Flash Gordon (film)

Flash Gordon
Theatrical release poster by Richard Amsel
Directed by	Mike Hodges
Produced by	Dino De Laurentiis Bernard Williams
Screenplay by	Michael Allin (Adaptation) Lorenzo Semple, Jr.
Based on	Characters  by Alex Raymond
Starring	Sam J. Jones Melody Anderson Topol Timothy Dalton Max von Sydow Ornella Muti Brian Blessed
Music by	Queen Howard Blake
Cinematography	Gilbert Taylor
Editing by	Malcolm Cooke
Studio	Dino De Laurentiis Company Starling Films
Distributed by	Universal Studios
Release date(s)	December 5, 1980 (1980-12-05)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$27,107,960

Flash Gordon is a 1980 British-American science fiction film, based on the comic strip of the same name 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, Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed and Ornella Muti. The screenplay was written by Lorenzo Semple, Jr., and adapted by Michael Allin (who previously scripted Enter the Dragon). 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. However, it performed poorly outside the United Kingdom. The film is notable for its soundtrack composed, performed and produced by the rock band Queen (although orchestral sections were by Howard Blake).

Plot

Emperor Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow) declares that he will first play with and then destroy the Earth using natural disasters. On Earth, New York Jets football star "Flash" Gordon (Sam J. Jones) boards a small plane, where he meets travel journalist Dale Arden (Melody Anderson). Mid-flight, the cockpit is hit by a meteorite and the pilots are lost. Flash takes control and manages to crash land into a greenhouse owned by Dr. Hans Zarkov (Topol). Zarkov, who believes the disasters are being caused because an unknown source is pushing the Moon towards Earth, has secretly constructed a spacecraft which he plans to use to investigate. Zarkov's assistant refuses to go, so he lures Flash and Dale aboard. The rocket launches, taking them to the planet Mongo, where they are captured by Ming's troops.

The three are brought before Ming. He orders Dale be prepared for his pleasure. Flash tries to resist, but is overpowered. Ming orders Zarkov be reprogrammed and Flash executed. Ming's daughter, Princess Aura (Ornella Muti), seduces Ming’s surgeon into saving Flash, to whom she is attracted. As they escape, Flash sees Zarkov being brainwashed by Klytus, the head of the secret police. Aura and Flash flee to Arboria, kingdom of Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton), Aura's lover. En route, Aura teaches Flash to use a telepathic communicator to contact Dale. He lets her know he is alive. Dale is locked in Ming's bedchamber, but encouraged by Flash, she escapes. Klytus sends Zarkov to intercept Dale, who tells him and Klytus that Flash is alive. They then escape, as Zarkov reveals he resisted the brainwashing. They are captured by Prince Vultan's (Brian Blessed) Hawkmen and taken to Sky City.

Aura and Flash arrive at Arboria. Aura asks the Prince to keep Flash safe. A distrustful Barin, in love with Aura, agrees not to kill Flash, but then forces him to perform a deadly ritual. Barin and Flash take turns sticking their hands into a hollow stump with a giant scorpion-like Wood Beast inside. When Flash has to take an extra turn, he pretends to be stung as a distraction and escapes. Barin follows, but they are both captured by the Hawkmen.

Klytus informs Ming that Flash is alive and is given authority to find out who is responsible. Aura returns and is taken prisoner and tortured by Klytus and General Kala (Mariangela Melato). They force her to confess and Ming banishes her to the ice moon Frigia after his wedding. Meanwhile, Flash and Barin are taken to Sky City, where Flash and Dale are briefly reunited. Flash is forced to fight Barin to the death, but Barin joins him when Flash saves his life. Klytus arrives and Flash and Barin kill him. Knowing that this will bring retribution, Vultan orders the Hawkmen to evacuate, leaving Barin, Flash, Dale and Zarkov behind. Ming’s ship arrives and he orders Barin, Zarkov and Dale to be taken aboard. Ming is impressed with Flash, and offers him lordship over Earth in exchange for loyalty, which Flash refuses. Ming gives the order to destroy Vultan’s kingdom along with Flash. Flash finds a rocket cycle and escapes before Sky City is destroyed.

Flash contacts Vultan, who is hiding on Arboria and they plot an attack on Mingo City. Flash pretends to attack Mingo City alone on his rocket cycle. General Kala dispatches the war rocket Ajax to kill Flash, but the Hawkmen ambush and seize the rocket. Meanwhile, Princess Aura overpowers her guard and frees Barin and Zarkov from the execution chamber. Flash and the Hawkmen attack Mingo City in Ajax and Kala activates the defenses, as Ming and Dale’s wedding begins. Mingo City's lightning field can only be penetrated by flying Ajax into it at a suicidal speed. Flash volunteers to stay at the helm to ensure success and allow the Hawkmen to invade the city.

Barin and Zarkov enter the control room to stop the lightning field, encountering Kala who refuses to deactivate it. She attempts to kill Zarkov, but Barin shoots and kills her. Without Kala they are unable to deactivate the field from that control room. Barin tells Zarkov to hold the fort while he heads to Sector Alpha. Zarkov keeps trying, but is unable to deactivate the shield.

Barin fights through Ming's guards and gets to Sector Alpha and deactivates the lightning field before Ajax hits it. Flash flies the rocket ship into the city's wedding hall and the ship's bow impales Ming. He falls off the rocket nose, seriously wounded and Flash offers to spare his life if he will stop the attack on Earth, but Ming refuses. 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 seconds before the counter to the destruction of the Earth reaches zero. A huge victory celebration ensues.

Barin and Aura become the new leaders in Ming's place. Barin names Vultan the leader of their armies. Flash, Dale and Zarkov discuss returning to Earth. Zarkov says he doesn't know how they will get back, but they will try. Barin tells them all they're welcome to stay, but Dale says she's a New York City girl, and it's now too quiet around Mongo.

The final frame shows Ming's ring being picked up by the hand of an unseen person. Ming's laugh echoes as the credits roll.

Cast

• Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon
• Melody Anderson as Dale Arden
• Topol as Dr. Hans Zarkov
• Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin
• Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming the Merciless
• Ornella Muti as Princess Aura
• Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan
• Peter Wyngarde as General Klytus
• Mariangela Melato as General Kala
• Richard O'Brien as Fico
• John Hallam as General Luro
• John Morton as Airline pilot
• Robbie Coltrane as Man at airfield
• William Hootkins as Munson, Dr. Zarkov's assistant
• 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
• John Osborne as Arborian priest
• Deep Roy as Fellini, Princess Aura's pet
• Peter Duncan as Treeman
• Bob Goody as Azurian Man

Production

Initially, producer De Laurentis wanted Italian director Federico Fellini to direct the picture; in the late 1930s, with most American comics banned in Mussolini's Italy, the young Fellini had been approached to write some new adventures for the popular Flash Gordon character. But despite this connection, the great director refused De Laurentiis' offer.

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.^{[citation needed]} A sequel was proposed, but the departure of Jones effectively ended any such prospects. According to Mike Hodges on his DVD commentary, the air field scene at the beginning of the film, though set in the U.S., was shot in Scotland.

Reception and following

Flash Gordon had a mediocre box office performance, grossing $27,107,960 in North America (equal to $70 - 75 million in 2010 dollars). The notable exception is the United Kingdom, where the film was a huge success, grossing about £13,864,652. The film did find appreciation with a few 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. 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, holding a 82% approval rating at the movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 33 reviews. The film is ranked #88 on the Rotten Tomatoes Journey Through Sci-Fi List (100 Best-Reviewed Sci-Fi Movies).

Despite the commercial disappointment of the film, Flash Gordon has since become a cult classic with fans of science fiction and fantasy. It is a favorite of British 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 movie of all time. He painted the cover of the 2007 "Saviour of the Universe Edition" DVD release of the movie, 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 the film, and it is continually referenced. Sam J. Jones (playing himself) also appears in the film during a manic party sequence and in the film's conclusion.

Brian Blessed's performance as Prince Vultan lodged the veteran stage and screen actor into the collective consciousness for the utterance of a single line – "GORDON'S ALIVE?!" – which, more than 30 years later, remains the most repeated, reused, and recycled quotation from both the film and Blessed's career.

Soundtrack

Main article: Flash Gordon (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 orchestral score was also composed by Howard Blake, and Blake's pieces from the film have been released on CD, alongside his score from Amityville 3-D.

Media

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 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 classic Flash Gordon artist Al Williamson (himself not a fan of the movie due to its overall campy nature, numerous script changes and resulting alterations to his artwork ), was released by Western Publishing to coincide with the film's release. It was serialized in three issues of the Flash Gordon comic book (#31-33) and released in a single large format softcover edition.

A novelization by Arthur Byron Cover of the movie script by Lorenzo Semple Jr. was published in 1980.

The film was released in 1981 on VHS, Betamax and MCA DiscoVision, and re-released 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 The Sci Fi Channel'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. Flash Gordon was released on Blu-ray on June 15, 2010.

Awards

• Saturn Award

Nominated: Best Costumes

Nominated: Best Science Fiction Film

Nominated: Best Supporting Actor

• BAFTA

Nominated: Best Costumes Design

Nominated: Best Original Film Music

Nominated: Best Art Design

• 1st Golden Raspberry Award

Nominated: Worst Actor (Sam J. Jones)

See also

• Flash Gordon
• Flash Gordon (album)
• Flesh Gordon (erotic parody)

External links

• Flash Gordon - Saviour of the Universe Edition
• Flash Gordon at the Internet Movie Database
• Flash Gordon at the TCM Movie Database
• Flash Gordon at AllRovi
• Flash Gordon at Box Office Mojo
• Flash Gordon at Rotten Tomatoes