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Worst serial you have seen
Topic Started: Apr 24 2014, 01:08 PM (1,298 Views)
moodyhound
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Just curious which one is your least favorite, or the worst one.
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Todd 3D
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I would have to say either The Clutching Hand or Young Eagles. Young Eagles has one or two moments of unintentional amusement, so it's probably The Clutching Hand. Clutching Hand is a super convoluted mystery man serial, but by the time I got up to Chapter 10 (of 15), it occurred to me that I just didn't care who the villain was.
"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home"--Edward R. Murrow
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Don Diego
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Adventure of Captain Africa a hurried paste job of what might have been an ok phantom sequel
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JazzGuyy
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Almost any Columbia serial of the Katzman era qualifies for me but Congo Bill seems to most immediately come to mind.
TANSTAAFL!
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The Batman
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THE CLUTCHING HAND was my go-to bad serial, until I saw a really decent print. It's not great, but it's not the worst I have seen, so far.

Haven't seen YOUNG EAGLES, yet, but that one seems to be a perennial contender on the worst serial lists.

CAPTAIN AFRICA is definitely an annoying, oh what could have been, last minute cop-out, instead of the Phantom sequel it was supposed to be.

For me, currently, THE BLACK COIN and SON OF THE GUARDSMAN are two serials I never want to see again.



Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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moodyhound
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The Batman
Apr 24 2014, 03:49 PM
THE CLUTCHING HAND was my go-to bad serial, until I saw a really decent print. It's not great, but it's not the worst I have seen, so far.

Haven't seen YOUNG EAGLES, yet, but that one seems to be a perennial contender on the worst serial lists.

CAPTAIN AFRICA is definitely an annoying, oh what could have been, last minute cop-out, instead of the Phantom sequel it was supposed to be.

For me, currently, THE BLACK COIN and SON OF THE GUARDSMAN are two serials I never want to see again.



I was wondering when The Black Coin would be mentioned. :)
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The Batman
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And, if we're lucky, it won't be mentioned again. ;)


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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moodyhound
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I know I shouldnt, but for some reason I like Young Eagles. I cant really think of any redeeming qualities it has. I think it was done in a way to play on a kids sense of adventure. Of wanting to do something unsupervised, even dangerous. Works on me every time. ;)
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The Batman
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moodyhound
Apr 24 2014, 04:48 PM
Works on me every time. ;)

Are you saying that you've watched it more than once?!? :blink: ;)


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Pa Stark
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Someone I used to know summed up YOUNG EAGLES saying that a fat kid wandering through the jungle is not his idea of a good serial. It is guilty of many faults such as it really didn't have a plot or a McGuffin, and there was no villain until around chapter nine, and giving top billing to the fat kid, Bobby Cox, who I think was later reincarnated as Jake on TWO AND A HALF MEN.
It does have a couple of minor pluses, it does have an authenticity to it, it really looks like a jungle, and not a studio set, and seeing two kids lost in it made it seem like they really were in danger. When the pilot finds a settlement, they don't follow the rule that everyone in the Universe speaks English, they speak Spanish.

Everyone always mentions the usual suspects naming the rock bottom serials, YOUNG EAGLES, SON OF THE GUARDSMAN, ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN AFRICA, THE BLACK COIN. I don't understand why I seem to be the only one who says that the absolute worst is the independent serial, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE, it is horrid, shot almost entirely on a sound stage with massive amounts of stock footage from a silent serial. Some of the serial takes place on a ship, and the set doesn't match the ship in the stock footage, and there is no projection screen for the background, just a blank wall. Elsewhere I posted that I estimated that the budget couldn't have been more than $15,000, about one fifth the budget of a Mascot of the same year.
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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The Batman
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Good point, Pa. QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE definitely ranks near the bottom for me, too. I guess it's the inclusion of footage from a lost silent serial that make it a little more tolerable than those mentioned earlier.



Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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panzer the great & terrible
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I agree with Pa 100%. Queen is the worst serial ever. Chapter One is enough to convince most normal people to go no further, but I stuck it out to the bitter end, and it was time wasted. Acting, photography, matching the huge amount of stock footage, editing, writing...it's all of the lowest order.

Riddle Rider will tell you it's a valuable source of footage from a silent he longs to see, and he oughta know, but this film itself is put together so stupidly that it deserves a little ribbing.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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panzer the great & terrible
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I agree with Pa 100%. Queen is the worst serial ever. Chapter One is enough to convince most normal people to go no further, but I stuck it out to the bitter end, and I have never wasted time more foolishly. Acting, photography, matching the stock footage, editing, writing...it's all of the lowest order.

Riddle Rider will tell you it's a valuable source of stuff from a silent he longs to see, and he oughta know, but this film itself is put together so stupidly that it deserves a little ribbing.

What, while we're on the subject, is the worst Republic Serial? Mine would be King of the Forest Rangers. Even the title is stultifying. Not a single decent cliffhanger, wretched acting, and all according to formula, without even a hint of the surrealistic stuff that makes serials fun.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Laughing Gravy
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Return of Chandu and The New Adventures of Tarzan rank as my worst, although I didn't make it through all that much of The Black Kern.

"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Pa Stark
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panzer the great & terrible
Apr 24 2014, 06:24 PM


What, while we're on the subject, is the worst Republic Serial? Mine would be King of the Forest Rangers. Even the title is stultifying. Not a single decent cliffhanger, wretched acting, and all according to formula, without even a hint of the surrealistic stuff that makes serials fun.
No way, Panzer, KING OF THE FORREST RANGERS is nowhere near being the worst Republic, if anything I would put it closer to the middle of the pack. I totally agree with Alan Barbour that JUNGLE DRUMS OF AFRICA is the worst. A total of two sets, and most of the jungle was shot on a sound stage. PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO wasn't much better.
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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