as oatmeal heroes this is another one of those flicks. Nothing bad but nothing terribly special. It does feel like your watching a piece of the past though.