Spaceship to the Unknown

1966 1h 37m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 3

TV MovieScience FictionActionAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A heavy condensation of the original serial compresses the original thirteen episodes into an efficient 97 minute feature. Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Buster Crabbe
Flash Gordon (archive footage)
Jean Rogers
Dale Arden (archive footage)
Frank Shannon
Dr. Hans Zarkov (archive footage)
Charles Middleton
Ming the Merciless (archive footage)
Priscilla Lawson
Princess Aura (archive footage)
Richard Alexander
Prince Barin (archive footage)
Jack 'Tiny' Lipson
King Vultan (archive footage)
James Pierce
Prince Thun (archive footage)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Frederick Stephani
Writers: Ella O'Neill, Basil Dickey, Alex Raymond
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 5

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 5

ERA

Did you know

60 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 5

CAST

Did you know

Buster Crabbe and Jean Rogers and Frank Shannon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 5

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0061006 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 5

WILD

Did you know

Only 3 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Frederick Stephani directs. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
260 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Buster Crabbe and Jean Rogers and Frank Shannon carry the top of the cast.
4IMDB entry: tt0061006 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
5Only 3 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Status: Released
Budget: $350,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Spaceship to the Unknown (1966)

Also by

Frederick Stephani

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-05-30
★ 6/10
If you've seen the superbly hammy "Flash Gordon" remake from 1980, then you will recognise this as the base for most of that film. This version is a rather clunkily bolted together edit of the cracking 1936 serial and features the hunky Buster Crabbe in the title role, trying to keep his gal "Dale" (Jean Rogers) safe from the merciless "Ming" (Charles Middleton) whilst trying to keep himself safe from the preying eyes of Princess "Aura" (Priscilla Lawson). Although I did enjoy this, I much preferred the original serialisation. Each episode had that slight moment of peril at the end which we miss out on here, and the reduction from over 4 hours to just over 90 minutes does mean we lose quite a bit of the fun and drama of the story. Ever since I first saw these 40 years ago, I have wanted one of the rocket ships. They looked like flying irons with sparklers attached; but that was part of the charm. The acting was as wooden as the sets and the story was all about an wholesome derring-do with an inevitability to the ending that probably instilled in me my prevailing wish that the baddies should always win. (What did "Darth Vader" or "Jaws" do do deserve their comeuppance?). It's a great adventure film this, there is plenty of action and bearing in mind it is all but 90 years old, I really did find it flew by.

Production companies