Theatrical: Republic Pictures

Video: Olive Films

• None

Bitrate (one episode):

 

Description: A virtual remake of the earlier The Purple Monster Strikes (1945) and containing an overabundance of stock footage from that serial and G-Men vs. the Black Dragon (1943), this 12 chapter science fiction serial from Republic Pictures featured former RKO contract player Walter Reed as owner of an air patrol company. Along with his lovely secretary, (Lois Collier), Reed is looking into the mysterious doings of a certain Dr. Bryant (James Craven). As it turns out, the good doctor is under the spell of none other than Mota (Gregory Gay), a visiting Martian in search of uranium and other materials needed to power his ferocious weapons of war. Establishing himself in the crater of a volcano, Mota embarks on a terror campaign against the earthlings which seemingly only Reed's Fowler Air Patrol is able to counter. In the end, both Mota and Dr. Bryant are destroyed by one of their own atomic bombs, leaving Reed and Collier able to plan a less stressful future. Cashing in on the enormous popularity of sci-fi in the late '50s, this serial was re-edited and released as a feature film under the new title Missile Monsters. Villain James Craven had played the same role in the earlier The Purple Monster Strikes and was obviously cast in order to match the stock-footage. Roy Barcroft, who had played the title role in "Purple Monster," did not repeat, however, but was still very visible in the re-edited footage.

 

 

Flying Disc Man From Mars is typical of Republic’s low-budgeted 1950s serials: most of its chapter endings are composed of stock footage from earlier and bigger-budgeted Republic serials, while its new action scenes are much less spectacular and energetic than their 1940s predecessors. And yet, Disc Man, like most of Republic’s other serials of the period, manages to be briskly-paced and enjoyable; the studio, even at this late stage in their production history, was still handling serial-making with professionalism if not inspiration. The stock footage is well-integrated and only recognizable to those familiar with the studio’s earlier output, the new props are still handsome (particularly the ray machine tested in Chapter One and the mini-rocket used for collecting extortion money in Chapter Nine), and the new action scenes are still directed at a nice clip by Fred C. Brannon–even though they lack the imagination that characterized stunt sequences in Republic’s glory days. The principals also manage a few trips out to Iverson’s Ranch, giving the action some much-needed visual variety; the occasional outdoor scenes around Bryant’s factory are a welcome touch as well.

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Recap Description of preceding Chapter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

No supplements - not even a trailer which is the bare-bones route that Olive are going with the majority of their releases.

BOTTOM LINE:

NOTE: As with The Invisible Monster, my only complaint was seeing the start-up (credits, main title etc.) and rehashing of each chapter - every time. There is a lot of repeated info - and its wasted time. I wish there was a way of bypassing it to go right to the action.