Universal's three Flash Gordon serials have, over the years, been edited down to feature-length form. In 1991, these various abridgements were further whittled down into a six-hour-and-six-minute videotape compendium, titled The Original Flash Gordon Collection. Appearing throughout this ersatz "saga" is Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon, Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless, and Frank Shannon as Dr. Zarkhov. Jean Rogers plays Dale Arden in the scenes culled from Flash Gordon (1936) and Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) but is replaced by Carol Hughes in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940). The Original Flash Gordon Collection serves as a tantalizing introduction to the Gordon serial trio, though these remarkable efforts are best scene in their entirety. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi