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Flash Gordon (film)

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For the 1936 film serial, see Flash Gordon (serial).

Flash Gordon
Theatrical release poster by Richard Amsel
Directed byMike Hodges
Screenplay byLorenzo Semple Jr.
Story byMichael Allin
Produced byDino De Laurentiis
Starring
CinematographyGilbert Taylor
Edited byMalcolm Cooke
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • 5 December 1980 (1980-12-05)
Running time
114 minutes[3]
CountriesUnited Kingdom
Netherlands[1]
United States[2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[4]
Box office$27.1 million (North America)[5]

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 was shot in Technicolor and Todd-AO-35. It 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. (who had previously scripted De Laurentiis's remake of King Kong). It uses a camp style similar to the 1960s TV series Batman (which Semple developed) in an attempt to appeal to fans of the original comics and serial films. Although a box office success in the United Kingdom, it performed poorly in other markets.[6] The film is notable for its soundtrack composed, performed and produced by the rock band Queen, with the orchestral sections by Howard Blake. The film has since gained a significant cult following.[6]

Plot

To relieve his boredom, Emperor Ming the Merciless of the planet Mongo declares that he will play with and destroy Earth by remotely causing natural disasters. On Earth, New York Jets football star "Flash" Gordon boards a small plane, where he meets travel agent Dale Arden. 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. Zarkov, who believes the disasters are being caused because an unknown source is pushing the moon towards Earth, has secretly constructed a spacecraft that he plans to use to investigate. Zarkov's assistant refuses to go, so Zarkov lures Flash and Dale aboard. The rocket launches, taking them to Mongo, where they are captured by Ming's troops.

The trio is brought before Ming, who 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, seduces Ming's surgeon into saving Flash, to whom she is attracted. As they escape, Flash sees Zarkov being brainwashed by Klytus, the metal-faced head of the secret police. Aura and Flash flee to Arboria, kingdom of Prince Barin, 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. Zarkov then reveals he resisted the brainwashing, and escapes Mingo City with Dale. They are quickly captured by Prince Vultan's 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. They force her to confess and Ming orders her banished to the ice moon Frigia once his wedding has taken place. Meanwhile, Flash and Barin are taken to Sky City, where Flash and Dale are briefly reunited. Flash is forced to fight Barin in a death match, but Flash instead saves Barin's life, causing Barin to join him. Klytus arrives and Flash and Barin kill him. Knowing 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. 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's 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 enable 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 9. 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. 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 evil laugh echoes as the ending credits roll. Following the credits, the text "The End" is shown on the screen before a question mark (?) is appended.

Cast

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.[8] 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.[8][9] 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.[9][10] However, De Laurentiis was unhappy with Roeg's treatment of Flash Gordon, and Roeg left the project.[9] 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.[10][11] De Laurentiis then hired Mike Hodges to direct.[9]

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.[12]

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 is unknown.[13] A sequel was proposed, but the departure of Jones effectively ended any such prospects.[14] The airfield scene at the beginning of the film, although set in the U.S., was shot at the Broadford Airfield in Skye, Scotland.[7]

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".[15] 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." [16] By contrast, several critics expressed dislike for the film. Leslie Halliwell, writing in 1981, was dismissive towards Flash Gordon, describing it as "another addition to the increasing numbers of such things being restaged at enormous expense fifty years after their prime".[17] Richard Combs in the Monthly Film Bulletin also disliked the film, calling Flash Gordon "an expensively irrelevant gloss on its sources."[17] 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."[18] 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, holding an 82% approval rating at the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 38 reviews.[4][19][19][20] The film ranked No. 88 on the Rotten Tomatoes Journey Through Sci-Fi List (100 Best-Reviewed Sci-Fi Movies).[21]

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".[22] 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".[23] 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."[24] 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".[25] 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."[6]

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.[26] 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.[13] He also appears in the sequel Ted 2.[27] Horror punk musician Wednesday 13 based the song "Hail Ming" on his album The Dixie Dead (2013) on the film.

Blessed's performance as Prince Vultan lodged the veteran stage and screen actor into the United Kingdom 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.[28][29][30]

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).[31] In this adaptation, Klytus again serves as Ming's main henchman.[31] The 2014 Dynamite Flash Gordon comic also contained several allusions to the film, including having Vultan speak the line "Gordon's alive?!".[32]

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,[33] followed by the European Premiere at the 72nd Edinburgh International Film Festival.[34] 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 on the most powerful producers in Hollywood: Dino De Laurentiis. Executive Produced by Sam J Jones, Aleksandar Smiljanic and Matt Pasant.

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 earlier example is The Who's Tommy (1975). Additional orchestral score pieces were also composed by Howard Blake. 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.

In other media

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[35]), 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 and hardcover editions.

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

A video game adaptation for the Atari 2600 was developed by Sirius Software and published by 20th Century Fox Games in 1983.[36][37]

In the Family Guy Episode "Road to Germany," Stewie and Brian enlist the help of the Hawkmen in order to defeat the German pilots in WW2.

Home media

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 7 August 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 StudioCanal DVD edition of the film.[38][39] Flash Gordon was released on Blu-ray on 15 June 2010.[40]

In 2012, Universal released Flash Gordon in a four-feature DVD set along with Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a Star World, The Last Starfighter and Dune.

On 3 May 2016, Ted vs. Flash Gordon: The Ultimate Collection was released on Blu-ray plus Digital HD, featuring this film and the unrated versions of Ted and Ted 2.[41]

Awards

Nominated: Best Costumes
Nominated: Best Science Fiction Film
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor
Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costumes Design
Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Original Film Music|Best Original Film Music
Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Art Design|Best Art Design
Nominated: Worst Actor (Sam J. Jones)[42]

Reboot

Since 2015, a new Flash Gordon film has been in the works.[43] 20th Century Fox hired JD Payne and Patrick McKay as screenwriters, while Matthew Vaughn was in talks to direct.[44] On 15 January 2016, Mark Protosevich was hired to rewrite the film's script.[45]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Flash Gordon". BFI.
  2. ^ "Flash Gordon". AFI.
  3. ^ "FLASH GORDON (A)". Columbia-Emi-Warner Dists Ltd. British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Flash Gordon". Variety. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Flash Gordon (1980)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  6. ^ a b c Keith Phipps,"After Star Wars, science fiction tried to reconnect with the past". The Dissolve, 22 May 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  7. ^ a b McKenzie, Steven (10 September 2013). "Flash Gordon: Actor Sam J Jones on the Skye connection". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  8. ^ a b Dale Pollock, Skywalking : the life and films of George Lucas New York : Da Capo Press, 1999. ISBN 0786749768, (p. 101)
  9. ^ a b c d Ric Meyers, S-F 2 : A Pictorial History of science fiction films from "Rollerball" to "Return of the Jedi". Secaucus, N.J. : Citadel Press, 1984. ISBN 0806508752 (pp. 167-8).
  10. ^ a b Scott Salwolke, Nicolas Roeg: Film By Film. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., 1993. (p.73) ISBN 0899508812
  11. ^ Christopher Frayling, Sergio Leone : Something To Do With Death. London, Faber and Faber, 2000. ISBN 0571164382 (pp.377)
  12. ^ Steve Swires (October 1983). "Lorenzo Semple, Jr. The screenwriter Fans Love to Hate – Part 2". Starlog. No. 75. pp. 45–47, 54. Retrieved 28 May 2014 – via www.the007dossier.com.
  13. ^ a b Leftley, Nick (11 December 2012). "Flash Gordon Speaks!". Maxim. Retrieved 6 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Sequel Baiting Endings That Didn't Work". Empire. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  15. ^ Pauline Kael, Taking It All In. New York : Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1984. ISBN 0030693624.
  16. ^ Ebert Reviews:Flash Gordon.8 December 1980. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  17. ^ a b Leslie Halliwell, John Walker (ed.) Halliwell's Film and Video Guide 2001 HarperCollins Entertainment, 2001. ISBN 0007122659 (p. 289)
  18. ^ Godfrey Fitzsimmons, "Flash Harried",The Irish Times, 15 December 1980 (p.15).
  19. ^ a b "Flash Gordon". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  20. ^ "Flash Gordon". Empire. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  21. ^ "RT's Journey Through Sci-Fi". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ John Grant, "Flash Gordon Movies" in The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, 1997. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  23. ^ John Clute,Science Fiction : The Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York : Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0789401851 (p.282).
  24. ^ Peter Nicholls, "Flash Gordon". in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 9 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  25. ^ Phil Hardy, The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction London : Aurum, 1991. ISBN 1854101595 (p.361).
  26. ^ "Flash Gordon – Saviour of the Universe Edition". DVD Talk. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  27. ^ "Curtis Stigers on Twitter: "On the set of Ted 2. My chair is the one that says Don't Sit Here You're Not A Movie Star". Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  28. ^ "Brian Blessed" at the BBC's H2G2. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  29. ^ "Gordon's Alive! Flash returns to cinema screens" Archived 30 July 2012 at archive.today, 21 May 2008 report for Dreamwatch's Total Sci-Fi website. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  30. ^ The singular phrase was much-used to refer to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, including Glen John Feechan's Accounting blog Archived 19 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine; Blessed himself on Have I Got News For You Series 35, episode 3 (broadcast on BBC1, 2 May 2008); Steven Poole reviewing Gordon Brown: Speeches 1997–2006 for the Guardian newspaper, etc.
  31. ^ a b "Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist" Review. IGN.com. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  32. ^ Flash Gordon #6. Dynamite Entertainment. Mt. Laurel, NJ, October 2014.
  33. ^ "Chattanooga 2018 Announces LIFE AFTER FLASH, SUMMER OF '84 and ROCK STEADY ROW". ScreenAnarchy. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  34. ^ "Life After Flash". Edinburgh Festival. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  35. ^ "Mark Schultz: Celebrating Al Williamson's Flash Gordon". Newsarama.com. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  36. ^ "Flash Gordon". AtariAge. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  37. ^ "Flash Gordon – Atari 2600". Classic Game Room. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  38. ^ "Flash Gordon Commentary Featuring Sam Jones and Melody Anderson Just Released". Sci-Fi Storm. 25 November 2007. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
  39. ^ "Flash Gordon – Saviour of the Universe Edition". DVD Talk. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  40. ^ "Flash Gordon (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  41. ^ "Ted vs. Flash Gordon: The Ultimate Collection". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  42. ^ "Golden Raspberry Nominations 1980". Razzies.com. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  43. ^ Kit, Borys (22 April 2014). "'Flash Gordon' Movie in the Works at Fox (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  44. ^ "Matthew Vaughn in Talks to Direct 'Flash Gordon' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  45. ^ McWeeny, Drew (January 2016). "Mark Protosevich Hired To Rewrite Matthew Vaughn's 'Flash Gordon' For Fox". Hitfix.
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