Plot; New York Jets quarterback Flash Gordon and his companions are whisked away to Mongo to do battle with the villainous Ming the Merciless.
George Lucas famously tried to get the rights to make a Flash Gordon film before having to settle for making his own version which he called Star Wars. Looking at the original Star Wars today it's fun to imagine what his version of Flash Gordon might've been like. My guess is nothing like this. Released the same year as the Empire Strikes Back, 1980's Flash Gordon is stylistically a galaxy far, far away from that galaxy far, far away. High camp is the recipe here, and it's delicious.
Dazzling sets, garish costumes, over the top performances and a rock opera soundtrack fuel this rocket ride to the planet Mongo. It's easy to see why it was initially dismissed upon release, but distance gives us perspective, and from this vantage point Flash Gordon is ridiculous... and ridiculously fun.
George Lucas famously tried to get the rights to make a Flash Gordon film before having to settle for making his own version which he called Star Wars. Looking at the original Star Wars today it's fun to imagine what his version of Flash Gordon might've been like. My guess is nothing like this. Released the same year as the Empire Strikes Back, 1980's Flash Gordon is stylistically a galaxy far, far away from that galaxy far, far away. High camp is the recipe here, and it's delicious.
Dazzling sets, garish costumes, over the top performances and a rock opera soundtrack fuel this rocket ride to the planet Mongo. It's easy to see why it was initially dismissed upon release, but distance gives us perspective, and from this vantage point Flash Gordon is ridiculous... and ridiculously fun.