Flash Gordon
There have been very few producers in the history of world cinema who have better possessed the deceptively simple ability to GET THINGS DONE than the one and only Dino De Laurentiis. Once committed to a project, the man wasted little time to get all of the principals onto a set, get the movie made, and then get it into theaters, sparing no expense if necessary to do so. After all the success that 20th Century Fox had enjoyed with Star Wars and Paramount likewise by reviving Star Trek for the big screen, Dino De had bought up the rights to another popular sci fi franchise from the golden age of comic strips and movie serials and then approached Universal with the concept to use it to launch their own blockbuster outer space tentpole series. And in 1980 out came this movie in all its glory, complete with a $35 million dollar budget where all of the money was up on the screen just in set and costume design alone, an all star international cast where many of the performers were only well known and popular in Europe even to this day, and perhaps best of all, a rocking, in the moment musical score by the legendary band Queen, with the title track becoming one of their most timeless hits. All this along with Lorenzo Semple Jr. (creator of the 60s Batman TV show and the main guy responsible for it going in the direction towards campy, irrelevant humor, which is also reflected here as well) being brought in as the screenwriter, and after going through countless choices (including Federico Fellini), Dino De finally settled on journeyman Mike Hodges as director. Things were far from perfect though, as lead actor Sam Jones, an ex marine, feuded with the liberal Hodges throughout most of the filming before walking off the set and quitting, never to return. This plus Jones having had a dispute with Dino De over his salary led to his role being entirely redubbed with a different actorâs voice, while Jones himself found that he was virtually blackballed out to the Hollywood fringes, making this film his only major starring role. And surprisingly, itâs still hard to imagine anyone besides him as Gordon, possessing the looks, presence and charisma to perfectly embody the archetype many have had of the Gordon character going all the way back to the 30s when Buster Crabbe played the role in the serials, a blond he man hunk who may not be bright, but when it comes to being purely a man of action who can inspire others to follow him into combat or even certain death, then he is second to none. But what really separated this film from other space operas like Star Wars or 2001 (which the first Star Trek film had borrowed from) was in the overall look, feel, and tone of the piece which is possibly why it had the critics scratching their heads at the time and unfortunately did less than expected business at the box office (thus preventing any sequels from coming our way). The campy, childish, and sometimes even silly theatrics punctuated by killer riffs by Brian May and company has come to be seen in later years as being just the right approach to this material, with the opening credits theme song along with clips being shown from the comic strip during it gives off a true sense of having a real LEGACY at play here, even as this film became more or less the last word on anything Flash Gordon related despite some awful revival attempts in recent years. The plot starts depressingly enough with a series of unexpected, unexplained natural disasters on our good planet Earth, including earthquakes, solar eclipses, and the moon being knocked out of its orbit and heading straight for us. The only one with any kind of explanation whatsoever is Dr. Hans Zarkov (Topol, taking a break from his 50,000th stage performance of Fiddler On The Roof to play a different role), but unfortunately he has just been fired from NASA and labeled as a complete loon for trying to tell anyone and everyone that these events are a direct result of a coordinated attack on us from unknown alien forces. The most benign of mad scientists imaginable, Zarkov already has a ready made rocket to blast himself into the void of space to confront the enemy directly, but not before he shanghais both Flash (said to be the quarterback for The New York Jets, an awesome new touch to the character that gives way to many football references) and travel agent Dale Arden (Melody Anderson, a uniquely beautiful actress with sky blue eyes who had a moderately better career than Jones did before retiring in the mid 90s) at gunpoint into taking off in the rocket with him, with one thing leading to another and the trio arriving at the Imperial Palace of Mongo, where we meet most of the main players and learn of the current political climate. As any Gordon fan knows all too well, the one who rules over them all is Emperor Ming The Merciless, and they couldnât have gotten a better and more dignified actor to play this ultimate evil despot than the awesomely legendary Max Von Sydow, ruling over the movie itself with a sadistic iron fist, holding onto his power by always playing his lower kingdoms against each other, and casually telling one unlucky prince who had neglected to bring him his âtributeâ to throw himself onto his sword just as if he were asking him to get the papers. At his side is his loyal toadie Klytus played by Peter Wyngarde who gives perhaps the best and most sinister performance by any actor ever whilst wearing a metal face, holding charge over Mingâs secret police. But best of all (for men) is the delicately, deliciously sexy Ornella Muti as Mingâs daughter Princess Aura, a regal bad girl who does whatever she wants with whomever she wants, much to the chagrin of her betrothed, Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton, bringing a heaping helping of class to the proceedings), and deciding to risk all including her fatherâs empire to make Flash her new plaything for her enjoyment, even as Mistress Muti herself dazzles us with looks and sex appeal so stunning that itâs nearly out of this world. Once ensconced with Dalton on his forest like planet where all of the male residents seem to dress like Robin Hood in green tights (one of whom is played by cult icon Richard OâBrien of Rocky Horror fame), Flash works to unite them with The Hawkmen led by Prince Vultan (Brian Blessed, possessor of one of the greatest booming voices in screen history) to go into battle against Ming and his minions, all while turning his supersexy daughter against her father especially after Ming callously orders her tortured for treason and he even turns down Mingâs offer to get to rule his own kingdom (that being Earth) after Ming has softened us up just a little bit longer with some more unnatural disasters. As ridiculous as much of this is, it cannot be denied that the overall look of the whole affair is just spellbindingly hypnotic, a psychedelic haze of an interplanetary galaxy with amazingly intricate sets and costumes (the first outfit that we see Aura in is literally heart stopping), with battle scenes that come to life with the Queen music even while we laugh at the low tech defenses that the Ming technology employs, but then there are also the moments with real genuine heart, most notably the reconciliation between Flash and Dalton that leads to their alliance, much to Vultanâs dismay (Vultan: âWhatâs this?â Zarkov: âHumanity.â Vultan: âMadness!â Dale: âOh Flash!â). But donât forget about other bits like Queenâs hard guitar wedding march, or the slinky black latex generalâs (Mariangela Melato) incredulous reaction to Gordon not only still being alive but approaching as well, and of course the summoning of the (never seen) bore worms to aid in The Princessâ torture. A little something for everyone, but the most important thing is that everybody on board seemed to be tuned in to the material and knew just exactly what the right spirit was to play their roles in, bringing more of a sense of FUN to the proceedings than George Lucas could ever seem to muster from his casts. Director Hodges later called it the most expensive improvised movie ever, and one wonders if he was actually serious, but in the end this serves as both a brilliant kidâs movie and as a literally beautiful visual feast for any adult viewer as well, and even if the special effects work isnât quite as seamless as others of its ilk, just the sheer watchability of everything that is up there on the screen to see guarantees this as being the best kind of overbudgeted film, one that never bores, one that effortlessly brings smiles, and one of the best (and obviously most underrated) science fiction films of all time that only deserves to be seen as being one of the brightest notches on that of Dino Deâs beltâŚ
9/10