The program superficially traces the development of the Flash Gordon comic strip from its January 1934 debut as drawn by artist Alex Raymond, unaccountably referred to as "Alec" Raymond throughout by its narrator. The bulk of the show mixes clips from the three serials - Flash Gordon (1936), Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938), and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) - with interview subjects who for the most part are merely asked to describe the characters and their personal reactions to them.

The interview subjects are: artist/biographer Tom Roberts, the ubiquitous Bob Burns, cartoonist Al Williamson, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens (executive story editors of a 1996 Flash Gordon cartoon show), and, very briefly, Steve Holland, who played Flash Gordon in the '50s TV version.

The program is disappointing on many levels. There's no discussion aesthetically comparing Flash Gordon to Buck Rogers, the strip that inspired Flash's creation; there's no real discussion about the evolution of the strip, nor of the various peaks and valleys in its long history, or how different artists over the years have put their personal stamp on the character and his adventures.

The sloppy writing is so poor as to confusingly, erroneously imply that Alex Raymond died in 1944 fighting in the Pacific, and doesn't mention that in fact he died in a 1956 auto accident, another trivial matter left for host Peter Graves to explain at the end. At times the writers seem to equate Flash Gordon with the 1966 Batman TV series; how else to account for descriptions like "Ming [the Merciless] and his band of merry mischief makers!" Huh?

There's practically no behind-the-scenes information about the three serials, and like the 1980 film, the 1939 adaptation of Buck Rogers, also starring Buster Crabbe and produced by Universal, similarly goes unmentioned. There's a brief audio excerpt from the Flash Gordon radio show (which starred, of all people, Gale Gordon of The Lucy Show) but we're told nothing about it. Nothing is said about Flash's influence on the '70s revival of science-fantasy cinema, particularly Star Wars, and while the 1979 Filmation cartoon show is dismissed, what looks like a perfectly dreadful 1996 series (with Flash and Dale as slang-talkin' teens) is hyped as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

The information that is conveyed is often erroneous or contradictory. Early in the film the narrator explains chapters of the serials ran about 20 minutes apiece but later on says they ran 30 minutes in length. We're told "production crews designed detailed and elaborate sets" but the clip shown is actually stock footage from another film (1927's The Midnight Sun? 1930's Just Imagine? I'm not sure which one).

Video & Audio

Flash Gordon - Journey to Greatness is presented in its original full frame format in an okay transfer. The quality of film clips and stills vary widely, though most of the serial footage looks pretty good. There are no subtitle options and the menu options are limited to "Play" and "Chapters." There are no Extra Features.

Parting Thoughts

Unless you want to see lots of highlights from the three Flash Gordon serials, this isn't even worth a rental, and certainly its $24.95 list price is quite outrageous and completely unjustified, even if this 46-minute show weren't so mediocre. Skip It.

　 Film historian Stuart Galbraith IV's latest book, The Toho Studios Story, is on sale now.