Flash Gordon

During the middle section of this movie, our hero 'Flash' Gordon, accompanied by Ornella "Most beautiful woman in the world" Muti, witnesses ex Bond Timothy Dalton giving ex Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan the sweet merciful release of death by putting him to the(cardboard) sword (offscreen). "Its an initiation" purrs the shapely Muti, "I just love initiations".

This 1980 version of the perennial Saturday morning sci-fi cliffhanger is a feast for the senses. That is, if your senses crave lashings of junkfood. With an eye meltingly lurid palette of colours and rocktastic Queen soundtrack Flash Gordon was the perfectly overblown movie for the start of an overblown decade. The costumes are extravagantly cheesy, the effects farcical, the acting hilarious.

Almost every minor character was hammed up to perfection by the cream (or perhaps custard) of character actors of the time including such luminaries as Rocky Horrors Richard O Brien, Phillip "I corrected them" Stone from the Shining and the half-man, half-beast that is Brian Blessed.

The only minor flaw in this popcorn delight is the fact that it is, in almost every way - a terrible, awful movie - I HIGHLY recommend it.

Yes, the plot is silly, yes the dialogue is cheesy and yes, some of the special effects are badly done, but nonetheless it is great fun. Like Rocky Horror Picture Show, Congo and Jingle All the Way, Flash Gordon is a sort of guilty pleasure of mine. The costumes are quite extravagant and the sets are exotic. Then you have an irresistibly killer soundtrack from Queen, who also brought us the classics We Will Rock You and Bohemian Rhapsody. The direction is pretty good and the acting is surprisingly great. Sam J Jones is bad with his cheesiness but he was fun besides, thank goodness he wasn't bland like Justin Whalin from Dungeons and Dungeons, and Melody Anderson is charming and alluring as Dale. Brian Blessed is very hammy as Vultran but he is great fun regardless and Topol, who was so superb in Fiddler on the Roof, is memorable as Dr Hans Zarkov. And while Ornella Muti is a wonderfully witty and sexy Princess Aura, it is Max Von Sydow who walks away with the picture, pantomime of course but sinister as well and I appreciated that. Overall, not perfect and camp personified, but very enjoyable. 7/10 Bethany Cox

A football player is tricked to travel the planet Mongo and finds himself forging friendships while fighting a tyrant, Ming the Merciless, to save Earth.

Lacking the production values and execution of the comparable Star Wars, Flash Gordon retains its comic-strip and Saturday morning matinée serial feel, possibly thanks to a troubled production and Lorenzo Semple Jr. screenplay.

Peter Wyngarde plays masked villain Klytus elegantly creepy (possibly and inspiration for He-Man's Skeletor) and with Mariangela Melato Kala's (oddly He-Man borrows another character this time Evil-Lynn) leads the assault while The Emperor Ming played subtly by  Max von Sydow takes a back seat. It's this distance between the protagonist and antagonist that hampers the film but on the other hand it's works to its credit allowing an array of colourful characters to line the screen including Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan who's delivers a barrage of classic lines while Timothy Dalton to graces the screen as dashing Errol Flynn alike Prince Barin.

Flash's love interest Dale Arden is played by Melody Anderson Dale is the perfect 1950's style every day New Yorker. Flash lacks Charisma, history may have been different should Kurt Russell had committed.  Either way Sam J. Jones Flash Gordon does the job. There's tones of familiar faces including UK's Richard O'Brien, Robbie Coltrane and Blue Peter's Peter Duncan. Sultry Ornella Muti is perfect as Ming's daughter Princess Aura nevertheless there's no doubt Topol steals every scene as unhinged science 'genius'  Dr. Hans Zarkov.

While characters arcs change pacer than Queen's memorable pumping and notable soundtrack amongst themes of forging friendships, suicide, death, sacrifice and resurrection to name a few there's spaceships, poisonous creatures, red-clad guards and enough sequins to start a cabaret show all the things you'd expect from a science fiction.  Beneath the bright and lustre costumes there's a dark and rebel subtext. 

Director Mike Hodges gives us many stand out scenes including a battle to the death on a remote control tilting platform with retractable spikes, an American football inspired fight, a space shuttle assault, gooey spider-monster and girls cat fight. There's also some nice touches during Zarkov and prince escape that stay in the mind.  The effects are a mixed bag with projection and composites heavy utilised, again it gives it's that hammy serial feel but hampers Flash's longevity as a rounded work of art. Even so it packs in so many memorable characters, lines and moments that it retains a must seem charm.

Flash Gordon is flawed as much as the actor title role, it never fully explores the characters, yet, it's well defined and still is a lot of fun. Gordon's alive!

The Emperor Ming (Max von Sydow) is attacking the Earth. Only former NASA scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov (Topol) seems to have foreseen it. He intends to launch himself in his rocket as a 'counter-attack'. NY Jets star quarterback Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones) is taking a commuter flight. He survives the plane crash along with fellow passenger Dale Arden (Melody Anderson). Zarkov tricks the duo into his rocket and launches them into space. They are taken prisoner to find Ming's tyrannical rule over the various kingdoms. Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton) leads the kingdom of Arboria. Hawkman Prince Vultan (Brian Blessed) runs Sky City. Ming's daughter Princess Aura (Ornella Muti) is fascinated with Flash. Ming takes Dale as his concubine.

This is brilliantly colorful and deliciously campy. The Queen soundtrack is second to none. The acting is big but it fits the style. Parts of it goes a bit too slowly. Some scenes are very static. Even the actors move slowly as an old-fashion way to denote drama. Sometimes it needs more energy to maintain the tension. This is an unique vision and a fun watch if you don't take it seriously.

Some childhood obsessions stay with you for life, and Flash would have to be one of them. In fact, Flash Gordon, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica began a lifelong obsession with science fiction and fantasy in all of its good (and especially) bad forms. The above summary isn't really accurate; 20 years don't make a difference to how much I like this film, but they have changed my reasons for liking it. With hindsight, I've discovered exactly who Lorenzo Semple Jr. is, and now, fully understanding the camp elements of this film, I can still enjoy it, but on a completely new level. As for complaints about the acting of Sam Jones (who did much worse in the abysmal firefighter series Code Red) and Melody Anderson, you hire actors for what they can do, not what they can't. This is why Keanu Reeves was perfect for The Matrix, and why Arnold Schwarzenegger was perfect for The Terminator. Jones and Anderson serve the same purpose for Semple as Adam West and Burt Ward did in the Batman series; who better than someone sadly lacking in acting skills to deliver a completely ludicrous line with a straight face? Unless your name is Charlton Heston, experienced actors have a difficult time with it. Anyways, I digress. The things that first attracted me to this film still do it for me, and that would be the production values and special effects, not to mention the great soundtrack by Queen (I actually had a friend consider using Brian May's arrangement of the Wedding March at his wedding; his mother, of course, ixnayed it). This is still a great looking movie, even by today's standards, which makes me wonder if DeLaurentiis was in on the joke the whole time. All in all, a lot of fun, unless you get offended by less than faithful revisions, in which case I have to wonder about your upbringing.