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#389 – Radar Men from the Moon (1952)
Radar Men from the Moon (1952)
Film review #389
Director: Fred C. Brannon
SYNOPSIS: After a series of devastating attacks across the planet, Commando Cody is assigned to travel to the moon in a rocket ship to investigate the theory that the attacks are being launched from there. While there, he finds that the ruler of the moon Retick has been ordering the attacks in order to pave the way for a full scale invasion of Earth, and only Commando Cody and his friends can stop it…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Radar Men from the Moon is a 1952 movie serial comprised of twelve chapters. The first chapter opens showing aerial attacks across the globe, destroying vital infrastructure. Commando Cody and his friends are visited by a government official who believes that the attacks are originating from the moon. Cody has also come to the same conclusion and coincidentally his friend ted has just finished building a rocketship that can fly to the moon. Cody and his friends travel to the moon to investigate, where they find the leader of the moon, Retik, has ordered the attacks to prepare for a full-scale invasion as the moon’s atmosphere is evaporating and making it uninhabitable. Cody manages to steal one of their ray guns and take it back to Earth, while one of the Moon’s inhabitants, Korg, who is stationed on Earth, tries to get the ray gun back and stop Cody along with his hired goons. The fundamentals of the story have been done in many serials before (Flash Gordon, Brick Bradford etc.) so it’s nothing really original, and it’s got all the usual action scenes, chases, cliffhangers and the like. I’ve reviewed so many of these serials now they all somewhat blend into one, and it takes something special to draw my attention. As I have mentioned before, this is the sort of thing you could get away with at the time, as there was no home media or way to rewatch them, and as these are mostly aimed at a younger audience, they may not have seen the older ones, so it was easy to get away with it. With the onset of television at this time though, people could start watching this serial format at home rather than going to the theatre every week, so serials would become less and less popular, although not too many people would have televisions, so the serial format had a few years of life yet. By this time though, the tropes of the format had been well and truely done to death.
This serial is the first to feature Commando Cody, who would have another serial a year later. The flying rocket suit he uses however, was featured in the 1949 serial King of the Rocket Men. There’s no continuity between the two, but as mentioned the younger audience would probably not have watched the previous serial, but may recognise the imagery, as it was quite a unique suit, and the flying mechanics and effects were something new. Radar Men from the Moon re-uses a lot of the rocket suit footage from that film of him flying through the air and such, which again it could be gotten away with at the time. The rest of the characters are the usual cast for the format: one female, a sidekick, the villainous henchman and the alien leaders dressed in bizarre clothing so you know they are alien. There’s some interesting props and sets when the cast are on the moon, with vehicles and underground bases, but that’s the only thing that really stands out. Overall, Radar Men from the Moon is just another standard sci-fi serial. Nothing horrifically bad about it, but nothing to set it apart from all the others that do the exact same thing. Just another one for the pile I guess.
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#388 – King of the Rocket Men (1949)
King of the Rocket Men (1949)
Film review #388
Director: Fred C. Brannon
SYNOPSIS: A man calling himself Dr. Vulcan is killing off prominent scientists. After one such scientist, Dr. Millard manages to escape an attempt on his life, he goes into hiding and develops a rocket suit that allows the wearer to fly through the skies. He enlists fellow scientist Jeff King to wear the rocket suit and thwart Dr. Vulcan’s schemes.
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: King of the Rocket Men is a 1949 sci-fi serial. The story opens up with the mysterious Dr. Vulcan killing off members of the Science Associates, a group of top scientists. One such member, Dr. Millard, manages to escape one of Vulcan’s traps and goes into hiding, leading Vulcan to believe he is dead. While in hiding, Millard completes his invention of a rocket suit that allows the wearer to fly thanks to a jet pack. Millard enlists the help of Jeff King, another member of Science Associates to wear the suit and track down Dr. Vulcan. The story involves the usual serial tropes, with Dr. Vulcan’s true identity being hidden throughout the serial until the end, and with King figuring out the Vulcan is actually one of the members of Science Associates, he has to work out which one it is, which again is a familiar set-up for these serials. Some of the chapters provide a bit of variety, such as the one where King’s ally Ted suspecting King to be Vulcan and vice versa, which leads to an interesting confrontation, and one which I have not seen before in the serial format, but other than that its the usual back-and-forth between heroes and villains chasing each other down with various plans and traps.
The highlight of this serial has got to be the rocket suit, which allows King (and sometimes Millard) to fly through the air. This is the first serial of three to use the rocket suit, but the only to refer to the hero as “rocket man”. The other two, Radar Men from the Moon and Zombies of the Stratosphere, are all unconnected from one another, and do not give the masked hero a name. Since this serial like most is aimed at getting young viewers into the theatre each week for the next chapter, the rocket suit would definitely have been a hit with them, as there really wasn’t anything like it when it came out. Older viewers would perhaps have been less than engaged with all the usual tropes being wheeled out, but the serial isn’t really for them. There’s plenty of other inventions shown throughout the serial which are interesting enough to change up the pacing, but ultimately it does rely on the tried and tested serial elements.
The end of the film also deserves note, as in some sense the villain wins. Dr. Vulcan steals a device known as the Decimator, and uses it on a tectonic fault-line, causing a huge tidal wave that essentially destroys Manhattan. The footage of the tidal wave is taken from the 1931 film Deluge, in which a rising of sea levels causes most of the world’s population to be wiped out. The destruction looks good and devastating, and it still holds up despite being made nearly twenty years earlier, but obviously if you’ve seen it before it lessens its impact being used a second time here. Nevertheless, it’s very unlikely viewers of this serial would have seen it being used in Deluge due to the time elapsed and there being no re-runs or home releases back then. King manages to eventually stop Dr. Vulcan, but after New York City has been destroyed, and the serial ends with the ambiguous promise to rebuild New York ‘better than ever’. Not exactly a solid resolution, but these serial never are after investing nearly three hours watching them. King of the Rocket Men was released in 1949, after the serial format had peaked, but there were still some good ones being released (most notably the Superman serials, which were quite popular, and some of the best examples of the format). “Rocket man” is somewhat a superhero, with his flying ability and masked persona, and this no doubt would have made the serial stand out, but a lot of the other elements of the serial are pretty standard for the format. Overall it’s a little more interesting than the average serial, but not outstanding.
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#383 – Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
Film review #383
Director: John McPhail
SYNOPSIS: Anna is about to finish high school and plans to travel for a year before going to university, much to her dad’s disapproval. However, a zombie outbreak and the onset of the apocalypse have altered her plans somewhat, and Anna and her school friends must find a way to survive the end of the world…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Anna and the Apocalypse is a 2017 comedy/horror musical. The film starts off introducing Anna, a high school student who is planning on having a gap year before starting university, much to her Dad’s dismay. Anna and her friends also have plenty of problems at school including the new authoritarian headteacher and the usual teenage trouble. All of these issues are bypassed however, when a zombie outbreak occurs and Anna must find a way to survive with her friends and find her father. The story is fairly standard and doesn’t offer a deep lore-filed story. It’s a zombie outbreak like every other zombie outbreak, and it isn’t integral to the story to go into detail with regards to its origins. What makes the film stand out is that it is also a musical, ending up as a musical.comedy/horror hybrid, the film takes on a lot of different tones, but for the most part I think it does a good job of handling the variety well.
The characters are well defined, and each of the students has their own personality and reacts to the apocalypse differently, which is the sort of diversity you would expect from a group of teenagers. The musical numbers also help in this regard, as each of the main characters has at least a song in which they express their emotions and opinions in a unique way.The songs aren’t so memorable that you’ll remember them after the film has ended, but they are catchy and enjoyable so that a wide range of people will enjoy them. They also help in allowing the viewer to invest in the characters and their emotions, which leaves more of an impact when they die…and they do die, because this film does get quite dark in places and makes you feel the weight of their sacrifices.
Anna and the Apocalypse is not a big production affair, but it doesn’t need to be, as it keeps its focus on the characters and small-scale scenes that feel very personal. I suppose it also counts as a Christmas movie, although it’s definitely not very festive. I can’t find much to criticise in this film: it works within its boundaries and creates a simple story crossing genres, with a diverse cast and personal interactions augmented by serviceable performances and music. It’s not rewriting the genre, but it’s more than entertaining enough to sit through as an alternative Christmas movie.
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#379 – Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951)
Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951)
Film review #379
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet, Wallace A. Grissel
SYNOPSIS: The heroic Captain Video and his Video Rangers from across the globe help maintain peace on the planet Earth, but when Earth becomes subject to meteor bombardments from the planet Atoma, Captain Video must find a way to thwart the evil schemes of it’s leader Vultura before it is too late…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere is a 1951 movie serial. The serial stars (as the title suggests) Captain Video, the leader of an organisation called the Video Rangers, who help protect the Earth. When the Earth becomes subject to meteor bombardments originating from the planet Atoma, Video must stop them before they can invade the Earth. The plot resembles the vast majority of sci-fi serials, which copy the highly successful Flash Gordon and caught the genre in a thinly-veiled repetition of its plot and characters for over twenty years. A lot of the story revolves around Captain Video trying to prove that the scientist Dr. Tobor (yes, that is ‘robot’ spelled backwards) is working with Atoma’s leader Vultura, as Video and Vultura try to outsmart and thwart the other’s plans. I think this format and plot structures were gotten away with for two reasons: one, there was no way to re-watch old serials once they had first aired at the theatre, so new ones could come out with the same story and similar characters; particularly since serials such as this would be aimed at kids, who would not have seen earlier serials. The second reason being that the second world war probably didn’t leave much room or money for the development of anything too original or ambitious, as resources would have been focused elsewhere. Nevertheless, by the time this serial was released in 1951, there probably should have been some effort to change the formula or offer something new.
Despite it’s lack of originality in the story department, there’s still a decent amount of variety going on. The early chapters see Video travelling to the planet Theros, where the peace-loving people are under attack by Vultura’s forces, and Video has to teach them to be guerrilla fighters and fight back. Again, this plot structure shows up in many previous serials. The next major chunk of the serial consists in the back-and-forth between Tobor and Video, as they try and outdo each other on Earth. Video and Vultura only meet in the final half of the last chapter, which feels like a waste. The serial however, does keep things interesting with a whole host of gadgets and inventions that would undoubtedly spark the imaginations of youngsters watching. The guns that the Rangers use that shoot out sparks are quite a nice effect of the time. However, the serial often falls into the trap of explaining what is going on and what all these inventions do rather than actually showing them, mostly due to budget constraints, but often the plot is explained before it happens, leaving little surprise or tension. The inventions too have bizarre technological names, and accompanied techno-babble that try to justify the implausible things they do.
Most of the characters are based off the ones on the TV series, with Captain Video being the typical white American male hero that is the star of all these serials. His younger sidekick is strangely only referred to as “the Ranger” and never given an actual name. This is in keeping with the TV series, but other rangers are shown to use their own names, so it’s odd that he doesn’t. Maybe it’s a way to get kids to imagine themselves in the role of the young teenage sidekick, as anyone could be “The Ranger”. There’s also Ranger Gallagher, who does all the technical stuff at Video headquarters, and Vultura clearly has some east Asian influences in his design, again echoing the “Ming the Merciless” type villain that originated in Flash Gordon. One final note about the characters is that while you will expect these serials to only feature a white cast, there is not a single woman anywhere featured in the serials fifteen chapters. Often there is usually a solitary token female character that sometimes serves as the protagonist’s love interest, but there is none at all here, not even in any of the backgrounds. I suppose the lack of a female character could be attributed to the fact this is geared towards a younger, male, audience, who would not be interested in a female character or a romance sub-plot, but having this cast of inter-changeable white men interact with each other really emphasises the monotony of the story at points.
The serial was directed by Spencer Bennet, a veteran of these kinds of serials, so he had plenty of experience in what to do. Some of the effects are fairly decent; as mentioned, the ray guns the Video Rangers use is pretty cool, and their super-fast car stands out with its unique look. There is also a ‘space platform’ which allows transportation between earth and Atoma, which apparently is millions of miles away. Captain Video also has a rocket ship he travels in, which again adds some variety. Some of the effects (such as the rocket ship in flight) are done through using hand-drawn animation, which allows a lot more freedom in terms of effects, although this is not the first time this was done, having been integrated into the Superman serial a few years earlier. Overall, I think I can place the Captain Video serial just above average in the miasma of similar sci-fi serials: it has a lot of the well-worn tropes and characters, but has some decent effects and various inventions that add a bit of extra spice. It’s obviously meant for a younger audience, but there’s enough content for those who haven’t seen such a serial before to enjoy.
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#378 – Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2013)
Film review #378
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
SYNOPSIS: When S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury is assassinated, Steve Rogers (Captain America) is on the trail of those responsible, but he is told to trust noone. As he investigates, he finds a shocking discovery that goes right to the heart of S.H.I.E.L.D. itself…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a 2013 superhero film that forms part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film starts off with Captain America in the thick of a mission to rescue hostages from a S.H.I.E.L.D. ship. There’s plenty of fluid action that provides a strong opening for the film that requires no knowledge of the characters, and eases into the story in a fun and exciting way. The plot takes on a number of twists and turns as S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury is seemingly assassinated and Captain America must investigate S.H.I.E.L.D. itself with the help of Black Widow. The film mixes layers of action, espionage and intrigue as it unravels the conspiracy surrounding S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s a strong story that will keep viewers engaged, as well as exploring the character of Captain America and elements of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is a fine balance to give each of these elements the right amount of focus, but the film largely succeeds in doing so. If I were to pick an issue with the story, I would say that there’s a bit of a conflict between the film being self-contained and its part in the larger cinematic universe, insofar as the revelations about S.H.I.E.L.D. should have significant ramifications, but it seems they are more or less curtailed by the end in order to keep the film self-contained with a distinct resolution. Overall though, the story is fairly strong.
Captain America as a character is a soldier, a leader and a hero, and I think all of those aspects to him are given a good amount of development. How he relates to those around him and what his part is in protecting and inspiring them is something he has to constantly work through as the film progresses. The supporting cast of Black Widow and Nick Fury also get ample screen time in order to develop their characters and play a significant role in the story. The “winter soldier” also has ties to Captain America, and with everything else going on, it feels like there could have been more done with his character, but this instead seems to have been postponed in order to be dealt with in a sequel. Villains typically get short-changed in these films, as they are almost entirely self-contained in the film and do not get referenced outside of it. Pearce, the villain here, is a bit more interesting, and has particular relations with a number of characters. He doesn’t have any particular superpowers, so he’s more of a mastermind, with the winter soldier handling the action parts of the villainy. Sam Wilson, a veteran soldier, also has an interesting character arc which gives Captain America a bit of a grounding as he interacts with the soldiers without superpowers who go to war. A lot of characters, but again it’s all handled fairly well.
The style and effects in the film are just about what you would expect from these Marvel films. There are no surprises, but it has a good budget, and keeps things consistent. The fight scenes are well choreographed, and highlight the strengths of the characters. There’s nothing overwhelmingly special about the film, but it has a lot of content that pushes and develops characters in new directions and explores new facets of their characters. Like with most Marvel films it’s not going to re-define the genre, but it shows a marked improvement on earlier sequels in the MCU (Iron Man, Thor) by focusing a little more on interesting character development, varied villains and weaving a stronger story around the heroes.
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#376 – The Mad Monster (1942)
The Mad Monster (1942)
Film review #376
Director: Sam Newfield
SYNOPSIS: Dr. Cameron, a scientist, has been experimenting with genetic modification, a practice which has left him the subject of ridicule and forces him from his university job. Out in the country, he experiments on his hired help Pedro to turn him into a werewolf, but when Pedro starts killing people in his werewolf form, Dr. Cameron finds it increasingly difficult to keep his experiments a secret…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: The Mad Monster is a 1942 horror/sci-fi film. The film centres around Dr. Cameron, a scientist whose experiments in genetic engineering have left him ridiculed and cast out of the scientific community. He moves out into the country with his daughter Lenora to carry on his experiments, using his hired help Pedro as a test subject. Cameron successfully develops a serum that can turn Pedro into a werewolf-like creature, which ends up escaping and killing a little girl. Pedro is unable to remember the time when he is transformed, so Cameron uses this to his advantage to take revenge on those that ridiculed his research. The story is quite straightforward, and there’s no real surprises. The plot is all explained at the beginning, and it is up to the characters to unravel the mystery themselves. there’s nothing really special about the film, it’s another simple story of science going too far that has been done many times before (and after).
The film attempts to create a horror atmosphere through some creative use of lighting and dark, minimal sets. Although all the violence happens off-screen (this is the 1940′s after all), so it is difficult to get much of an idea of how vicious this werewolf creature is. The cast of characters is pretty bland, but well defined, and everyone contributes to the story in some way. The acting and delivery of lines is sometimes a bit flat, but credit to the actor playing Pedro, who gives an expressive performance. One of the biggest drawbacks of the film is that it often feels boring, with scenes that drag on too long consisting of dull conversations that go nowhere. You become very aware of the beginning and ending of scenes as they mostly end on flat notes without much fanfare, leaving you to wonder what the point of it was.
As mentioned, the production values of the film are rather low, owing to the general state of the world at the time and having more pressing issues to address. Nevertheless, there are a few positives, such as Pedro’s “werewolf” make-up or costume being quite well put together. Sometimes Dr. Cameron delivers a good speech under an atmospheric light, but other than that there’s really not much else that stands out. The Mad Monster is an entirely forgettable film with a typical message of science going too far, and a blandness in terms of its looks and its dialogue leave little to recommend it.
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#375 – The Lost City (1935)
The Lost City (1935)
Film review #375
Director: Harry Revier
SYNOPSIS: Extreme weather is causing mass destruction across the Earth, with seemingly no known explanation. Electrical engineer Bruce Gordon manages to use one of his machines to trace the source of these disturbances to an unexplored region of central Africa. He leads an expedition to the area to investigate and ends up discovering a lost city ruled by a madman who is intent on attaining absolute power from his machines. Bruce must join forces with the various people in the region, and stop the evil Zolok from using his machines before the world is destroyed…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: The Lost City is a 1935 science-fiction, twelve part film serial. in the opening, we see storms ravaging the cities of the world, causing mass destruction. The world is unable to find the cause of these freak weather events, until electrical engineer Bruce Gordon uses one of his inventions to locate the source in an unexplored region of central Africa. Bruce leads an expedition to the area withe his friend Jerry Delaney, and when he arrives at a trading post, a man named Butterfield stumbles in injured, telling of a lost city beneath Magnetic Mountain guarded by giants. Believing there is a connection between Magnetic Mountain and the storms, Bruce investigates and finds the lost city is real. There, a man named Zolok is forcing Manyus, a scientist, to construct inventions which he believes will help him rule the world. The opening chapter of the serial is typically full of exciting effects and setting the stage for a thrilling adventure. As I’ve mentioned before in other serial reviews, the opening chapter is often the most thrilling and interesting, as it is meant to entice viewers to return to the theatre every week to watch the subsequent parts. These serials can quite quickly run out of steam, as they are made on a low budget and there is a lot of re-used settings and back-and-forths between the heroes and villains that can get repetitive. With The Lost City though, this repetition is kept to a minimum as there’s a number of distinct locations, and a large cast that gets introduced as the story goes on, so these new elements continually change the dynamic of the plot. Of course, there’s also plenty of daring cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, with lion pens, giant spiders and all sorts of devious traps that will encourage viewers to return next week. The overall story is definitely stronger than many similar serials I have seen.
As I mentioned, the cast is fairly large, and are somewhat diverse. The “giants” are pretty cool, and have a menacing presence. The big problem here though, with the film being set in central Africa, is the film’s depiction of non-white races. The “native tribes” are portrayed as very typical, primitive people as very much stereotypes of what western countries at the time were taught Africa to be. The fact that the film does not further pinpoint the location other than “Africa” again shows how the entire continent is ill-defined by said countries. When the “Arabs” shows up around half-way through the serial, they again are portrayed in a stereotypical fashion. Both of these groups, when they are supposedly speaking in their own language, is clearly just gibberish being shouted by the actors, which again just reinforces the dismissive attitude to non-white cultures. i think the main villain is designed to be similar to an east Asian person as well, just to round off the serial’s inclusion of all races. The portrayal of the black giants is clearly meant to make them as menacing as possible too. On top of all this, there is a plot element that Manyus has invented a medicine that can turn black people white. While the film does not label this as a “cure” for being black, it does feel that way at points, and really just compounds the fact that this film is horrifically outdated, and racially dismissive/ignorant.
The Lost City really shines through in terms of its story, and it paces itself well throughout the twelve chapters by continually introducing new characters and dangers in order to keep things fresh. In this respect, it avoids one of the significant problems that plague the serial format. However, it’s depiction of non-white races is horrifically ignorant and outdated, and really is non-redeemable. Yes, it is a product of it’s time, but I do not feel that it is enough of an excuse to dismiss its harmful racial depictions.
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#374 – The Last Halloween (1991)
The Last Halloween (1991)
Film review #374
Director: Savage Steve Holland
SYNOPSIS: In the town of Crystal Falls, Michael and his younger sister Jeanie are eager to celebrate Halloween, but their Father, who owns the local candy factory, fears this will be “The Last Halloween” as the lake that powers the factory is mysteriously drying up. When aliens show up looking for something called “koobi” which their home planet of Mars has run out of, Michael and Jeanie help them to find some and unravel the mystery of the lake along the way…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: The Last Halloween is a 1991 TV film/special aired at Halloween (Unsurprising, given the title). In the opening we are introduced to Michael and Jeanie: a brother and sister who live in the quaint U.S. town of Crystal Falls. Their Father and grandfather run the local candy factory, which is about to close down due to the mysterious drying up of the lake, which will make a lot of the town unemployed. Michael and Jeanie are still looking forward to going trick or treating however, and their Halloween night gets even stranger when four aliens land on Earth looking for something called ″koobi” which their home planet of Mars has run out of. Michael and Jeanie agree to help the aliens out, but meanwhile Mrs. Gizbourne is secretly using the water from the lake to fuel her experiments into attaining the secret of eternal youth. For a television special that only runs at around twenty five minutes, there is a lot going on in terms of story and characters. It crams a lot in so that in theory there’s something for a wide audience. It skips a lot on some of the details, but that kind of thing doesn’t really matter to kids, who can happily fill in the gaps with their own imagination. With all these different threads going on at the same time, the special nevertheless flows along quite nicely, and there’s always something fun or interesting happening on screen.
The film is definitely meant to have a “timeless” quality to it, so it can be repeated every year when halloween rolls around. It’s meant to be the sort of film that becomes part of the tradition, although it wasn’t shown much after it’s original airing as far as I can see, and there’s been no digital or home video release. Michael and Jeanie are plain and average children that younger viewers can relate to, but they have their own unique traits too. The aliens are probably the most interesting characters though, as each has their own look, voice and personality, and are entirely computer-animated, which was quite groundbreaking at the time have CG creatures interacting with real actors on-screen. This special was made my Hanna-Barbera, who produced a lot of traditional hand-drawn animated shows (Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, amongst others), and this is one of their first forays into computer-generated animation. Nevertheless, they seem to have transitioned well, and the aliens all look, move and talk like they have a genuine presence. Obviously the effects look dated now, but again there is still a timeless quality to them that doesn’t spoil the overall feel of the story.
Overall, The Last Halloween, while being short and fairly harmless, manages to cram a lot of content into its runtime, with plenty of elements that will appeal to its younger audience. It plays it safe in many respects and is mostly harmless, probably appealing to well-established ideas to make it “timeless”, but owing to that, it does use what is known to be successful to make a successful bit of television. The animation is fairly decent for it’s time, and offers something new in terms of it being computer generated. Not that interesting for adults, but would have been perfect to get young kids in the mood for Halloween.
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#373 – Brick Bradford (1949)
Brick Bradford (1949)
Film review #373
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet
SYNOPSIS: Brick Bradford and his friends are assigned to visit the lodge of the scientist Doctor Tymak, who has developed “interceptor ray” that can intercept and destroy enemy rockets. It’s potential to be developed into a death ray as well has attracted the attention of the foreign spy Laydron, who wants to steal the ray. Brick and his friends must fight to keep the ray from falling into the wrong hands, and help Tymak finish his research as they travel across time and space to defeat the villainous Laydron and his goons…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Brick Bradford is a 1949 movie serial based on the comic strips of the same name. The opening introduces Brick Bradford and his friends Sandy Sanderson (yes that is apparently his real name), Professor Salisbury and his daughter Jane. They are visited by a U.N. official to assigns them to aid the work of Doctor Tymak, a scientist working on a secret project who may be the target of foreign spies. The spy Laydron manages to get to Tymak first, and while Tymak flees, Laydron pretends to be him when Brick and his friends get there in order to capture them. The plot of the serial follows the standard serial setups, with a constant back-and-forth between the heroes and villains, fist fights, getting captured, escaping and daring cliffhangers. I suppose what makes the serial unique is that it is a mix of all the usual elements of the format thrown together into one. For example, the opening third deals with Tymak fleeing to the moon after Laydron trying to capture him and Brick going to rescue him. While there, they get caught up in a civil war between a dictator and the rebels who want to restore democracy. This part of the story is very similar (practically identical) to a Flash Gordon serial, and while it will offer no surprises to viewers familiar to said serial, it offers an interesting setting and some fun traps. The next part of the film involves Brick and Sandy going back in time to find a note buried in a treasure chest that has the formula necessary to complete the interceptor ray. They get caught up in a battle between some sailors and a native tribe and the whole setting again offers something different. The third act revolves around the more standard serial plots of kidnapping, fist fights and chases as Laydron tries to get a hold of the interceptor ray. Add to all this the car chase scenes, invisibility devices and convoluted death traps and you’ve got a full-house in movie serial bingo.
The problem with the story is that while it does have plenty of variety, its different parts feel inconsistent with each other. The first part set on the moon is very similar (identical) to a Flash Gordon serial, and is probably the best written part, with a host of identifiable characters and plenty of danger and traps. The second part set in the 18th century is a bit more light-hearted and silly. With Sandy often making plenty of humourous quips. After these adventures throughout space and time, the final part resorts to the typical back-and-forth between the heroes and villains as they chase each other across the few sets the serial has. This is the weakest part of the serial, as it is difficult to top the first two parts. One reason for this disparity is that each part is written by a different writer, and clearly they all have their own ideas of what should be going on in the serial. The director, Spencer Gordon Bennet, did a number of these film serials, but his expertise doesn’t really fix the problems (he also directed the Batman and Robin, serial and after Brick Bradford the Superman serials, which were much better).
The movie serial format is a very outdated format. It’s multiple episodes re-used the same few sets as they were typically constrained to a low budget and would have to stretch what they had as far as possible (yet would keep viewers coming back to the theatre every week to watch the next instalment). Brick Bradford manages to have a good enough variety of settings thanks to the varied story, and is also aided by the fact that there are plenty of outdoor scenes. Obviously the moon having a breathable atmosphere and people living on it is a bit far-fetched today, but would have been somewhat believable back when the serial was released. The “time top” that Brick and Sandy use to travel back through time in is probably one of the first depictions of a time machine on film too, and I can imagine that it sparked people’s imaginations when they saw it for the first time. The characters themselves are all a bit dry and without merit, and Brick doesn’t really stand out alongside the Flash Gordon’s and Buck Rogers’ of the movie world. Overall, Brick Bradford can best be summed up as a “greatest hits” of the sci-fi movie serial: it has everything it needs from death rays, aliens, time travel, invisibility devices, mobs, car chases, convoluted death traps, all-american heroes, and a single female character. However, all of these elements feel very disjointed from one another, and the mix of writers with different perspectives gives the serial an uneven tone. There is a decent amount of variety throughout the fifteen chapters, but by the end the film has exhausted everything the format has to offer and it clearly shows. A valid attempt with familiar concepts, but nowhere near the best that the serial format has to offer.
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#368 – Mom and Dad Save the World (1992)
Mom and Dad Save the World (1992)
Film review #368
Director: Greg Beeman
SYNOPSIS: Dick and Marge Nelson are driving on their way to spend the weekend away for their anniversary. On the way, they are abducted and taken to the distant plant Spengo, where it’s evil emperor Todd intends to marry Marge himself before he destroys Earth with his “Super Death Ray Laser”. Dick must find a way to rescue his wife and save the Earth while also contendng with the local rebels and a bad back, so it probably won’t be easy…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Mom and Dad Save the World is a 1992 sci-fi comedy film. The film starts by introducing married couple Dick and Marge Nelson, who are about to drive on their anniversary getaway. However, they end up going a lot further than expected, as their car is abducted and taken to the far away planet of Spengo, where the ruler of the planet, the evil emperor Todd plans to marry Marge himself before blowing up the Earth with his “Super death Ray Laser”. The plot really is this simple, and essentially revolves around Todd trying to marry Marge, and Dick trying to stop him and rescue his wife. From the outset we see the couple are pretty average, with kids and some issues between them, but nothing that majorly stands out: Marge wants to be more adventurous, while Dick is unwilling to go beyond his comfort zone. Meanwhile we see the evil emperor Todd is a bit of an incompetent and non-threatening villain (not least because his name is Todd), and the whole film just has that cheesy, silly tone to it that shows it is not meant to be taken seriously. I suppose it is primarily a comedy film with some sci-fi and adventure elements as this middle-aged couple attempt to overthrow this not-so-evil dictator. The pair make for unlikely heroes, although their characters don’t offer too many surprises, it is unusual to see those types of characters in this type of situation, so it does make for a bit of a unique experience.
Although the film offers little surprise in terms of story or characters, there are some more noteworthy aspects to it. Firstly, there are enough jokes that land to make this film entertaining enough to sit through. There’s some occasions where it can get a genuine laugh, and others where it maintains the humour throughout, such as the “light grenade” scene. Most of the humour is family friendly, but there’s some jokes only an adult will get, so there’s a variety in there that will appeal to a wide range of audiences. Most of the humour however is pretty goofy and slapstick, as the planet Spengo is self described as a “planet of idiots”, and the plainly average Dick is regarded as a genius compared to them. Another positive to the film is the some of the production aspects. The alien costumes, which are anthropomorphic dogs and fish, are quite well done, and are able to convey a range of facial expressions that give them real character. The rest of the special effects are fairly typical of their time, but there’s clearly a decent amount of effort gone into creating the setting and characters. One other interesting note is that the actor for Todd voices Artie in The Simpsons, who on more than one occasion also attempts to steal Marge from her husband, making a very obscure reference.
Overall, Mom and Dad Save the World is a rather average film. It’s premise is silly, and it delivers some silly humour as you would expect. There’s some genuinely funny moments using a range of humour, and the costume designs are pretty good, so while not being the most stand-out film of all time, manages to be entertaining enough to warrant sitting through it.
