Cheap Undersea Kingdom (Video) (Joseph Kane, B. Reeves Eason) Price

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Customer Reviews of Undersea Kingdom

A Blast From the Movie Serial Past
"Undersea Kingdom" was one of Republic's first serials and it's still a lot of fun. Though an underwater version of Universal's "Flash Gordon," this 1936 chapterplay moves at a brisk pace and Ray "Crash" Corrigan is an engaging action hero -- even when he has to utter lines such as "Go ahead and ram!" It's also nice to see Lon Chaney Jr. as a slimy villain in one of his early films. "Undersea Kingdom" may seem a bit hokey by today's standards, but it's the kind of nostalgic escapism that's impossible to resist.

Swords, Submarines and Silly Hats
"Undersea Kingdom" is an all-time classic, and one of the most consistantly enjoyable serials ever made. Ray "Crash" Corrigan plays his athletic self, joining a little party of explorers who travel by submarine hundreds of leagues beneath the sea to find the source of mysterious seismic waves causing earthquakes on the surface. The waves come from the lost Atlantis, which, contrary to popular opinion, sunk so slowly that the inhabitants had plenty of time to construct a giant glass dome over the submerged continent. It is this scientific genius that allows them to threaten the surface, as well as to invent television, robots, and armoured cars. However, for the most part, they ride horses, fight with swords, and wear tunics topped by some of the silliest looking hats ever seen on film. B. Reeves Eason was the primary director for "Undersea Kingdom," and it bears many similarities to his earlier "Phantom Empire" (for Mascot) and "Darkest Africa." As in these earlier serials, "Undersea Kingdom" features a power struggle within the leadership of a distant and xenophobic city, in which the balance of power is affected by the entry of a small party of Americans led by a movie star playing himself. Here, the wise priests are beleagured by the rebellion of the odious Unga Khan (yes, they had Khans in ancient Greece). Like all of Eason's serials, there is lots of comedy mixed in with the thrills (Eason is remembered as an action guru, but his sense of character and slapstick were equally noteable). Other members of the party include a female reporter, the stowaway child of the submarine's developer, and the always problematic presence of Smiley Burnette, here even dumber than usual. But Republic gave their second production a real working budget: the sets are marvels of intricate hodge-podge, the costumes are florid and frilly, and the effects are noteable, albeit more for their conception than their execution. There are several great cliffhangers. "Flash Gordon" is the best-remembered serial of 1936, but in its own way, "Undersea Kingdom" is as enjoyable to watch today. It's funnier, it's more melodramatic, and Crash Corrigan (who also starred in Republic's "The Painted Stallion" and zillions of B-Westerns) compares favorably with Buster Crabbe in a similar role. The print is beautiful and clear as a bell. In short, Undersea Kingdom has oodles of everything which a serial fan in this modern age could wish for; if you don't like this, you're not a serial fan: go rent a musical. 1936 may have been the best serial year ever: "Undersea Kingdom" is a big part of the reason.