Flash
Gordon: Saviour of the Universe Edition (1980)
Universal
Cast:
Sam L. Jones, Melody Anderson, Timothy Dalton, Max Von Sydow.
Rating:
PG
Run
time: 112 mins
Genre:
Science Fiction
Verdict:
Beautiful
(see rating
system)
Well,
here it is in all its gaudy, over-the-top, campy greatness
- a cult favourite that plays even better than when it hit
the eyes of disbelieving theatregoers almost 30 years ago.
Talk
about a bunch of space cadets...
Unaware
they were really making a comedy, the cast played it mostly
straight and the result is a very funny space saga that knocks
the wind out of those preposterous Star Wars movies that people
take far too seriously.
Muscular
hunk Sam L. Jones is Flash Gordon - quarterback for the New
York Jets - who somehow finds himself on a mission to save
the Earth. Aboard a home-made rocket constructed by the nutty
Professor Hans Zarkov (Topol), Flash and the lovely Dale Arden
(Melody Anderson) zoom into the lair of Ming the Merciless,
despotic ruler of the planet Mongo.
Ming
plans to toy with Earth's inhabitants for a while to amuse
himself before destroying the planet. . Before they can stop
him, Flash, Dale and the professor are captured and Flash
is sentenced to death. The professor is scheduled to have
his memory wiped and Dale is destined for Ming's harem. How
Flash comes back from the dead and helps spark a rebellion
among Ming's terrified subjects is the stuff of screenplay
legend.
(Speaking
of the screenplay, writer Lorenzo Semple Jr. offers some candid,
amusing recollections of making the film, including the set
designer who was obviously on another plant when he ignored
the story at hand and produced unrelated sets, to the lack
of input on the script. They basically filmed what he wrote!)
With
special effects that just about work, amazing, bizarre sets
and costumes and good action sequences - not to mention a
soundtrack by rock group Queen - this is no flash in the pan
effort.
Universal
has done a great job of remastering the movie, which now also
boasts 5.1 Surround Sound. The extras include the first episode
of the 1936 Flash Gordon serial.
