295. Flash Gordon; movie review

FLASH GORDON
Cert 12A
111 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, language, sex references, discriminatory stereotypes

"Gordon's alive?" 

He sure is - and it turns out that he is a match for Ming The Merciless and the aliens who are determined to bump him off.

If I had seen the entire 111 minutes of Flash Gordon previously, I couldn't recall it, so the spoofs of Brian Blessed and co. were as fresh as they were in 1980.

It says much of Mike Hodges movie that it prompted a hearty five laughs from both Mrs W and me.

My familiarity with the film was through Queen's soundtrack which meant I was waiting for Brian Blessed's famous question as well as the order from cold-hearted Kala (Mariangela Melato) to: "Dispatch war rocket 'Ajax' to bring back his body."

I digress. 

Apparently, there was heated debate about whether to make Flash Gordon humorous. In the end, it was so camp it is difficult to imagine it as a serious proposition.

However, the cast did include acting heavyweights, including Max Von Sydow as Emperor Ming who is setting about ending mankind just to alleviate his boredom.

And there are Timothy Dalton and Blessed as commanders of alien forces who gradually turn on their crazed leader.

They see the light after the arrival of New York Jets American football star Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones), travel agent Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) and a mad scientist (Topol).

The trio are captured by Ming's troops and from then on, our hero has to escape certain death myriad times while "only having 14 hours to save the earth."

The script is bizarre, the acting is hammy and the special effects are deliberately rickety in homage to the 1930s film series or the 1950s TV programme.

But we needed a good giggle and Flash Gordon provided it.

Reasons to watch: Well, it made us laugh
Reasons to avoid: If you don't enjoy lampoons

Laughs: Five
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Did you know? Originally George Lucas was going to make a Flash Gordon movie based on the 1930s serials but couldn't get the rights. So, he decided to make his own serial style space adventure.

The final word. Lorenzo Semple Jr. (writer): "Dino (producer Dino De Laurentiis) wanted to make Flash Gordon humorous. At the time, I thought that was a possible way to go, but, in hindsight, I realise it was a terrible mistake." The 007 Dossier

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