Rating of
3/4
Campy sci-fi fun
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/01/08
New York Jets star quarterback "Flash Gordon" (Sam J. Jones) and "Dale Arden" (Melody Anderson, in her motion picture debut) are kidnapped by "Dr. Hans Zarkov" (Topol) when the plane they are passangers on crash lands near his home/observatory. The three rocket to a planet known as "Mongo," which is lead by a blood-thirsty dictator named "Ming" (Max von Sydow), who is responsible for sending the Earth's moon out of its orbit and send it crashing into the planet which it orbits.
On "Mongo," the three cross paths with the planet's various inhabitants which are forced to pay homage to "Ming" or be killed. Some of the aliens are willing to help "Gordon" overthrow the dictator, while others will not out of fear of retaliation if the plans fail.
The story itself is well written, but the dialogue has some weak moments which hinder the performances of the actors at times.
One thing you will notice right off is the spectacular costumes of the "Mongo" population. Many of which wear vivid colors, or armor of what appear to be various metals. Much of the scenery, though obviously low budget, are pretty much the same -- especially in the reception room where we first meet "Ming" and the rest of the "Mongo" inhabitants.
The performances are real good, but are hindered by the script, which at times has poorly written dialogue. However, the actors do their best to blend the bad dialogue into their lines to get you to miss them. But be warned, some of the performances are over-the-top and comes across as campy.
The soundtrack is written and performed by the legendary rock band Queen. The theme song, to me, doesn't really sound like a typical Queen tune, but it's a great anthem for the title character. The music is near perfect for the action scenes, which are a little weak at times.
The movie is obviously low budget, but the directors did do a good job with the sometimes cramped quarters or the scenes that were hindered by the budget. The sound mixer, on the other hand, did only a fair job. There are times where the sound did not mix well with the film -- one instance is when "Princess Aura" talks, and it appears that the sound was added over the footage much like when old Japanese monster movies are dubbed-over with English.
Timothy Dalton, who plays "Prince Barin," is perfect in his role and works really well at making you believe "Barin" dislikes and distrusts "Gordon". Another perfect casting is of von Sydow, who makes "Ming" come to life very nicely. Other performance are also worth mention only because they are so overboard -- in a good way.
Despite the pretty forgettable flaws, "Flash Gordon" is worth looking at as a solid second choice rental. If you are a fan of the character, or of B-Movies, this one is well worth looking at.
