rudge49 ..say Star Wars. Comparing a 1950s serial with what many think is THE movie ? Think about it-how scientifically correct is Star Wars ? How many familiar images does it use ? The bad guys wearing black or gray uniforms, they have "Storm Troopers" do their dirty work? Where have we seen THAT before ? it In both cases the producers were trying to tell a story and sell tickets. And remember, 1952. The space programs were just getting started, the USSR orbited Sputnik in 1957, the US sent up Vanguard in 1958, 1961 when Gagarin orbited the Earth is still nine years away. I remember watching the Commando Cody series on TV in the 1950s, those special effects looked pretty believable, the scenes where the rocket takes off and you see the car and the building that you saw when the actors arrived-the Lydecker Brothers did that all long before CGI. Roy Barcroft, Republic's Villain in residence as Retik. I read that Barcroft took his work in the serials very seriously because he knew how much they meant to the kids, he insisted the other actors do so as well-it shows.

Aaron1375 First off, it is absolutely dated. There are so many scientific inaccuracies mainly because we had not gotten to the moon as of yet. However, if I were a kid from this era I would much rather see this action short proceeding my film rather than say one of those century 21 shorts or the ones featuring the correct way to do posture. This one features a man who flies through the air with a rocket back pack, and must of been the inspiration for "The Rocketeer". It most certainly was the inspiration for a Mad TV skit featuring a team of guys with jet packs. In this one the hero of the piece, one Commander Cody, must battle a group of people from the moon bent on destroying things with their atomic ray gun! I think that was the plot, it is so hard to say seeing as how the story is broken up and they are always focused on some dangerous cliffhanger that gets quickly resolved in an anticlimactic way at the beginning of the next short. Still, for the time it had to be a lot of fun, I just wish I could see the conclusion to this one. I encountered this serial on MST3K and I do not believe they ever finished it, basically leaving us hanging!

oscar-35 *Spoiler/plot- 1952, Earth is attacked by a series of strange unexplained atomic explosions. The U.S. Government gets the help of scientist, Commando Cody. He traces the explosion origins to Moon terrorists. Cody and his crew fly to the Moon in their rocket ship where they confront Radik, the Moon's evil ruler, who is bend on conquering Earth by using his atomic weapons.*Special Stars- George Wallace and Clayton Moore. ATTN: Bit actor- Leonard Nimoy *Theme- America defends the Earth.*Based on- 50's Atomic scares and Cold War issues.*Trivia/location/goofs- Colorized, The complete Serial of all 12 week chapters as Commando Cody and his crew defend the Earth from impeding invasion from the Moon. Commando Cody and his flying suit along with his scientific friends battle the Moon men and their gangster allies. Leonard Nimoy's earliest film roles. Location shot in California's Chatsworth famous, Iverson Film Ranch and at Republic Studios (CBS Radford), Studio City, CA.*Emotion- Great theater serial chapter film to enjoy. You can see were today's blockbuster science fiction directors got their youthful starts. These films are full of real cliffhangers and amazing escapes and they will keep you on the edge of your seat.

StuOz In 1936 Republic made a very boring serial called Undersea Kingdom. But it had some fancy aircraft effects. In 1941 Republic made an okay serial called The Adventures of Captain Marvel. But it had amazing flying footage of Marvel. In 1949 Republic made a reasonably good serial called King Of The Rocketmen. More amazing flying effects. This was all a lead up to something. In 1952 Republic would make a true comic book classic.Republic Studio effects man Mr Howard Lydecker is the most under-rated effects man in Hollywood. His work in Radar Men (and the above mentioned serials) steals the show. We have full scale spaceships, miniature spaceships, rocketman flying in the sky, fancy sci-fi hardware all over the place (including an early model of that female robot from the Lost In Space episode "Ghost Planet"), it is all here! I also like looking at 1950s cars race around country roads and there is no shortage of that here. All great stuff! The cast? I don't know any of them but who cares? This is just screen comic book entertainment and nothing else. In the 1960s Howard Lydecker would do effects for TV's Lost In Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.