Flash Gordon (5 Stars)

George Lucas wanted to make a film about Flash Gordon, but it was the beginning of his career and he didn't have enough money to buy the rights. As an alternative, he created new characters for a film called "Star Wars" in 1977. I can't help wondering how film history would have been changed if he'd been able to make "Flash Gordon". Fans of the comic strip are fast to point out scenes in "Star Wars" that borrow ideas from "Flash Gordon".

After seeing the film in the cinema two months ago, I was determined to buy the new remastered version on Blu-ray. I already owned it on DVD, but the new version brings out the trashy colour mix. No attempt is made to look realistic.

Flash Gordon is the football quarterback who saves the universe. I'm referring to the sport that Americans call football, not real football. He's the one on the left, in case his shirt doesn't make it obvious. Together with the travel agent Dale Arden (right), he crash lands at the home of the disgraced scientist Hans Zarkov (centre). He was fired from his position at NASA for believing that contact with alien beings would soon take place, but he was right. There are freak weather conditions which Zarkov correctly interprets as an attack from outer space. He wants to fly to meet the aliens in his home made rocket, but its design needs someone to stand on a pedal at one side of the cockpit while he's navigating on the other side, so he tricks Flash and Dale into accompanying him.

Don't you think that the space ship's control panel looks like the Tardis?

There's a newspaper article about Dr.  Zarkov being fired, but only the first paragraph is about him. The rest of the article is about dogs being allowed to run free in Wellesley, Massachussets. That's sloppy journalism.

Zarkov assumes that an advanced civilisation would be open for rational negotiations, but he hasn't reckoned with a leader like Emperor Ming. He wants to destroy the Earth just for his amusement.

Ming's daughter Aura shares his cruelty, but she's better looking. She's played by Ornella Muti, one of the most beautiful Italian actresses who's ever lived.

Princess Aura falls in love with Flash and protects him from her father. First she has to touch him to check his body is still in working order. In the scene Flash Gordon is sleeping, but the actor Sam Jones must have been lying nervously, trying to pretend nothing was happening. Sometimes it's hard being an actor.

Ming is hated and feared by his people, so he rules by pitting them against one another. Prince Vultan is the leader of the Hawkmen.

Prince Barin is the leader of the Arborians, tree dwellers.

Flash leads a rebellion against Ming which can only succeed if he persuades the two princes to join forces. That's not as easy as it sounds.

"Flash Gordon" succeeds as a film by not taking itself seriously. It had a big budget for its time, twice as much as "Star Wars", but it maintained a B-Movie feeling. The film isn't intended to be a comedy, but many of the scenes are so ridiculous that it's impossible not to laugh.

Success Rate:  + 0.3

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