Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All 1982

During World War II, Flash Gordon, Robert Ridgely, arrives in war-torn Warsaw as relentless bombing tears through the city. A dying contact can only whisper a single name for Doctor Zarkov—“Mongo”—before he passes away, setting off a dangerous quest that spans worlds.

Determined to reach Zarkov, Flash teams up with the fearless Dale Arden, [Diane Pershing]. Their flight is jolted by meteor showers, forcing them to bail out over a landscape of lava flows. They stumble into a hidden cave housing a rocket ship, and with time running out, Bob Holt as Doctor Hans Zarkov boards the craft and explains his mission: journey to the wandering planet Mongo to persuade its rulers to call off Earth’s attack, using a gravity weapon of his own design if diplomacy fails. Flash and Dale pledge to help him, drawn by a shared will to prevent war on their home world.

Their escape is far from smooth. Hostile ships close in, and a crash landing follows, followed by a harrowing encounter with two clashing dinosaurs. The trio is captured by animalistic savages and dragged to a colossal idol for sacrifice, narrowly escaping into the open air. There, they meet the virtuous King Thun, ruler of the Lion Men, and work with him to flee Amazonian hunters led by Princess Aura Melendy Britt. Unity begins to form as a larger mission takes shape.

Thun explains that Ming the Merciless uses a cunning strategy of “divide and conquer,” a tactic echoed by events on Earth, where Ming has secretly supplied military technology to Hitler. To stand against this threat, Flash and his new allies form a broader resistance composed of Prince Barin of Arboria, led by Robert Douglas, and King Vultan of the Hawkmen, led by David Opatoshu. The alliance gathers freedom fighters from across their realms as they prepare for a decisive confrontation against Ming, a mastermind who commands a formidable robotic army and a cutthroat plan for domination.

The war intensifies as Mole Men are unleashed against Arboria, attacking by destroying the forest roots that provide camouflage. Thanks to Zarkov’s warning, Flash and his companions repurpose a captured drilling machine to strike Ming’s palace. They push through overwhelming odds, and when Prince Barin insists he has the right to a trial by strength, a dramatic duel unfolds. Flash faces Ming in a blazing exchange of a flaming sword and an ion blaster, a battle that ends with the revelation that Ming is only an android impostor and the real Ming slips away.

With Mongo on a collision course with Earth, Flash follows Zarkov’s plan and damages the planet’s drive, nudging Mongo off its return path. As the danger recedes, Flash reassures Dale that they have nothing to regret, for they are together on a new home of wondrous adventure.