Prime Reel Estate

The Phantom 1943 (Serial) IMDB: 7.3   Plot: When the Phantom is struck by a poison dart by a jealous tribe leader he calls upon his son to return home and take over the mantle of The Phantom. The new Ghost Who Walks must help Professor Davidson find the lost city of Zoloz while foiling the plot of Doctor Bremmer who wants to use the lost city as an airbase for his country to use during war. Along the way Phantom must wrestle alligators, stop gun smuggling, deal with a warlord, wrestle a gorilla and defeat a doppleganger. My Thoughts: Not great but not bad either. I believe that someone with good editing skills could shorten this down to an entertaining 90 minuet film that I could recommend viewing as it is a two and a half hour serial now though I don't think it's worth your time to seek this one out unless you are a fan of The Phantom

RottenTomatoes : 41%   IMDB: 6.5 Plot: While King Leonidas is fighting Xerxes at the Hot Gates, Greek general Themistokles leads a navy fleet against Artemisia a persian navy commander bent on revenge. My Thoughts:  What a boring affair this is. Rise of an Empire is another in the long sad line of 300 imitators, proving once again that while you can copy Zach Snyder's style you can't duplicate his results. No character development, no plot no thrills. Pass on this one my friends.

Batman 1943 IMDB: 6.7 PLOT: A 15 chapter serial sees Batman on the screen for the first time, being portrayed here by Lewis Wilson. Douglas Croft plays Robin, William Austin is Alfred and together they face off against J. Carroll Naish's nefarious Japanese agent Dr. Daka and his pseudo zombie making machine. My Thoughts: Ugh. There is some good stuff here, some important stuff. This serial is the first appearance of The Batcave and it's secret grandfather clock entrance. It also changed the look of Alfred, up to this point Alfred of the comics was overweight but the success of this serial changed him to the thin gentleman we know and love today because of William Austin's portrayal. Lewis Wilson is awesome as Batman, he manages to be tough in the cloth costume and convincing as the aloof buffoonish Bruce Wayne, I dare say he is one of the best in that aspect. But it's hard to get past the poor pacing that comes with most serials and the overall raci