Flying Disc Man from Mars

Dr. Bryant installs his atomic ray gun on Kent Fowler's fighter plane and he shots down a flying saucer from Mars. Bryant arrives to find a survivor who seems to know a lot about Earth. The alien wants to put Earth under galactic control and Bryant agrees to help just as he had helped Hitler in his bid to take over the world. Bryant lures two criminals to help in his villainous scheme. This is a 12 part sci-fi serial that is sometimes combined into one movie. This has the classic structure of cliff-hangers and low budget action. There are a few problems. The biggest is the non-descript lead who dresses the same as everyone else, in a suit and hat. At times, I lose track of him and even forget his face. The hero does not have enough fun or generate enough charisma. The villain is almost good and the Martian could work. This is old style in a bad way. The worst is that it's boring.

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.

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 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.

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.