Line #13 YMMV/FlashGordon1980


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2	* AccidentalInnuendo: Stop snickering at the "[[DoubleEntendre wood beast]]", guys. It doesn't help that Gordon has to brave it by [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything sticking his fist into a dark hole]]...
3	* AdaptationDisplacement: Some fans go for the bitchin' Music/{{Queen\|Band}} album over the film (and some have no idea the film is itself based on [[ComicStrip/FlashGordon comic strips]] and [[Film/FlashGordonSerial film serials]] from the 1930s)
4	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Ming might have fully read the EvilOverlordList, but he just chooses not to follow them. He also knows he is a villain and enjoys the villain lifestyle.
5	* AntiClimaxBoss: Ming is ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice by war rocket Ajax, which could be seen as a bit too quick and easy for anyone looking forward to him having a DuelToTheDeath with Flash.
6	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
7	** ''FLASH! AH-AH! SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE! FLASH! AH-AH! HE'LL SAVE EVERY ONE OF US!''
8	** Aside from the songs, Music/BrianMay's score is also wondrous, with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgL3VVjXv78 its own unique sound]].
9	** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q_pgveRv8E Football Fight]] music with the electric guitar riffs and synth keyboards.
10	** [[https://youtu.be/zQOjNXw4yPo?si=TplRtvQhL91jlYDQ The Hero]], which played under the closing credits, and its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SP2CsHNHd8 soundtrack version]]. Freddie's singing, in particular.
11	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Near the beginning of the movie, Flash and Dale's plane is passing through a storm caused by Ming's attack on Earth when Ming's image suddenly emerges from the clouds and seems to attack the pilots, who disappear out of the cockpit. No explanation is ever given for this.
12	* BrokenBase: Fans of the wider franchise are divided over the campiness of the film. Some reason that it could have been more serious like ''[[FollowTheLeader Star Wars]]'' (which itself was inspired by the franchise) and the comic strips and serials, since it means the most famous version is almost a self-parody. Others contend that the campiness made the film far more memorable than a serious take would have, so it wasn't completely overshadowed by ''Star Wars'' like many other space adventure movies made in the 1980s.
13	* CompleteMonster: [[PlanetBaron Ming the Merciless]] is [[TheEmperor the tyrannical emperor]] of planet Mongo. Every thousand years, Ming tests the life forms of the universe, [[GalacticConqueror terrorizing any planet he comes across]] with natural disasters. If he is recognized as responsible for these catastrophes, he deems the planet and its inhabitants a threat to his rule and destroys it. Setting his sights on terrorizing, and ultimately annihilating, Earth, Ming plagues the planet with natural disasters, causing mass chaos and destruction. The inhabitants of Mongo fare little better under his rule, as Ming is quick to kill them and destroy their kingdoms should they displease him. When Earthlings Flash Gordon, Dale Arden, and Dr. Hans Zarkov are brought before them, Ming lusts after Dale and attempts to [[BatheHerAndBringHerToMe force her to be his concubine]], ordering Flash executed when he stands against him. He later attempts to brainwash Zarkov, all the while gloating about his plans to destroy Earth. His cruelty extends even to [[AbusiveParents his own daughter]], Aura; when he discovers that Aura has helped Flash escape his kingdom, Ming has no qualms with allowing his men to [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] her to extract a confession. Upon locating Flash at Sky City, Ming has the kingdom obliterated, before attempting to [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe force Dale to marry him]], mentioning his plans to cast her off once he's grown weary of her.
14	* CultClassic: One of the cheesiest movies of all time, and among those who have seen it, it is beloved for that very reason.
15	* EvilIsCool: Only an actor of Max von Sydow's caliber could bring such gravitas to a character as goofy as Ming.
16	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The film is much more popular in the UK than in the US, hence it's considered a classic in that country.
17	* HamAndCheese:
18	** Creator/MaxVonSydow as Ming is a touch more restrained than many on this list, but definitely having fun with the part.
19	** Creator/ChaimTopol as Zarkov is, ironically, a Jewish ham.
20	** Both of them must have realized that you have to work hard to be remembered in a movie with [[Creator/BrianBlessed BRIAN BLESSED]].
21	* HarsherInHindsight: The climax where Flash and the Hawkmen hijack War Rocket Ajax and crash it into Ming's (tower-like) palace may have been awesome in 1980, but after [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror September 11, 2001]]? Yeah, that's just a ''little'' awkward...
22	* HilariousInHindsight:
23	** The following exchange, after Flash spares Prince Barin's life:
24	--->'''Prince Vultan:''' What is this?!\
25	'''Hans Zarkov:''' Humanity.\
26	'''Prince Vultan:''' [[Film/ThreeHundred Madness!]]
27	** Shortly before the final battle, Vultan says [[Film/{{Highlander}} "Who wants to live forever??"]]
28	** General Kala's outlandish outfits and strange body language remind one quite a bit of Music/LadyGaga. They even look a little alike. Considering that Lady Gaga's stage name comes from a Queen song...it's enough to blow your mind.
29	** The incredible number of unlikely astronomic events, in a production scored by Brian May, an accomplished astrophysicist.
30	** 35 years later Creator/MaxVonSydow joined the cast of ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', a continuation of a franchise heavily inspired by the original ''Flash Gordon'' serials.
31	** Likewise Creator/BrianBlessed went on to star in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''.
32	** In addition, Flash's Italian dubber Gino La Monica would go on to dub Qui-Gon Jinn.
33	** Ming asking if Klytus gave his men the right pills during the "football fight" becomes hilarious with the various performance-enhancing drug scandals over the two decades -- making it sound like Ming is annoyed that his guards didn't get enough steroids.
34	** Creator/ChaimTopol and Creator/TimothyDalton would make their way into the Film/JamesBond franchise not long after this film. Topol would play Colombo in ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', and Dalton would play Bond himself in ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' and ''Film/LicenceToKill''. Hilariously, Dalton would've started playing Bond sooner in FYEO (the opening scene where Bond visits Tracy's grave was written as a way of introducing the new Bond) before Roger Moore changed his mind.
35	* LesYay: Dale and Aura. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaGlVyyFOl0 This scene speaks for itself.]]
36	* MemeticMutation:
37	** "Pathetic Earthlings! WHO CAN SAVE YOU NOW?!?!"
38	** ''[[Music/{{Queen\|Band}} "FLASH! AH-AHH! SAVIOUR OF THE UNIVERSE!"]]''
39	** ''"GORDON'S ALIVE!!"'' BRIAN BLESSED has said that he can't go anywhere in Britain without people asking him to say it.
40	*** Including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVteTMTcDsA The Queen]].
41	** "DIVE, MY HAWKMEN! DIIIIIIIIIIVE!"
42	* MoralEventHorizon: Ming the Merciless leaving his own daughter to be tortured by Klytus and Kala. An earlier candidate happens in the first ''ten seconds'' of the movie as you find out his hobby is blowing up planets ForTheEvulz.
43	* {{Narm}}: The Memory Eraser scene, which is rather intense and not played for laughs, can either be NightmareFuel, or this. Zarkov's various life events shown in sped-up footage make it look like something out of ''Series/TheBennyHillShow''.
44	* NarmCharm: The film is campy, cheesy and over-the-top beyond belief. What's there not to like?
45	* RetroactiveRecognition:
46	** Creator/RobbieColtrane makes his film debut as Man at Airfield.
47	** Princess Aura's pet midget is played by Creator/DeepRoy, who would later become a Creator/TimBurton regular.
48	** Peter Duncan, who plays the young Arborian who fails the Wood Beast test and is {{Mercy Kill}}ed, would become better known (at least to British audiences) as a presenter on ''Series/BluePeter'' (he would also become the head of the British Boy Scout movement).
49	* RootingForTheEmpire: The title character is fine and all, but he's a little bland. Contrast that with the ''wonderfully'' colorful and [[EvilIsHammy enthusiastic]] bad guys in some killer costumes, and you have to wonder how many people were actually hoping for Ming and company to win.
50	* SoBadItsGood: A film so deliberately cheesy, over-the-top, and bombastic [[NarmCharm that it loops all the way around to being enjoyable in its own right]]. Having a ''genuinely'' awesome soundtrack certainly works in the movie's favor.
51	* SignatureLine: “Gordon’s alive?!” Helped by Creator/BrianBlessed being all too happy to repeat it whenever asked.
52	* StrangledByTheRedString: Flash and Dale hardly knew each other when they left Earth, yet the minute they landed on Mongo they shifted from boyfriend/girlfriend to marriage plans in the span of one movie!
53	* TearJerker: Flash and Dale's conversation before his execution; the music only adds to it.
54	* TookTheBadFilmSeriously:
55	** Creator/TimothyDalton, especially considering the film also starred Creator/BrianBlessed. Dalton's performance actually does work to the benefit of the film, though, since it's not so much a ''bad'' movie as a very silly one. [[WordOfGod According to Dalton himself]], he did this intentionally on advice from Creator/MaxVonSydow. It also notably makes him the only person someone could take seriously as the leader of Mongo.
56	** Creator/MaxVonSydow gives a fairly restrained and subtle performance as Ming the Merciless, a character you'd expect the actor to chew the scenery for, and it works extremely well. Or perhaps he just succeeds in the rare art of playing a character over the top (you can hear the sheer enjoyment of what he is doing whenever he speaks) WITHOUT having to [[ChewingTheScenery pick bits of the scenery out of his teeth]].

Context YMMV / FlashGordon1980