Flash Gordon
It feels as though “Flash Gordon” was a movie I would have seen as a kid, but I did not remember whether I truly had or not, so we’ll call this viewing numero uno. Like a lot of films from the ’80s, this is a big hunk of cheese inspired by other films- namely, “Star Wars”- but where director Mike Hodges succeeds is in delivering adventure with a knowing eye, always intended to entertain you. I don’t have the same immediate affection that I do for films I grew up with like “Star Wars,” the Indiana Jones movies or “The Goonies,” but this did work for me as someone who enjoys this type of genre film.
Based on the comic strip and movie serials of the same name, “Flash Gordon” plays right to the tropes of movie serials with an episodic structure, performances that either play to high camp or straight-faced sincerity. While I’m sure many people would have enjoyed a sequel- and certainly, the origins would hint at more that could be done- I think this is a movie that succeeds better as a “one-and-done” entry. It delivers what it wants to do with no real pretext of having more to say, and that’s it. Too many films feel the need to become franchises now; “Flash Gordon” reminds us of the pleasures of a movie that went in with no expectations of a franchise, doesn’t try to overtly set up a trilogy to come, and ends just as entertainingly as it began.
Flash Gordon (Sam Jones) is a quarterback for the New York Jets, and after some time resting, he is on his way back to the team on a plane also carrying Dale Arden (Melody Anderson), a travel agent. At the same time, Emperor Ming the Merciless (Max Von Sydow) has grown bored, and is creating havoc on Earth with his weapons. Flash’s plane crashes into the greenhouse of Dr. Hans Zarkov (Topol), a scientist who knows what is causing these disturbances, and he coaxes Dale and Flash into a rocket with him to travel to Mongo, Ming’s planet, where they will be sacrifices to Ming to save the Earth. Needless to say, Flash gets more involved with the intergalactic politics of Ming’s reign. Adventure ensues.
I’m not saying that I want to hear more scores by rock bands, but the soundtrack by Queen (with additional orchestral pieces by Howard Blake) for “Flash Gordon” is one of the best cases for more filmmakers doing that you’ll ever hear. Since Queen was a hugely theatrical act, they are an ideal fit for the tone Hodges and screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr. are going for. From the second their theme for Flash plays for the first time, we’re sucked into the musical world of the film, and it’s on par with some of their best songs. Thematically, this is strong, and all the musical elements have their place in this film, and they feel right at home.
It’s hard not to get engaged with this story. Yes, it’s silly, and Sam Jones is about as generic a Flash as you could expect, but the tone just connects. It’s the same sort of alchemy between the visual language of the film, the basic nature of the storyteller, and all the actors being on the same page with what they are supposed to deliver as we got in the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Star Wars” movies. The look of this movie is beautiful, from the painted skies of Mongo to the production design and costumes, and the cast delivers. As generic as Jones is as Flash, his flat sincerity works when put up against the camp of Sydow as Ming. Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed as leaders of people under Ming’s rule deliver, and as his daughter, Ornella Muti is beautiful and very entertaining. “Flash Gordon” has everything you hope from a movie like it, and that’s the best thing one can hope from it.
