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Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol, Max von Sydow, Ornella Muti ... see more see more... , Brian Blessed , Timothy Dalton , Peter Wyngarde , Mariangela Melato , John Osborne , Richard O'Brien , John Hallam , Philip Stone , Kenny Baker , Andrew Bradford , Jim Carter , Celeste , Irene Champlin , Robbie Coltrane , Suzanne Danielle , Malcolm Dixon , Peter Duncan , Leon Greene , John Hollis , William Hootkins , Oliver MacGreevy , Anthony Olivier , Michael Potter , Eddie Powell , Racquel , Terry Richards , Ken Roberson , Tiny Ross , Deep Roy , Burnell Tucker , Viva , Trevor Ward , Frederick Warder , Peter Brace , Imogen Claire , Michael Edmonds , Terry Forrestal , George Harris , Eddie Stacey , John Sullivan , Graeme Crowther , Stanley Lebor , John Lees , Chris Webb , John Morton , Sophie , Roy Scammell , Mike Cottrell , Leslie Crawford , Marie Green , David Neal , Richard Jones , Bobbie Brown , Karen Johnson

Heroic earthling Flash Gordon saves the world from the nefarious Ming the Merciless in this lavish, intentionally campy adaptation of the famous sci-fi comic strip. The story is as basic as space oper... read more read more...as get: Ming (Max von Sydow) has developed a plan to destroy the Earth, and Flash (Sam J. Jones) and his attractive companion, Dale Arden (Melody Anderson), are called upon to stop him. Along the way, Flash must battle Ming's goons and the temptations of a luscious space princess. Previously the basis for a more straight-faced 1930s adventure serial, Flash's story is mined here for exaggerated, cartoon humor by screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., a central figure in the similarly campy '60s Batman television series. The simplistic plot mainly serves as an excuse for spectacular sets and cartoonish action sequences, all set to an appropriately over-the-top rock score by Queen. Certainly not a film to turn to for serious excitement, fine performances, or character development, Flash Gordon has nevertheless developed an appreciative cult of fans who admire the film's humorous approach and the detailed, colorful production design. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

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PG, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: Mike Hodges

Release Date: December 5, 1980

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DVD Release Date: October 10, 2000

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Melody Anderson Timothy Dalton star as Prince Barin in Universal Pictures' Flash Gordon Melody Anderson Timothy Dalton star as Prince Barin Melody Anderson Melody Anderson Ornella Muti Melody Anderson Melody Anderson Max Von Sydow as Ming the merciles Mariangela Melato as General Kala "He'll save everyone of us!" Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin and Ornella Muti as Princess Aura in Universal Pictures' Flash Gordon Ming the Merciless Brian Blessed In Flash Gordon Ornella Muti Ming the Merciless Ming the Merciless and Princess Aura
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Flixster Reviews (2,815)

  • SirPant
    January 31, 2012
    SirPant
    Now and again I come across an old film I must have seen 100 times but have forgotten to review. Flash Gorden is the quintessential cheesy action-fantasy and that's saying something because most film in the split genres are very cheesy. It's very quotable, very laughable and very... read more watchable, with an array of 'What ever happened to..' stars of yester-year. The ultimate 70s/80's crossover film too, I was going to say it's Barbarella for boys but Barbarella is kinda for boys anyway. Anyway - You have to see this film at least once, it's the rules!
  • sergioogarcia
    July 4, 2011
    sergioogarcia
    When I was young I used to live in Monterrey near the border with US, and lots of times spent weekends in McAllen, Laredo, Brownsville, San Antonio, etc. My favorite moment, to go to the food area with that giant screen and watch Flash Gordon. The sound! Oh my god. "Queen" made t... read morehe mall shake and roar. The attack of the hawk-people was my favorite scene. And the rite at pince Barin's planet (Arboria?) was the scary part of the movie. I loved it during my childhood. Even now looking at those cheap visual effects still enjoy it.
  • CloudStrife84
    March 29, 2011
    CloudStrife84
    Campier than campy, but good fun nonetheless. Love the soundtrack and theme song by Queen. It was a little weird though to see Max Von Sydow in such a bizarre role. I wonder what ever talked him into signing up for that part. That being said, you ought to be prepared for you're a... read morebout to watch before you view this. Just put aside your critic's glasses and you'll be sure to have a good time. And should you be allergic to cheese, well, then I suggest you look the other way.
  • garyX
    March 9, 2011
    garyX
    Pro football star Flash Gordon and his travelling companion are kidnapped by a mad scientist during his attempt to foil an attack on Earth by a malevolent intergalactic dictator. Star Wars meets Barbarella in this high camp space opera based upon the comic strip and Saturday morn... read moreing serial of the 1940s. Flash Gordon will never be celebrated for its subtlety or sophistication, but what it is, is fun with a capital F! The plot is breathlessly episodic, the dialogue cheesy as hell and Sam Jones' performance as Flash is so wooden the crew probably had to spray him for termites. But the fact is, all of these seemingly bad elements come together to make something great! The true joy of the film is in the performances, particularly Max Von Sydow's disdainful and aloof Ming (the first line of the film is "Klytus, I'm bored..."), Ornella Muti smoulders with sex appeal as the space-borne femme fatale, Peter Wyngarde is hilarious as the camp secret police commander and Brian Blessed's scenery chewing performance as Voltan instantly propelled him into the heart of the British public as a national treasure. The ornate production design and costumes still look fantastic today, combining the art deco feel of the comic strip with the look of a gladatorial Roman empire and the climactic space battle is actually really exciting. It does perhaps take a little too long to get there, but Queen's flamboyant pomp rock soundtrack and its wealth of hilarious lines ("GORDON'S ALIVE??!" "No! Not the bore worms!" "Freeze you bloody bastards!" etc etc etc) keep it more than ticking over in the entertainment stakes. One of the pinnacles of cinematic kitsch.
  • hobster1
    January 9, 2011
    hobster1
    It's difficult to judge a film trying so hard be ridiculously bad. Do you knock it for its cheesiness or do you celebrate it for its fun? I choose the latter as this always entertaining, never boring, update of the comic strip from the 1930s, manages to entertain by sheer spectac... read morele. Flash is hijacked to the planet Mongo where he meets Ming the Merciless, intent on sending the moon out of orbit and toward the Earth to destroy it. Why? Oh he's bored. The special effects aren't of the technologically advanced Star Wars variety. No, this is retro 70s-style futurism. The explosion of colors and opulent costumes that Flash encounters when first entering the city of this new world recalls The Wizard of Oz, Superman and an Earth Wind and Fire concert. Words cannot do the production design justice. And what a cast! Everyone is in on the joke as the acting is way over the top. Max von Sydow makes a diabolically evil villain. Topol is a disheveled, wild-eyed scientist, Brian Blessed as prince of the bird-like Hawkmen, shouts his lines in bombastic tones as if he's reciting Shakespeare and Italian actress, Ornella Muti is a seductive space princess that really gets around, if you know what I mean. If that wasn't enough, there that rock opera title theme by Queen. "Flash! Ah-ahh, He'll save every one of us!" Inspired lunacy.
  • mumby1988
    October 18, 2010
    mumby1988
    It's often the case that films we loved in our childhood don't hold up half as well when viewed again as an adult. Likewise it's very common to rediscover a film we hated in our teenage years, only to find that we were completely wrong and that said pariah is actually a masterpie... read morece.

    Flash Gordon is a more complicated example of this prolonged change of heart. As a boy under the age of 10, you can't believe your luck - bright colours, big action sequences, scary villains and a chisel-jawed hero. As a teenager who desperately wants to be cool, it's deeply embarrassing - dodgy special effects, hammy acting, a nonsensical plot and Max von Sydow dressing up as Fu Manchu. It's only after this difficult period has passed that the film reveals itself for what it really is - one of the most deliberately and thrillingly silly films gave to grace the screen.

    If one were to sum up Flash Gordon in a sentence, one could describe it as a remake of the 1936 film, with the added benefits of colour, a better soundtrack (just) and (in Britain at least) more famous actors. For those of us with some knowledge of British character actors and eccentrics, the film contains a number of irresistible one-offs. Where else could you see future Bond Timothy Dalton in green spandex, or ex-I, Claudius emperor Brian Blessed in wings and a leather tunic, or Rocky Horror's Richard O'Brien as a double-crossing pipe-player?

    There is also some enjoyment to be derived from the fact that the film is helmed by the same man who made Get Carter, a film as far removed from comics as you can get. Flash Gordon was Mike Hodges' first completed film in six years, after he was sacked from Damien: Omen II three weeks into filming. And for all its technical shortcomings (more on those later), Hodges does direct very well; his compositions are good, the stunts and fights are well-choreographed, the characterisation is memorable and - most importantly - he captures the spirit of the original comics.

    The reason that Flash Gordon works so well, both as a comic adaptation and a film in general, is that it is aware of the limitations of both its source material and the level of spectacle its budget allows. The original Flash Gordon comics were classic boys'-own adventure tales: stories of adventure on faraway worlds where ordinary heroes battle evil villains, save the world and get the girl. The film updates the characters a little, so that Flash becomes an American footballer and Dale Arden is a travel agent, but otherwise the story plays out in exactly the same kind of romping, rapid-fire style of the original stories.

    If we attempt to take Flash Gordon seriously, watching it as a 'proper' science fiction film and looking for deeper meanings in its talkier scenes, we'd last about five minutes before either giving up or bursting out laughing. The plot is totally ludicrous, requiring us to accept a load of unbelievable coincidences. For instance, how lucky that Flash and Dale's plane happened to crash land right in front of Dr. Hans Zarkov's laboratory, just as he was about to launch the rocket?

    Ming the Merciless' evil plan for defeating the Earth is staple science faction fantasy; we're used to films with ray guns and magnetic shields, and so we don't question that he has the ability to move the Moon using a ray. But we still have to contend with a number of cavalier inconsistencies in the plot. The process of brainwashing Zarkov is built up and up into something quite unnerving. But five minutes later, he's back to his old self, having survived it by remembering fragments of the Talmud. In another scene, Princess Aura and Dale catfight for the best part of a minute, and then quickly become friends as if nothing happened. And why, oh why, did Ming choose to stay standing exactly where he was when the spaceship was clearly heading straight for him?

    It's true that evolutions in technology take time to filter down through the various echelons of filmmaking; just because Industrial Light and Magic existed in 1980 doesn't mean that everyone could afford them. The art direction in Flash Gordon (which was BAFTA-nominated) makes the clouds resemble a marbling kit, and the special effects themselves make Thunderbirds look slick. Take the early shots of the rocket entering Ming's universe, in which one can clearly see the image on a piece of acetate being moved across the background. And then we have Gilbert Taylor's cinematography, which bathes everything in so much red that it's like watching the whole film through a vat of claret.

    And you know what? None of this matters, and here's why. If this storyline had been played even faintly seriously, the film would have been a naff, self-important turkey like Xanadu (or maybe Dune, considering the presence of Dino De Laurentiis). You simply couldn't treat Flash Gordon like Batman or Superman because it's not designed to be taken seriously or to have allegorical connotations. The closest it ever comes to having any kind of message is in the big final showdown, with all the various people uniting against the evil emperor. Considering the comic's origins in the 1930s, one could argue it was making a political message about fascism, but even that's stretching a point.

    By playing everything for the fans and getting knowing laughs, Flash Gordon is a triumph - or as close to one as we could expect. The fact that we laugh at it so lovingly is no accident. The screenplay comes from Lorenzo Simple, Jr., who wrote the Batman TV series and manages to tap into the inherent silliness of the plot. The soundtrack by Queen and Howard Blake sounds mediocre on its own, but when you've got big battle scenes with camp choreography, it makes sense to have stunts being backed by kick-ass guitar solos and pounding drums. In any case, Brian May's take on the wedding march is genuinely cool and really brings out the best in that scene.

    From an historical point of view, the film also illuminates much about the original Star Wars trilogy. It's well-documented that Star Wars had its origins in the matinee idols and Saturday morning westerns of George Lucas' youth. But the influence of Flash Gordon goes beyond that, with this version containing many scenes which seem to eerily foreshadow Return of the Jedi. Both films feature a forest planet with tribal communities living in the treetops, and both have a giant monster with a beak and tentacles that tries to swallow people up. One could certainly argue that Krylus was the Darth Vader of his day, albeit with a voice which is much more Jeremy Irons than James Earl Jones.

    On top of everything, Flash Gordon is simply great fun. Despite the various fallings-out that happened in post-production, you get the sense watching it that the cast and crew had great fun making it. Brian Blessed and Timothy Dalton are clearly having a ball, judging their lines perfectly and relishing the stunts; one can see in Dalton's performance the same kind of ferocious intensity that would serve him well during his tenure as Bond. Max von Sydow relishes his part, playing pantomime villain complete with curled lips and clipped pronunciation. Cinema fans should also keep an eye out for very brief cameos from Robbie Coltrane (at the airfield) and Deep Roy, who would later play all the Oompa-Loompas in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

    It would be very easy to view Flash Gordon with disdain or contempt. Just as Airplane! eventually led to Epic Movie and Disaster Movie, so one could hold Flash Gordon to task for giving us Batman and Robin. But this would be deeply unfair considering how well the finished product holds up after thirty years. The film is directed with wit and intelligence, the script does justice to the comics while retaining a sense of humour, and above all it's virtually faultless as a slice of pure entertainment. For all its faults (and there are many), Flash Gordon is a triumph of both the sublime and the ridiculous. It's incredibly silly from start to finish - and you simply won't care.
  • ceWEBrity
    September 11, 2010
    ceWEBrity
    I saw this a year ago while drunk out of my mind at Sacramento's hallowed Trash Film Orgy and had a great time, but seeing it again for the second time (and again on the big screen!) was a pleasant surprise. Flash Gordon is fun even if you're not fucked up! Though its cheap, slug... read moregish action rarely does it any favors, even in light of its hyperdrive camp sensibilities, the movie actually has a great sense of humor and you quickly get the feeling that your laughter is both at it and with it. This is a ridiculously tricky balance to pull off but Flash Gordon epitomizes it. It's a fun little movie, not to be too deeply analyzed, but appreciated for its multitude of bizarre moments, its shockingly inept and hilariously poorly interpreted lead performance, and its bitchin' Queen soundtrack. The 1980s were a cruel time, but sometimes they were good to us.
  • cancercapricorn2002
    July 1, 2010
    cancercapricorn2002
    This is a film that people will either love or hate, if you think science fiction should be serious then this isn't for you, however if you enjoy a cheesy romp then this film is just the ticket.

    Ming the Merciless, Emperor of Mongo decides to unleash a variety of supposedly natu... read moreral disasters upon the Earth. Having just survived a plane crash Flash Gordon and Dale Arden are kidnapped by Doctor Zarkov and flown in the rocket he has built to Mongo where they are promptly captured a and taken to Ming.

    When Flash fights against Ming's goons he is sentenced to be executed, Zarkov is to brainwashed before being enlisted in Ming's secret police and Dale is told she must marry Ming. Luckily for Flash Ming's kinky daughter helps revives him after the execution and takes him to a moon ruled by Prince Barin for safety but as soon as she leaves he plots to kill Flash. The rest of the film involves Flash rejoining his friends and trying to unite the various tribes of Mongo against Ming before he destroys the earth.

    Some sci-fi goes for the dark and gloomy look, others go for a sterile white look... this goes for over the top bright colors, plenty of red and gold. There is little subtlety in the excellent soundtrack either as it is provided by Queen.

    Special mention has to go to Ornella Mut, she is completely alluring and charged with sex appeal. I'm sure she helped me jumpstart right into puberty.

    In the end this a true cult classic, not for everyone but alot of fun if you enjoy campy sci-fi
  • ScoopOnline
    December 22, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    It is very funny, a classic Movie based upon Comic and yet didnt really entertained me only the good old Flash Gordon Cartoons.
  • pier007
    May 21, 2009
    pier007
    Why would I bash something I have enjoyed this much? no matter how ridiculous and bad it is I found it hysterical.
    who would have thought that Mr. Mike "Get Carter" Hodges would go for campy fun? and Queen in the soundtrack just adds more laughs and nostalgia to this quirky and d... read moreeliriously kitsch production by megalomaniac producer Dino De Laurentiis.

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Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
March 26, 2009
Variety Staff, Variety

The expensive new version of Flash Gordon is a lot more gaudy, and just as dumb, as the original series starring Buster Crabbe. Full Review

Dave Kehr
April 16, 2007
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

A respectable time-waster. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Is it fun? Yeah, sort of, it is. Full Review

Jason Best
March 10, 2011
Jason Best, Movie Talk

With gaudy sets and costumes by Fellini's favourite designer, Danilo Donati, and ultra-camp performances throughout, this is a film that positively revels in its cheesiness. Full Review

Charles Cassady
September 7, 2010
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media

Sci-fi comic-strip movie is too violent for younger kids. Full Review

Peter Canavese
July 8, 2010
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews

I'm guessing nine out of ten people would rather watch the bearded, barrel-shaped Blessed--strapped to giant wings--bellow, 'Impetuous boy! Oh well, who wants to live forever? Diiiive!' than watch Oli... Full Review

Stefan Birgir Stefansson
May 2, 2008
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is

a great camp classic

Rob Gonsalves
February 13, 2008
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

Taken solely as a pop wedge of cheese, it's beautifully realized. As for the empty-headed dialogue and the puerile plot, isn't it obvious those are both part of the point? Full Review

Brian Orndorf
August 3, 2007
Brian Orndorf, DVDTalk.com

The film literally explodes with a festival of colors and opulent costume design. It lends the movie a majestic spilled-cocaine imprint that's unmistakable and urges the film into distinctive areas of... Full Review

Shane Burridge
July 4, 2007
Shane Burridge, rec.arts.movies.reviews

About the only thing that isn't red in this movie is the blood

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    • Dale Arden: Flash! I love you, but we only have 14 hours to save the Earth!
    • Princess Aura: Look! Water is leaking from her eyes!
    • Emperor Ming: It's what they call tears. It's a sign of their weakness!
    • Dale Arden: Flash! I love you, but we only have 14 hours to save the Earth!
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