Great Sci-Fi Classics - Vol. 1 DVD

 great
Haven't seen since I was 5 years old
Submitted by fish (Covington, La 70433) 
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 Hilarious
I'm a big fan of the old school chapters from back in the day. I find them to be hilarious, but also to the point. No beating around the bush. A few words of dialogue and then BAM! a crazy brawl breaks out. I'm still trying to figure out how Commando Cody could fly around with that rocket strapped to his back without frying the back of his legs off. Check it out. Hilarious!
Submitted by jwright48 (Bronx, New York) 
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 camp at its best
If you are the type that has to have reality in your shows then this is not for you. I f you are like me and enjoy the old classic serials for what they are and use a little imagination then this is great.
Submitted by coastalacoustik (delaware) 
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 Entertaining Republic Sci-Fi Serial from the 50s
Radar Men From The Moon was the second of three Sci-Fi serials Republic made featuring the rocket-tank propelled hero. This one introduced a new character, Commando Cody, replacing Jeff King from King Of The Rocketmen (1949). In this serial, Retik, Ruler of The Moon and his moon men are destroying specific targets on Earth to weaken it's defences for their impending invasion. When Mr. Henderson, Cody's boss, hears of these attacks, he sends him on a mission to find out what he can about them. So Commando Cody--along lab assistant Ted, co-pilot Hank, and his secretary Joan--blast off in an experimental rocketship for a journey to the moon to get to the bottom of it. He finds out is that Retik and his men are, indeed, planning a conquest of the Earth as their atmosphere is thinning out and they can't produce enough food to survive. Can Commando Cody and his companions stop Retik and his invasion from happening? Will Retik succeed in his conquest? You'll have to watch all 12 chapters of this serial to find out! The 12 Chapters in this serial are: 1. Moon Rocket 2. Molten Terror 3. Bridge Of Death 4. Flight To Destruction 5. Murder Car 6. Hills Of Death 7 Camouflaged Destruction 8. The Enemy Planet 9 Battle In The Stratosphere 10. Mass Execution 11. Planned Pursuit 12. Death Of The Moon Man I found some of these chapter titles unnecessarily descriptive, especially the last chapter "Death Of The Moon Man"! The Special Effects by Howard and Theodore Lydecker are first-rate (for 1952), including the full-size flying rocketship and the beautiful SFX of Commando Cody flying. However, I was a bit disappointed that they didn't show the heat ray as it melted the cave, as they showed sparks and smoke coming out of the villains’ ray gun when they fire at Commando Cody. Also a bit disappointing was the fact that they didn’t show a star field as they travelled to the moon, showing a sky of clouds instead. This type of thing was OK with Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe, but you'd think that by 1952 they would have developed the technique to do this, seeing as in that 1940 serial, they showed a star field when showing the planet Mongo from a distance. The acting here's not bad, but it wouldn't win any Academy Awards. There's plenty of action here: with fistfights, gunfights, and ray cannon attacks. As fist fights go, Man! can those guys take a beating! The punishment these characters take is brutal! (some of those punches would knock anyone out cold, but they don't!). I had to chuckle at the anti-feminist argument Joan, Cody’s secretary, gives to join them on the rocket flight: "You'll be happy to have someone on board who can cook your meals". The picture quality of this serial, distributed by Platinum Disc Corporation (now called Echo Bridge Home Entertainment) is very good. There were a few spider lines, but nothing to complain about. Audio quality was very good indeed and the dramatic soundtrack came through loud and clear, with dialog easily understood. The Platinum Disc logo still appears in the lower right hand corner, but it's in black and white and hardly noticeable. Of course, there are some gaffes in this serial, such as when bad guy Graber sabotages the plane he's hi-jacked (with Joan on board) by pulling out the steering wheel, which comes out all too easily! As well, some of the chapters cheat, watch more than one chapter at a time and you'll see what I mean. You can minimize the cheating chapters by watching them one at a time, as they used to do in the old days. So, if you're looking for an entertaining, sometimes unwittingly funny, serial--you can't do any better than this one!
Submitted by Chris (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
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