I so so agree. This film is cheese, and cheap cheese, but well prepared. The toasted edge of a damn good pizza. This is NOT a film to focus on intently, but very good for folding clothes to. I remember a review in WIRED at the time where the reviewer claimed to hear men moaning in pain as the spandexed Princess went on by. I fear we sing out AAAAAAAAHH-AAAAAAAAHH at all the moments it is sung, and take every opportunity to watch this film again. It is also a fabulous candied chunk of the 80's (the rest of the decade was a collation of pathetic attempts to imitate this film. It is not a classic by any means, but if I knew I was going to die in 90 minutes I'd spend the time with a few choice friends, a pizza, and this film.
...Except for the fact that this film really isn't going for 1980s at all. This film is just what the original theatrical shorts would've looked like with a big budget, color, and a Queen soundtrack. Note for note.
Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.Leave a Comment:
Hope you like cheddar
Flash Gordon is, without a doubt, one of the silliest movies I've ever seen. Imagine a universe where EVERYONE dresses up like a Super Sentai character, but without the helmets. And then add even more ham. And IT. IS. GLORIOUS!
So of course, our hero is good old red blooded American Flash Gordon (nope, that's not a nickname), a famous football player who happens across Dale Arden as the two of them board an airplane, which is attacked by the villain, Ming, with Hot Hail, sending them crashing into the laboratory of a mad scientist, Dr. Zarkov, who traps them in a space shuttle so they can escape because Ming sent the moon on a crash course with the Earth. They go through a Negative Space Wedgie and end up in Ming's court, where they meet several ridiculously dressed Human Aliens and things just get sillier from there.
Sure, this movie is ridiculously childish, but it knows exactly what it is, and EVERY actor (except possibly the dame playing Dale) throws gratuitous amounts of Ham And Cheese into their performance. It doesn't take itself seriously at all, and it shouldn't given that the climax of the movie has an army of Hawkmen led by BRIAN BLESSED and Flash on a space scooter attacking a Raygun Gothic war rocket so they can hijack it and crash it into Ming's palace to stop the Crosses The Line Twice wedding between him and Dale and the moon from crashing into the earth all to the main theme, courtesy of Queen. Refuge In Audacity indeed.
Best movie ever made? Certainly not. But if you want something to watch on a Saturday night with a bunch of your guy friends, this is probably perfect in all its 80s glory.