Best of Flash Gordon Trilogy

I recently purchased the Hearst/Image boxed DVD set of the uncut Flash Gordon serials. Having now seen them all, I can say that this longest and most complex of the films is better than the original and the finale. "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" has Flash & friends pushing themselves to the limits to accomplish THREE distinct goals: destroy the nitron lamp wreaking havoc with Earth's atmosphere (this threat is presented well, peaked with the White House having top scientists meet to ponder the source of the havoc), restore Mars' banished Clay People (love the scenes of them emerging from or blending in with the walls of their cavern kingdom) to the normal men they were before displeasing the magical evil Queen of Mars, and defeat a bid by Ming the Merciless to seize sole control over the Martians. Our heroes have to overcome TWO great villains (Queen Azura as well as Ming) and their legion of underlings (most interesting of which are the Tree Men primitives). The big parades in honor of Flash and company, especially the one at the end, enhance the epic feel of the adventure. This 2nd film in the trilogy is full of plot twists, as in the imposing Prince Barin turning up on Mars (nicely done), Ming eventually betraying Azura (showing that he's called merciless for a reason) or people against Flash suddenly switching to his side and vice versa. There's a lot of cool high tech stuff - the nitron lamp, nitron guns, stratosleds, the light bridge, the "bat-wing" capes (capes that aren't just for show!), the bullet car subway, the paralysis ray - not seen elsewhere in the trilogy, and the rocketships actually have front windows! The music is the best of ALL Flash Gordon films even though it's mostly recycled movie music (love the use of the great "Bride of Frankenstein" score). NONE of the outfits Flash and Zarkov wear during this serial are laughable. "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" even has well-conceived recap segments; they pay tribute to Flash's comic strip origins.