Flash Gordon

I watched the pilot and, frankly, thought this series was plain bad. HOWEVER a funny thing happened over the months. Around October I tuned back in with a friend to show them how weak a show "Flash" was...turns out it was much better. Still not fantastic but watchable. Some of the characters were interesting, the plot was more action oriented and set on Mongo (rather than Flash's Mom's house). It made me re-evaluate it. Another few weeks passed and I tuned in again...turns out the show isn't that bad after all.

So the question begs itself, can you write off a show that starts poorly or should it be judged in its entirety? I think, all things considered, the show is better than it was and might well become a quality show. There are a few episodes left in the season so I'm adopting a wait and see attitude. But the most recent episodes are far better than previous ones and I think the show deserves a second season...assuming they up the budget and tweak the writing.

Yikes, from reading the first couple of pages of comments on this, I thought I must have had the wrong entry in the IMDb. This new Flash Gordon really isn't so bad, in my opinion.

I guess I can see how die-hard fans of previous incarnations of the characters and story might be sorely disappointed. That happens all too often with any kind of modern-day remake. And I have to concede that this show reminds me a LOT of just about everything else I've seen on SciFi lately (except maybe Battlestar).

But I also thought from all the one star reviews on the first couple of pages here that there must be a lot of lemmings out there. The show isn't particularly great, but the acting really isn't that bad, and unlike some other commentators, I find the whole thing to be plenty cheesy--there's just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek. When I first started seeing previews with the old theme music, I was afraid they were going to try and take themselves too seriously, but I've been pleasantly surprised.

I also like the fact that there are a couple of hot women. :) But I have to say I'm not that impressed with Princess Aura. Then again, like most of the characters on this show, she has kind of grown on me a bit as the character develops.

All in all, this show really isn't too bad. I've been pleasantly surprised.

The saddest part about this is new take on FLASH GORDON is that the lead (Eric Johnson) is actually not bad in the role. The rest is mediocre at best. From clichés like the "funny" black guy side kick, characters just happening to get important phone calls just when the main character was about to leave the room, to old relationships being revisited coming back into the hero's life just when the adventure begins so that they can become closer through adversity and on and on and on; to some truly pedestrian dialog (yes, they at one point even use the immortal "don't go there" line); and finally production values and special effects on par with the Superboy t.v. series from the late 80's-early 90's...this pilot isn't exactly confidence inspiring. While Johnson was often quite irritating as Whitney on "Smallville" he shows a good deal of humor and charisma as our hero. It was a very unwise decision to make him a marathon runner however. He's far too big to pass as a long distance runner and it's not exactly a physical and dashing sport. It's cheaper to film a bunch of guys running, so this was probably a budgetary decision, but than why not make him just some kind of overall ambitious athlete? Or maybe make him some in the closet major talent that didn't get his break because of responsibilities to his family. Maybe he just tears up the local football or soccer amateur leagues and hence his nickname for flashing past all the local competition? Just a thought. The rest of the male cast looks like they were recruited from a Canadian dinner theater production and the mandate for the females seems to have been "Skinnier! Skinnier! I want these ladies to unconvincing and yet remarkably skeletal at the same time!" The show also takes so many liberties with the characters (as opposed to previous versions) and essence of the story itself that it now resembles more of a "Sliders" clone than any previous FG creation. It would have been better off being it's own thing and not trying to simply leech off the Flash Gordon name. If only the show could have been as inventive and epic as the concept art included on the special pilot episode DVD that was recently released. That actually showed some promise. One can only hope it improves (a whooooole lot), as I don't think it could get any worse. At least I hope it doesn't get any worse. But then at least it would enter the "so bad it's funny" area and that would be more entertaining.

This show appeals to a certain type of audience - it's not particularly clever but it's enjoyable to watch if not taken so seriously.

This is one of those shows that will age well given time - it feels like the actors/writers haven't quite settled into the show yet. Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a disastrous first season with terrible, cheesy writing, low brow plot lines and terrible acting... yet it went on to have a huge cult following and seven seasons. I think this series deserves a chance.

The characters are endearing and it has a clear direction that I'm interested in. I hope we see a second season.

I don't have any knowledge of the Flash Gordon franchise beyond the fact that it exists and that earlier works are apparently very different from this new series, so my opinion of the new series is based solely on what's presented there and not on the body of knowledge from the Flash Gordon universe at large. This is important because I think it's unfair to judge what's essentially a reboot of the franchise by comparing it to the history of the original incarnation(s). Battlestar Galactica fans made the same mistake before realizing what a complete gem the new series is.

OK, so this is no Battlestar Galactica. It's low-budget and goofy, and it's not particularly intelligent or emotionally deep. There's no arguing that.

But, who said it had to be the next great sci-fi series? Flash Gordon seems to be intended as silly, escapist fun, and I can't find any way in which it doesn't fulfill that role. The simple story lines are executed well with a good (if predictable) mix of drama and humor, and the characters are developed well enough to keep at least a passing interest, not to mention being easy on the eyes.

Flash Gordon reminds me a lot of Doctor Who mixed with a dash of Baywatch. I suspect that most viewers will enjoy it if they allow themselves to. I definitely do.

Not that I'd admit it to anyone. :)