Flash Gordon is a 1980 science fantasy film based on the King Features comic strip of the same name created by Alex Raymond. Directed by Mike Hodges and produced by Dino De Laurentiis, the film stars Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed and Ornella Muti.
The movie was co-written by Michael Allin (known for Enter the Dragon) and Lorenzo Semple Jr. (known mainly for the 60s TV series Batman, and who had previously scripted De Laurentiis's remake of King Kong). It uses a camp style similar to Batman in an attempt to appeal to fans of the original comics and serial films. Although a box office success in the United Kingdom, it was less successful in other markets including the U.S., though in recent years the film has gained a significant cult following.
The film is notable for being one of the first to use a rock band to create the film's soundtrack; that distinction belongs to Queen who, with the exception of orchestral pieces by Howard Blake, composed, produced and performed all of the musical score in the film; the film's main title theme was composed by Queen guitarist Brian May.
Plot[]
The story opens with the voice of an alien ruler, namely Ming the Merciless of the planet Mongo, complaining of being bored. He asks his second-in-command, General Klytus, if he has a plaything to offer him. Klytus has an immediate answer- "an obscure body in the SK system", known to its inhabitants as Earth. Using his power ring, Ming starts a series of disasters, everything from tidal waves to earthquakes and even “hot hail”. When asked if he would destroy the planet, Ming replies he “likes to play with things a while before annihilation”.
Meanwhile on Earth in a town called Dark Harbor, New York Jets football star “Flash” Gordon is waiting to board a plane to head back home when the “hot hail” begins, but he pays little attention to it. Moments later he meets Dale Arden, a woman he had seen the night before but had no contact with. After the two board the same plane, the disasters get progressively worse, caused by the moon being out of phase sending moon rock fragments plummeting to the Earth, according to the research of disgraced scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov. For many years Zarkov believed an attack on Earth was imminent, but his predictions and warnings were ignored. Nonetheless, Zarkov was secretly working on a rocket ship in which he set the coordinates for the source of the attacks.
Meanwhile, the atmospheric anomalies worsen still, so much so to the point where a freak squall blows out the plane’s cockpit windows pulling the pilots out to their death; Gordon and Dale take control of the plane and promptly crash land in Zarkov’s greenhouse. They then escape from the plane and begin searching for a phone when they meet Zarkov, who directs them to a phone, inside his rocket ship. He then pulls a gun on the two and tells them his true intentions: to fly to where the attacks are coming from and stop them. Flash tries to wrest the gun from Zarkov, but unwittingly throws him against the controls that fire the rocket. Having no other choice, the scientist and the two reluctant travelers become instant allies as the rocket hurtles its way through outer space and to Mongo, where the three are promptly taken prisoner.
Gordon, Dale and Zarkov are brought before Ming, who vilifies them for embarking on a voyage without knowing where they were going or what they were doing. He then motioned for a reluctant Dale to come closer. Aiming his power ring at her, she goes into a hypnotic, sensual trance. Ming orders her to be removed and prepared for his pleasure, but Gordon openly defies Ming and picks a fight with his brutes only to be accidentally knocked out by Zarkov. Ming, after refusing his daughter Princess Aura’s request to give Gordon to her, and ordering Zarkov into Klytus’ custody for reconditioning, repays Gordon's defiance in kind by ordering his public execution by gas chamber that evening. The execution is a high ceremony which Dale and Zarkov are both forced to watch, and which causes Dale to faint.
Following the execution, Princess Aura, still wanting Gordon for herself, and Ming’s Chief Surgeon, one of her lovers, arrive at the temporary mausoleum where they open Flash’s casket and resurrect him. Aura and Gordon beat a hasty retreat to Arboria, kingdom of Prince Barin, yet another lover of Aura’s. En route to her spaceship they pass the room where Zarkov is about to undergo a memory-erasing treatment. During this time Ming explains to Zarkov his reasoning for destroying Earth: because of Earth’s evolutionary advancements he views Earth as a threat to his absolute power, ergo, its utter destruction. Zarkov deduces that it is because of earthlings like himself that his home planet is about to be destroyed, which Ming confirms.
On their way to Arboria, Aura mentions that every moon of Mongo is a kingdom, and tells about her father's strategy of keeping them all at odds with one another. Gordon ponders aloud why they don't join forces and overthrow Ming, and then coerces Aura to teach him telepathy so that he can contact Dale and let her know he’s still alive. Relieved, Dale informs him she’s imprisoned in Ming’s bedchamber. Gordon suggests that she fake Ming out, which she eventually does and escapes, only to run into the “reconditioned” Zarkov. Unaware that Klytus and General Kala are listening, Dale tells Zarkov that Gordon is still alive. Believing that Zarkov will lead them to him, they unseal Ming City and allow Dale and Zarkov to escape.
As they ride to Arboria, Zarkov confides in Dale that the brain drain was for naught as he was able to retain his memory completely intact by, as he was going under, reciting Shakespeare, formulas of Einstein, “even a song by the Beatles”. Their celebration is short-lived, however, as they are captured by a band of Hawkmen and taken to Prince Vultan's kingdom. Once there, Vultan is ready to hand them over to Ming, but Zarkov knows that Vultan hates him and longs to attack him, which Vultan confirms, but then adds that Ming knows he wants to attack him and, by handing Zarkov and Dale over, Ming's suspicion will be allayed buying Vultan more time to develop his own weapons. Dale remarks that Ming is not unbeatable, adding that he couldn't even kill Gordon, to which Vultan responds, "Gordon's ALIVE??!"
Klytus informs Ming of Gordon's resurrection, and that he has suspicions as to who did it- but stops short of naming names, and then asks Ming’s authority to pursue the investigation his own way; Ming agrees without reservation.
Aura and Gordon arrive at the forest moon Arboria during an initiation ceremony in which, much to Gordon's horror, the pledge is sacrificed. Barin’s mood turns rancid when Aura asks him to keep Gordon in Arboria until Ming has his way with Dale, but Barin’s anger is more directed at Gordon, thinking he wants Aura as well. Accordingly, when Aura leaves, he throws Gordon into a cage and lowers him into the swamp, but not before he plants a seed of thought in Barin’s head saying, “I’m not your enemy! Ming is! And you know it yourself! Let's all team up and fight him!”
Barin then decides to lure Gordon into a trap by sending Fico, one of his Tree men, into the cage with a key to get out. Fico tells Gordon there are weapons in the sacred temple, but when they get there the trap is sprung. The Green Father tells Gordon that “a stranger in the temple must try the Wood Beast or die”. Gordon and Barin take turns inserting their arms into holes in a giant hollow tree stump with the Wood Beast, a venomous scorpion-like creature. hiding somewhere inside, but Gordon tricks Barin and escapes into the swamp. Barin pursues and catches up with Gordon, but before he can kill him, the two are captured by more of Vultan’s Hawkmen.
Aura returns to Ming City only to be arrested and interrogated by Klytus and General Kala, but she denies all, and Klytus orders her torture. When Aura reminds Klytus she is a princess, he contacts Ming, who allows the torture to continue. They eventually get a full confession and Ming orders Aura to be exiled to the ice moon Frigia for a year- immediately after Ming’s wedding to Dale.
Gordon and Barin are taken to Vultan’s kingdom, where Gordon is briefly reunited with Dale. Barin angrily reminds Vultan of Ming’s Law, which states no Prince of Mongo shall be held prisoner or given for ransom without the right to trial by combat. When Vultan asks Barin who he wishes to fight, he picks Gordon. The two are led to the fighting ring: a free-floating pivoting platform with retractable spikes, no barriers, and only thin air underneath. The two fight furiously with only bullwhips as weapons. Gordon narrowly wins, but rescues Barin from falling to his death. Both exhausted, Gordon extends his hand to Barin in friendship. Realizing not only that Gordon is on his side, but he also has no interest in Aura, Barin gratefully accepts his hand and becomes his ally.
Vultan is disgusted by Gordon's humanity, and Barin proclaims, "There is something finer in this galaxy than Ming's law", but just then Klytus, who had been following the Hawkmen carrying Barin and Gordon, arrives in Vultan's kingdom to arrest Zarkov and Barin for treason. Barin, with Gordon's help, overpowers Klytus and kills him by throwing him onto the fight platform spikes. Seeing this, Vultan panics and orders his people to evacuate. He then raises his staff to kill Flash for bringing destruction on his kingdom, but Barin dissuades him saying now is the perfect time to fight back against Ming and his army, but Vultan is still not prepared and repeats his order to his people to evacuate taking anything and everything they can carry, but they leave Gordon, Barin, Dale and Zarkov behind.
Ming’s command ship arrives shortly afterward. Ming orders only Barin, Zarkov and Dale are to be taken aboard the ship. He then offers Gordon a kingdom of Mongo to rule, but when he hints the kingdom he is to receive is his own planet Earth under Ming’s rule, the people more agreeable after all the disasters, added to which Ming reveals his intention to marry Dale, Gordon refuses. Ming returns to his ship and gives the order to destroy Vultan’s kingdom with Gordon still in it. But as the bolts of energy tear the place apart, Gordon again cheats death when he finds a Hawkman Rocket Cycle and takes off, but with no idea where he's going.
Having taken refuge in Arboria with his Hawkmen, Vultan broods about deserting Gordon, believing him now dead. But to his astonishment Gordon calls him using the com-link on the Rocket Cycle and informs him that Ming has Dale, Zarkov and Barin. Vultan humbly thanks a surprised Gordon "for giving a dumb old bird a second chance” and sends him a homing beam to find them and plan their next move.
In Ming City, Barin and Zarkov face execution for treason, Aura has a change of heart after her father allows her to be tortured, and Dale is being prepared for her wedding to Ming. Meanwhile, Gordon, alone on the Rocket Cycle, flies toward Ming City. General Kala, informed of his approach, orders weapons to fire at him. When he beats a quick retreat, Kala orders Ajax, an Imperial rocket, to go after him and bring back his body. Ajax catches up with him just as he makes his way into a giant cloud. The rocket pursues, only to find Gordon with Vultan and his entire army of Hawkmen waiting in ambush on the other side. After a huge battle, the Hawkmen, heavily outnumbering Ajax’s army, seize control of the rocket and, with Gordon at the control, make their way toward Ming City.
Princess Aura overpowers her guard and makes her way to the execution chamber freeing Barin and Zarkov. Then, to cover for them, she rushes to her father’s wedding while Barin and Zarkov head for the control center, where General Kala orders all weapons to fire upon Ajax as it is out of its flight pattern, and also orders Ming City’s protective lightning field to be charged up. Barin and Zarkov rush in ordering Kala to take them to Ming, but she refuses by firing on Zarkov, but Barin warns Zarkov in time and kills Kala in return. Zarkov warns Barin that they need to deactivate the lightning field. Barin heads toward the source in the tower leaving Zarkov to “hold the fort” in the control center. Meanwhile, with the firing increasing, Vultan and his Hawkmen are ready to bail out from Ajax, but Gordon stays at the control. Vultan reluctantly agrees.
Ming and a defiant Dale’s wedding has just begun. As Ming puts the ring on Dale’s finger, the lightning field deactivates to reveal Ajax plummeting toward the temple. The attendants all make a mad dash for safety as Ajax smashes into the sanctuary, and whose lance-like bow impales Ming himself right through his midsection. The impact throws Gordon clear of the rocket controls temporarily dazed but uninjured. Now holding the upper hand, he grabs a dead guard’s sword and gives Ming an ultimatum- call off his attack on Earth or die. Ming aims his power ring at Gordon, but it seems to have no effect. With his power fading, Ming aims his ring at himself and vanishes.
Barin and Vultan and his Hawkmen arrive, Gordon is again reunited with Dale and a huge victory celebration ensues. Vultan announces to the multitude that Barin is the rightful heir to the now-vacant throne. King Barin shows his gratitude to Gordon, appoints Vultan as the new Army General, and decrees that everyone live together in peace. He then invites Gordon, Dale and Zarkov to stay on Mongo, but Dale, being from New York City, thinks the place is now a little too quiet for her.
The last scene focuses on Ming’s empty power ring, and an unidentified hand picking it up as the words “the end” appear on the screen, quickly joined by a question mark ("?"), accompanied by Ming’s evil laughter.
Cast[]
- Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon
- Melody Anderson as Dale Arden
- Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming the Merciless
- Topol as Hans Zarkov
- Ornella Muti as Princess Aura
- Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin
- Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan
- Peter Wyngarde as General Klytus
- Mariangela Melato as General Kala
- Richard O'Brien as Fico
- John Osborne as Arborian Priest
- Philip Stone as Zogi the High Priest
- John Hallam as General Luro
- Suzanne Danielle as Serving Girl
- John Morton as Airline pilot
- William Hootkins as Munson, Dr. Zarkov's assistant
- Robbie Coltrane as Man at Airfield
- Peter Duncan as Young Treeman
- John Hollis as Klytus Observer No. 2
- Leon Greene as Colonel of Battle Control Room
- Tony Scannell as Ming's officer
- Bogdan Kominowski as a lieutenant of Ming's Air Force
- George Harris as Prince Thun
- Deep Roy as Fellini, Princess Aura's pet
- Bob Goody as Azurian Man
- Kenny Baker as Dwarf
- Malcolm Dixon as Dwarf
Production[]
Development[]
Initially, producer De Laurentiis wanted Italian director Federico Fellini to direct the picture; although Fellini optioned the Flash Gordon rights from De Laurentiis, he never made the film. George Lucas attempted to make a Flash Gordon film in the 1970s; unable to acquire the rights from De Laurentiis, Lucas decided to create Star Wars instead. De Laurentiis then hired Nicolas Roeg to make the film. Roeg, an admirer of the original Alex Raymond comic strips, spent a year in pre-production work. However, De Laurentiis was unhappy with Roeg's treatment of Flash Gordon, and Roeg left the project. De Laurentiis also considered hiring Sergio Leone to direct the Flash Gordon film; Leone refused, because he believed the script was not faithful to the original Raymond comic strips. De Laurentiis then hired Mike Hodges to direct.
Lorenzo Semple, Jr. wrote the script. He later recalled:
Dino wanted to make Flash Gordon humorous. At the time, I thought that was a possible way to go, but, in hindsight, I realize it was a terrible mistake. We kept fiddling around with the script, trying to decide whether to be funny or realistic. That was a catastrophic thing to do, with so much money involved... I never thought the character of Flash in the script was particularly good. But there was no pressure to make it any better. Dino had a vision of a comic-strip character treated in a comic style. That was silly, because Flash Gordon was never intended to be funny. The entire film got way out of control.
Filming[]
According to a 2012 interview in Maxim, Sam J. Jones had disagreements with De Laurentiis of some kind and departed prior to post-production, which resulted in a substantial portion of his dialogue being dubbed by a professional voice actor, whose identity remains unknown. A sequel was proposed, but the departure of Jones effectively ended any such prospects. The airfield scene at the beginning of the film, although set in the U.S., was shot at the Broadford Airfield in Skye, Scotland.
Soundtrack[]
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 (an earlier example is The Who's Tommy (1975)). Additional orchestral arrangements by Howard Blake were also included. Blake's pieces from the film have been released on CD, alongside his score from Amityville 3-D.
Release[]
The film was originally released in North America via Universal Studios. Universal has retained the domestic theatrical and home video rights, while the international rights passed on through different distributors, eventually residing with StudioCanal. However, the film's UK distributor, Thorn EMI, controlled U.S TV rights. Although StudioCanal now holds those rights due to ownership of the EMI film library, they licensed them to MGM for U.S syndication, which explains why MGM's logo appears on current television airings.
Reception[]
Flash Gordon, in total, grossed well above double its $20 million budget, grossing $27,107,960 in North America, which was augmented by a very strong showing in the United Kingdom, grossing nearly £14 million. Additionally, the film performed well in Italy, due to the two Italian actors prominent in the credits. The film found appreciation with some film critics, such as The New Yorker's Pauline Kael. Kael described Flash Gordon as having "some of the knowing, pleasurable giddiness of the fast-moving Bonds...The director, Mike Hodges, gets right into comic-strip sensibility and pacing". Roger Ebert also praised Flash Gordon, stating "Flash Gordon is played for laughs, and wisely so...This is space opera, a genre invented by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Hugo Gernsback and other men of unlimited imagination harnessed to definitely limited skills. It's fun to see it done with energy and love and without the pseudo-meaningful apparatus of the Force and Trekkie Power... Is it fun? Yeah, sort of, it is."
In contrast, Leslie Halliwell wrote in 1981 that the film was "another addition to the increasing numbers of such things being restaged at enormous expense fifty years after their prime". Richard Combs in the Monthly Film Bulletin called it "an expensively irrelevant gloss on its sources." Godfrey Fitzsimmons of The Irish Times said "Flash Gordon is a hodge-podge...the humour is not very funny and much of the "serious" element is hilarious, which makes for an unsatisfying film."[19] Von Sydow (Ming) received a good deal of praise for his performance, but Jones (Gordon) was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor. Before the film's run in theaters, a sequel was 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.
The film received overall positive reviews and holds an 83% approval rating at the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 47 reviews. The film ranked No. 88 on the Rotten Tomatoes Journey Through Sci-Fi List (100 Best-Reviewed Sci-Fi Movies).
Reviewing the film for The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, John Grant stated the film was "Rather heavy-handed in its attempts at Parody" and that it used "stark garishness to compensate for appalling spfx"; he concluded that Flash Gordon "is a gaudy cliché whose charm should not be underestimated". John Clute gave Flash Gordon a mixed review, saying "the special effects are great" and praising the action sequences. However Clute expressed dislike for Flash Gordon's humorous, self-aware tone, adding the actors "are all just playing, and we know it". Peter Nicholls in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction gave a negative verdict on Flash Gordon: "Apart from the fetishistic costumes...there is little of interest in this tongue-in-cheek, lurid fantasy, which tries to make a Comic-strip virtue of wooden acting." The Aurum Film Encyclopedia also gave the film an adverse review, claiming it was impossible to suspend disbelief in the film: "Hodges puts a knowingness and literalness that works completely against the sense of pulp poetry so essential if we are to believe in Flash". It also described Semple's script as "similarly bland, its occasional witticisms notwithstanding". Reviewing Flash Gordon for The Dissolve website, Keith Phipps stated, "Flash Gordon is, like Batman, entertaining for kids and a different sort of entertaining for grown-ups, who pick up on the goofiness...But there’s more than a whiff of condescension to it, too, as if it’s ridiculous to even consider Raymond’s vision of clashing heroes and villains as anything but comedy fodder."
Cult following[]
Flash Gordon has since become a cult classic with fans of science fiction and fantasy. It is a favourite of director Edgar Wright, who used the film as one of the visual influences for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Acclaimed comic book artist Alex Ross names the film as his favorite film of all time. He painted the cover of the film's 2007 "Saviour of the Universe Edition" DVD release, and starred in a featurette to talk extensively about his affection for the film. In Seth MacFarlane's 2012 comedy Ted, the characters of Ted (MacFarlane) and John (Mark Wahlberg) are fans of Flash Gordon, and it is referenced several times throughout the film. Jones (playing himself) also appears in the film during a manic party sequence and in the film's conclusion. He also appears in the sequel Ted 2. Horror punk musician Wednesday 13 based the song "Hail Ming" on his album The Dixie Dead (2013) on the film.
Brian Blessed's role as Prince Vultan placed the veteran stage and screen actor in the United Kingdom's collective consciousness, primarily for the utterance of a single line: "Gordon's alive?!", which, more than 40 years later, remains the most repeated quote from both the film and Blessed's career. The single release of Flash's Theme (aka Flash) featured several sound bites from the film including Blessed's line (albeit augmented with echo) at about 1:41. This version became a Top 10 hit in the UK reaching #1 in Austria (it stalled at #42 on the US Billboard Hot 100) and was included in Queen's Greatest Hits compilation released in 1981
The Dynamite Entertainment comic Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist drew on several elements of the 1980 film, including the reappearance of the villain Klytus (who does not appear in the original comic strips). In this adaptation, Klytus again serves as Ming's main henchman. The 2014 Dynamite Flash Gordon comic also contained several allusions to the film, including having Vultan speak the line "Gordon's alive?!".
In 2018, Life After Flash, a feature-length documentary directed by Lisa Downs & produced by Ashley Pugh, had its World Premiere at Chattanooga Film Festival, followed by the European Premiere at the 72nd Edinburgh International Film Festival. Life After Flash not only celebrates the 1980 classic featuring interviews with cast, crew and fans including Melody Anderson, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Mark Millar, Robert Rodriguez, Stan Lee and Brian May, but also explores the aftermath of when star Sam J. Jones went up against one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood: Dino De Laurentiis. Executive Produced by Sam J. Jones, Aleksandar Smiljanic and Matt Pasant.