Phantom-Reiter

I first saw Phantom Empire back in the 1970s when it was included in a local museum series of vintage films. I was totally enthralled by it and the incredible underground world below Gene Autry's "Radio Ranch". (The ranch was the site of weekly broadcasts of great oldtime cowboy music.) I'm more a fan of old cowboy movies than I am of science fiction, but I was really taken by the sci-fi set, with wacky multi-story elevators, ray guns, and metal robots. I was particularly smitten by the beautiful but evil Queen Tika, ruler of Murania, who had a magical spinning circle on the floor which she would visit and ask to show her anything she wished. The wheel would spin, complete with a spiraling graphic, which then turned into a real-time view of -- Gene Autry, of course, and his whereabouts, providing the Muranians the opportunity to capture him. (Seeing the spinning circle reminded me that as a six year old, I conjured up similar powers from spinning circle, and had forgotten all about it. Since then, my alter ego is. . Queen Tika!) I recommend the Phantom Empire series as an experience in true, though "kitschy", entertainment! Sincerely yours, Queen Tika

Without going into points covered by earlier reviewers (with which I am in agreement), I really encourage anyone who enjoys old movies to see this one. I rate this one a "6" because of its unique blend of genres and because I enjoyed it.

SOME TECHNICAL INFO:

Unfortunately the DVD version is VERY bad. Source material was substandard and encoding was outrageous. They also cut the "Mascot" leaders from each chapter.

I have this serial on quite old 16mm film and (splices, scratches and all) it's better than the DVD.

You may actually have better luck purchasing this on VHS...I never thought I'd ever make THAT recommendation!

I had seen clips of this serial in the 1986 video, "Horrible Horror," and never had any desire to see it. It looked cheap and the idea of a singing cowboy western, science fiction combo appalled me. In 2009 my wife bought be the DVD collection, "Classic Sci-Fi TV: 150 Episodes." The Phantom Empire was on one of the disks. There it sat for the past 11 years. It took Covid-19 for me to finally watch it.

Oh, the wasted years! This is a fun serial. Is it a classic? No, but it is never boring. Just when you worry that it may turn into a bunch of singing, or kiddie fare, it takes a sharp turn and keeps you coming back for more. There is/are plenty of action, multiple villains (one who is really evil in Chapter 11), and some slapstick comedy (okay most of it misses, but I did chuckle out loud at least once).

There are other reviews here that deal with the plot, so I won't repeat it here. If you're stuck at home and just want some old time cliffhanger serial fun, check this out. The 4 hours will pass quickly. I watched chapters 1-7 one day and then finished chapters 8-12 the next. By far, Chapter 11 is the most fun, but don't be tempted to jump ahead especially when you think it might turn into a kiddie serial about a gang of horse riding do gooders.

This movie would be a classic of its type, if there were anything else in its type. The ostensibly peaceful underground kingdom of Murania actually exists on the slave labor of robots, who are planning a revolt. Periodically, the Muranians dress as "Thunder Riders" and after rocketing to the surface, come out of a cave to terrorize the Surface People (us). But they can't terrorize a gang of kids known as the "Junior Thunder Riders", whose motto is "To the Rescue!" They shout this while wearing buckets on their heads, in imitation of the gas masks of the Muranians. Mendacious scientists have detected radium beneath the surface of Gene Autry's ranch, but they don't know that the radium is coming from an underground kingdom. The scientists keep kidnapping Gene so that he won't make it to his weekly radio show and hence won't get the paycheck that he depends on to make his mortgage payment. The mortgage payment is the engine that actually keeps all these balls in the air, and as in all good westerns, the bankers are the real villains. Gene is so cool as he handles the Thunder Riders, evil scientists, mendacious bankers, cruel but oddly flirty Queen Tika, and surprisingly clumsy robots, while always having time for a kind word to the Junior Thunder Riders and Smiley Burnett. You can tell that he lives by the Cowboy Code.

A classic by anybody's standard! Never before and never since has there ever been such a combination of Western, musical, SciFi, comedy and adventure. Truly imaginative. Gene Autry's first starring vehicle. It predates Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and all the other SciFi serials of the '30s and '40s. And it was no doubt the reason Republic Pictures stuck to the SciFi theme in most of their serial through to the end of their existence. Has to be seen to be believed. An inside joke appeared in Gene Autry's 1941 feature "Sierra Sue" wherein character actress Dorothy Christy, who plays Queen Tika in this serial, says to Autry "I have the feeling we have met somewhere before. Maybe in another world". A true must see for film historians and fan of all ages. Great fun!