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Flash Gordon (film)

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Flash Gordon
Film poster by Richard Amsel
Directed byMike Hodges[1]
Written byCharacters:
Alex Raymond
Adaptation:
Michael Allin
Screenplay:
Lorenzo Semple, Jr.
Produced byBernard Williams
Dino De Laurentiis
StarringSam J. Jones
Melody Anderson
Chaim Topol
Timothy Dalton
Max von Sydow
Ornella Muti
Brian Blessed
CinematographyGilbert Taylor, BSC
Edited byMalcolm Cooke
Music byQueen
Howard Blake
Distributed byUniversal Pictures (theatrical/DVD rights)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (TV rights, MGM HD, and all other international rights through StudioCanal)
Release dates
United States:
December 5, 1980
Running time
111 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35,000,000 (est.)
Box office$27,107,960[2]

Flash Gordon is a 1980 science fiction film, based on the eponymous comic strip character Flash Gordon, created by Alex Raymond. The film was directed by Mike Hodges and produced and presented by Dino De Laurentiis. It stars Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Chaim Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed and Ornella Muti. The screenplay was written by Lorenzo Semple, Jr., and adapted by Michael Allin. It intentionally uses a camp style similar to the 1960s TV series Batman (for which Semple had written many episodes) in an attempt to appeal to fans of the original comics and serial films. The film is notable for its soundtrack composed, performed and produced by the rock band Queen (although orchestral sections were by Howard Blake).

Plot

The story opens with the voice of Emperor Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow) indicating he will destroy Earth with a variety of seemingly natural disasters.

Sometime later on Earth, New York Jets football star “Flash” Gordon (Sam J. Jones) boards a small plane when the “hot hail” begins. Onboard, he meets travel journalist Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) who is also flying back to New York City. Mid-flight, the disasters become progressively worse and the pilots disappear from the cockpit. Flash takes control of the plane, and manages to crash land in a greenhouse owned by Dr. Hans Zarkov (Chaim Topol). According to Dr. Zarkov's research, the disasters are being caused by an unknown physical source in space which is sending the moon out of orbit and toward the Earth. Zarkov had been secretly working on a rocket ship for several years to test his theory, and now intends to go to the coordinates for the source of the attacks. He accidentally launches the rocket during a fight with Flash and all three fly off into space, even sailing into the black hole where they finally land on the planet Mongo. There, they are taken prisoner outside a grand city.

Flash, Dale and Zarkov are brought before Ming the Merciless. Ming hypnotizes Dale and orders her to be removed and prepared for his pleasure, but Flash openly defies Ming and picks a fight with his men, adapting his athletic skills from American football. Ming orders Zarkov into Klytus’ custody for reconditioning and orders Flash's execution. Following Flash's disposal, Princess Aura (Ornella Muti) and Ming’s Chief Surgeon, one of her numerous lovers, open Flash’s casket and resurrect him. Zarkov is delivered to Klytus, who straps him to a table and uses a machine to empty his mind. Once complete, they begin to reprogram him. Aura and Flash quickly retreat to Arboria, kingdom of Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton), the main lover of Aura.

En route to Arboria, Aura teaches Flash to use a telepathic communicator so that he can contact Dale and let her know he is still alive. Aura takes advantage as Flash tries to concentrate on talking to Dale, Aura tries to kiss and seduce him, but Flash is able to hide what is happening from Dale. Relieved, Dale informs Flash that she is locked in Ming's bedchamber. She is served a hypnotic drink that keeps her in a relaxed and loving state towards Ming. She tricks the lady who brings the drinks to her into drinking them and the woman soon becomes relaxed and Dale changes clothing with her and escapes. Dale fights with guards and manages to get away. She runs into a reconditioned Zarkov (who managed to resist Klytus’ reprogramming) and informs him that Gordon is alive. The two subsequently escape, but they are quickly captured by Prince Vultan (Brian Blessed)’s Hawkmen and taken to his kingdom, Sky City.

Aura and Flash arrive at the forest moon Arboria. Aura asks Prince Barin to keep Flash safe. Barin, who is in love with Aura (but does not trust her), agrees not to kill Flash. Barin then places Flash in a cage and deliberately allows him to escape into a sacred Temple, where Barin recaptures him and insists that Flash participate in a deadly ritual as a consequence of his trespassing. The two men take turns sticking their hands into a hollow stump with a poisonous creature inside. When Barin compels Flash to take an extra turn, Flash pretends to be stung by the creature and begs for a quick death. As Barin prepares to strike, Flash grabs his weapon and escapes into the forest. Barin follows, but they are both captured by Prince Vultan’s Hawkmen.

Klytus (Peter Wyngarde) informs Ming of Flash's resurrection and requests Ming's authority to pursue the investigation which Ming agrees to. Aura returns alone to Mingo City only to be taken prisoner and violently interrogated by Klytus and General Kala. They eventually get a full confession and Ming orders Aura to be banished to the ice world Frigia after his wedding.

Flash and Barin are captured by the Hawkmen and taken to Sky City, where Flash and Dale are briefly reunited. Flash is forced to fight Barin to the death, but when Flash spares Barin's life, Barin finally realizes that Flash can be trusted and that they must join forces against Ming. Klytus arrives to arrest Barin and Zarkov for treason and recapture Dale, but Flash and Barin double-team Klytus and kill him. In a panic, Vultan orders all the Hawkmen to evacuate, leaving Barin, Flash, Dale and Zarkov behind. Ming’s ship arrives shortly afterwards and he orders Barin, Zarkov and Dale to be taken aboard his ship. Ming finds himself impressed with Flash, and offers him lordship over a subjugated Earth in exchange for Flash's life which Flash refuses. Ming returns to his ship and gives the order to destroy Vultan’s kingdom with Flash still on it. But once again, Flash cheats death by Ming by finding a rocket cycle in the city and escaping before Sky City is destroyed.

Flash contacts Vultan, whose people have found refuge on Arboria, and plot an attack on Mingo City. General Kala (Mariangela Melato) learns of Flash's solo attack on the city and orders weapons to open fire at him. Kala dispatches the war rocket Ajax to bring back Flash's body; but the Hawkmen army intercepts and, after a huge battle, Flash and the Hawkmen seize control of the rocket. In Mingo City, Princess Aura overpowers her guard and makes her way to the execution chamber, freeing Barin and Zarkov. Kala orders the city's weapons to fire upon Ajax (with Flash at the helm and Hawkmen in tow), as Ming and Dale’s wedding starts.

Barin manages to destroy the lightning field and Ajax plummets into the city; the ship's bow impales Ming as all others flee to safety. The impact throws Flash around in the rocket, dazed but uninjured. Ming falls off the rocket nose as Flash offers him life in exchange for the Earth's safety. Ming attempts to use his power ring on Flash but his power falters and nothing happens. He then aims the ring at himself and is seemingly vaporized by its remaining power. Ming's robot servant declares that Flash has saved the Earth and a huge victory celebration ensues. Barin is announced as the rightful heir to Ming's vacant throne. The newly-appointed King Barin shows his gratitude to Flash, appoints Vultan as the new Genral of the Armies, and decrees that all the kingdoms of Mongo shall live together in peace. Flash and Dale embrace, their future (and Zarkov's) left open for either a return to Earth or continuing adventures on Mongo.

The last scene focuses on Ming’s empty power ring, as an unidentified individual picks it up. “The End?” fade onto the screen, followed by an echo of Ming’s evil laughter...

Cast

Reception

With its camp style, outlandish costumes and synthesized music, Flash Gordon had a poor box office performance, with the notable exception of the United Kingdom, where it is still one of the top 100 films of all time when adjusted for inflation. The film did find appreciation with a few "hip" critics, notably The New Yorker's Pauline Kael. Max von Sydow (Ming) received a good deal of praise for his performance, despite Jones (Gordon) being nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for worst lead actor (according to Empire magazine, Sam J. Jones had disagreements of some sort with director Hodges and producer De Laurentiis and departed prior to post-production, which resulted in almost all of his dialogue being dubbed by a professional voice actor whose identity is still a mystery). A sequel was proposed, but the departure of Jones effectively ended any such prospects..[3]

The film has gone on to become a cult classic; many of the film's lines are intentionally tongue-in-cheek, and this knowing sense of humor contributes to the collective affection with which the picture is remembered by its fans.[4] Despite the film's perceived shortcomings, it maintains an 83% Fresh rating at RottenTomatoes.com and is ranked #88 on the Rotten Tomatoes Journey Through Sci-Fi List (100 Best-Reviewed Sci-Fi Movies).

A sequel was also considered and according to Brian Blessed on the Region 2 DVD commentary for Flash Gordon - Silver Anniversary Edition, the sequel was going to be set on Mars, as a possible update of the Buster Crabbe serials

Soundtrack

Main article: Flash Gordon (album)

The film's soundtrack was composed and performed by the rock band Queen. Flash Gordon was one of the earliest high-budget feature films to use a score primarily composed and performed by a rock band. (Later ones included De Laurentiis's productions of Dune, scored by Toto, and Maximum Overdrive, scored by AC/DC). An orchestral score was also composed by Howard Blake.

Media

The film was originally released in North America via Universal Pictures. Universal has retained the domestic theatrical and home video rights, while the international rights passed on through different companies, eventually landing with StudioCanal, with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer representing. MGM now also owns the television rights under license from StudioCanal, which explains why the MGM logo appears before television airings of this film.

A comic book adaptation, written by Bruce Jones and illustrated by Al Williamson, was released by Western Publishing to coincide with the film's release. It was serialized in three issues of the Flash Gordon comic book and released in a single large format softcover edition.

It was released on VHS and, in 1998 on both Laserdisc and Region 1 DVD via Universal. It was released in Region 2 in 2001 (Japan) and again in 2005 (UK/Europe); with the 2005 release including commentary by Brian Blessed winning the "Commentary of the Year" award from Hotdog Magazine for his humor and enthusiasm. On August 7, 2007, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released a "Saviour of the Universe Edition" DVD in North America to coincide with Sci-Fi's new television series. This special edition does not include the cast and crew interviews of the Region 2 release.

In October 2007, a high definition transfer of the film premiered on the MGM HD cable/satellite channel.

In November 2007, Sam J. Jones and Melody Anderson together created a new commentary track for the international (non-USA) DVD edition of the film.[5]

Flash Gordon was released on Blu-ray on June 15, 2010.[6]

Awards

In 1981, the film got Saturn Award nominations in the categories: Best Costumes, Best Science Fiction Film and Best Supporting Actor (Max von Sydow). In the same year it was also nominated in 3 categories for the BAFTA Film Awards: Best Costume Design (Danilo Donati), Best Original Film Music (Queen) and Best Production Design/Art Direction (Danilo Donati). Sam Jones was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for worst actor in 1981.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Mike Hodges: "Flash Gordon was a bumpy ride… "". Total Sci-fi Online. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
  2. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=flashgordon.htm
  3. ^ "Mike Hodges: "Flash Gordon was a bumpy ride… "". Total Sci-fi Online. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
  4. ^ "Mike Hodges: "Flash Gordon was a bumpy ride… "". Total Sci-fi Online. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
  5. ^ "Flash Gordon Commentary Featuring Sam Jones and Melody Anderson Just Released". Sci-Fi Storm. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  6. ^ http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Flash-Gordon-Blu-ray/10510/
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