Flash Gordon starts in outer space as Emperor Ming the merciless ruler of the universe (Max von Sydow) decides it would be a huge source of amusement to himself to slowly destroy Earth. With his array of sophisticated technology he causes Earthquakes, typhoons, hot hail & sends the moon out of it's orbit & speeding towards Earth. The plane New York Jets quarterback Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones) & estate agent Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) are flying in crash lands in the laboratory of ex Nasa space scientist Dr. Hans Zarkow (Topol) who, at gunpoint, forces Flash & Dale into a homemade spaceship which he intends to use to fly to a planet called Mongo & save Earth. Dr. Zarkow explains that he has, for years, anticipated an alien attack on Earth & has been preparing for just such an occasion. Once on Mongo they are taken prisoner by Ming & Klytus (Peter Wyngarde) head of the secret police & sentenced to death by public execution. Helped by Ming's daughter Princess Aura (Ornella Muti) Flash decides he must find a way to escape, defeat Ming & save Earth before it's too late!
This English production was directed by Mike Hodges & is very camp, silly & hard not to laugh at but at the same time provides buckets of entertainment. The script by Lorenzo Semple Jr., based on the comic strip by Alex Raymond, is hilariously bad. Some of the dialogue in this thing is priceless, it really is. The character's have all the subtly & depth of a pantomime, they are about as clichéd as you can get as well, the evil Emporer, the hero who brings everyone together & saves the day, the attractive dim female who falls for the hero, the evil character who turns good in the end, the Prince, the rebellion & a whole other host of sci-fi clichés. The story itself is just ridiculous, those wedding vows at the end are funny while despite being ruler of the entire Universe Ming & the people of Mongo decide to pinch our 'here comes the bride' wedding march music & it's convenient that everyone helpfully speaks English. The ending is made me cringe as lifelong enemies suddenly become best buddies & the Hawkmen spell out the words 'Thanks' & 'Flash' in the sky! Everything about Flash Gordon is just so campy, embarrassing to watch & badly thought out but I still had great times with it. The best way to describe Flash Gordon is as entertaining crap.
Hodges was apparently the eighth director chosen, which wouldn't exactly fill me with confidence in that there were seven director's ahead of me on a list all of whom declined. The film is an amazing visual spectacle throughout, the garish art-deco inspired production design, costumes & props by the Italian Danilo Donati are the real star of Flash Gordon. The extravagant sets & production design to the multi coloured costumes & I don't know why but I kept thinking that Ming's rocket-ships looked like a penis with wings! There is little in the way of actual excitement, the action & fight scenes are a bit uninspired.
With a budget of about $35,000,000 Flash Gordon was a well funded film so it comes as a surprise that the special effects are so rotten, the blue screen stuff & the flying Hawkmen in particular look awful, they hardly flap their wings & some not at all. I mean do you know how much they would have to flap them to even get off the ground?! Personally I hated the music by Queen & especially the Flash Gordon song but someone out there may like it. The campy Brian Blessed as Vultan is an absolute hoot to watch, Timothy Dalton as Barin seems to be taking things too seriously, Jones is awful as Gordon, Sydow as Ming overacts with the best of them while a special mention goes to Mariangela Melato as the evil General Kala whom I though was a bit of a babe until she melted into a puddle of goo.
Flash Gordon is not a film I can recommend if your looking for some exciting, serious sci-fi action. Flash Gordon is a film I can recommend if your looking for campy, big budget fun with some of the funniest dialogue in a sci-fi film ever. Mind numbingly bad but at the same time wonderfully entertaining, you decide which one is more important.
This English production was directed by Mike Hodges & is very camp, silly & hard not to laugh at but at the same time provides buckets of entertainment. The script by Lorenzo Semple Jr., based on the comic strip by Alex Raymond, is hilariously bad. Some of the dialogue in this thing is priceless, it really is. The character's have all the subtly & depth of a pantomime, they are about as clichéd as you can get as well, the evil Emporer, the hero who brings everyone together & saves the day, the attractive dim female who falls for the hero, the evil character who turns good in the end, the Prince, the rebellion & a whole other host of sci-fi clichés. The story itself is just ridiculous, those wedding vows at the end are funny while despite being ruler of the entire Universe Ming & the people of Mongo decide to pinch our 'here comes the bride' wedding march music & it's convenient that everyone helpfully speaks English. The ending is made me cringe as lifelong enemies suddenly become best buddies & the Hawkmen spell out the words 'Thanks' & 'Flash' in the sky! Everything about Flash Gordon is just so campy, embarrassing to watch & badly thought out but I still had great times with it. The best way to describe Flash Gordon is as entertaining crap.
Hodges was apparently the eighth director chosen, which wouldn't exactly fill me with confidence in that there were seven director's ahead of me on a list all of whom declined. The film is an amazing visual spectacle throughout, the garish art-deco inspired production design, costumes & props by the Italian Danilo Donati are the real star of Flash Gordon. The extravagant sets & production design to the multi coloured costumes & I don't know why but I kept thinking that Ming's rocket-ships looked like a penis with wings! There is little in the way of actual excitement, the action & fight scenes are a bit uninspired.
With a budget of about $35,000,000 Flash Gordon was a well funded film so it comes as a surprise that the special effects are so rotten, the blue screen stuff & the flying Hawkmen in particular look awful, they hardly flap their wings & some not at all. I mean do you know how much they would have to flap them to even get off the ground?! Personally I hated the music by Queen & especially the Flash Gordon song but someone out there may like it. The campy Brian Blessed as Vultan is an absolute hoot to watch, Timothy Dalton as Barin seems to be taking things too seriously, Jones is awful as Gordon, Sydow as Ming overacts with the best of them while a special mention goes to Mariangela Melato as the evil General Kala whom I though was a bit of a babe until she melted into a puddle of goo.
Flash Gordon is not a film I can recommend if your looking for some exciting, serious sci-fi action. Flash Gordon is a film I can recommend if your looking for campy, big budget fun with some of the funniest dialogue in a sci-fi film ever. Mind numbingly bad but at the same time wonderfully entertaining, you decide which one is more important.