Flash Gordon: 30th Anniversary Edition

I came to know Flash Gordon by its soundtrack years before I ever saw the film as the theme song was on Queen's Greatest Hits so, by the time I actually watched the movie, I knew lines like "Open fire! All weapons.", "Dispatch war rocket Ajax to bring back his body." and "Flash, Flash, I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the Earth!" When I did finally get round to see that movie, I was absolutely suckered in by the terrific costumes, fantastic over the top sets and amazing action sequences. Of course, I hadn't seen many films to compare it against, but it stuck in my mind as a hugely enjoyable movie and my opinion hasn't changed in the (nearly) two decades since that night.

Based on a series of strip comics from the 1930s, Flash Gordon follows the titular hero, a football player for the New York Jets who has chartered a private plane to get him back to New York and his travelling companion is Dale Arden, a travel writer who is also heading back to the 'Big Apple'. Whilst they are beginning to board the plane and set off, Ming the Merciless, Emperor of the Universe, has decided to destroy Planet Earth and so has set in motion a series of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters including 'hot hail'.

When a mysterious thick red fog forces the plane to crash land (the pilot and co-pilot having mysteriously disappeared), Flash and Dale climb through the escape hatch in the roof (this must be the only twin engine propeller plane hit the universe to have one!) and meet up with Dr Hans Zarkov, a crazy scientist who has prophesied the end of the world and has calculated that the moon will change orbit and crash into Earth. Flash desperately wants to make a phone call to let people know where he is and Zarkov points him in the direction of a silver tube. With Dale, Flash and Zarkov all in this 'phone booth', they realise that Zarkov has tricked them into boarding a space rocket which is launched when the scientist falls headfirst into the big, red button to detonate the rockets!

Having left Earth's orbit, the spaceship goes through a black hole which makes them crash land on the planet Mongo where they are taken prisoner and brought before Ming the Merciless who orders Dale to be taken away and prepared for his pleasure, Zarkov is to drained of his memory and reprogrammed whereas Flash is to be executed. It wouldn't be much of a film if this took place, so although Zarkov has his memory wiped and Dale is taken away and dressed in a fantastic silk gown, Princess Aura defies her father and, with the help of Ming's Chief Surgeon, resurrects Flash and escapes to planet Arboria. Dale also manages to escape, meet up with Zarkov and make a run for it but they are captured by Prince Vultan's Hawkmen and taken to Sky City, Prince Vultan's kingdom.


Back on Planet Arboria, Princess Aura convinces the planet's ruler, Prince Barin to keep Flash safe and Barin agrees not to kill him, but puts him in a cage which is lowered down to just above the swamps. Predictably enough, Flash again escapes and, following a deadly game in which he and Prince Barin take turns putting their hands into a tree stump where a poisonous creature resides, they are also taken prisoner by Prince Vultan's Hawkmen. Although Flash and Barin are ordered to fight to the death, Flash wins but spares Barin's life and the group are united in their hatred of Ming and decide to take down the tyrannical Emperor.

As a lover of sci-fi B-movies, including those based on strip comics like Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy and Danger: Diabolik, Flash Gordon has always had a special place in my heart because of the outrageous costumes, ridiculous comic book dialogue and tremendous performances by Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol (as Flash, Dale and Dr Zarkov), Brian Blessed, Timothy Dalton (as Princes Vultan and Barin) and especially Max von Sydow as Emperor MIng. It is abundantly clear to anyone watching the movie that all of these actors are having a whale of a time overacting and chewing the scenery as if they haven't eaten in a month and, great though the entire cast are, the star of the show has to be Brian Blessed who really seizes the opportunity to stand around in a revealing winged costume and shout and laugh loudly to his heart's content.


Mike Hodges (director of the brilliant British gangster movie Get Carter) stays faithful to the strip comic origins of Flash Gordon and you can pause the film just about anywhere and imagine that as a frame in the comic strip, such is his use of framing and angles. The film is an absolute riot, the sort of thing you can put on when you are feeling a bit down and, by the end, you will probably feel a great deal better. If you are in a great mood, you are properly enjoy this a great deal more and you will find yourself saying the lines along with the actors and singing along with Freddie Mercury. Although it looks dated and a little crappy by today's standards, this just adds to its charm and it really is a film that is almost impossible to dislike. When you have Timothy Dalton in his pre-James Bond days looking a bit like Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood, Brian Blessed strutting around and shouting with the cast either in outrageously over the top and intricate garments or leather attire that wouldn't look out of place in a S&M video you know you are in science-fiction B-movie heaven!

The Disc

Extra Features
Although Mike Hodges hadn't seen the film in over 20 years, he agreed to provide a commentary and it is surprising how much he remembered about the shoot, talking about his conversations with Dino De Laurentiis, the great Italian producer who doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word 'small' and how much of his direction was improvisation as most of the crew didn't speak English and his Italian was virtually non-existent. This meant he had to make do with whatever props and costumes appeared on set that day and how they didn't even have a definitive ending until they were well into the shoot. As refreshing that he admits how naff some of it looks and how the ending is straight out of a school Christmas pantomime. It helps that there is someone (I'm not exactly sure who) in the recording booth with him who occasionally prompts him for an anecdote or provide the name of an actor that Hodges has forgotten.

The interview with Mike Hodges is more of an introduction than an interview, running at just under two minutes in which he explains how he came to be involved in the project.

Perhaps the major selling point of this set is the inclusion of the CD soundtrack by Queen which is such an integral part of the movie and a great piece of music that you can just put it on and remember the best moments from the film.


The Picture
For a film that was not exactly made with the best effects money could buy and much of it was to optically and in camera, the 1080p picture picks up every little flaw and emphasises how cheap the effects look. The flipside is that the film looks extremely good with the opulent costumes and sets really looking the part with strong, vibrant colours and terrific black levels for the space scenes. One of the main features of the scenes set in outer space are the remarkable skies that have an almost post-apocalyptic look to them and, although the blue screen and wire work is blatantly obvious, you can forgive it when the end result as you sitting there with a silly grin an your face!

The Sound
Unlike the films Iron Eagle and Highlander when Queen lent or wrote specific songs for the films (One Vision, Who Wants to Live Forever and Princes of the Universe), they recorded at least 25 minutes of music that the film including the now iconic theme song. Most of that music is now inseparable from the images and the dazzling rock music that accompanies the attack on war rocket Ajax by Flash on board a rocket cycle and Prince Vultan and his Hawkmen is just a fantastic piece of cinema.

Perfectly complementing Queen's music is the score by Howard Blake which takes most of the themes in Queen's music and weaves them into an orchestral score and it's occasionally hard to tell the difference between the two.

On the disc, you have the choice of a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track or LPCM 2.0 stereo and I found the DTS option to be the better of the two with much more bass and clarity even though the rear surrounds lie dormant for the majority of the film.


Final Thoughts
If you have fond memories of Flash Gordon and, like me have a soft spot for sci-fi B-movies, then this film is indispensable viewing and this set will be a great addition to anyone's collection. I imagine that it is good enough to pick of a whole generation of new fans who will love the music, the costumes and the characters.