Flash Gordon (1980, Dir. Mike Hodges)
Synopsis:
When Planet Earth is attacked, out of boredom, by interplanetary dictator Ming The Merciless (Max Von Sydow). American football star, Flash Gordon (Sam Jones) and reporter Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) find themselves forced by eccentric scientist Dr Max Zarkov (Topol) into trying to thwart Ming’s attempts to destroy the planet. Journeying to Ming’s homeworld of Mongo, Flash, Dale and Zarkov attempt to start a rebellion to overthrow the evil ruler, but can they do so in time to save the world?
Yes, we’re still continuing our series on underrated “disturbing” films and at this point many of you reading this blog will clearly think I’ve lost the plot – what’s disturbing about Flash Gordon other than how kitschy and silly it is? You’re right of course, but I first saw this film when I would have been about 7 years old, perhaps younger, and all the silly humor went completely over my head. Instead, what stuck with me was android creatures with wires protruding from their eye sockets; Klytus’ death on the spiked floor, with eyes and tongue bulging out; Woodbeasts, small and large, that looked like a cross between a bullfrog and scorpion and whose sting made poor Peter Duncan from Blue Peter (a reference that will mean absolutely nothing to American readers – he was a children’s tv presenter, ok?) beg to die, Zarkov’s memory being erased (the part that terrified me the most as a child – the idea that you could be made to forget your own mother). Then there was the scene where Ornella Muti, as Princess Auri, in her skin tight outfit is whipped, which evoked several different emotions that my then childish brain was unable to process properly… It was only when I saw the film again as a teenager that I finally realized how tongue-in-cheek the whole thing was and even then those same scenes mentioned above still haunted me.
The film’s opening with it’s comic book titles, grabbed me immediately as a child and I still think they’re eye catching even now. I probably wasn’t that aware of Queen when I first saw the film and later on found their music for the film a bit naff. Now, of course, I realize that was exactly the point and find both their songs and Howard Blake’s synthesized underscore pretty cool. Likewise, the fabulously silly B-movie dialogue, delivered with all the gusto the actors can manage, which is all part of the fun and the charm of this movie as much as the elaborate sets, lurid color scheme and lighting and the slightly primitive special fx, which mirror those of the old serials surprisingly well.
Despite the garish costumes and primary colors, however this is a much darker and more adult film, in terms of tone, than Star Wars (the great instigator for the resurgence of interest in Sci-Fi from the late 70s through the 1980s). This film might have been marketed at children but the more explicit references to both sex and more graphic depictions of violence are something that, bar something like the severed arm and skeletons of Luke’s aunt and uncle in the original film, and perhaps Anakin’s transformation into Vader in Revenge Of The Sith, Lucas would never countenance.
This obviously isn’t the sort of film that you watch for the acting performances, however watching it again for this post I was struck by how much enjoyed many of them, with Max Von Sydow’s fabulously evil Ming The Merciless foremost among them. This was my introduction to Von Sydow, who has gone on to become one of my favorite actors with his fabulous performances in The Exorcist, Three Days Of The Condor and Minority Report being particular standouts. He clearly relishes every minute of playing such a larger than life character, as does Peter Wyngarde (best known for his role as tv action hero, Jason King in the 1970s). Topol and future Bond Timothy Dalton also attack there roles with relish, and Brian Blessed’s performance (including his much quoted “Gordon’s Alive?!” line) almost steals the film. Sam Jones famously quit the film before post production over disagreements with producer, Dino De Laurentiis, and was then re-dubbed by an unknown voice actor. How much of the finished vocal performance is Jones’ own is hard to say, but there’s no disputing the fact that he manages the part extremely well, in fact, when revisiting the film for this post, his was the performance that most surprised me in terms of how good it was. Considering it was his first screen role, it’s a great shame that either due to his own personal issues or the film’s poor reception he didn’t go on to greater roles. He’s easily as good if not better than many of the muscle-bound action stars that rose to prominence in the 1980s.
The film’s lack of critical success meant that its ending, which clearly left options open for a potential sequel were never fulfilled. With the benefit of 30 years hindsight, it seems clear that this extremely unique take on a classic Sci-fi character was probably unlikely to find the same mass market appeal of Star Wars. It’s just too odd, too bizarre, too (dare I say it) European in comparison with Lucas’s very transatlantic, used future space opera. Yet, viewed today, this is exactly what makes the film special, something I feel it shares with De Laurentiis’ other underrated 1980’s sci-fi epic, Dune. Like the very best, unusual films, it contains images which stay in your brain long afterwards; which is why it continues to enthrall and, yes, disturb new generations of viewers.
